BOUND: Mates at War | 18+

6 More Lies

Roman's POV

I pace the length of my room, over and over again.

It's a trick. It's elven magic. She isn't my mate, just like the last one, this is a trick.

Why did I let her go?

When her skin touched mine the world stopped spinning. My wolf is turning, restless and pacing in my mind. I know it's not real, I know she's using magic to make me feel this but...

It's different.

My skin remembers the feeling of her skin against my hand, how soft she felt beneath me. The phantom hum of electricity runs over me as I think of the feeling.

Her scent is burned into my brain. It's unlike anything else, soft and sweet with a strange floral note.

I pull her necklace out of my pocket and run my fingers over the strange looking flower.

She isn't my mate.

I force myself to climb into bed. I need to rest if I'm going to find her tomorrow and bring her in.

Her wide, shocked eyes flash through my mind as soon as my eyes flutter closed. Deep cerulean, like the sky just before the sun sets. She looked angry and surprised to see me, like she wasn't expecting the bond.

I throw my blanket off and move restlessly in my bed. I need to find her to prove to myself and my wolf that she isn't my mate. It's not real.

Orange streaks across the sky as the sun begins to rise. My body aches for sleep but my mind is unrelenting, her image clawing itself into my brain.

I stand and pull my gear on. I'm going out alone today. I'm going to find her and kill her. That is the only answer. I need to follow the given directive, kill every elf, exterminate the entire, lying, manipulative race.
I move quickly through the city, people jumping out of the way at my approach. When I reach the security outpost I grab a weapons bag and head toward the eastern side of the mountain. I'll start at the base of the waterfall. I will find her and fix this mistake.

I've never let an elf escape before, I've never been outrun or outsmarted. I fucked up last night. I was so suprised by the feeling of her skin that I slipped up. It won't happen again.

I run my hands over my tired face, frustrated with myself. Why would Melora give them this magic? She really is a good for nothing, double dealing hack. If I could get close enough to her I would kill her too.

I reach the edge of the shore and dip down to run the icy water over my face.

I close my eyes and listen past the sounds of the lapping water and the breeze rolling over the trees. My eyes shoot open, an impossibly quiet thump. It's irregular and odd.

I stand and scan the area slowly. She's here, I can feel her. The drumming of her heartbeat ringing in my ears.

As my gaze passes a cluster of rocks at the bottom of the waterfall my body lurches into action. Long, dark hair is sprawled out over a rock. She's not hiding, she's hurt. I dive into the water and swim toward the boulders.

I pull myself up and climb over the rocks until I'm standing over her body. If it weren't for her beating heart I would think she was dead. I stare down at her pale skin. My heart pounds against my ribs. The magic hasn't dissolved.

I grab her roughly and throw her slight body over my shoulder.

Just kill her, get it over with.

My mind and my wolf war within me. I know what I need to do. I need to protect my mother, to end the threat against her. My wolf wants to see her eyes one more time.

Stupid fucking beast. She isn't my mate.

I walk into the forest and lay her on the ground in a small clearing before pulling dried brush together to start a small fire. When the fire starts to emit a soft warmth I move her body closer to the flames.

She's clutching something in her small, bloody hand. I pry her fingers open and find a necklace. It's the same as the one I ripped from her neck last night, only larger.

There is a deep cut across her palm, it looks different from the scrapes and bruises covering her skin. I run my finger over it, elves don't heal the same way we do.

I study her face, even pale and battered, she's beautiful. Her long lashes lay over her soft cheeks that are beginning to show some color now. Her cracked lips are parted, pulling in shallow breaths that make her chest rise and fall slowly.

She has a small scar on her forehead and a freckle above her eyebrow.

I stretch my hand out over her slender neck. It would be easy to snap it while she sleeps, there would be no struggle, quick and painless.

I run my fingers over her skin, a shiver running down my spine.I hate how my body reacts to her, I almost feel drunk. I can't help but imagine what it would be like to have all of our skin pressed together, to be covered in her scent, to taste her, to...Stop.
The longer I look at her the more rage I feel, a deep, gnawing fury that makes my blood boil. She isn't my mate. She's an elf, the very thing I have sworn to eradicate.

It was her kind that killed my father, her kind that will destroy my mother.

Whatever magic she used , it's strong and it has my wolf bewildered. The other girl only took a moment to lose the connection. As soon as we touched, I knew she wasn't my mate. The pull toward this girl is so strong I feel it in my bones.
Her body stirs and I freeze.

She blinks rapidly, trying to get her bearings. When her eyes meet mine she cowers slightly, the peacefulness that was on her face as she slept is completely gone, replaced with fear.

I sit back against a fallen tree, watching her struggle to pull herself up to sit.
Fuck, she really is beautiful.I pull out my water to force myself to stop looking at her.I need to kill her.
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