Chapter 7 The First Escape

The decision crystallized in Lila's mind during dinner when Margot leaned close and whispered that the council would be informed by week's end. Three days. That was all the time she had before everything collapsed.

She waited until midnight, listening to the palace settle into sleep. Her hands moved automatically, pulling clothes from the wardrobe and folding them into her traveling bag. A few dresses. Spare boots. The book of poetry her mother had given her years ago. Nothing that would be missed immediately.

The mate bond pulsed in her chest, that constant awareness of Adrian somewhere in the palace. She felt him awake, restless, probably buried in kingdom correspondence he used to avoid thinking about their impossible situation. The bond had grown stronger over the months, more insistent. Sometimes she felt his emotions bleeding into hers until she couldn't tell where she ended and he began.

That was exactly why she had to leave.

Lila pulled out parchment and began writing. The letter needed to be clear, final, leaving no room for him to misunderstand.

Adrian,

I'm leaving tonight. Don't search for me. Don't send guards. Don't do anything that will draw attention to my absence.

Margot knows something is wrong between us. She's been watching, documenting, building a case to present to the council. In three days, she'll tell them about the garden meetings. About the way you look at me. About every moment we've tried to hide.

I won't let that happen. I won't be the reason your marriage fails. I won't be the scandal that destroys your reign. I won't be the mistake that costs you everything you've built.

You married Celeste for duty. You made vows before the Moon Goddess and five kingdoms. Those vows matter more than a mate bond neither of us asked for. They have to.

I'm going south where no one knows me. Where I can build a life that doesn't revolve around wanting something I can never have. Where the bond will fade to background noise and we can both move forward.

Tell Celeste I'm sorry for the pain I caused just by existing. Tell the council I left of my own choice. Tell yourself this was the right thing, because it is.

I'll survive this. So will you. We're both stronger than we think.

Lila

She left the letter on her pillow and shouldered her bag. The palace map she'd memorized over months of careful observation guided her through shadowed corridors. She knew where guards were stationed, knew their patterns, knew exactly which route would get her to the east gate without being seen.

Her heart pounded as she descended the servant stairs, each step taking her farther from Adrian and closer to freedom. The bond stretched between them like a rope pulling taut. Soon it would snap. Soon she'd be far enough away that distance would dull the constant ache.

She reached the east corridor that led to the rarely used garden exit. Just fifty more steps. Forty. Thirty.

Footsteps echoed behind her.

Lila spun around. Adrian stood at the corridor's far end, still dressed in the formal clothes he'd worn to dinner. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, like he'd been running. His ice-blue eyes locked on her with an intensity that made her knees weak.

"Where do you think you're going?" His voice carried down the empty hallway, rough and dangerous.

"Adrian." Her own voice came out shaky. "Go back to your chambers. Pretend you didn't see me."

"Pretend." He moved toward her with predatory grace. "I've been pretending for months. Pretending I don't feel you everywhere. Pretending my wolf doesn't howl for you every night. Pretending I can focus on anything other than my mate living three floors away in agony." He stopped ten feet from her. "I felt you making this decision. Felt your determination building for days. Did you really think I wouldn't come?"

"You have to let me go." Lila clutched her bag tighter. "Margot is going to the council. In three days, everyone will know something is wrong. They'll investigate. They'll question your marriage to Celeste. They'll find out about the bond."

"So we deal with it."

"There's no dealing with it." Her voice rose. "The bond is forbidden. If they find out we're mates, the council will force you to reject me publicly. They'll exile me as a temptress who seduced the King. They'll annul your marriage to Celeste, throw the entire alliance with her family into chaos. The kingdom will fracture. All because the Moon Goddess made a mistake."

"She didn't make a mistake." Adrian closed the distance between them. "She gave me you. The only good thing in this prison of duty and politics. The only person who makes me feel like something other than a weapon the council points at their enemies."

"You married my sister."

"I married duty." His hands clenched into fists. "I married an alliance. I married what the kingdom needed. But you." He stopped just out of reach. "You're what I need. And I'm not letting you walk away."

"You don't have a choice." Lila forced steel into her voice. "I'm leaving. Tonight. You can't stop me without causing a scene that will wake the entire palace."

"Then I'll cause a scene."

"Adrian, please." Tears burned in her eyes. "Let me do this. Let me be the one who makes the sacrifice. You've spent your whole life doing what's right for everyone else. Let me do what's right for you."

"What's right for me is you staying."

"What's right for you is keeping your throne. Your marriage. Your future. All the things that matter more than a mate bond we never asked for." She stepped toward the door. "I'm saving you from having to choose between duty and desire. I'm making the choice for both of us."

Adrian moved faster than she could track. One moment he stood several feet away. The next he blocked the door completely, his large frame filling the exit. His eyes flashed gold, then back to blue, then gold again.

"You're not leaving." His voice dropped to a growl that raised every hair on her body. "I don't care what it costs me. I don't care if the council revolts. I don't care if the entire kingdom burns." The gold bled into his eyes and stayed there, his wolf rising to the surface. "You. Are. Mine."

Lila stepped back. She'd never seen Adrian lose control before. He'd always been so careful, so controlled, holding his wolf in check through sheer force of will. But now his wolf looked out at her through glowing eyes, and the bond between them roared to life with terrifying intensity.

"Adrian." She kept her voice steady. "You need to calm down. Your wolf is taking over."

"Good." The word came out more growl than speech. "My wolf knows what my human side keeps denying. You don't leave. Ever."