Twisted Bonds

Chapter 3

~~Drew’s PoV~~

“You have to get over this irrational fear of flying.”

Carter’s voice makes me jump, and when I turn to glare at him, he laughs good-naturedly at my unease. I had been concentrating so hard on the view out the window, and on gripping onto the armrest with my good hand so tightly that it was starting to go numb, I missed him sitting down next to me.

“It’s not irrational,” I point out once again. We already had this argument when he asked me to accompany him on this trip in the first place. If it was anyone other than my king and friend asking, I would have refused. Being on a plane was one of my least favorite things in the world. “It’s only irrational to be afraid of something that can’t hurt you. If the plane crashes, we die, and being afraid of that is completely rational.”

“You face death all the time,” he points out, looking frustratingly cavalier as the plane dips lower in the sky, feeling like it might stall at any second. We’re on our descent now but I won’t relax until my feet are back on solid ground. “First in the forces and now in my security team, your chances of dying on any given day are much higher than they are on a plane, statistically speaking.”

“At least in those scenarios, I can fight back,” I grumble, my gaze returning to the view outside. “In a fight between me and the ground, I don’t like my chances.”

He laughs again, slapping me on the shoulder as if I’m joking, which I most definitely am not. “It’ll get easier the more you do it. Maybe I should start bringing you on all my diplomatic visits now.”

“Don’t even think about it,” I mutter, making him laugh again.

“It’ll be worth it when we get there,” he promises. “And who knows? Maybe your mate’s waiting down there.”

Though he gives me another smile, this one is tinged with concern. He feels bad that I’m still mateless when everyone else our age has mates and families. He even tried to get me to sign up to the same Mate-Match dating app where he met his queen, Quinn. His third child, after Quinn’s daughter, Rosie, and their son, Kian, is on the way in just a couple of weeks.

I’m the only one in the king’s inner circle who’s still single, but what he doesn’t know, what none of them know, is that I already found my mate three years ago.

I found her and she rejected me at first sight.

The memory temporarily distracts me from the specter of imminent death outside the plane window as my mind returns to the palace ballroom on that moonlit night. The evening began normally enough. I had joined Carter’s personal security team once he took over from his father, and usually, I provided personal security to him or, less frequently, to Quinn and Rosie. However, with Carter and Quinn gone on their honeymoon and the palace expecting an influx of guests for the mating ceremony celebrations, I volunteered to work the party that night.

The usual upper-class snobs shuffled in, most of them ignoring me as if I was completely invisible and a few of the less cultured staring openly at my prosthetic hand. That was nothing I wasn’t used to so I let it slide right off me, taking none of it personally. I moved through the party like a ghost, making eye contact with no one, until I saw the beautiful red-haired woman nearly knock over one of Queen Margot’s favorite statues.

Luckily, I was close enough that when she slipped trying to avoid the collision, I was able to catch her. She was light in my arms and smelled of honey, I couldn’t help noticing as I placed her back on her feet.

I wasn’t even expecting an acknowledgement, based on how most of the people in the room were treating me, but to my surprise, she spoke to me, smiled, and even shook my hand. My bionic hand, at that, and it didn’t seem to bother her. She even told me to call her Bree. She was an unexpected breath of fresh air, and when her mother arrived to pull her away, giving me the look I was far more accustomed to, it felt like the sun had turned its back on me, plunging the room back into darkness.

Those were rather fanciful thoughts for a practical soldier like me, and I shook my head at myself as I returned to my rounds, ensuring everything was secure. A delegation from one of the southern kingdoms caught my eye as they stayed huddled close together, speaking amongst themselves without interacting with anyone else. Their behavior struck me as odd, and I tried not to stray too far from them, just in case something was up. My wolf, Archer, felt strange around them too, though he couldn’t say why.

My intention was to stick close to them without drawing too much attention to myself, but the night provided another unexpected turn as the scent of pine trees hit me, strong and insistent.

It used to be my favorite smell before the night I lost my arm and legs. Now, it only reminded me of that terrible journey home after my limbs were cut off, teetering between life and death as Prince Carter carried me to safety. I had barely been aware of anything that night but pain and darkness, but the scent sunk into my subconscious anyway. I associated it only with fear and hopelessness.

It took me a moment to realize that the scent was coming from a woman, a beautiful blonde woman who was staring at me in disbelief.

Mate! Archer yelped inside my head, and my stomach flipped in surprise. Was he serious? After all this time, I couldn’t believe I finally found her. The wait had been so long, I had started to give up hope. The smell would take some getting used to, I had to admit, but if this was meant to be, then I would learn to live with it. Her eyes weren’t quite as kind as Bree’s, the pretty redhead I had spoken to earlier, but perhaps she was just as surprised by my sudden arrival as I was by hers.

“Hello,” I said awkwardly, trying to make as good an impression as I could as I straightened the sleeves on my suit jacket. The movement brought her eyes down to my hands, and as she saw my prosthetic hand, her eyes widened.

That was okay, I told myself. Anyone would be surprised. She would get used to it, just as I would grow accustomed to her scent.

“I’m…” I started to introduce myself, but she quickly cut me off.

“Not here. The balcony.”

She was right, it would be easier to speak out there, away from the chatter of the crowd and the press of people around us, so I followed behind her at a respectful distance. There were a few other people on the balcony but I didn’t pay them any attention, focused as I was on my mate.

I thought she wanted to talk to get to know me, but that wasn’t what she had in mind at all. All she asked was my name, and that was only so she could reject me. She didn’t know a damn thing about me other than my position and my physical attributes, and that was enough for her to turn up her nose at the goddess’ gift.

Would she have accepted me prior to my accident? Perhaps she would have, and then perhaps I wouldn’t have known until it was too late just how shallow she was. At least she showed her face early enough that no bond was formed.

Although it pained me at the time, in the end, once I had time to reflect on it, I didn’t regret that she had rejected me. We clearly weren’t well matched after all, at least not by the time that we found each other.

My only regret from that night was the way I had spoken to Bree, who happened to be there on the balcony right next to us while my mate was rejecting me. In her eyes was compassion and kindness, but in the heat of the moment, my embarrassment overruled everything else. She tried to offer her sympathy and I threw it back at her, unfairly.

When I’d had a few minutes to cool down, I went in search of her to apologize, but she was in conversation with what looked like her parents and one of the men from the southern kingdom’s delegation. I didn’t have a good enough excuse to interrupt them, and duty called me away anyway. By the time I saw her again, she was leaving the party on the arm of the same man.

It drove home just how ridiculous I was being, thinking that my apology would mean anything to her. She was from a different world than I was, and so I simply wished her a good evening. The other men from the southern kingdom all departed almost immediately afterwards, and while I still thought their behavior was odd, at least they hadn’t caused any problems at the party.

As for Bree, I never saw her again, and as time passed, I regretted my behavior that night more than ever. She had told me her surname, but I couldn't remember it; I'd been distracted by her smile. I did, however, have access to the empire’s security systems, so I searched all the current employment and education records for any Brianna I could find. None of them were her. It was like she vanished off the face of the earth, or at least from the empire.

There were other men on Carter’s team who probably could have searched historical records for me, knowing more about the computer systems than I did, but then I would have to explain what I needed the information for when I barely knew the answer to that myself. What did I intend to do if I found her? Since I had no idea, eventually, I had to let it go.

At last, the wheels touch down, bringing my thoughts back to the present. Stretching out my hand, I let go of the armrest as Carter claps me on the shoulder once more. “See, nothing to worry about. Now you can relax and enjoy the reception they’re hosting for us tonight.”

“You can relax,” I correct him. “I’m here to keep an eye out for trouble.”

“And an eye out for your mate,” he reminds me, getting to his feet as the plane comes to a stop. “There should be a lot of people at this party. You never know, Drew.”

I say nothing, letting him keep his fantasy if it makes him feel better, even though I know the truth.

There is absolutely no chance my mate is going to be at that party tonight.