Page 121 of Cryptic Dreams
I want to stay right fucking here, in the same spot my gentle breeze was taken from me, and let the arena crush me, let the rays of the sun burn me, and let my grief consume because there is no longer a reason to live.
Wilfred, the would-be assassin, flashes in my mind.
I see the second he felt the break in his mate bond, the look on his face, the way all fight left his body. But then I hear his words, firm and full of resolve.
I will not betray my mate.
And those words, the words of a traitor sent to murder my mate and I, are exactly why I stumble to my feet.
Closing my fist around my ring, I hold it tight as I stagger down the stairs, those words playing over and over in my mind.
I will not betray my mate.
Because if I do not honor our bond, honor her and her life by eliminating the Counsel and everything it stands for, then I will be failing my Zephyr once again.
I will dismantle the Great Counsel.
I will kill all of its members and supporters.
And I will do both to honor the memory of my mate.
I will not betray her.
I will burn this world to the ground in her name, then let the madness take me from it so I can join her.
I will not betray Zephyr and everything she stood for, but I sure as bloody fuck won’t be living without her for very long.
She was my entire world, and my life has no purpose if Zephyr is not in it.
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