Destined for Disaster ✔️

Chapter 8

Ryleigh knew what fate awaited her. Or at least she thought she did. There was no escaping from the prison, especially in her state, and she estimated she might last through one or two silverings – three if she flattered herself – before her body would give up on her.

She wasn't one to willingly accept other people's plans for her, so she decided to take control over the one thing she still could: her death. Starvation was a painful and tantalisingly slow way to go but at least it was better than silver, and at least she chose it. It was a weak plan at best, but made even more futile by the one thing she didn't see coming: her mate returning.

She was glad he did. Not because she'd missed him or wanted him or felt anything at all for him other than what fate made her feel, but because it blew new life into her escape plan.

Of course, in order to escape one needed to be able to walk, which was not a skill that came easily to her anymore. Once again her guards had taken her out of her cell. They dragged her along by her chains when her feet failed to keep their pace. They attempted speeding her up by poking the back of their spears into her ribs, then proceeded to kick her and jerk at her restraints. When all that failed to coax any sort of response from her, they realised it wasn't ill will that slowed her down, but sheer inability.

At that point she had no idea where they were taking her or for what reason. She assumed they were delivering her to the interrogation room to silver her again, and for the first time the prospect didn't inspire terror in her. She almost longed for it. Starving herself to death was taking longer than she thought and she was ready to relinquish autonomy over her life expectancy if that meant the pain would end.

It was only when they took her out of the prison that it dawned on her something else might be going on. A quick survey of the possibilities informed her it must have been her mate, which surprised her. She blamed it on her deteriorated health, but usually she was an accurate judge of character and when he left her to rot in prison two days prior she'd been certain that was the last she'd see of him.

If someone were to ask her how she got to the castle, she wouldn't have had an answer. Perhaps, by some miraculous show of strength, she walked herself there, or perhaps the guards had carried her. All she knew was that one moment she was in her cell, and the next she was in the throne room. Or at least she thought it was the throne room. The intricately decorated ceiling spun above her. Or at least she thought it was the ceiling. She wasn't quite sure of anything anymore. Well, there was one thing she knew for sure: she was already and irrevocably sick of the mate bond.

When she saw him – or at least, the parts of him that her speckled vision still managed to piece together – she went through such a range of emotions that she got even more nauseous than she already was.

Austin, too, was overwhelmed by an amalgam of emotions. He wanted to be anywhere but there, which, at least, he and Ryleigh had in common. He had racked his brain about it for the better part of the night, but simply couldn't understand why Julie would ask him to get his mate to Midnight Moon and to give her a chance for a month. A month. It was utterly ridiculous, but she had been insistent and he had never been able to refuse her anything anyway, and so he and Ellis had set out right after dawn, back to the castle.

"You understand and accept the terms, then?" Alder inquired, drawing Austin's attention away from his thoughts.

Austin nodded and glanced at his mate – the wolf of mystery. Despite his best efforts, he did want to know who she was. He wrote it off as his insatiable curiosity. It had nothing to do with her being his mate. He just naturally gravitated towards intrigue.

"I do," he said. It was only a month. He could bear the responsibility for a month. After that, he would reject her and return her to the castle, claiming fatal incompatibility as his reason, which would be the truth.