Chapter 49

"Did you know?" I ask him, "That we're a bonded pair?"

I still can't force myself to turn back toward him-to face whatever expressions are flashing across his expression. But from the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of his movements as he settles more fully beside me. His chest rising and falling as he takes a deep steadying breath and lets it out heavily.

"No," he says, slowly, pulling his hand through his hair, "I didn't know. Not completely anyway. I had begun to suspect, but I wasn't sure until the moment I felt your energies shift in the springs."

Confusion rolls through me, and I feel my eyebrows draw together as I finally find the strength to peek over at him up through my lashes, "What do you mean?"

"When your energies were dulled before," he explains, "Your magical signatureyour scentthey were all so tangled up and faint that I was barely picking them up. But it was when your magic and strength were being healed in the waterAll of the sudden, I just *knew*. I felt it. Our connection-the Bond between us- was so strong it was like getting punched in the gut. Like I was being shot through with lightning. The pull I felt for you before multiplied exponentially until it became undeniable. And I imagine the draw to you will only continue to get stronger as you spend more time regaining your energy."

His words have my heart pounding painfully against my ribcage, and my mouth goes dry at his admission. That he feels that strong of a draw towards me. That he felt something even *before* our journey here, "You didn't say anything," I whisper.

With warm callused fingers he reaches out to grasp my chin, tugging gently until I'm forced to look up into his gorgeous face, my gaze collides with his, "This is all new for me too, Lily. I don't know the first thing about BondsI didn't even think being bonded-or even mated for that matter- was even a remote *possibility* for me."

"Why wouldn't it be possible?" I ask, softly.

"How much do you know about what I am? About Berserkers?"

"Not very much," I admit, gripping onto the bridge railing, gliding it between my fingers as I glance back down at the river crashing below us. "I know that it means you have two forms you can change into."

He nods, hesitating for a moment as if considering how much to explain, "You're right, I have two other forms," he finally says, "And for shifters to find a mate, it becomes more difficult the more forms a shifter holds. With humans or fae, finding a partner is as simple as finding someone you connect to on a single level. With shifters we need to find someone who we can connect with on a human level, but also who our beast form connects with as well. For me, I always knew I would need to find someone who both of my beast forms are drawn to. And my berserker form is about as open and friendly to other people as you'd probably expect"

Despite the seriousness of his what he's saying, a smile tugs at my lips, "I take it your Berserker form is not very personable?"

A quiet laugh rumbles in his chest, "Not personable *at all*. He's a downright vicious and bloodthirsty bastard. Most of the time my berserker barely tolerates the presence of others. For the majority of my life, it was a struggle getting it to go around anyone without snarling at people," he says with a glance down at me, "And yet, from the moment I stood in the same room as you, my berserker has been obsessed with you. From the first second it caught your sent then laid eyes on you. Enough so that it's a struggle to keep it contained and stay in a single form sometimes," he admits.

His words makes warmth heat at the center of my chest and butterflies to flicker in my stomach. I never would have guessed he was feeling that way-that he was fighting against himself to keep a healthy distance from me. Knowing that he's been fighting against a draw and attraction to me the same way I've been fighting against what I've been feeling towards him makes me feel a little more secure while also making me feel untethered at the same time.

"Is that why your eyes change color?" I ask him hesitantly.

He nods, "A Berserker's eyes change with their emotions. I've never had trouble controlling the change in them like I have been recently. But from the moment you came into my life I haven't been able to keep my emotions in check."

A blush heats my cheeks at his admission. It confirms what Xavier and Arden had told me in my rooms when they had explained Damion's changing eyes.

*"We were just surprised that the Commander's eyes changed in front of you is all," they had said that day in my room, "The Commander's eyes don't usually change muchThe color usually stay black because he's always so in control of his emotions. That's why we were a little shocked that you've seen the color shift so much."*

What they had told me went along with what Damion was telling me now. About the struggle he had keeping his Berserker form in check.

Damion continues, watching the reactions playing across my face carefully, "So while the idea that we're Bonded was a bit of a surprise to me, there was also a part of me that wasn't surprised at all considering my Berserker form never wants to leave your side."

I chew on the inside of my cheek, considering what he had just explained to me. I turn my gaze back down to the river as I think.

After my conversation with Aelrie, I'd been worried that he knew about our connection but hadn't told me because he didn't want to be with me. I'd been worried that he didn't want to be Bonded to someone fragile and magicless like me.

But hearing the truthhearing that he hadn't thought being Bonded was even a possibility for him. That he had been fighting his attraction to me- or the draw from his berserker form anyway- while not understanding the implications of it sends a wave of exhilaration weaving through me.

"Does that scare you?" Damion asks, breaking the calm quiet between us. And when I look back up at him, I see that there's a shade of deep purple swirling in the depths of his dark eyes.

I shake my head, surprised that *that* was what he had assumed my reaction would be, "I'm not scared," I hurry to assure him, "not at all actually. I'm just trying to absorb everything, trying to figure out what all this means for us. I-"

My next words are cut off by the low sound of voices and approaching footsteps. The unexpected noise pulls me back to the fact that we're still standing in the middle of a bridge. That we're not in fact in our own private little world like my beating heart wants to believe. Rather, we're standing where any one can stumble across us at any moment, or overhear our conversation if they wander too close.

I'm not ready for our conversation to end, though. And I don't think Damion is either because he puts a hand on my lower back, murmuring low in my ear, "Come this way, let's go somewhere a little more private-"

I nod, leaning into his touch as he guides me off the bridge heading in the opposite direction of the voices.