Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Eiden
I have only just met Fawn, but I’m already obsessed.
Scent match.
Dreamers use these words in hushed whispers—the musings of poets. From the very first meeting, I knew it was so, the way her scent fitted mine.
But she is already mated, and the wolf shifter is not about to relinquish his claim, nor is he congenial toward sharing.
Jude steps back. Fawn takes my outstretched hand, and an electric current zaps from her to me.
The sense of humility in receiving her small trust is profound. I understand what it must cost him, the shifter who is her mate. He thought he was taking a beta to his bed and that he would be her only one. What a surprise it must have been to find out Fawn is a doe shifter, not only that but an omega, one whose scent will never belong to him and only him.
I guide her out of the bedroom and into the adjoining bathroom, feeling Jude’s stare follow us—we all have much to learn.
Like all the buildings in our city, the palace has pipes connected to an underground hot spring. The water in the bathing chamber is constantly circulating. Fresh, hot water enters on one side, while dirty water is drawn out on the other. Bath is inadequate when applied to the square bathing area, which is more of a pool by any standard.
Still, Seven is, well, Seven and Master of all herds. His quarters are opulent, as one might expect. It is not unusual for all three of us to enter the pool together… with companions—it could hold a dozen if one were so inclined.
Still, there will be no more companions, at least not for us, and so long as she accepts us… I shall be devastated if she does not. As for Fawn, let us hope she does not require the full capacity of the bathing pool. Some do, and their mates and courtiers must vie for scraps.
Sharing her with Seven and Nox is a given, should she be congenial, but I cannot say how I would feel seeing others from our herd with her, nor Jude, her Wolf.
Wolf shifters are… coarse by nature; I am gentle—my stag is nevertheless intrigued by the thought of her with him. My stag likes it when Seven or Nox takes a doe in the rough way I cannot.
My cock stirs… I think of… dead bodies until it is under control.
“Oh,” she says, taking in the room. “That is the bath?”
“It is.” I smile down at her, guiding her to the shallow end where the low steps lead to the water.
My stag is acting up, snorting and stamping his hooves to get out. It isn’t easy to have a stag that is so different. My human soul is a gentle omega who wants only to please, while my stag is savage, wanting to rut and claim his little doe.
Gods, I can’t wait to meet that side of her—her inner doe, the side even Seven hasn’t seen now that she’s all grown up.
“Should we remove this?” I ask as I untie the belt she bowed neatly around her waist. It comes undone before I can reconsider how forward this action might be. She is not from a herd and is not accustomed to having an attendant or a courtier.
Her gasp is pure shock as the material whispers apart.
I freeze before carefully averting my eyes. “That was forward of me. Please accept my apologies.”
“You surprised me, that’s all,” she says. “I mean, I understand I have to undress before I can get into the bath.” Her laugh is a little nervous, and I lift my head, ensuring I look only at her face.
I would usually enter the bathing pool to tend a doe, but doing so would present a challenge if I wish to keep this innocent. Fawn is not used to our liberal ways, and I must maintain control.
“I will turn away while you enter the pool… And then I will get some supplies… So that I can wash your hair. And I could, if you wish, remain outside the water.” I’m rambling with my nerves. The air is warm and humid here, but I cannot blame that for the sweat that breaks out across my skin.
“You don’t need to,” she says, her hand taking mine, small and comforting, and forcing me to consider dead bodies again, lest my cock forget to behave. “I feel very comfortable with you.”
She flushes like that admission is bold on her part.
I smile.
She smiles back, and Gods, her beguiling beauty, sends me a little stupid, for I say nothing for the longest time. “You are very brave,” I finally mutter inadequately, wondering where the charm I’m renowned for has gone.
Memories of the past threaten to overwhelm me. My life was not always so coveted—omega males are not always revered, and my former herd was cruel. I don’t want to frighten her; my greatest desire is to put her at ease with her new home and me. I call on my hard-won confidence, the side that Nox and Seven allowed to flourish and be safe, the side that can believe I have something to offer the world besides being a kicking post.
“You never need fear with me, Fawn. I would sooner die than make you feel uncomfortable.”
“I do feel safe with you,” she says. The earnestness in her words, reflected on her face, is like sunshine bathing the dark, unworthy place inside me and sending it into retreat.
“Good,” I say inadequately. “I want you to.”
“And what was the other option?”
“Option?” I’m lost in her eyes and confused about what she’s referring to.
“You said you could stay out of the water if I wished. What if I didn’t wish that…”
She leaves it hanging.
“Well,” I say, feigning a casualness I do not feel. “I could get in the bathing pool with you.”
She sucks the bottom lip between her teeth, and it takes every bit of my control to keep my cock in check.
“Are you playing coy, Fawn?”
“No.” She glances toward the bedroom doorway as though expecting her Wolf to storm in at any moment.
“Your protector will not interfere. I believe him when he says he will rip my antlers off and shove them up my ass if I cause you even a moment’s distress.”
She giggles, shrugs the silk robe over her shoulders, and gloriously naked steps into the pool.
I close my eyes, but the vision remains of her plump, heart-shaped ass just before she slipped underneath the water.
When I open my eyes again, she is up to her neck, and her long, honey-blonde hair makes a fan in the water.
She glances back at me with those big brown eyes, and I know I am gone for her even without her enticing scent. Adorable . Her actions are not practiced. Some does make courting a game. Fawn’s ways are pervasive to who she is: sweet, playful, and saucy.
How I want her to like me, to approve of me.
“What are you waiting for?” she says in the manner of a challenge.
I flash a shift. It takes the edge off my hardening cock and leaves my clothes in a rumpled pile on the floor. Then I wade into the pool before my cock can get any ideas, displacing water everywhere.
“Oh,” she says. “That was cheating. I wanted to see your stag.”
Only she is peering down through the water, and I do not believe it was my stag she was trying to get a look at, at least, not only him.
“Not today,” I say.
“Then when?”
She floats a little distance away, but when I hold out my hand, she takes it and, blushing, glides right up next to me.
My hands go to her waist. I wade deeper into the pool, drawing her with me. “My stag is a little ornery,” I say—a wild understatement of the truth.
Her hands settle on my shoulders. “How so?”
“He is not like me. While my human side is an omega, my stag is alpha… and a little rabid.”
She giggles again—perhaps she thinks I’m joking? “I can’t imagine you with a rabid stag.” She must forget that she is in a pool with a naked male because she slides her body against mine, not even caring that my cock is right there, and wraps her legs around my waist… or maybe not. Her deepening blush suggests she knows exactly what she is doing, naughty doe.
“He is fiercely protective,” I say, feeling the light mood dim and wishing I had not begun this conversation during our very first meeting. I hate that I’m not always in control, and the memory of what came to pass so recently brings an acute edge to my shame. “I hurt Nox two weeks ago. And though he could shift to heal, I hate that I hurt him at all, that I lost control.”
“How did it happen?” she asks earnestly.
“When those I love are in danger, my stag takes over—completely. It feels more like a partnership with most shifters, or so I am led to believe, but it is not that way for me. I was mute for many years, unable to call my stag. His awakening was brutal, and his ways are a legacy of that. I do not always take pride in his actions, although I understand his reasons. It can be dangerous for those whom I love. My feral side does not recognize his friend or foe. His strength is unnatural, greater even than Nox or Seven. Very few shifters, wolf or otherwise, can escape bindings placed on their human form by shifting—my stag can. He is indomitable and sees everything as a threat... Nox is the only one who can bring me down. He and Seven have changed my life for the better.”
There is no judgment on her face. To my surprise, she leans forward and presses her lips to mine in a brief touch that sets my heart pounding.
Her smile is gentle. “I love Nox already that he would do that for you. Your poor stag must be so frightened, not knowing who to trust.”
My stag snorts that he is never frightened, and that Nox is an asshole who should know better than interfere. “My stag is overly bold and does not have a scrap of humility for the carnage he leaves in his wake,” I say dryly.
She giggles again, cupping my cheek with her small hand. “He kept you safe when you were lost and vulnerable. I believe I shall love him when I meet him, too.”
I am unworthy, but she makes me want to do better for her. Her acceptance and belief in me would seal my fate if I were not already smitten.