CHAPTER TEN
EMBER
I WOKE UP FEELING LIKE I was being slow-roasted from the inside out, my skin feverish and slick with sweat. Heat pulsed through me in waves, settling low in my belly with an ache so intense, I wanted to cry.
This was the third time I'd awakened like this, hot, needy, and so damn horny that my thoughts narrowed to a single point: knots. My alphas' knots, to be specific. The ones that had been filling me, stretching me, claiming me over and over since my heat had taken hold.
My heat. I still couldn't quite believe it. After a lifetime of being a cold omega, I suddenly found myself burning up, my body demanding satisfaction with an urgency that left no room for anything else.
It happened so fast, overtaking me right after I'd stroked Moon to completion while he was still chained to the wall, my omega surging forward and shoving me to the back of my own consciousness.
I shifted slightly, wincing at the delicious soreness between my thighs. Ryung had taken me first when my heat hit full force, fucking me until I'd forgotten my own name, let alone my mission to kill them.
Then he'd released Moon from his chains, and the prince had claimed me with a ferocity that still made my insides clench with remembered pleasure. I'd passed out beneath him, utterly spent.
The next time I opened my eyes, they'd been there, hovering like the overprotective alphas they were, offering me food and water, their eyes tracking my every movement. After I'd eaten, they'd shown me to a massive tub filled with steaming water and fragrant oils.
"We'll give you privacy," Moon had said, starting to back away.
My omega had other ideas. One whiff of their combined scents, mint and whiskey, and I was gone again, rationality drowned beneath a wave of pure need.
"Don't you dare leave," I'd growled, reaching for them both.
I smiled at the memory of what had followed... water sloshing over the sides of the tub as Ryung knelt behind me, his cock sliding into me while I took Moon into my mouth. The prince had been so careful, so gentle despite the feral glint in his eyes.
His hands tangled in my wet hair as he'd fucked my mouth with restrained passion. Afterward, they'd dried me with soft towels, carried me back to bed, and curled around me protectively. I'd fallen asleep cocooned between them, their heartbeats lulling me into dreamless sleep.
The third time I'd awakened, I'd been draped across Moon's chest, Ryung's arm thrown possessively across my back. The moment I'd stirred, their eyes had snapped open, both immediately alert and focused entirely on me.
"What do you need?" Moon had asked, voice rough with sleep.
Need. Such a simple word for the inferno raging inside me. What did I need? Just them. Their hands, their mouths, their knots. My omega had taken control again, and the cycle had repeated.
Knots. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
Now, in this brief moment of lucidity, I wondered if this was normal. Was every heat like this, this all-consuming hunger that made everything else fade into insignificance? Or was it just because these were my fated mates, the ones my body had been waiting for all my life?
Or perhaps because this was my first heat. Either way, I was enjoying it just as I’d hoped I would. My thoughts drifted to earlier that day, to Ryung's darkened eyes as he'd teased my ass with slick-coated fingers, his voice a low rumble against my ear.
"I'm preparing you to take us both, little assassin. Would you like that? Would you like having both of your alphas filling you at once, stretching you so full you'll feel us for days?"
I'd been incoherent with need, able only to nod frantically as pleasure spiraled through me. My omega was all for it. That greedy witch wanted all the knots, all the time. But the part of me that was still rational understood my body had limits.
I was grateful Ryung was taking the time to prepare me properly rather than assuming I could just handle it.
I stretched, and that's when I realized I was alone in bed.
The sheets beside me were cool to the touch.
They'd been gone a while. This was the first time since my heat began that I'd woken up without them.
Vulnerability washed over me, an unfamiliar feeling that left me uneasy. I'd spent my entire life looking out for myself, never needing anyone. Now, suddenly, the absence of these two men left me feeling oddly bereft.
I pulled the sheet around me like a cloak, wrapping it securely around my naked body before standing on shaky legs. Why had they left me alone? Where had they gone? More importantly, why did I care so much?
My feet carried me across the cold stone floor to the door. I pulled it open, listening. The sound of banging echoed up the stairwell. Someone was definitely working on something below. Could it be my mates?
I followed the noise, moving carefully down the spiral stairs, one hand trailing along the wall for balance while the other clutched the sheet tightly around me. The sound grew louder as I reached the floor below the rut room.
A door stood slightly ajar, warm light spilling through the crack. The hammering was coming from inside. Curiosity pushed me forward. I nudged the door open with my foot and stepped through.
I froze, my lips parting in shock at the sight before me. Moon was beside a massive circular bed, smoothing out a rich red comforter with careful hands. Ryung was next to the bed, putting a dresser together.
The bed itself was unlike anything I'd ever seen, shaped like a circle, its headboard carved to resemble a golden crown. Pillows in red, black, white, and gold were artfully arranged across its surface, the white ones embroidered with delicate golden crown emblems.
For a long moment, none of us spoke. I couldn't find words, could only stare at the beautiful room.
"We'd wanted to surprise you," Moon finally said, his hand still smoothing the comforter almost nervously. "But you caught us. Welcome to your nest, beautiful."
My nest. They'd made me a nest. My first nest. Something no one had ever bothered to do for the defective cold omega. A purr rumbled up from my chest, unbidden and unstoppable.
Tears sprang to my eyes, blurring the beautiful scene before me. I lowered my head as they spilled down my cheeks, unable to stop them, unable to speak, unable to do anything but stand there, overwhelmed by something I'd never expected to feel.
Gratitude.
How could they know just what I needed, what I wanted? A sob made my shoulders shake. Ugh! I didn’t want to cry in front of them, but I couldn’t help it. I had a nest. They’d given me a nest. More tears raced down my cheeks.
In an instant, my alphas were at my side, their arms around me, wrapping me in a cocoon of warmth and protection.
Moon's fingers brushed tears from my cheeks while Ryung's hand moved in soothing circles on my back, both purring deep in their chests, that instinctive sound alphas made to calm a distressed omega.
"What's wrong, little one?" Moon murmured, his lips brushing my temple. "Do you not like it? We can change anything that doesn't please you."
"Did we get something wrong?" Ryung asked, his voice gruff with concern. "Tell us what you need."
I shook my head, using a corner of the sheet to wipe my eyes as I tried to compose myself.
"Nothing's wrong," I managed. "Nothing at all. I'm just... happy."
They both relaxed, their purrs growing louder.
"I can't believe you prepared a nest for me," I whispered, still in awe of the thoughtfulness of the gesture.
Moon's hand continued stroking my hair, gentle and soothing. "I've been working on it for a while," he admitted. "Since before we found you. I always believed our omega was out there somewhere, waiting for us."
My heart squeezed at his words. He'd prepared this room before he even knew me, believing so strongly in my existence that he'd created this space just for me.
"If you don't like something, I can change it," he added, watching my face carefully.
"I love it," I assured him, moving away from their embrace toward the bed. "It's perfect. It's just..."
My hand reached out to touch one of the pillows, and suddenly I was hit with an overwhelming urge to rearrange it. Without thinking, I crawled onto the bed, my hands immediately going to two of the pillows.
"I just need to switch these two," I muttered, more to myself than to them.
I swapped their positions, but the moment I sat back to examine my work, I frowned. That wasn't right either. In fact, it was worse. The two gold pillows needed to be closer together, with the red one angled differently.
I quickly made the changes, but my frown only deepened.
Something was still off. I couldn't explain it, but it felt wrong, like an itch I couldn't scratch.
I switched two more pillows, hoping to get it right, but that only made my anxiety spike higher.
My omega was getting agitated now, pushing me to fix it, fix it, fix it.
"Damn it," I hissed, moving another pillow, then another. I was vaguely aware of my alphas approaching the bed, their scents growing stronger as they drew near.
"Don't get on yet!" I called out without looking up. "I have to fix this."
"It's okay," Ryung assured me, his voice calm.
"It's not okay," I shot back, tears of frustration pricking my eyes again. "I don't know why this feels so... so off." I yanked a pillow out of place and tried it in three different positions, growing increasingly flustered when none of them felt right.
"You're nesting, love," Ryung explained gently.
He moved to one side of the bed as Moon positioned himself on the other. Neither tried to climb on, respecting my space.
"Nesting?" I repeated, looking up at him.
"It's normal for omegas in heat," Moon added. "You're making the space your own, making it feel safe for your heat."