Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
It’s a good thing there will be no Presentation.
Because if one more male stares at this omega like she’s a dessert, I will be plucking out their eyeballs with my eating prong.
The worst part is how much I understand them. Every lingering, hungry look? I feel myself echo them.
My eyes burn as I hold back the effect Sofi has on me. It’s so much worse than yesterday. Now that we’ve really been alone together… Now that I know more about her…
I already thought she was magnificent. Smart and beautiful and funny, with the kind of self-possession you can’t teach. Discovering that she’s all those things despite being abandoned by her family…
I’m in awe of her. And wholly sick about her implication that I’ve done the same thing.
She has a point, of course. I only meant to protect her autonomy—and shield her from my daily ruts—but the effect is the same.
I’ve left her alone.
She thinks I don’t want her. I wonder if she also suspects this of Rask. Has his inconsistent control convinced her he doesn’t truly desire her, either?
The thought is so ironic, it might send me into hysterics—or a rage—if I had the ability to move. I don’t have that option, though.
Since I saw her this afternoon, her perfume has somehow sharpened and sweetened. I’m not sure why. Rask’s scent has been on her for days, but this is different. More like the morning after he eased her first heat surge.
Could it just be that she’s close to another? Or is this the beginning of the real thing?
Gods, if it gets any stronger than this, I—
I won’t be able to resist.
And if I fuck her, I will knot her. Breed her. Bite her.
The grim realization sinks between my stomachs like a stone. I clamp my jaw tighter, grinding my back teeth as Sofi skirts a nervous glance up to my face.
Gods. Even nervous and trembling, she’s absolutely fucking gorgeous.
Her beauty strikes me all over again, leaving me dazed for a moment too long. I barely remember to shut my eyes when they begin burning, hiding the white light that flashes through them.
Norabi can’t see my matehood signals, but she must sense my impending insanity all the same. Her elbow finds my ribs, jabbing before she clears her throat and loudly asks for more brew.
I sit straight, recalling where we are. And who is watching.
Cylus’s laser focus beams from his favored table in the back of the Dome. Scowling, he scans over Sofi as if looking for some sort of injury. It occurs to me that I ought to summon him after our meal. He can check my omega over. If she needs tending, I’ll call Rask.
He’s already staring, too. His quicksilver irises burn as brightly as a brand. I feel them flit from my face to Sofi’s.
A rude wave of spiced musk rises from the Second Table. When it reaches us, Sofi drops her prong to her platter. A hard shiver racks her small frame.
The instinctual rage I feel isn’t fair to either of them. It is my fault she has allowed another alpha to tend her. Twice.
Really, I ought to have at least ensured she was satisfied. There’s no sense calling him to help her through her next surge if she didn’t enjoy him.
Swallowing my pride, I decide to be the bigger male.
“Has Rask served your needs well, omega?” I grunt, stabbing a piece of roffu with more force than strictly necessary.
Sofi nearly chokes. A strangled cry catches in her creamy throat. Muffling small coughs with her hand over her mouth, she gapes at me, croaking, “W-what?”
It takes every ounce of control I possess not to growl my reply. “Rask,” I repeat. “He’s relieved you twice this span, has he not? I admit, I should have asked you sooner, but he pleased you, yes? If not, I will speak with him.”
And finally rip his wings off.
Sofi blinks. “I—I can’t—y-you—”
I don’t understand her dismay. “What?” I prompt, selecting more meat from my tray to place on hers. A chilling thought occurs to me, darkening my vision. “You did want him in your chamber, did you not?”
She finally forms a word, bursting, “Yes! Well, I mean, no. At first. But then, yes. And I—and he—yes. He was… pleasing.”
Her scent sours as she speaks, taking a bit of the need from her perfume. I’m not sure whether I like the shift; it makes it easier to breathe, but my hearts lurch. Confusion creases the plate of my brow. “Are you unhappy speaking of such matters?”
The fetching flush on her features deepens. “No,” she snaps in a whisper. “I’m just not used to doing it in public.”
I glance around us, not understanding. These are our clanspeople. Loyal to me and our home. They would celebrate her joy and Rask’s, given the chance.
“You may speak freely here,” I assure her. “No one begrudges you your pleasure.”
I can tell she doesn’t believe me, even when everyone within earshot ignores our conversation, underscoring my point. Stubborn Sofi still casts furtive looks around, as if trying to find proof I’m an unmannered clod. I nearly smirk at her.
Adorable little star.
“Look,” I point out, nodding at a couple on the far side of the Dome. Two male alphas are seated on one of the metal benches, their foreheads pressed together tightly as they canoodle.
Sofi squints. “They’re… rubbing horns?”
Ah. She hasn’t seen this before because humans don’t have horns.
“Yes,” I explain, grinning fully. “It is very pleasurable for us to have our horns stimulated. Though not as nice as… other areas.”
Sofi’s brown waves fall over her rounded shoulder as she tilts her head, musing, “It’s like kissing?”
Now it’s my turn to be baffled. She smiles, equal parts kind and amused. “We press our mouths together,” she explains. “Like rubbing horns, but with our lips and our tongues.”
Seven hells.
The thought of her tongue anywhere near me sends a hot rush of blood to my cocks. Their heads graze, dribbling mettle onto one another. I force a deep breath to keep from groaning.
It’s too late, though. Arousal spikes my musk. Sofi’s pupils expand, and she sways slightly. Her own perfume swells to meet mine.
The undercurrent is different this time.
Yet all too familiar.
Fuck. Definitely another heat surge.
And I still can’t have her. Not without the possibility that I might lose control and irrevocably bond us.
A single purr cuts through the din of the Dome. I turn toward it, shocked when I find Rask gazing at my mate as if she hung the suns in the sky.
Tension pulls at his silvery brows. His wings shift restlessly.
He is worried, I realize. Genuinely, selflessly concerned.
… Rask?
I’m as shocked as I am possessive. Roiling emotions tumble to my center, landing with a dull thud.
Leaving me a wholly deranged idea.
It’s unacceptable.
Blasphemy.
But when Sofi’s eyes lose focus, I don’t think I care.
And when her small hand accidentally lands on my arm—her soft, rounded fingertips seeking someone to hold onto?
I snap.