Chapter 34
Darion
Darion stood in the wreckage of the nest, both his future mate and omega Naravekh distraught and begging for his help.
His heart ached for his omega. She’d expressed concern that someone had been violating her nest for over a week. He’d helped her rebuild this one himself, had carefully scented each pillow and blanket and fur so she would feel safe. So he could still be with her in spirit if not in flesh.
And Kyntha… his future mate, vulnerable and unstable by the changes, the unfinished courtship. Needing all of his attention to feel secure, and unraveling because she could not have it.
Both she-wolves were hurting. But only one had been the aggressor.
“Kyntha…” he started.
The dagger in her hand fell to the floor and she rushed to him, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around his legs.
“Please, please my love. I beg of you to hear my case in private. It’s important, and if you’re distracted for even a moment, you won’t understand what drove me to such lengths. ”
It seemed obvious to him what had driven her to such lengths, and he wondered what possible excuse she thought might spare her from punishment.
Not that he wanted to give it so close to their ceremony. They both needed to be fully sure of each other before he gave her the mating claim—any doubt from either party would cast a permanent shadow in the bond, tainting it forever.
He turned to look at the omega, rocking back and forth on her knees, mumbling incoherently to herself, her cheeks stained with tears.
Her guard stood behind her, frowning at the carnage.
“Stay with her,” he ordered. “I need to speak with Kyntha in private.”
There was a flash of something other than obedience in the guard’s eye. Something that angered Darion, that made him want to teach the beta a lesson for even thinking of defying him.
“Aye, sir,” was all he said, though.
Darion grabbed Kyntha by the arm and took her outside into the hall, closing the door.
“Speak.”
She wiped her face, inhaled a shuddering breath, and tilted her chin to expose the smooth, pale expanse of her neck. He couldn’t keep his gaze from falling there while she spoke, her voice soft and high.
“Alpha… today, I heard the most disturbing account from one of my attendants.”
He blinked, his eyes returning to hers as he dipped his chin to signal she should continue.
“The Naravekh, the omega, she… she visited the healer today, and my attendant heard through the door something about heats and…”
Darion stiffened.
He’d been afraid of this, that despite promising Kyntha he would not bed the omega before the courtship was over, she could fall into a heat and he would have to tend to her.
He’d been looking forward to it, if he was honest with himself—even without heat, it was painful to be so close to the omega and not be able to do more than basic touching.
But it would put him in the awkward position of having to break a promise to his future mate. And that could affect the bond.
Why had he even made that promise to begin with?
And then his eyes flashed briefly to her breasts, and he remembered how he’d grabbed them, overflowing even from his large hands, while thrusting in her from behind. And then she’d begged so prettily for him to be hers and hers alone until she wore his bite on her skin.
Darion almost sighed. He needed to stop letting his cock make decisions for him.
“And so you decided to destroy her nest in jealousy?”
“No, Alpha, no,” she cried, grabbing his tunic and burying her face in his chest. Her whole body shook, and she whimpered.
The sound was… it used to be endearing. But ever since he’d started spending more time with the omega, there was something about it that unnerved him.
He patted her on the head. “Out with it, then.”
“She… she…” Kyntha whimpered again. “She came out with willow bark!”
Darion paused. She had said it like it was proof of something, like he should know what it meant.
He waited for her to explain.
“Willow bark, it is… a heat inducer.”
Darion froze. Was such a thing even possible?
“Come again?”
Kyntha looked up at him, tears lining her lashes. “I read about it a long time ago, that omegas could bring their heat early by chewing on willow bark.”
Then her face scrunched up as she began to sob again. “She’s trying to sabotage the ceremony! She will fall into a heat and require you to tend to her, leaving me alone during the final rituals. I just know it!”
Darion patted her again, looking away as he processed this information.
Kyntha had been in his ear about the omega from even before her designation emerged, worried there was something wrong with his bound Solvekh, that she coveted his courtship with Kyntha and wanted him for herself.
And because of that, he had misinterpreted her behavior, and it had almost cost the omega everything.
“You incorrectly trusted the word of an attendant before, and I nearly mutilated her because of it. I will not sentence her based on this accusation alone.”
“I understand, I’ve apologized for believing the Solvekh,” she said, sniffling. “Please… wait but a day… and if… if she doesn’t fall into a heat, my fears were unwarranted, and you may punish me however you see fit.”
“But?”
“But,” she said slowly. “If I am right…”
Darion nodded. It was a fair proposal, and allowed him time to think on what had happened before reacting rashly.
He’d done too much of that recently.
“Fine. Go to your room, Kyntha, and stay there. If by tomorrow evening she still has not fallen into heat, we will discuss the penalty for your egregious actions. And I will not be kind.”
Kyntha wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheeks. “Thank you, Alpha. Thank you… That’s all I ask.”
* * *
Darion drove the training blade into the Solvekh’s shoulder hard enough to knock him back a step across the packed dirt.
“Again,” he ordered.
The Solvekh was newly made. Strong, but undisciplined. He reset his stance immediately, chest heaving. Around them, the training yard rang with clashing steel and wood, shouted commands, and the pounding rhythm of boots as soldiers drilled beneath the afternoon sun.
The Solvekh lunged, and Darion twisted aside, catching his wrist and sweeping his legs out from under him in one smooth motion. The wolfkin hit the ground with a grunt.
“Too slow,” Darion said, offering him a hand up.
Before the Solvekh could take it, a guard hurried through the yard gates, breathing heavily.
“Alpha,” he called urgently. “There’s been a development with the omega.”
Darion’s stomach tightened.
He had not wanted to punish either of the she-wolves, but knowing the omega may have engaged in such deception was sickening. A betrayal after everything he’d given her.
Wiping his brow with the bottom of his tunic, he shoved the training blade hard into the ground, hopping over the rail in one smooth jump.
The guard began to follow him, but Darion dismissed him with a flick of his hand, needing to see this out alone.
The omega had sunk her claws into his father, his uncles, and brother. They would argue for leniency, as they always did, which only encouraged her to continue this petulant behavior.
No.
It undermined his bond with his future mate, and undermined his authority over the clan.
She would learn her lesson today.
The castle was quiet as he walked through the halls he’d mapped out since he’d been old enough to crawl, not even needing to think as his feet led him to the correct door.
And if his feet hadn’t been able to, his nose certainly would have.
He could already smell her, her scent having transformed into something that immediately set him on edge. Made his mouth water, his teeth ache, and his cock harden.
His wolf growled from the shadows in his mind.
Breed. Bite. Claim, he demanded.
Darion ignored him. His wolf had been spouting nothing but nonsense ever since he’d bound the omega to the pack, and he couldn’t let the beast dictate the actions of the man.
Her guard stood in front of her door, his face taut with concentration.
“Move,” he commanded.
The guard did so at once, and Darion took the key out of his pocket, letting himself in.
He’d been so angry, he had not adequately prepared himself for the temptation that might await him when he entered.
What scent had lingered in the hall was but a drop compared to the ocean he found himself in now, backing up against the wall for support as he drowned in her delicious perfume.
Then his eyes focused on the writhing, panting, naked she-wolf in front of him.
Her nest still in disarray, she had taken the few extra materials from his previously misplaced generosity and laid them on the floor. She was on top of them—eyes closed, back arched and teeth clenched in pain.
What are you waiting for? his wolf barked. Our omega is ready. Take her. Breed her!
Enough!
“Please,” she begged, her voice breathy. “Please, Alpha, I need you…”
Even the sound of her voice was enticing, and he palmed his cock, trying to keep hold of his mind before he fell into temptation.
He thought of Kyntha. His sweet Kyntha, who’d been right all along. She was waiting for him, and he would bring his lust to her, where it belonged.
“You contemptible excuse for a she-wolf,” he hissed. He knew if he got much closer, his instinct might take over, so he stayed as far away as he could.
“Wha—”
“Did you really think you could fool me? Trick me into leaving the side of my true mate, my love, right before the mating ceremony?”
The omega sobbed and moaned, grabbing at her hair and skin like it offended her.
It offended him.
“You couldn’t be grateful with the attention you had, hm? Had to make me believe you honored Kyntha’s request, that you respected her. All the while you plotted against her like the vicious little temptress you really are.”
“Please, I don’t know—”
“Do you or do not have willow bark?” he asked.
The omega wrapped her arms around her stomach, hissing and crying. “I do, but—”
“Did you get it from the healer?”
She whined and gave one, small nod, her face scrunching as a cramping wave rode her.
He had one hand on the doorknob. “Then that is all I need to know. For the punishment of your deception, I sentence you to suffer this heat alone. No alpha will tend to you. No mercy will be granted.”
She sobbed, still reaching for him. He almost gave in, and then shook his head to clear it.
“And I will not bed you until my true mate gives me my heir.”
He opened the door and shut it behind him before his wolf and instincts could intervene, already commanding him to return to her.
The guard looked at him, shock in his face. “Sir?”
Darion took a deep breath, the air still tainted but much cleaner in the hall. And then he looked at the guard.
“Meals only until it breaks.”
He swallowed, wincing when a desperate howl broke the air. “Sir…”
“That is all!”
Darion stormed towards Kyntha’s room, ready to shower her with the attention and pleasure she deserved, which was only ever going to be for her.