Bonds of Pain (The Claiming Games #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

LOGAN

T his is the first time I’ve ever seen Maya truly calm. Every feature on her face relaxed, the daze of her stupor overcoming all that unnecessary emotion. Those little furrows on her forehead have smoothed out, and the tension that usually tightens the cupid’s bow of her lips has disappeared.

Too many orgasms, too much pleasure overloading every synapse until her mind was forced to shut down.

Blissed out.

If only I thought this would last after she wakes up.

Her heat ended quickly, lasting hours rather than days. I like to think that I made the most of it, but I’m looking forward to the next one. And the next. Every heat cycle she has from this day forward will belong to me.

Because she belongs to me. Finally.

The squeak of a mattress distracts me from my study of Maya’s face.

Cillian glares at me, expression more baleful than it’s ever been. The contrast between them is pure irony.

I cut him off before he opens his mouth. “Whatever you’re going to say, I don’t want to hear it.”’

He ignores the implied threat in my voice, which doesn’t surprise me.

Pale hair falls across his face as he pushes himself up at the edge of his nest, arms trembling as he struggles to support his own weight.

Cillian’s voice cuts through the room, devastating in the quiet. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”

I stroke a few violet strands of Maya’s hair away from her face, savoring the silky texture between my fingers. “I’ve claimed what’s mine.”

“But she isn’t just yours, is she?” Cillian stands on shaking legs, his lean frame vibrating with tension. “You manipulated me into creating a mating bond with her. You used me like a fucking puppet.”

I meet his ice-chip eyes without flinching. “I did what I had to do.”

“Necessary?” He takes a stumbling step, hands clenching and unclenching. “I always knew you were selfish, Logan, but this? This is a new low, even for you.”

The accusation stings more than it should.

What does he want from me? I did this to protect all of us, Maya included.

Eventually, the king was going to expect to see some proof of my bond with a female Omega.

Unless Cillian plans to leap headfirst off the palace’s highest tower or find some previously unknown way to break a mating bond, this is the only viable solution.

I found the only viable solution.

He should be thanking me for accomplishing something that shouldn’t even be possible.

I rise from Maya’s nest, drawing myself to my full height. My royal blood, my status as pack Alpha, is none of it enough to demand his respect?

“You forget your place.”

“My place?” Cillian’s laugh holds no humor. “Please remind me what my place is, Your Highness . It’s been long enough that I find myself unable to recall so many details.”

My reply is cold, anger restrained, so I don’t do something I’ll regret. “You are a member of this pack. You have a permanent place of privilege at my side. What more is there for me to give you?”

He doesn’t even blink. “That is the question, isn’t it?”

The walls he keeps erected between us have cracks, giving me the barest glimpse into the emotions swirling behind that icy gaze. Jealousy, I expect. Even the rage is understandable.

But it’s the sudden spike of fear that has me staring at him until he finally looks away.

My attention returns to Maya. That furrow is back between her closed eyes. She won’t be unconscious for much longer. “She’ll accept this. She doesn’t have any other choice.”

“That’s your solution? Force her into a terrible situation and expect her to just deal with it because she has no options?” Cillian steps closer, hunched posture still somehow laden with threat. “That’s not how consent works.”

“She’s an Omega. I’m giving her protection, status?—“

“Stop.” Cillian’s voice drops to something dangerous. “Don’t pretend this is about her welfare. This is about your obsession, your need to possess her.”

He seems to have forgotten who I am. It takes effort to prevent myself from delivering a painful reminder.

I feel my lip curl. “And what would you know about it?”

“I know that I can already feel her emotions.” Cillian taps his temple. “The bond is forming whether either of us wanted it or not. And let me tell you something, my prince—“ he spits the title like it’s poison “—she may look calm right now, but there’s going to be a firestorm when she wakes up.”

The thought of Maya’s rage should concern me. Instead, I feel a thrill of anticipation. Her anger will be glorious in its force, and I’ll enjoy being the one to harness it.

She’s always been at her most magnificent when she’s in a rage, all that carefully controlled power finally unleashed.

“Let her rage,” I say, returning to sit beside her sleeping form. “It won’t change anything.”

“You really don’t get it, do you?” Cillian shakes his head in disbelief. “This isn’t just about Maya being angry. This is about you violating her autonomy, her right to choose. You’ve forced a permanent bond on her through me.”

“A bond that will protect her.”

“A bond she never consented to!” Cillian’s voice rises, and I glance at Maya, concerned the noise might wake her. “Neither of us consented to this.”

I ignore the twinge of conscience. Guilt is a useless emotion. I did what had to be done.

Even if I don’t know all the secrets of Maya’s past, I know she came here for a reason.

Whatever threat compelled her to return to the palace, to sign a mating contract with me, has been effectively neutralized.

“She signed a contract,” I remind him. “It isn’t my fault if she misunderstood the terms. I saved her, just like I saved you. She’ll understand that, eventually.”

“No, she won’t.” Cillian’s unwavering certainty breaks through the barriers of our bond. His resolve is so cold that it burns with paradoxical heat. “I can feel her right now. Confusion, betrayal, and something building that feels like...like a fucking lightning storm.”

I study Maya’s peaceful face, trying to imagine the tempest supposedly brewing beneath. “I think you’re being a little dramatic.”

“And you’re being willfully blind.” Cillian approaches the opposite side of the nest, placing himself between me and the door as if he thinks I might try to escape. “What do you think is going to happen? She’ll wake up, realize she’s bonded to both of us, and just fall into line?”

Doubt has never been a kingmaker.

I stand abruptly, unwilling to show how his words affect me. “I did what any Alpha would do.”

“No. You did what Prince Logan always does. The most selfish and entitled thing imaginable. Taking what you want with no consideration for anyone else.”

I turn my back on Cillian, ignoring the rest of his lecture. His words are nothing but noise—irrelevant, inconvenient noise. I’ve done what needed to be done. Maya’s safety is secured, and my position is protected. Everything else is just details.

“Where are you going?” Cillian demands as I bend over Maya’s sleeping form.

I slip one arm beneath her knees and the other around her shoulders, lifting her against my chest. She’s heavier than I expect, even as dead weight, as if the mass of everything that just happened has settled into her very bones.

That’s fine. The bond will eventually settle, and so will her shattered psyche. I have the rest of our lives to make sure that happens.

Her body instinctively curls into my chest. Her hair glitters with a jewel-tone under the fluorescent light.

“We can’t stay down here forever,” I say, adjusting my grip. “She needs a proper bed. We all do.”

Maya’s head rests against my shoulder, her breath warm against my neck. The intimacy of it, the rightness, sends a surge of possessiveness through me that I don’t bother to hide.

“You can’t just—“ Cillian starts.

“Maya is your Omega, too. Don’t you want to make sure she’s comfortable? Can’t you feel it? The need to see her taken care of?”

The words are bait. But that doesn’t stop Cillian’s gaze from reflexively flicking over her still form, lingering on the swollen imprint of his teeth on the back of her shoulder.

I head toward the stairs, not bothering to look back. “Or you’re welcome to stay here alone if you prefer.”

His footsteps follow me after only a moment’s hesitation, just as I knew they would. For all his anger and defiance, Cillian won’t abandon her. Won’t abandon us. The bond won’t let him, no matter how much he tries to resist it.

The basement stairs are narrow, forcing me to turn slightly sideways to navigate them without bumping Maya’s head or feet against the walls.

Her scent envelops me with each step—strawberries and champagne, now layered with the unmistakable notes of both Cillian and me.

The combination is intoxicating, proof of what we’ve accomplished.

What I’ve accomplished.

The door at the top of the stairs remained locked, as I made sure of that before we came down.

I have to maneuver around the bulk of Maya’s unconscious body to undo the locks one-by-one.

The array is impressive, practically Alpha-proof without a way to just break down the metal door itself.

I never would have gotten past this barrier if Cillian hadn’t let me inside.

I’d thank him if I thought he would at all appreciate the sentiment.

After pushing the door open with my shoulder, hands firmly gripping my new Omega, I emerge into the dimly lit hallway of the east wing’s private quarters. The air is cooler here, air-conditioning on full blast, and Maya shivers slightly in my arms.

“I’m taking her to our chambers,” I say, already moving in that direction.

“Now, it’s our chambers? That’s new,” Cillian scoffs from behind me. “Or maybe I’m misremembering all the times I was commanded to return to my chambers, Cillian . I don’t ever recall you referring to it as ours .”

The note of hurt under his anger is something I know I’ll have to eventually address, but now isn’t the time for it.