Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Akhtar
I made it, sis. I made it, Mother. I’m here. I’m home.
The uncertainty of his situation threatened to undo Akhtar, whose mind spun out of control as the sunset, and the annual Lunar Carnevale roared to life. They’d pulled into the gates the night before, set up camp, and amused themselves with song and drink. Well, the other dragonkin did while Akhtar hung near his mate.
He’d given up fighting, trying to hold onto the shreds of his misplaced pride. All to protect his family. What was the point in the face of twin truths that could no longer be denied? When he knew what was coming, and it was the only way to save her? It wouldn’t be long before Rikisha was butchered. Only a few more months before he bore their egg and started the long process of incubation with his frost, and their father’s flame. Akhtar was always quick to adapt, and knew he needed to do just that for Rikisha, for his growing child, for Fenix, and himself.
Especially himself. He deserved to lean on someone for once versus being a perpetual pillar of strength.
“Fated?” Fenix murmured against his neck; chest plastered to Akhtar ’s back. He pulled him from his thoughts, calloused hand cupping Akhtar’s swollen pec. They’d taken to sleeping together every night.
Akhtar hooked his finger around the ornate collar around his neck, another fashion piece commonly worn by werewolf omegas. But it seemed that an alpha’s possessiveness crossed all boundaries. And Fenix wanted to make it even more painfully clear who Akhtar belonged to, seeing as Kinev was crawling with alpha werewolves.
“Y-yes...?” The omega still felt uncertain and confused by the sudden intimacy in Fenix’s voice, and the tenderness he’d shown towards him all night long, and into the wee hours of morn’ once more, suckling his cock, fingering his ass. Fenix teased him relentlessly and never sought his release as his pregnancy progressed.
He has the patience of a saint. He would’ve fit in well with the fanatics, Akthar thought, barking with laughter that brought a lazy smile to his alpha’s lips, softening his chiseled features.
“It’s time.” Akhtar bristled but held back, knowing what would happen later that night.
Had Fenix not explained what was expected of an omega during the Carnevale? The Lunar Carnevale was a symphony of flesh both literal and in the sexual sense. It all seemed so flippant when his sister was facing death. But pregnant, Akhtar couldn’t go galivanting around to find her by himself. He had to rely on Luna and trust in Fenix for now.
Akhtar rolled onto his back and then got to his knees. The plush rugs and pillows were a welcome relief from the stiff wooden bed and prison he’d called home for how many days as he denied Fenix’s claim. Too many. He was happy to remain in the tent.
He stared up at Fenix who was already ready to leave, and to his surprise, Fenix’s gaze melted into a rich golden hue. Fenix’s nakedness didn’t enter Akhtar’s mind despite their suggestive positions, his flaccid cock mere inches away from his lips. Akhtar only thought of the finality of that moment. He would give in, not just for a night, or a week, or a month, or a year, but forever.
Neither of them seemed able to form words. Fenix turned on his heel and returned with the only thing that needed to be exchanged between them.
“Keep your promise.” Akhtar tried to sound brave even as Fenix affixed a simple black leash around his collared neck, symbolizing who was in charge now and always, forevermore.
“...Of course. Now come with me.”
“It’s beautiful!”
No words could express the exquisite beauty of the Lunar Carnevale. The cobblestone streets of Kinev were lined with lilies, lunar tears, and solar flare flowers, silver, gold, and red banners fluttering in the wind carrying the symbol of the Kin Empire, an Imperial Sky Serpent.
Every corner held a new surprise from magicians testing out magic tricks to acrobats practicing death-defying stunts. The number of kindred before Akhtar’s eyes was dizzying. Birds and wolves, oxen and cows—it seemed every shapeshifter on Lunaria was represented, welcome in their universal home, with no animosity between quarter bloods, half-bloods, and purebloods.
Akhtar slid closer to Fenix as they waved goodbye to Erasma and his crew. Why they separated, he didn’t know. But they seemed to part ways happily, so he didn’t fuss. They turned another corner, and Akhtar’s eyebrows lifted. Carrying a heavy golden bust of what he assumed was the first She-Wolf from a wolfen legend, albino teens struggled to lift her onto a platform.
They reminded him of Luna, who’d been absent since last night, searching for Rikisha. Just outside the gates, Akhtar could faintly smell more and more kindred crowding in, but also the presence of humans. Humans meant to be food.
Akhtar shuddered and leaned into Fenix’s, his scent lingering in the air, encasing Akhtar who could do nothing but blush. He was pumping out so many pheromones to blot out Akhtar’s, he was almost sick. They walked, shoulder to shoulder, down the narrow streets in absolute silence. Akhtar preferred this quiet, loving peace. He allowed his mind to wander, past the beauty of the Carnevale and the cramped city overflowing with wonders, back to the island of his birth.
Would he ever see it again? Taste pure spring water, smell the fresh air, squeeze damp dirt and sand underneath his bare feet, and take in all the scents and sights of home?
Not in that lifetime, potentially. Fenix had agreed to fulfill his wish and save his sister, which meant his home was within the empire now, his future Castle Shadowrin.
“Come and sit. You’ve been on your legs for far too long today,” Fenix grumbled as Akhtar laughed and did just like that.
Instead of fighting him, he listened for once. His ankle did pain him even though the swelling was gone, and he was walking much better than before.
“Thanks...” Akhtar didn’t know how to act around Fenix anymore since he stopped cowing him and started courting him instead. To go from being fucked until he fainted to being treated as a delicate, precious partner was off-putting, to say the least. Fenix didn’t hesitate to embrace him on the bench they perched on, and for that, he was thankful.
“Court...of...the...Moon?” Akhtar tested the words on a banner nearby, mouthing each syllable slowly. He glanced around, and sure enough, a super moon hung above their heads, lush vegetation surrounding them in the middle of the city. The courtyard was secluded, yet teeming with aromas one couldn’t mistake for anything else but mating musk.
Akhtar tensed. Fenix smirked. “Who knew you were such a strong reader?"
Akhtar scowled in return, and as if finally having some sense of self-awareness, Fenix gentled.
“It was a compliment. It is rare to find anyone literate and proficient in arithmetic among the common-born. That cult will be slaughtered, but I’m glad they thought you the empire’s tongue and mathematics.” Akhtar nodded at that. Was he lying? No, as much as the omega hated to admit it.
“Relax, fated. You second-guess my intentions too much. Eat. Drink your medicine. Relax.” As usual, Fenix ordered him to do something and expected Akhtar to listen.
But in the spirit of civility and learning to love and accept affection, Akhtar did as he was ordered to do with a smile. Reaching into the leather pouch tied around his waist, Akhtar pulled out a vial and swallowed the nasty tonic Luna had prepared. He nibbled on some sweets purchased for him from a street vendor. Then he rested on Fenix’s shoulder.
Fenix’s hand reached for his stomach, body curling to shield his omega under his wing. Akhtar marveled at the way Fenix petted him and played with his hair, murmuring underneath his breath sweet nonsense in a tongue he was unfamiliar with. It felt surreal, not only because he was too buff to play the coy maid, but also because it was such a sudden shift in Fenix’s personality, his air of cruel self-importance in front of his hoard, and lusty devious at night in Akhtar’s arms.
“You shouldn’t get me worked up if you will not take it all the way,” Akhtar whispered into Fenix’s ear, attempting to flirt as his alphas hand rubbed between his thighs, dangerously close to his straining cock.
Akhtar found himself straddling Fenix’s hips on the narrow wooden bench in the next breath. Fenix’s eyes smoldered with lust and something he couldn’t name.
“Work you up? Ha! All I’ve wanted to do is make love to you, but you are so rigid, so wounded, I’ve forced myself to hold back for weeks. Can’t you give just a little? I can give you so much. Give a little of yourself, open for me more my omega, and I will give tenfold! Surrender your heart to me.” Fenix sounded tormented and insignificant, shocking Akhtar to his core.
He wanted to chuckle, to reassure Fenix, and move on from this moment of utter vulnerability from his indomitable alpha. But Akhtar couldn’t help being immensely turned on by Fenix begging for his love. Begging for him! It was intoxicating.
“Am I resisting now? Do you think I am an oath breaker who does not keep my promises? I’m yours. Do with me what you like, alpha,” he sighed as Fenix relinquished his leash, hard, hot, and heavy kisses pressed to his neck as he allowed Fenix to claim him.
He ground against his alpha, careful not to tip them over the bench they sat on. Out in the open, like they were, Akhtar was afraid they’d be caught. But it also turned him on even more. Like their first mating, he liked it rough and wild and free he was beginning to realize.
Yes, the Lunar Carnevale was a time for prayer and goodwill, but it was also a place of free love. Many journeyed just to find a mate, stuck in tiny hamlets with no one to call their own. Akhtar pretended he was one such traveler, and Fenix a passing fling he met on the way that became his forever.
“Your pheromones, omega, those devilish pheromones. Oh, how I’ve wanted to slam inside you and lose myself again!” Fenix stood and lifted Akhtar into the air. His collar was suddenly undone, blasted by hot air
It always threw him for a loop how strong Fenix was. He turned around and sat Akhtar back down, unbuckling his pants. Akhtar didn’t need any direction; he knew what Fenix wanted. Parting his lips, the omega teased the tip of his alpha’s dripping erection with his tongue as it sprung from his pants. The taste was salty, unfamiliar to him now that he was fully aware, but he sucked and licked and stroked without question.
It was second nature to him now to crave Fenix’s scent, taste, and touch. He bobbed his head back and forth as Fenix met him with short thrusts, head rolling back as he fucked his throat.
“You’ve improved, omega. Why is that?” Fenix gritted out as he sped up, and Akhtar allowed him to take over. “Luna will die after his mission is he’s the reason why.”
As he pulled out so Akhtar could breathe, he wondered that himself.
Maybe he was less afraid of the changes inside his body so became more debauched? Or maybe he hadn’t gotten better, and Fenix was just more horny? Either way, he felt the urge to tease him, to elicit the reaction he knew would get Fenix worked into a frenzy, and in turn, make Akhtar sail in the stars from Lunaria.
“Practice...” Akhtar shivered as Fenix ’s eyes darkened, licking the tip, “makes perfect.”
He whimpered, gagging, as Fenix thrust to the hilt and held. He clutched the sides of his face, nails digging into his chin as he came. Akhtar involuntarily swallowed some of his seed with watery eyes, his claws lengthening and digging into his alpha’s ass.
As he pulled out, he gripped Akhtar’s throat and waited. Akhtar swallowed hesitantly, licking his lips and opening his mouth to show he was done. Fenix seemed to approve of it because he bent forward to kiss him, before shoving his face back down.
His grunts crescendoed into moans of pleasure as Akhtar ran his tongue from Fenix’s balls to the tip of his cock. Akhtar was no master cock sucker, despite teasing, but he’d always been a quick learner, and lavished his alpha’s shaft with affection just as his alpha had done to him until he burst all over his face again.
“Who taught you to suck cock like that? Tell the truth before my anger boils over,” Fenix demanded in between heavy breaths.
“You did by sucking me so many nights,” Akhtar whimpered. “I want more, Fenix. Alpha, make me come.”
Fenix grabbed him by his collar and kissed him passionately before slapping his ass, “Lift your ass to me, mate, and let me feast on my reward. Your reward, for being such a sweet little hatchling.”
Akhtar obliged, turning and bending over the bench as he cupped the hard knot of his rounded stomach. Fenix’s tongue pressed against his clenched hole, his claws grazing his mate’s thighs and then his omega’s cheeks as he parted them for better access.
He stroked his mate and sucked on his forbidden ring, so tenderly and thoroughly Akhtar was seeing stars in a starless sky.
“Beg for me, omega,” Akhtar demanded as Akhtar came.
“Breed my ass, alpha!” he roared as chunks of ice danced in the air from his roaring release.
“Lift your ass,” Fenix growled, and Akhtar did so slowly, unsure of what to expect.
But he wasn’t met with force, quite the opposite, the way Fenix impaled him with the patience of an acolyte put him at ease. It gave him time to adjust to his girth he’d missed for weeks. Fenix’s cock was massive and thick, and since he wasn’t semi-dazed by his heat, he felt every inch.
As Akhtar rocked back on Fenix’s erection, he felt it deep inside brushing against a special place. Cradling his stomach, Akhtar begged Fenix to speed up. He did, pulling out entirely before slamming back inside. They kept that pace until the frost dragonkin thought his legs would give out. Just as he folded, Fenix took hold of him, one hand around his throat and the other digging into his hip to keep him stable, now at Fenix’s mercy.
“Mine,” Fenix sputtered between the pistoling of his hips slapping against the omega’s sculpted ass, “Make me cum! ”
Akhtar assumed it was an order and dutifully clenched down. He seemed to have an insatiable appetite for cock as of late, and he was finally allowing himself to let go and let the alpha have his way with him with no regrets. What else was there to lose?
As Fenix lost control of the rhythm, their bodies no longer moving in tandem, Akhtar braced himself to take his seed. Fenix came, and when he did, the same explosive high overtook the omega as it did the first time. His eyes rolled back, and lips parted as he came buckets on the ground, soaking his trembling thighs.
“I will find a way to make things right...” Fenix panted out, still swelling inside him as they returned to Lunaria together. “Rikisha will be saved. We’ll be home. I cannot wait for that day.”
“I know you will. You keep your promises,” Akhtar whimpered as Fenix shifted so he was no longer leaning over his back, his shaft sinking deeper into Akhtar’s tender core as he stood up right.
As if to seal that promise, Fenix bit down into the nape of Akhtar’s neck, creating twin scars. For once, all was right in the world for Akhtar. His sister would be saved. He would build a new home. He knew this with certainty as he faded away in his alpha’s arms.
Akhtar awoke the next morning nestled in a massive nest within the royal castle. Once Akhtar had finally committed to accepting the inevitable, it was like Fenix had turned into a new person, affectionate, somewhat funny, and a much more thorough lover.
He’d called it “relearning each other’s bodies.” Akhtar thought of it as an embarrassing examination under candlelight that night, trying positions he didn’t know one could be penetrated in, and more things that made him feel devious inside. The head cleric had taught Akhtar that it was an omega’s duty to serve, be docile, and accept, without question, what an alpha demanded and chief among these alphas, Nocturnos. None of the cleric’s lessons covered a lover who didn’t mind being on the receiving end despite being an alpha, at least with Akhtar’s tongue, or the fact that sex should be pleasurable for all parties involved.
Fenix also had a taste for punishment that had come as a surprise. Akhtar’s bum still ached from being slapped so many times, and his head ached in places where Fenix had yanked his now shoulder-length blue hair. No matter, it wasn’t like he’d scared his omega, and Akhtar had to admit it had made him come harder, and for much longer each time.
Still, it was all new and confusing for Akhtar who dared to admit it to himself as they prepared to attend a meeting with most of the royals who had pledged allegiance to the empress.
The journey to the ballroom did not take long after Akhtar was stuffed into form masking noble attire in the colors of the Shadowrin Clan; Akhtar was glued to his alpha’s side and flanked by guards. Once they were accepted inside and made their way through the grand accouterments decorating the grand hall, they mingled. The empress was somewhere in the corner of his vision, but she was unimpressive to Akhtar, whose eyes were locked on his mate, talking to kindred of every noble rank easily.
He was dressed like a king and would’ve been if the Shadowrin Clan hadn’t submitted to the new empress. Akhtar wasn’t privy to statecraft enough to understand why, but all he knew was that fate had given him an honorable alpha, concerned about protecting his people rather than power, and Akhtar would do his best one day to be worthy of the title of Fenix Shadowrin’s mate. Once they found Rikisha, they…
“Rikisha,” Akhtar murmured as he sipped water from a goblet flavored with drops of honey.
He hoped Luna would make progress soon and update them. His stomach twisted in knots, knowing her journey had been harder than his and would end in tragedy even as Akhtar had found his destiny if she wasn’t saved. He hated to think of the possibility of failing her. He didn’t even think the likelihood of harming something so precious as a dragonkin egg could stop him from hurling himself from another cliff.
Fenix pulled him close, sensing and scenting the shift in his mood, murmuring, “I hate this sour smell. Cheer up.”
His alpha was being overly affectionate. Akhtar could tell by how other alphas bowed their heads, averted their eyes, and cleared their throats while finely dressed omegas giggled into their palms or delicate fans.
“Luna will find her. I promise. In fact, Cassian has decided to take a more civilized offer if the councilmen I just spoke to are correct. Rather than being eaten, they are to be made slaves. Even if the price on her head were the Shadowrin’s hoarded wealth, I’d buy her back so we can move on as a family. The war is drawing to an end with the werewolves’ surrender. Soon, this bloody mess will be behind us, and we’ll have better days ahead.”
His words sent Akhtar up and over the moon. Without a second thought, Akhtar went up on her tiptoes to kiss Fenix, earning a shout of dismay and a cackle from the uptight nobles surrounding them.
Fenix’s eyes widened before his face transformed into a roguish grin.
“If saving her will earn me more sweet kisses, maybe I’ll have her kidnapped by my men to save her again,” he joked, and Akhtar elbowed him hard because it was not funny.
Their playful banter abruptly ended as a loud bang drew their attention to the ballroom’s main doorway. A young man stepped in as chatter lulled into whispers. He was dressed in the palace magician’s ceremonial robes, but the colors were inverted, gold on white instead of white on gold. Acolytes. Acolytes of… someone that made bells of warning chime in Akhtar’s head as tattoos peeked out from under his robe.
Fenix snarled as the stranger lifted his hand, palms upward, muttering some incantation as guards rushed him.
“What is that,” Erasma shouted, her gruff voice cutting through the room. The music came to a screeching halt as a commotion turned into a sea of kindred pushing the mated pair towards a large window thrust open by servants.
Various noble born gathered behind their guards and the palace soldiers for protection. Their whispers of confusion turned to panic as plumes of white and black smoke rose into the air, dotting the dark horizon in every direction as far as their eyes could see.
Something was very wrong. Fenix’s hoard could sense it, too, drawing their swords, some even baring their fangs and claws as they closed rank around their alpha and his mate.
Such acts of aggression were forbidden on royal soil. But now wasn’t the time to stand on principle. Rules wouldn’t shield them from a cult deadest on summoning violence. Because all at once, Akhtar knew! He knew they were after her, knew this was their chance to bring about the end of days by birthing a–
“Akhtar!” Fenix screamed, but Akhtar felt too far away to respond to his mate. And then the world shattered, and the omega swung wildly in the dark as the world melted away.