Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Soren
Days blurred together in a way that should have felt suffocating, but with Theo, it wasn’t. It was special and indulgent. Every hour we spent tangled in the sheets only cemented him deeper beneath my skin, soul, and blood.
By the time we finally resurfaced, I knew one thing with absolute certainty: My love had bloomed for my fated mate instantly.
He was now at the center of my world, and I would do anything for him. No matter what he wished for, I would fulfill it.
After showering, we stood in his room, dressing. Since I’d already completed the task, I watched Theo as he picked up his club vest and placed it on with a small, pleased smile.
“I should go to the nightclub to check on things,” I told him, adjusting my cuffs.
Yet, I didn’t want to leave him.
Every instinct I possessed, ancient and territorial, wanted him exactly where he was. At my side. Under my protection and within reach.
This feeling of possessiveness would ease with time, but it was currently consuming me. However, I didn’t want him to feel I was smothering if he didn’t have the same need to stick close.
I exhaled slowly. “You can come… or stay. I’m sure you have your own responsibilities.”
There, I had given him the illusion of choice. It made me seem like a good mate, right?
Theo stepped in to me without hesitation, his rough fingers catching my jaw, dragging my attention fully onto him. “I ain’t ready to let you leave.”
I stilled.
The words shouldn’t have hit as hard as they did.
“Sorry?” I asked, quieter than intended.
A smirk curved his mouth, all confidence and heat. “Not without me. I’m coming with you, babe.”
Something dark and pleased unfurled inside my chest.
Relieved he was as addicted as I was.
I pushed into him, claiming his mouth with mine. I trailed my lips over his jaw, his neck, and scraped my teeth over his flesh. My fangs ached to be embedded. But I’d already taken enough today.
Theo wound his hand around my throat and forced me back. “We either continue this or leave because if we don’t leave, I’ll have you naked in seconds and my cock buried inside you.”
My hole throbbed.
I wanted that.
But I had to remember my fated mate was human. He needed time to regain his strength. It was lucky that Riker had left food and water outside the door for Theo to refuel.
“Will you stay at my place tonight?” I asked.
“Fuck yeah.”
“Then we shall leave.”
His fingers tightened around my neck. “Just know, babe, that anytime you want me, you have me. Dick or blood or anything. No matter where we are or who’s around. I’m all yours in any way you desire.”
A warmth hummed under my skin.
“You really were destined to be mine.”
He grinned and pulled me back in for another kiss.
It seemed Fate did know what they were doing when gifting such a treasure to me.
We may have been worlds apart, but we were making our own special existence together.
The moment we stepped into the club, the shift was immediate. Everyone’s attention locked onto us.
Theo’s arm was slung around my waist, his presence loud and unapologetic. Possessive in a way that should have grated against everything I was.
Instead, I leaned into it.
Owned it because he owned me in every possible way.
The music didn’t falter, but the atmosphere changed.
Conversations dipped.
Predators stilled.
They weren’t just looking at me.
They were looking at him.
At us.
I didn’t like their attention on him, but I knew this had to happen. Everyone had to understand.
The scent in the air changed—recognition, disbelief.
“What?” Theo muttered, scanning the room. “Do I have somethin’ on my face?”
Smirking, I leaned against him. “No, my pet.” My voice dropped, instinctively laced with warning. “They’re reacting to you. Us.”
He snorted, unconcerned. “Yeah? Why?”
When we reached the center of the floor, the whispers started to grow louder.
“Impossible…”
“He’s human.”
“No. Why would our Eminence allow this?”
I felt the shock ripple through the room.
Theo’s brows pulled down. “The hell are they on about?”
I leaned in, letting my lips brush the shell of his ear, letting them see how taken I was with my fated mate. “They can smell it.”
He went still beneath my touch. “Smell what?”
My fingers dug into his hip, grounding myself as much as him. “That you are mine and I am yours.”
The words settled in the room like a verdict.
Danny, one of my guards for the club, approached slowly and cautiously. His gaze flicked between us, wide with something close to disbelief. “Boss…,” he said carefully. “Is it true?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Spade is my fated mate. The claim has been sealed.” I wouldn’t give them his actual name. That was mine and mine alone.
The reaction was immediate and explosive.
“What the fuck—”
“A human?”
“He’s fated to him?”
“No way—”
Theo stepped forward before I could, his shoulders rolling, his presence rising to meet theirs like a challenge thrown. It was wonderful. Beautiful. And scary at the same time because any one of these monsters could kill him in seconds.
But they’d have to go through me first, and I believed I was feared enough to stop anyone.
Theo lifted his arms, spread them wide. “Anyone got a problem with me and Soren?”
Silence slammed down.
Good.
I slid my hand up his back in a slow and deliberate manner. It was possessive and claiming too.
“No one,” I said smoothly, letting just enough of my power bleed into my voice to crush any lingering doubt, “will have a problem with what belongs to me.”
The threat coiled through the room. And just like that, heads bowed in respect.
I was a powerful elder in this domain. I was owed obedience.
Monsters of all types asked for permission to live in my territory under my protection.
The only ones who hadn’t were Riker and his brothers, but they worked for the council, obliterating any who stepped out of line and also ending any human with a corrupt soul.
Since they were doing a job that I would usually see to, we’d become more equals and friends than anything.
The same went for Dashiel, who was a royal fae member, even though he preferred to live in this world rather than his own.
He didn’t want the title, just a quiet life with his future fated.
Now that I had my own, and I knew the feeling it could bring me, I prayed that he would be gifted with such a treasure too.
Theo leaned closer, his voice low against my ear. “You wanna explain that?”
A faint smile curved my lips. “They bow because they understand what you do not.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Which is?”
I guided him forward, deeper into the club, where a booth was already being cleared for us and drinks appeared without request.
“Sit,” I murmured.
He did while watching everything around us.
Good. He would need that sense of awareness.
As we settled, another member of my people approached.
“Eminence.” She dipped her head to me and then lower to Theo. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mary.”
As soon as she was gone, others stepped up. Some were cautious. More were curious. And all were respectful.
Every single one of them dipped their heads first to me and then to Theo.
There was still a line, but when Theo’s gaze snapped to me, making it clear he was tired of waiting for answers, I lifted a hand and waved the rest away.
“All right, I’m not stupid. You’re someone important. More than a bar owner. But why the hell are they bowing to me?”
I picked up my glass and swirled the whiskey around. “Because,” I said softly, “you stand beside me.”
He frowned. “That ain’t enough to make everyone bow.”
He was correct; it wasn’t.
I took a slow sip before setting the glass down, meeting his eyes fully. “You’re bonded to me,” I said, “which makes you untouchable.” Hopefully.
His jaw tightened slightly, but he didn’t interrupt.
“And more than that—” I leaned in, lowering my voice, threading truth through every word. “—I am not merely their employer, Theo.”
Understanding flickered—just a spark.
“I am their elder.” Silence stretched between us. “This region—every creature within it—answers to me.”
His brows rose, something like impressed disbelief crossing his features. “You’re serious.”
“I do not joke about power.”
There was a beat before his mouth curved, slow and dangerous. “So, what you’re sayin’ is—” He leaned forward as his eyes locked with mine. “—I’ve been walkin’ around with a king?”
Something dark and happy coiled in my chest again. Smirking, I shook my head. “Just a very powerful elder with a lot of money.”
He chuckled. “And does that make me your sugar baby?”
Laughing, I reached out, gripped his chin, and kissed him lightly.
“That, but also my equal,” I said. “Whether they like it or not.” I needed him to know he would always come first. And anyone who challenged that wouldn’t last long.
Around us, the club moved again but differently now.
More aware and cautious because the truth had settled in.
He wasn’t just mine.
He stood beside me.
And in this world, that meant everything.