by Zoey Ellis
"It means your word," she shot back at him.
They glared at each other until Tyomar spoke again. "Does anyone know how she knew about the weakness in Zendyor's lair," he asked.
"She studies land and weather," Uraya said. "If she was able to map out and study the geological context of the Forbidden Mountains, then she has the ability to locate the lairs and determine if their structures are sound.”
"I can’t see how she'd be able to do that," I'mya said. "It seems impossible."
Zendyor shot to his feet as a surge of annoyance spun in his chest. "This is ridiculous!" he bellowed. Everyone stilled. "We are going around in circles. We need to make decisions and move forward with a plan!"
"We have to make sure we have good information so we don't make mistakes planning out our attack," Sethorn said. "You know this, Zendyor. We cannot be reckless. We have to be prepared to wait and think through the options to make the right choice. We cannot afford mistakes."
"It has been over six months since our first encounter and threat from the king," Zendyor shot back. “Six months. In that time, we have had two situations with the queen. And out of all of us, my omega was threatened the worst. We could have stopped them before now and we didn't. I want something done to eliminate these threats! We are dragorai. They cannot have any more skill in Thrakondarian than we do. It is impossible. They are learning it, while it is our mother tongue. I want a plan put in place today so we can move forward with a plan which can get us real results. We have already mapped out each of the Dominions—we know the topography, the demography, the weaknesses and the strengths. Why can we not make any solid plans?"
The room remained silent.
Zendyor glared at everyone daring someone to speak and to disagree with him. Elora’s small, cool hand slipped into his, and when he looked down she smiled up at him, pride in her eyes and he felt it twisting through their bond. He sat back down and pulled her into his lap, cuddling her into him as she stroked his arms. He didn’t care if it wasn’t appropriate for the meeting.
Zendyor was glad to see Khyros finally rise up. He was the only one who could approve any decision, and it was his role to decide on the direction they would go.
His calm voice permeated the quiet of the room. “We agreed that we need to attack the king and queen simultaneously to cause the most damage," he began. "We need someone to take responsibility for the king—"
"That will be me," Nyro said.
"—and someone to take responsibility for the queen."
"I will," Zendyor said.
Khyros inclined his head in agreement. "Sethorn," he said, glancing at the brother immediately to his right. "We must honor the agreement that we made with Uraya to get her friend back from the queen. We have not yet shown her that we will stand by our word. You are going to take the lead on that.”
Sethorn's jaw hardened. "I am better with strategy, not rescue missions."
"You will need to strategize for both Zen and Nyro, and Uraya to get this friend of hers back." He turned to Tyomar. “Tyomar, you will need to liaise with the Mheyu and then work with Zendyor and Nyro and relay any pertinent information.”
Khyros was then quiet for a moment, looking at them all. "Vattoros, we cannot, cannot, lose any brother or any dragon, but we must do what we need to protect ourselves. Be careful and work together.”
Everyone around the table nodded, cautiously looking around at each other. Sethorn was glaring at the new girl, who looked miserable at the decisions being made for her.
"Thank you, Khyros," Zendyor said, glad they were moving forward on a plan to avenge his omega.
Later that evening, instead of spending time in the Dao room, Zendyor took the opportunity to continue what he’d started after the ordination.
Wrapped around him, and pleasurably snug on his knot, Elora lifted her head and watched him closely. "The meeting today was productive.”
"I think it was," Zendyor said, rolling them over to one side to grab a glass of water for her.
"I don't want you to be reckless," Elora said as she sipped.
Zendyor gave her a look. “I might descend into my rage easily, but I’m not usually reckless.”
"But you might be now."
Zendyor frowned, pulling her away to look down at her as she finished drinking. He took the glass and drank deeply, set it back down, then rolled them back over to the middle of the bed. "What are you worried about?"
Elora sighed. "I can feel your anger about the attack within the bond," she said. "And I’m worried about it. There’s a simmering rage that you’re holding back. I can feel it. I don’t want your anger to get in the way and you to get hurt."
"I won’t let that happen, Elora," Zendyor said. "I can control my anger when I want to. I'm just trying to prevent anything further from happening to you," he clarified. "Or to anyone else. That was my point today."
"I know," Elora said. "I just want to make sure you’re not at risk from this rage you have.” She looked him in the eye. “I want you to forgive the queen.”
“What?” Zendyor thundered. “Forgive her? For what she did to you?”
“I’m not saying not to still carry out what was decided on today,” Elora said. “But if you forgive her, you’ll make more strategic decisions.”
He held her chin. “Elora. She dropped you in midair with the intent to kill you and crushed our mountain and lair to kill our staff. On a whim. It cannot be forgiven.”
Elora was silent for a moment. “One of the things the Goddess said to me when I saw her the second time was that I cannot expect to always seek only the good and the happy experiences in life and ignore the negative and terrible ones. The good and bad have to go together—they create balance.” Her eyes drifted up to Zendyor’s. “I’ve been thinking about what she said about my faction. I don’t know what negative things were happening I wasn’t aware of, they did not share those things with me. My opinion of them has always been that they were fair and just. But what if they weren’t? I believe we have to open our eyes and accept that there are some things that will always be troublesome or worrying or unpleasant, but doesn’t mean we cannot accept that and still find joy.” She gazed at Zendyor. “I want you to promise you will connect with me through the bond if you ever feel you are getting too overwhelmed with anger."
Zendyor thought for a moment. "I can. But I don’t know how effective I will be in battle if I don’t have the strength anger gives me. It is what defines me. I cannot change it.”
Elora nodded. "I know. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use it. I’m saying, let me reinforce you. Let me be the balance for your anger. I am your mate, and I will always be right here.” She placed her hand on his chest, in the same place she had all those nights she soothed him. "I will always be here to calm you or help you channel your rage."
Zendyor pulled her close to him, nuzzling his nose into her warm, scented neck. "And I will always be here as your family, Elora. Your rock, your base, whenever you feel unsettled," he said. He kissed her neck and along her jaw, and pulled back to look into her beautiful, grey eyes. “I exist for you.”
Epilogue
The tremors of Elora's heat started when she was on dragon-back.
Yorgy was flying fast, shooting across the range, twisting and turning, his path unpredictable. Elora found this kind of flight thrilling and she encouraged him to fly like that wherever possible, even though Zendyor was not keen on it. He thought Yorgy shouldn't fly this fast unless he was hunting, and that it could be dangerous for Elora since she had never trained for it and didn’t know what to expect.
Elora enjoyed the feeling of being out of control—feeling like anything could happen at any moment, though of course it never did. Yorgy was so good at flying—he maneuvered with perfection.
Elora’s heat came on her in waves of need, trembling from the deepest depths in the pit of her stomach and out to her extremities. At first she wasn’t sure what it was—she’d never experienced it before—but after t
he first heightened wave that left her breathless and desperate to strip her clothes off, she knew she had to get back to her alpha. Placing a hand on the back of Yorgy’s neck, she channeled into their bond.
The bond between the three of them was a layered experience. Sometimes she could feel Yorgynel’s moods the most, and sometimes Zendyor’s were stronger. It wasn't a conscious decision she made to feel one more than the other; it tended to depend on proximity or the strength of an emotion. Other times, however, if she focused she could choose to feel one over the other. From her understanding, the three-way bond heightened their understanding of each other’s moods, especially Yorgynel’s. Zendyor had explained that before the bond, his communication with his dragon had been based mainly on intermittent bursts of strong emotions whereas now his communication was much more stable and nuanced.
Elora now focused in on her bond exclusively with Yorgynel and urged him to hurry home.
By the time they arrived outside their new lair, intense waves of need were spiraling, doubling in intensity and making it hard to speak. She focused her mind as much as she could, and cast an incantation to lift her from Yorgy’s back straight into their chambers.
Thankfully, Marahl was there.
"I’ve added your tunics with the bright yellow bodice you asked for to your chest of drawers," Marahl said, clearly disapproving of the color. "The old ones are in the bottom drawer, so if you find that you changed your mind about being lit up like a lemon, you can always find them there."
Elora grunted in the back of her throat as another wave of need slammed into her. She crumpled to the ground, her entire body trembling.
"Elora!” Marahl was alarmed. “Are you all right?"
Stepping toward Elora, her nose flared, then her eyes widened with understanding. She rushed out of the room quickly without saying another word.
Elora would have sighed with relief if she wasn't being so inundated with powerful urges. She curled up on the ground, tensing her whole body through the next urgent need that gripped her, wondering where in all seven hells Zendyor was.
Finally, just before she was about to lose her mind, he barreled into the room.
"Elora."
She knew the moment he scented her. He slowed, his eyes turning dark and a growl coming from his throat that made her slick gush from her body. Elora whimpered, wishing he would hurry.
"You are ready," he said, his voice guttural as he pulled his clothes off.
"Please…" Elora couldn't manage to say more than that. He lifted her off the ground, burying his nose to her body, anywhere he could reach, squeezing the fleshy parts of her as she hummed in delight that his hands were finally on her.
Elora wasn’t sure when exactly her clothes came off, but Zendyor's face was between her legs the next time another wave of need hit. He groaned again as she tensed and writhed her hips onto his face.
"Your scent is even better," he muttered, his mouth full of her. “I didn’t think it could be possible.”
Elora had nothing to say. She was trying to hold back from descending into the madness that beckoned. Was this what the Goddesses had been blocking her from?
Was this what they were trying to prevent from happening to her out in the wild?
Logical thought petered out as the next surge gripped her.
Zendyor had thankfully undressed and yanked her toward him, his thick, stiff cock, a beauty to behold as it protruded upward, dripping with fluid.
Elora opened her legs wide, pleading with him to give her what she needed. And as he stepped forward, wildness embraced his gaze and she knew she would get what she needed and wanted.
Elora lost all track of time and all notion of who she was. Her alpha pounded her body, giving her climax after climax to settle the constant urge inside her. She clawed at him, screamed at him, pleaded for what she needed, and all the while not knowing what she was even saying.
The only thing she knew was that she had an urge of need and he had to quench it; he was the only one who could.
His body battered hers for hours, brutal, savage, raw, and desperate. He found every position to satisfy her—on her back, her knees, her front—wedging her open with his cock with each sloppy slam, sending her beams of satisfaction each time she was full of him.
Of course, her alpha was the perfect alpha. He was relentless with the need to satisfy her. Even when she passed out from exhaustion, he was ready for her as soon as she stirred, claiming every inch of her and never allowing her to wake without his cock ready to fill her.
Unfortunately, there were also times when he was highly annoying. Like when he kept trying to tip water into her throat or push food into her mouth. It wasn't what she wanted! And yet, there were times when she appreciated the cool, silky feel of the water as it trickled down her throat. Or when the intense flavor of the food warmed her belly and calmed her so that she had a less fitful sleep. But the thing she loved the most in her mouth was the tip of his cock. Salty, smooth on her tongue, and highly saturated with a more developed version of his scent that drove her into a frenzy. If only he would feed her more of that, she would have been more eager to open her mouth to him.
Sometimes he blended the pleasure, sending her into bouts of uncontrolled orgasms one after the other. Like when his mouth was on her nipple, sucking her hard as he pounded her rough, his hips a blur as they stamped into her. Then he would bite down with his teeth, sending a sharp thrill through her body that heightened the feel of everything else.
Elora was kept in a satisfied, blissful, and exhausted state by her alpha. He was the only thing that mattered, and he took care of every need she had.
Eventually, she slept longer and her urges lessened, until slowly her senses began to emerge. At the same time, Zendyor's rut began to fade and they both woke from the breeding states in an exhausted, shocking mess.
The last coupling before the haze completely faded was urgent but careful, as if they needed to wring every possible feeling of pleasure from each other. Elora rode Zendyor rough, but also fed on his cock slowly into her, allowing the pleasure of being so deeply filled linger, while Zendyor kissed her and squeezed her breasts as he grunted in her mouth.
"You were perfect," Zendyor said to her once they were knotted.
Elora hummed, but she knew he had been the perfect one. He’d met her every need in ways she didn’t even know she wanted. "I’m so exhausted," she groaned, wincing at her aching limbs. “How long was it?”
“A few days,” Zendyor said.
They lay in each other’s arms, their panting fading as their minds sharpened.
"We should find out in a few days if you are with child," Zendyor said, nuzzling the side of her face. "But even if you're not, we will try as many times as necessary."
Elora laughed, but she knew he was keen for children. "Let’s take it a step at a time. I don’t think I can cope with that much sex so often.”
Zendyor frowned at her in disbelief. “Everything you got, you craved, little Elora. If you could have sucked my cock instead of eating those meals, your throat would be coated with layers upon layers of my seed.”
Elora poked him, heat rushing to her face. “Well, don’t tell Boe.”
Zendyor laughed, raucous, unbridled and joyous, and Elora basked in the happiness she felt from him in the bond. This home and family was beyond anything she’d ever dreamed she could have, and she was so grateful for it. And while she still sought joy and happiness in the community around her, she no longer took responsibility for inspiring it. She viewed everything with a more cautious eye and considered her choices if things didn’t go to plan. It settled her more when she could do that. There were moments she thought about her faction, both with fondness and loss, but she knew that they would support what she had now. Being the best omega, mate, dragorai female, and hopefully mother, she could be, would honor them and the Goddesses. So that was what she would do.
Elora and Zendyor lay in each others’ arms drifting in and out of sleep as
they enjoyed the security of each other.
And within the next few hours, Elora began to nest.
The End
I hope you enjoyed Zendyor and Elora’s story!
WHO’S NEXT?
Sethorn expects women to adore him, but his charms don’t work on Uraya, who gives as good as she gets.
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CRAVE TO CONQUER
He conquered an Empire - and she's next.
The most savage Alpha in the land is relentlessly searching for his Omega.
And she's hiding right under his nose.
Arrogant ruler, Drocco, enlists Cailyn to help him find a mate — but he yearns to dominate her.
Knowing her life would be over if he ever discovered she was an Omega, Cailyn is trapped.
She came for his secrets, prepared for his wild nature, but not for the effect he would have on her.
Their irresistible attraction puts them both at risk… and everything they thought they knew is changed forever.
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