by Zoey Ellis
There was a commotion behind him, but he could not remove his attention from this gorgeous, beautifully scented being clinging to him. It suddenly struck him as strange that she had not let go of his neck.
He gently pulled her head away, forcing her to release him, and he was met with a stunning sight. Her eyes were golden.
He immediately growled and his already hard cock jumped, impatient for what it had already known.
She smiled. “Alpha.”
Malloron could feel his rut finally descending on him and as much as it wasn’t the right fucking time, he was powerless to stop it. Both her tenebris-hum and the bond between them indicated she was ripe and ready for him, and every instinct, every muscle, and finally every thought, aligned with what she needed. What they both needed.
Malloron was vaguely aware of the shield around them lifting into the air as he tore off their clothes. He was vaguely aware of drifting over a mountain range as he directed magic to bind her wrists to her ankles. He was somewhat aware of clouds curling on the outside of the orb as he stood behind her while she was bent over, her pussy spread open, just like he had her the first time he ever touched her. But this time it was with the deep satisfaction that she truly belonged to him. The rich scent of her slick coaxed another growl from him, and the sight of it dripping down her soft thighs made his balls tighten. He ran his hand over that fat ass he loved so much and noticed her legs trembling in anticipation. He ignored it, enjoying the sight of her open and ready for him. He played with her clit as he forced himself to wait, deciding if he wanted her slick all over his face before he fucked her as was his usual preference. Amara whimpered slightly as her patience began to wane, and he pinched her ass to shut her up. But then she wriggled it, causing that jiggle he couldn’t ever resist. Malloron gripped Amara’s ass and he yanked her down onto his cock. Then he was aware of nothing except her.
This mating was different from any other.
Although the ferocity of their joining was similar to their only other mating while Amara was in her Haze, this time it was drastically altered by the bond.
Amara's hums and squeals and moans at everything he did was accompanied by her deep-seated delight that ebbed within him. When he growled she groaned and the bond trembled with excitement, when he made her wait, she whimpered, her impatience and desperation rushing through his rib cage. He could feel the great pleasure that she took from having him claim her, her satisfaction when he pinned her down so completely that she could barely move and her beautiful surrender when he fucked her so roughly, each slam shuddered through her whole body.
And what was even more amazing, was her awe of him. In the moments when he knotted her, when he petted her and stroked his fingers through her hair, played with her nipples and surrounded her small frame with his own, she melted into him and took great pleasure in his attentions on her. The awe in the bond dominated every other feeling. She stared at him as though he was something she had never seen before; something wondrous and fascinating.
He had already known that she was perfect in every way, she had already proven that she could submit to him sexually and satisfy everything he needed, but when she looked at him like that, like he was beautiful and amazing and finally worthy of her, he found himself unable to resist doing things he said he would never do.
He purred for her, he kissed her, he told her she was beautiful and the perfect mate, he satisfied her every need and in doing so, satisfied his own. In the back of his mind he knew that this was the path that would make him vulnerable again, but he rationalized that as long as he only ever gave himself to her fully when she was in her Haze, she would not be able to have any power over him the way she had before. So he let himself love her. He already knew that he did, but he also knew it was too dangerous. It had happened to Father. Whether what Elion had said was true or not, the fact was, Father had been foolish and too trusting with his Omega. That would not happen again with him. He had to make sure of it.
He had no idea how long they remained in the orb. Hours passed, and then days as the skies turned dark and light again. The magic of the orb materialized water for them when they needed it, as well as food, but they were rare occurrences. Most of Amara’s bodily functions had shut down and they were both only focused on one concern—all others had ceased to exist. He slept with his body wrapped around hers and from the moment they woke, he was slamming into her or she was riding him.
By the time the gold in her eyes began to fade, they suitably reeked of each other the way they were supposed to. Malloron loved seeing his dried seed crested on the various parts of her body and she had gotten to the point where she simply fed him her slick with her fingers and smeared it over his nose.
When he felt the bond shift, she was riding him. He had one hand in her hair and the other on her hip, while she held onto his forearm and used her other hand on his chest to work her pussy on his cock in any way she wanted. The tidal wave of emotion in the bond suddenly twisted and then calmed, and she blinked a few times before her unfocused eyes became steady on him, a trickle of uncertainty penetrated the bond for the first time.
Malloron gripped her head tighter and tore his eyes from hers to focus on her bouncing breasts. He hardened himself, preparing for what he knew was going to come. As soon as her Haze ended, so would his tender treatment of her.
CHAPTER SIX
AMARA
Her whole body screamed in agony.
Amara groaned as she rolled over on the soft bedding surrounding her. It was a sweet agony, a pain that rebounded all over her body, deep in her muscles, letting her know she was alive. She smiled as she pressed her legs together, enjoying the ache between them. The pang of being stretched repeatedly by Malloron's knot, echoed all the way up when she clenched, and it was so satisfying.
Her eyes shot open. Malloron.
She sat up and looked around, somewhat frantically. Somehow, she was in the bedroom she had been in when he first brought her back to the castle. Malloron's bedroom. She cast her mind back, trying to remember how she got here, but her mind was blurry and her memories seemed to jump, skip, and slide out of focus whenever she tried to pinpoint them. The last thing she remembered was Brecc dragging her out of her cell and marching her across a courtyard. She frowned. No. Malloron had come for her. She closed her eyes, trying to remember the very last clear memory she had. She had been in Malloron's arms, looking up at him, relieved and grateful that he had indeed come to get her. Then he had pushed her face into his neck. Yes, that was it. She returned the claiming bite.
Her hand drifted to her chest. She could feel it. He was within her, but in a different form than before. Although she still felt the awareness of him from the tenebris, there was also something deeper, something stronger, that nested within her. It was like an orb that sat curled up in her chest. The cloud of him from the tenebris paled in comparison to the strength of the orb.
Glancing around the room, it was clear she was alone but the shape of the bedding suggested that she hadn't been. The pillows and blankets had been arranged so perfectly, she knew it was her own arrangement. But there was a space next to her large enough for her Alpha. She took a breath and held it. Her Alpha. Malloron was hers now, and he would always be hers. The thought of it generated an excitement within her that was tempered by doubt, curiosity, and uncertainty.
Pushing the feeling aside, she looked around the room for him but all was quiet. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up slowly. It felt strange to be in his bedroom alone. No, that wasn't quite right. She examined the feeling closely. She wanted him with her. After all the times he had forced himself to dominate her space, she desired that now, and the need for it was unreasonably strong.
Sighing, Amara rotated and stretched her limbs, relishing the sweet ache, before padding to the washroom to relieve her full bladder. She needed to figure out her next step.
The main thing she was worried about was her memory loss. She had never heard that a soul-bond
mating would cause an Omega to lose time. The only thing that made that happen was her Haze—Amara stilled as she made sense of the thought. Of course. No wonder she felt achy. She ran her hands over her body, trying to identify any signs of her time with Malloron during her Haze, but there didn't seem to be anything other than her worn muscles. He must have bathed her because she was completely clean, her hair was even damp.
She stepped slowly back into the bedroom in deep thought. How could they have mated to the degree that her body suggested in the middle of an outright war? She remembered a siren going off in the building, yells and screams rising from beyond her cell, even the walls shook slightly at one point. Brecc had arrived in a fit of both anger and terror, and she heard the sounds of battle as his guards half-dragged, half-carried her out of the building. Brecc would not have stopped his pursuit of escape to let them enjoy a mating, and yet for some reason she couldn't remember what had happened to him once Malloron had her back in his arms.
She shook her head in frustration. She had always hated the memory loss that the Haze caused. Cailyn used to tease her and play tricks, claiming that Amara had significantly embarrassed herself during her Haze and insisting that she did things to make up for it. When her memories returned, Amara realized just how much Cailyn had stretched the truth, and sometimes she had already committed further embarrassing acts that she hadn't needed to. She learned to detect Cailyn's tricks, and even played a few of her own in repayment, but it was still unsettling the degree to which Omegas were vulnerable, both during and after their Haze.
Instead of returning to the bed, as Amara was sure Malloron would want her to do, she decided to explore the rest of his rooms. The last time she had been here, she could only see disjointed parts of it through the tenebris, and had never gone beyond the bedroom.
The main bedroom was as large as the living area of her own rooms, and the bed dominated most of the space. Beyond the bedroom were a number of rooms; living area, an office, a room filled with the sexual benches Malloron had a taste for, a small gallery, and a room filled with various royal robes and staffs. Amara wandered around, exploring them with a growing sense of something odd in her environment. The rooms looked well-kept, but not lived in. It was as though Malloron rarely spent time here at all, which shouldn't be that surprising to her considering all of the things he was most concerned about.
Her thoughts turned to her conversation with Mother Orlee. The thought of the Mothers coming to get the children was such a relief, not only for their safety but also allowing her to finally address how she truly felt about Malloron. There were still so many questions about the children and the tenebris that she had to know, but hopefully if she was staying with him, and accepting him, that would come.
Although she was wearing her night tunic, she headed to the main door of his quarters and, very slowly, inched open the door. Peeking out, she was not surprised to see two guards standing on either side of the door, but just as she was about to close the door one of them noticed her.
“Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” he greeted. “If you would like to go somewhere in the castle, his Majesty requests that you dress appropriately. You will find suitable outfits in the bedroom closet.”
Amara's mouth opened in shock and for a moment she didn’t know what to say. Finally she nodded and closed the door quickly.
That was a surprise.
Curious, she sought out the closet and it was enormous, filled with beautifully elaborate dresses, robes, gowns, and accompanying shoes, slippers, sandals. There was even an area for jewelry, shawls, and bags. Everything gave the impression of wealth.
Amara dressed quickly, but a strange feeling began to grow about what was happening. Was Malloron truly going to let her explore the castle? It seemed to contradict the behavior he had shown before, but there was only one way to find out.
The guards fell into step on either side of her as she walked down the corridor. They didn't say another word to her when she exited the room, and didn't ask her where she was headed.
The dress she had chosen made her walk slower than normal, especially as the sandals she chose had small heels that she wasn't used to. But it didn't really matter because she had no idea where she was going. She drifted around the castle, heading in any direction she wanted, just to see if the guards would prevent her from entering certain areas, such as the kitchens or the galleries, even Malloron's casting rooms, but they didn't. They simply escorted her to wherever she wanted to go.
Each person that passed her bowed deeply and avoided eye contact, and then scuttled away as quickly as they could. Amara's mood lowered with each step as she realized her circumstances had changed with her status.
She was now the king’s bonded mate. His Omega. And with that status, she had adopted everything that people knew and feared about him. Thinking about it now, how the servants had acted even when she roamed the castle before, it had been clear it would be the case, but it was different to experience it. She had once been one of those servants; one of the people who were now cowering at the sight of her.
After a few hours of wandering, she turned to the guards. “Where is King Malloron?”
“He is unavailable, Your Majesty,” the guard said, keeping his eyes firmly looking down the corridor.
Amara exhaled in frustration. He had left her alone all day. She spun on her heel and headed back to his rooms, and once inside she paced in his living area, an irrational, harsh annoyance building at the fact that he basically discarded her. She had committed to him the way he wanted, given him exactly what he had demanded, and he didn't even feel it necessary to see her all afternoon. If she was going to live this life, she wanted everything that she had enjoyed when it had been forced upon her. And his attention was one of those fucking things.
Suddenly, a meal materialized on the table in the living area, just like the way it had when she was in her own room. It was an elaborate meal of soup, roasted meats, breads, dressed vegetables, condiments, and wine. But what incensed her was that it was all prepared for one person. Malloron was not intending to eat with her!
A bitter fury rose as she marched to the table, and when she pushed everything off it, smashing it all to the ground in a big heap, the satisfaction only lasted for a moment because all of the food, broken plates, and glass disappeared. Obviously transported back to the kitchens.
Amara turned and huffed as she paced back across the room, but it wasn't long before she felt the bond pull in her chest. The orb began to spin, and a crackle of annoyance shot through it. Malloron. Finally she could feel something from him other than nothingness.
It was bad enough she had so many different versions of him vibrating around her body. She snorted at the irony of his absence while he was so present inside her. The bond, the tenebris, the vibration in her stomach, all of them made her highly aware of him while he didn't even need to—
She halted abruptly, realizing something. The vibration in her stomach… She pressed a hand against her stomach and focused on the vibration there. That was not him; it couldn't be. That could only be…
The world jolted around her as the deep realization shocked her into a stunned absence of thought. Blinking rapidly, she swayed and shot her hand out to grab the back of a chair to support herself. Her mind drifted toward the only obvious conclusion so slowly that she felt as though she were floating.
She was pregnant.
She stumbled backward until the wall hit her back, and then slid down it until she dropped heavily onto the floor, her hand still on her stomach. She was having a child. A plethora of emotions swirled around her so intensely that she remained confused. A strong part of her, that deep part of her that always worked against her at every fucking turn, rejoiced at the idea. Why not? She had always thought it would have been a shame to never have children because she was a spy. She loved the idea of being a mother; it had been one of the reasons why she’d been so passionate about her mission. But she never entertained having them herself. It w
as never something that the Mothers had factored in for Omega spies. And yet now she could. It was possible for her to have them, and not only that, she was mated to the one Alpha that was made for her. And yet… Malloron may be her Alpha, but the environment of this Land was not the sort that she wanted her children raised in. Even Malloron's perception of family and love—how could she raise her children with an Alpha who thought so little of the bond between family? She shook her head, disappointment bounding through her. It was now clear why she wanted his presence so badly. Pregnant Omegas needed their Alphas with them constantly. He was not fulfilling his duty.
The door opened abruptly and he strode through, his annoyance clear on his face and his shoulders tense. But of course he looked incredible. His chiseled features were hard and his deep brown hair curled slightly at his neck. He marched to stand in front of her and she looked up at him, her shock still coursing through her, her hand still on her stomach.
“Why did you reject the food?” Malloron bellowed.
“Why haven't you been here,” Amara asked, annoyed at how soft and trembling her voice seemed. Her entire body yearned to touch him, to jump into his arms and tell him to purr for her the way she needed him to, but she forced that part of her to shut up.
“I’m busy,” he said harshly. “I am king. I do not have time to supervise you.”
“Supervise?” she spat back at him. “You are aware that I'm pregnant? I'm sure you know what that means.”
His eyes flicked to her hand on her stomach and back up to her eyes, but he didn't say anything.
“I assume this is what you wanted,” she said evenly, another concoction of conflicting emotions embracing her. What if he didn’t actually want her to be pregnant? He hadn’t ever shown any affinity to have children before. In fact, when she had asked him, he’d insinuated it wasn’t a priority. She resisted descending in despair at the thought.
