Page 103 of Promised to the Alpha Prince

It was real.

I was a bonded omega, with his bite right on my chest, and I didn’t own myself anymore.

Suddenly, a sob rose up in my throat. I scrabbled at the blanket at Corentin’s chest and then the sob welled up and burst and tears came in waves against him.

He clutched me close. “Oh, hey, hey, my love, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m so sorry. We don’t ever have to talk about it again, okay?”

I was still crying, but it was less. “No, it’s good. Maybe I needed to get it out somehow. Maybe I needed to face it. I’m trapped here, and I need to face that, and I need to make peace with it—”

“You are not trapped,” he said in a low and urgent voice. “I will take you anywhere you want to go at any time. I swear that to you, my love. Anything you need, ever, I will do it for you.”

“Corentin…” I could feel something now, something heavy, at the edge of everything, something familiar.

“Say the word, Aurelie, and we can leave.”

“And this,” came the deep voice of Dmitri, “is why you were not invited.”

That was the heaviness. Dmitri. He was there, and I could feel him, through the bond.

He melted out of the shadows, wearing a pair of drawstring pants. I wasn’t sure where he’d gotten those. I hadn’t been allowed to have any clothes in the nest. He peered down at us, at me in Corentin’s arms. “You’re upset,” he said. “I felt it in the bond. It woke me.”

My crying came through the bond? Really?

I wasn’t entirely sure how these bond things worked. From what I understood, it wasn’t predictable. Strong emotions could travel through the bond, could be shared with one’s mate. But that didn’t mean that all emotions would travel. We couldn’t read each other’s thoughts or anything, but there was some heightened level of connection, something that couldn’t be extinguished.

“What did he say to you?” said Dmitri, glowering down at Corentin.

Corentin still had his arm around me. “It wasn’t me. She was sad because she’s trapped with you.”

“Shut up, Corentin,” I said fiercely, pulling away from him. I got up and put a hand right in the middle of Dmitri’s bare chest. “Dmitri, we both feel this sometimes, the way it’s bigger than us, the way we’re out of control. Neither of us like it.”

He bowed his head. “Right, right. But it’s me doing that to you in the end. I’m the one who tied you to the monarchy here and gave you those duties. I’m the one who bit you. I’m your alpha.”

I sighed. “But I don’t blame you. You’re not doing it on purpose—”

“The fuck he’s not,” said Corentin, laughing. “He loves dominating everyone. He’s the one who wants a harem. You and his little alpha boys who he can make come on command. He’s having a great time.”

Dmitri rolled his head on his shoulders. “You didn’t mind it yourself there, boy.”

Corentin stood up. “Oh, you’re… yeah. I mean, my cock thinks you’re great. But my cock? Not a good judge of character.”

Dmitri laughed again. “Why are you here? Just to try to steal her away from me?”

“I think we’d both miss you if it’s any consolation,” said Corentin, grinning at Dmitri.

“Omega,” said Dmitri.

My gaze snapped up to look at him. “Yes, alpha?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” muttered Corentin.

Dmitri ignored him. “I think we need to think about getting you more bites.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised. “I didn’t think… In Valhn, it’s not tradition to let that happen, and you seem so intense and possessive, and really?”

“Well, I’m happy enough for Johannes and Nikolai any time,” he said.

“But I don’t even know them,” I said. “I want Corentin.”

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