Page 45 of Wicked

“This is a donation from a very generous polar bear shifter. It’s called a happiness necklace. The metal has been enchanted to grant the wearer happiness for a full hour after putting on the necklace for the first time. It only works once, so you’ll need to wait to wear it until you’re ready to have sex with Candlewick. The magic should help you get through your anxiety about sex long enough to make love to Candlewick and form new and positive pathways in your brain, so you can associate physical intimacy with pleasure instead of trauma.” He holds out the necklace to me, even though it has to be worth an astronomical amount of money. Specialty items like that made of magic metal are rare and priceless.

“I shouldn’t take that,” I say.

“You aren’t going to take it, you’re going to use it. Then you’ll bring it back so other red wolf shifters recovering from trauma can use it. That’s its intended purpose.”

If I take this necklace and make love to Candlewick, it won’t change the fact that sex with him is a sin. We won’t be able to bond.

I should care about that. I should feel guilty.

I don’t.

“Can I carry it in the box?” I ask.

“Of course. I can drive you back to Dorian’s house too. That will be faster than finding a driver. Do you need anything else to make Candlewick’s heat more comfortable?”

“No. Unless you have a magical necklace that will take the heartbreak away when our magical connection severs after his heat is over.”

Ken reaches out and takes my hand. “I’m sorry, Manny.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it, right? That’s just the way red wolf shifters are. Our thralls only work for a limited time.”

Except that isn’t true. Candlewick’s thrall worked longer with Dorian because he was afraid of him. And omegas at the compound have thralls that last for years. Why is that? What is it about living next to other omegas in isolation changes the way their thralls function?

“Ken, can I ask you a question about the omegas with thralls who live in the sanctuary?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Do you ever feel the pull of their thralls for longer than a year?”

He thinks about that for a moment. “Sometimes.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Sometimes omegas are admitted together, and we have them stay in the same living space because it’s easier on them.” His eyes widen as he understands what I’m really asking. “I don’t know, Manny. They usually have been living together for years. If you just put a bunch of random omegas in the same room as Candlewick for two days, I don’t think it would have the same effect. And you’ll be having sex. It would be incredibly uncomfortable for him.”

I smile. Ken doesn’t know Candlewick the way I do. If he thought there was a chance we could be together, he would absolutely be comfortable with something like that.

And it won’t be just a bunch of random omegas. Last night Revolver and Candlewick talked about several other guys who escorted with them. If those guys would come, wouldn’t they provide comradery?

“How many omegas at the sanctuary have thralls?” I ask. The more, the better.

“Uh, I don’t know. We have ten, maybe twelve right now. But two of those omegas are minors, and I can’t expose them to this.”

So eight to ten. If there were enough omegas with a thrall packed in close with Candlewick, would that extend his thrall long enough to buy us more time? How much time would we need? That’s the real question.

I need to call Anne. She can tell me what our chances are at finding a warlock willing to help us.

“Manny, I can’t move the omegas with a thrall out of the sanctuary in a group like that. It would be a horrible security risk. You’d have to bring Candlewick here in the middle of his heat, and traveling with an omega in heat is traumatic for them.”

He’s right. The transportation would have to be fast.

It would help if we had a dragon on our side.

“I have to try,” I say. “Even if it doesn’t work, I need to know that I did everything I could.”

Candlewick should know that I did everything I could too. He deserves that. Especially after everything I’ve put him through.

“Okay. I’ll see if Steppe can take you back to Dorian’s house, and I’ll ask the omegas with a thrall if they’re willing to help. But what exactly will this accomplish if you can’t bond anyway? Are you planning on sacrificing your hand or something like Timber did? Most of the warlocks in this area are batshit crazy. You know that, right?”

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