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“What did you say?” Kardos rose back up above her, and pushed her onto her back, his eyes ablaze. “Be likewho?”

Shaya watched him, her desire rising with his anger. “No one. I was just thinking—”

“About who?” roared Kardos, his arms bugling as he grabbed her wrists and pulled her to sit upright. “Who the fuck are you talking about?”

Shaya tried to think quickly of something to say so he would calm down. Giving him Elion’s name didn’t matter since he wasn’t real, but she wanted to go back to having him hold her, and if she gave him a name, the dream could end sourly. But she didn’t think quickly enough.

Kardos released her wrists and yanked her down underneath him on the bed. “If another man haslookedat you, I will fucking kill him,” he thundered, forcing his thick knee between her legs. “Youwill notthink of any other man while you are with me, Shaya!”

Shaya reveled in the blazing fierceness of his gaze, the bulge in his neck, and the ferocity of his words, and the sudden realization hit her that she didn’t need him to be kind. If he were any different, he wouldn’t be the Alpha she was so attracted to, the Alpha who could make her breathless with just one look. The way she had seen Elion be with Kyus was the way they were supposed to be. But she and Kardos were different. They may have worked if only he didn’t have his intense goal, but all that had been done couldn’t be undone now. She had to accept that.

“I have tried to be patient with your persistent refusal to accept you belong to me,” he said, tearing away her panties and pressing her legs open, “but it is clear that you are more at risk than I thought. I will not tolerate another man in your thoughts while I hold you.” He plunged into her, causing her to cry out and clutch his arms.

She was already soaked in anticipation of this moment when he first arrived, but never would she have guessed just how powerful the experience would be in his rage.

Kardos drove his length in until he was so deep; it was as though he was in her stomach, then wrenched out leaving a burning trail of exquisiteness in his wake. Before she had time to register the emptiness, he was back in again. Every stroke, every slam, rushed over her body in a blissful wave of madness, twisting through the bond in the most gratifying way.

He brutally slammed his hips into her body, holding her in place by her thighs, and she arched her back, her eyes rolling at the multitude of pleasures bounding wildly within her; raw, carnal, warming, thrilling—all layering and combining. When he grabbed her neck, yanking her back up to him, his eyes laying claim to every inch of her face as he told her she was his alone, every nerve within her twisted and then shattered in an incredible orgasmic crescendo. Even the bond felt like it was evolving into something beautiful as it pulsed wildly in her chest.

By the time she came to her senses, she was on her front, her knees keeping her hips high while her chest jolted on the bed. Kardos squeezed her ass cheeks, her stomach, her breasts, everywhere he could as he held her firm. She came again, her whole body shuddering as she cried out, and Kardos slipped both hands under her torso to pull her up, her back resting on his chest, his lips by her ear as he pumped her hard. “When I find you, I will bury myself so deep in your womb you will never utter another word about this man,” his growling words punctuated each slam of his hips. “You are mine, Shaya. It doesn’t matter what you do to our bond or where you go. I will always bring you back home. Where you belong.”

His words set something alight in her that both settled and terrified her. She succumbed to his possessive need to claim her, strangely comforted by his declaration but knowing it only proved that she was a belonging to him.

By the time she came again, cried out at the delicious overwhelming pleasure, her Alpha had one hand at their joining, playing with her nub and the other hand over her mouth, his fingers pushed inside for her to suck as he grunted roughly, his rhythm becoming erratic.

Shaya pushed her hips out, eager for him to spill inside her as his knot grew, but just before the final slam, the one that would cause a howl from him that she would take great satisfaction in, the feeling in the bond, and the Alpha claiming her, abruptly faded.

CHAPTER FIVE

KARDOS

“This was not the agreement we made, Malloron!” Anger coursed through Kardos’ chest as he glared at the king, fists clenched, body poised to attack.

Malloron held his usual calm and collected demeanor well, though it was clear he was agitated. “It is beyond my control, Kardos.”

“I don’t care! I assisted you when you needed it, I expect the same in return. I have already had to wait for hours for you to even see me. Just like when I arrived here last time!”

“You came unannounced. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“And yet I have learned to expect your fucking excuses!”

“You know I am not averse to helping you,” Malloron said sharply, “but I can only do what I am capable of doing. I’mnotcapable of leaving my Omega while she is in labor.”

Kardos spun his heel and paced across the room. A tiny shred of logic twisted through his mind that he could not expect Malloron to help him during such a time, but a large part of him did not fucking care. He had woken in rage from Shaya’s mutterings of another man. He was in no mood to be delayed a moment longer.

This Land had been Shaya’s home, and Malloron had the means to help him find her. Or maybe he didn’t want to. Maybe he was trying to get out of it, living up to his reputation as a devious and unreliable cheat that he was known to be.

Kardos came to a stop on the other side of the room and turned to observe Malloron closely. In truth, the king didn’t look as neatly presented as he usually did. Although large and imposing, the king usually dressed in an abundance of rich clothes and jewelry, with neatly groomed hair and a charming smile he clearly used to win favor. However, the man before him looked as though he had been up all night in the same rumpled clothes, his shoulders tight and agitated, and his hair messy. Perhaps Kardos had indeed approached him at the wrong time. Still, it could not be helped.

“I’m not saying I cannot help you,” Malloron added. “I’m just saying there is a limit to what I can do right now. I will gladly join you in your search for your Omega as soon as the twins are born. It has been a long labor; they are almost here.”

Kardos let out a growl and began pacing again. The man was having a family with his Omega. It was as though Az Eshra were pointing out the fact that he had not yet gotten Shaya pregnant.

“I can give you whatever you need,” Malloron said. “My absence on this matter will not necessarily hinder you. I can connect you with every duke and lord in this Land who can help to search for her. I can give you Talent-crafters, maps, potions… whatever will assist you to find her.”

“Oh youwillgive me Talent-crafters,” Kardos warned. “Just like I gave you warriors thatdiedfor your cause!”

Malloron’s jaw clenched, and he slowly stepped forward until he was standing a few feet from Kardos, his dark eyes locked on to Kardos. “I very much value the partnership we have,” he said firmly. “I know you did a lot for me when I needed it, and I will never be able to repay you for how you helped me, even if I were able to fully take part in the search for your Omega. But please understand, I cannot leave my queen at this time. Any other time I would drop everything to help, but not now. If anything were to happen to her or the babies…”

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