Page 28 of Sins of His Wrath

“I need you to bite me.”

Lonn’s brows furrowed, and his head titled slightly. “What?”

“I want us to bond. Now.”

He was silent for a moment. “You rejected that idea the last time we talked.”

“I know. Things have changed.”

Lonn’s gaze lingered on the bandage on her face. “Your beauty has not changed, Naya. You will find a mate, possibly quicker now.”

Naya blinked. He thought she was beautiful? “Um. It’s not about that.”

“Then what?”

A heat spread over her chest. “If you’re not interested anymore, that’s all right. Just say that.”

“I’ve always been interested,” he said tightly. “You know that. It’s not about my interest. It’s about why you’ve changed your mind so suddenly.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It does. You were adamant that you wanted your true mate. I’m not going to bond with you now only for you to regret it when whatever lingering insecurity you’re going through right now passes.”

“I’m not going through anything,” Naya said, her voice rising. “I just want to us to bond before the war starts.”

“Why?”

“It just needs to be done.”

Lonn’s brows continued to inch together. “Is this something to do with you leading the army? Do you need to claim the throne now for some reason? Is the emperor all right?”

“He’s fine,” Naya insisted. “This just needs to be done.” Turning, she stepped back inside her room and beckoned. “We can do it now if you’re available?”

Lonn didn’t look convinced, but he walked past her into the room.

Naya watched him. No one needed to know that the alpha coming to invade their land was her true mate. In fact, the fewer people knew, the better. Carefully, she removed her blocks.

“I thought you didn’t want to be bonded to me,” Lonn said, turning to her as she closed the door

“No… I.” Naya sighed and turned to him. “Well, I just didn’t see the point if….” She allowed the end of her sentence to peter out. “I was looking for something unrealistic—something that would never be an option. After I left our meeting, I thought about it and I planned to meet you again that week to talk about it. I hadn’t decided it would be a firm no.”

Lonn’s gaze on her was unflinching. “And now, after being kidnapped and tortured, you want to bond with me here and now, without your parents’ knowledge and approval? Without the empire first celebrating our union, and hours before we could be invaded by one of the most powerful enemies we could ever face?”

Naya opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say. He was right to question her. Clearly, he could tell something was wrong, and while she wasn’t being upfront about her reasons, she also wasn’t going to outright lie to him. If he didn’t want to mate her, she could find another Alpha within a few minutes of walking around the palace. She just wanted it done. Once she was mated, Akoro wouldn’t be able to scent her anymore, and she wouldn’t be so affected by the memories of him. Once she was mated, he wouldn’t be able to make claims on her or demand anything of her. Once she was mated, her stupid body, and the clueless Omega that surfaced any time she was in her heat, wouldn’t be able to get in the way anymore.

The nightmare would be over for good, and it would make things easier when she killed him.

“I’m not stupid, Naya,” Lonn said, after the silence had stretched too long. “There’s a reason you want to be mated immediately. Just tell me what it is.”

“If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine,” Naya said, brushing past him to head back to the door.

He grabbed the crook of her elbow and pulled her back into him, grabbing the back of her head.

Suddenly he was so close, his brown eyes looking down at her, searching her face as though trying to find clues to the mystery of her behavior. His scent hit her instantly, deep and mellow. “Once I do this,” he murmured. “That would be it. We will be mated forever, regardless of what comes next. Yet, as you rightly pointed out last time, we are not true mates. Even worse, we are strangers.”

Naya frowned up at him, ignoring how wrong his scent was. “Why does that matter to you?”

His eyes flashed. “Why wouldn’t it?” The question was almost angry. “I may be fine about not waiting for my true mate, but I want a mate who is with me because she knows who I am and likes me.” His nose flared and his breathing deepened. Naya watched him in surprise. Lonn always had two states; fierce and strong on the battlegrounds, but calm, reasoned, and mostly silent otherwise. This was the first time she’d seen him even close to irritated. “Do you know what it is like being mated to a stranger?” he asked. “Someone you don’t know who could be completely wrong for you in every way unless in your Haze? Our instincts can’t be the only reasons to bond.”

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