Page 92 of Sins of His Wrath

Her eyes snapped open, finding his outline in the dim light filtering through the latticed windows. "I wasn't waiting for you," she lied, the words sharp but not entirely convincing.

His chuckle was deep, resonant. "No? Then why aren't you asleep?"

She scowled, turning away from him. But even as she did, something inside her settled, a tension unwinding now that he was here. It was infuriating how right he was, how well he knew her body's responses to him.

The next night, as moonlight painted silver patterns across her bedchamber floor, Akoro broke their usual silence with a question.

"Your parents," Akoro said, his tone thoughtful. "How did they find each other? Was it through one of your pairing events?"

Naya shifted, surprised by the question.

The memory of her recent conversation with Mama surfaced—the revelation that had reshaped everything she thought she knew about her parents' relationship.

"No," she said carefully. "Mama told me recently that it didn’t start well."

Akoro’s head tilted slightly. "Didn’t start well," he repeated, his voice edged with curiosity. "What does that mean?"

Naya hesitated. She wasn’t ready to share the full truth, to unravel the complexities of her parents’ past before she had unraveled her own.

"Just that they had obstacles to overcome," she said vaguely. "It wasn’t smooth at first."

Silence stretched between them, thick with implications.

Then his voice came—softer this time, contemplative. "Does that mean I have a chance?"

The question struck her like a blow to the chest.

Her breath hitched as she sat up, turning to face him in the darkness. "A chance at what?"

"At what they have," he said simply. "What you described—the comfort, the completion, the support."

Something flickered in her stomach, a sensation both exhilarating and terrifying.

He wanted that? With her?

The thought sent a slow warmth through her, pooling low in her abdomen, making her pulse quicken. She opened her mouth, but no words came.

Then, finally, she found her voice. "Would you want that?"

The answer came without hesitation. "Yes."

The word lingered in the space between them—unshaken, unadorned, absolute.

Her throat constricted. "Which land would we lead together?"

This time, it was Akoro who fell silent. And in his silence, she had her answer.

The following evening, he returned to the subject, his deep voice slicing through the quiet of her bedchamber. "The way your parents are with each other—is it instinctual? Or something they cultivated?"

Naya shifted, rolling onto her side to face him, his silhouette a shadow in the dim light. "Both, I think," she said, considering. "The connection itself is instinctual—the pull between Alpha and Omega, the way they recognize and respond to each other’s needs. But the partnership they’ve built, the way they rule together… that took work. Commitment. Their bond made it possible."

"Their bond," Akoro said, the words slow, thoughtful.

Naya hesitated, then continued. "When an Omega bonds with her Alpha, it creates something permanent. It's not just physical—it runs deeper than that. Something that can’t be broken."

Silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken thoughts.

Akoro didn’t reply, but she could feel the weight of his contemplation, the thoughts turbulent behind his unreadable exterior.

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