Page 132 of Fated or Knot

“Looks like you’re stuck with me,” he said playfully. The alpha’s presence faded from his voice as if it’d never been there.

“Or you’re stuck with me,” I giggled.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” He caught my lips for a more leisurely kiss.

Once that was done and we’d taken a long gaze into one another’s eyes, he cleared his throat, and his alpha’s presence returned. “There’s something we should address. I love how sweet and submissive you are, but I’m not sharing this side of you anymore. No alpha outside of our pack can see you this way,” he said, searching my face with an intense gleam in his eyes.

I was aware of him using his dominance. He’d layered it on thick enough that I could pull away if I wanted to, but this was important if he was reinforcing his instructions with his bark. If I allowed it, he’d mold a bit of his strength in me so I wasn’t sweet and submissive to any alpha I met.

“You may submit to your mates, but you will never fold to another alpha. You’re my pack princess, and someday, you will be a queen. There is no force in this world that you bow to. No shadows you fear. Nothing alpha, beta, or omega in nature. Do you understand?”

As he spoke, I saw what he was doing. Maybe this was how I’d one day resemble Queen Nemensia, who could allegedly withstand the aggression of her alpha subjects without so much as a flinch. Was this the secret? It was certainly a demand, though a well-meaning one. And, perhaps, more than a little possessive.

“Yes, pack lead,” I said, accepting his dominance.

He relaxed and pressed a protective kiss over my temple. “Good,” he said, letting the thread of dominance go again.

“What now? How long are we going to be tied?”

“Guess you’ll just have to talk to me.” He tweezed his tongue between his teeth for a moment. “Also, I’ve heard twenty minutes. But if you come again, that time resets.”

I opened my mouth to ask why and how I would come again when we were already tied up and quickly closed it. Fal would probably see the question as a challenge. “I didn’t take you for such a possessive male,” I said instead.

He smirked. “I’m still an alpha,mo stór. You’re doomed to hear this every time we fuck.” Clearing his throat, he said with a full growl, “Mine.”

My pussy fluttered, and he came a bit, setting both of us to moaning until the pleasure subsided again. “And now I know how much you like that. Fuck,” he remarked.

“Twenty minutes starting now?”

“Aye. Let’s talk about something not sexy.” He exaggerated a thinking pose. “Nice weather we’re having.”

38

LARK

By that evening, I retired to my nest early since I was exhausted in a good way. Kauz had passed out on the divan rather than the nest’s bed. I spent a moment tucking one of his sprawled wings and arranging the blanket over him better before turning to see my bed had filled with alphas. Stars, it was going to be a good night.

I fell asleep purring and clinging to Tormund, with Fal at my back and Marius closest to the nest’s exit. He’d placed his mace on the floor by the bed and slept with some clothes on, unlike the rest of us.

It was easier than ever to find and slip into Kauz’s dream. We returned to the epic dream nest and talked. He wanted to know everything he’d missed while he’d been unconscious, after what he’d walked in on. For most of the night, I talked while he held me in his arms, cocooned in his wings. When there was nothing more to say, we just lay together until I drifted from our dream space.

I woke feeling cozy, my body now resting in the crook of Fal’s arm, as I’d shifted to wrap an arm around his chest. Tormund and Marius were already gone, it seemed.

“Morning, love,” the dark elf said. “Did you know your wings vibrate when you’re asleep? It’s adorable.”

I eyed his chest, which was coated in a generous dusting of purple sparkles. My wings must’ve shaken a lot of that loose last night. “Whoops,” I giggled. Seems I’d marked him as mine in an unconventional way.

He glanced down. “Oh, this is something I’m proud of. I aspire to be covered in p’nixie dust daily. Anyway, I’m glad you’re awake. I need to go.” After sharing a kiss with me that seemed completely unbothered by urgency, he stood and strode from the nest. Completely nude, I’ll add, and I got in an admiring view of his backside.

He returned to the nest with a pile of folded clothes and started dressing himself as he talked. “Elion, Theodred, and Mother are hearing appeals of certain criminal cases in the next couple days, which means they’ll need me to stop dodging my duties and assist.”

“What kinds of cases?” I asked curiously.

“Only ones where lives are on the line. Two reigns ago, the executioner was made a requirement for appeals weekends so liars and the guilty would stop wasting royal time. Usually only the innocent or the very foolish appeal to the queen and her lord now.” He tilted his head toward me, an odd look on his face. “I’d take you with me to observe how the process goes, but the timing is terrible with your injury. You will be staying in your rooms until this event is over, Lark.”

That wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order, and I suppressed a whine. “I could still come with you,” I protested.

“Not with a cast and without my pack mark.”

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