Page 195 of Fated or Knot

“Thank you for dinner, Prince. It was very nice!”

Oh.Stars, I should’ve realized what was going on earlier. I was so addled by Lark and thoughts of mating, I’d forgotten I’d given Jani and Lon part of last night’s meal. Serving a house moth was an overture of friendship in their culture and they’d obviously accepted it.

I trotted Lon back over to Lark and Kauz to see what they wanted for dinner, only putting the mothkin down in front of them after she wiggled with excitement to hear we were preparing something else tonight. She promised to fly to the palace to get the ingredients.

“Don’t you want breakfast, Princess?” Lon asked.

She shook her head with a giggle. “I know Tormund’s going to feed me.” And she was very right about that.

But in the meantime, we had to wake the li’l bird up more, as she went back to dosing against Kauz’s side when the house moth fluttered away. I ended up searching up a deck of cards for us to start fulfilling yesterday’s deal and roped my brother into helping.

I, of course, knew that Kauz was an absolutely shameless cheater. Since he used illusion magic instead of sleight of hand like Fal, I could neverquiteprove it. But I squinted at him suspiciously after he won most of our games, while Lark learned and winced over every sip of her snownettle tea.

While she went to go use the restroom in preparation for us leaving for the day, he said, “So, your scent has changed, hmm?”

“I’m trying not to think about it.”

“Well, her upcoming heat is about all I’ve been focused on lately.” He nudged one of his stacks of books so I could read the spines. They were all related to unique heats and fae breeding habits. “I promised Lark I’d research long-suppressed heats.”

“Learn anything important?” I asked, sitting straighter.

He tilted his head back and forth. “Things we could’ve guessed. There’s evidence that she’s going to need constant careand will be unable to vocalize her needs. Her heat is going to be longer than the usual two days.”

A chill creeped down my back, winding around my vents. I was gladder than ever that we had found Lark before her heat arrived. It was rare, but omegas were known to die if they didn’t have assistance during a heat, and a lengthy one would only multiply the danger.

But she did have us, and once she was in the pack bond, we could care for her no matter how long she stayed in heat.

“Also, you can thank your impending rut on biological factors. Scent matched males go into rut to prepare for their omega’s suppressed heats and endure if it gets drawn-out,” Kauz continued. “And finally…if she were interested in having babies, she’s at her most likely to emerge from this heat with a litter.”

“Terribletiming,” I exclaimed. Lark had barely started enjoying her freedom. The last thing she needed was to be weighed down by four babies, even though I thought she’d make for a great mother.

I also wasn’t sure any of my brothers were ready for kids. Well, except for Kauz, maybe. He had a little wistful look on his face before he nodded in agreement. Glancing up for a moment, he lowered his voice. “If you don’t want to test yourself tonight, have her rest in my bed. Once you succumb to rut fully, I’m going to be the last voice of reason in our pack.”

“Ready to go when you are,” Lark said a moment later, coming to stand behind the couch with an eager smile.

“Not until you kiss me goodbye, sweetheart,” he said.

As they took a moment to say farewell until this evening, I pushed the resulting jealousy away again. It was different this time. I was a little resentful that Kauz was “just” a beta—immune to the push-pull of instincts that the rest of us had to deal with. He was actually such a lucky bat…because I already recognizedthat Lark should sleep in his bed tonight. Just in case I was tempted to ruin the plan by pushing her into her heat early.

But until then, she wasmine. To have a lovely date with, I mean.

We rode further afield on horseback. Stella had whinnied with excitement when she’d seen Lark again, and still seemed extra bouncy on the trail. I made a mental note to visit her old owners again and take a better look at their place. Though Icompletelyunderstood wanting to prance around in my mate’s presence, something else could be amiss. Else the half-unicorn horse had simply chosen Lark, in the way some horses did.

I showed Lark my old haunts and finds from years of familiarity with this forest. She loved the wee animals we spotted as much as I did, which didn’t surprise me at all. I was all the more excited to show her the surprise in the critter room because of it.

By high noon, we approached the sound of rushing water. This was about as far from the lodge as I’d take her, and it was an important landmark for her to see. I slowed Rory as we reached a stone bridge arching over a relatively calm section of river, and stopped halfway across to dismount. Lark followed suit, the two of us holding our horses’ reins as we looked out over the rippling sheet of clear water.

“Do you know what this is?” I asked, grinning down at her.

She raised a brow, looking skeptical in that way that had to be her wondering if I was messing with her. “A river.”

“Aye, the Sorles. Surprise! Our pack is named after the largest river in Serian.”

“Oooh. But why?”

I shrugged. “Tradition. The Sorles River is the lifeblood of the country, just like the heirs of the royal pack are, if we want to be figurative, the blood of Serian.”

She nodded along, leaning over to take another peek into the depths of the water. “You know, I never thought to ask. I thought it was a family name. But, I like the symbolism so much more.”

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