Page 222 of Fated or Knot

As Lark explained Laurel’s transformation, so she could scream for everyone to stop, he reached into the carriage to retrieve the mermaid and throw her blue and teal form over his shoulder.

I gave the unconscious girl a grudgingly appreciative look. I’d have to thank the brat, later. She was the reason Lark had decided to go along with the plan, and she’d upheld her end of the bargain in the process.“She’s trapped in the same fate that I used to be. Under Cymora’s thumb, compelled to use her magic in ways she doesn’t want, and threatened with a forced mating to Pack Ellisar. Don’t you see, Fal? If I choose not help her, then I’ll be just as bad as she was. I’d be willfully letting her suffer so I can be happy. After it’s all done, we can say goodbye to her forever.”

I’d accepted her reasoning and thought it would give her valuable closure. But deep down, I knew with Lark empathizing with her and with my father taking a shine to her, I’d never be quite rid of my new stepsister.

“It stinks in there, by the way. You’d better overpower it with your odorous natural scent to make the ride home more bearable,” Father said, carrying Laurel off with him.

I went with him, saying, “You know, the last time you were in rut, I wasn’t constantly making remarks about how you smelled.”

“The last time I was in rut, I wasn’t posturing over Nemensia like you were some rival.”

“She’s my mother!”

“And Lark’s my daughter. My first instinct is to go hug the traumatized thing.” He sure as fuck was not going to be doing that. I’d lose my starsdamned mind at this point if any alpha except for one of her mates touched her.

We passed Elion. His lips thinned in disapproval. “I wonder whose fault it is that she was put into danger,” he said pointedly.

Father shrugged. “Pack Ellisar.”

My mouth ached…I was grinding my teeth again, trying to keep myself from snapping at him.

“Hey, I get it. I was pissed the first time my mentor told me to put Nemensia adjacent to danger for one of his schemes,” he said as I turned my back.

I shot a glare over my shoulder. “And what did you do?”

“Same thing you did, I’d wager. I saw it had to be done, so I told her everything, shared why it was happening, and cut a few corners to make sure she was as comfortable as possible.”

Taking a deep breath, I said through gritted teeth, “If you’re about to say this was a test…”

“Nay, I value my life too much,” he said cheerfully. “Bye, sunshine lad.”

“If no one else has said it, happy mating day. We’ll handle the details from here, including the horses. Have Tormund bring the others over here. Your mate needs your full attention,” Elionsaid. He patted my noble steed’s neck and nodded when I shot him an appreciative glance.

My brothers were clustered around Lark when I returned to her side. Now that everyone was together, we went into a flurry of activity to get her home and comfortable in her nest.

60

FAL

We returned to the palace as soon as we could. The tiny window didn’t help filter out the reek of blood and the potion one of the bark brothers had lobbed in here. Worse than either of those things was the sheer unpleasantness of bitter chocolate still lingering inside from Lark’s terror. We all took off the scent changing trinkets Father had given us, trying to drown out the bad with our collective rut scent.

She didn’t try to say she was fine. In fact, she didn’t really speak. Once the carriage door closed to give us relative privacy, she whined and went to sit in Kauz’s lap. He showed her the patches of woven essence he’d had one of our brothers put on either side of the wound through his wing. The magic held everything together for now. “Just a few stitches and I’ll be fine,” he murmured.

She put her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. I thought she’d stay there for the whole trip, but she eventually nuzzled him and reached for Tormund, who gladly held her next. Him, she licked, and his side of the pack bond sizzled with lust.

In that moment, I decided. Waiting to descend into the rut haze and fuck Lark silly through her heat was worse than celibate train buddy time. Holding back my instincts was swiftly driving me mad. It was becoming a more acute need because some kernel of me that was all alpha was pinging around in my mind, sure that she was about to perfume.It’s time. It’s finally time.

She lifted her head to glance between Marius and me. He made some kind of inviting feral noise and she sniffed, before wrinkling her delicate nose. Pulling at the fabric of his shirt, he sniffed too. Curiously, I did the same. He smelled of blood and sap—well, he had chopped Floris in the bloodiest way possible to ensure he died fast.

He pulled the shirt off and she must’ve thought this was acceptable, as she cuddled up to him next. They made feral noises back and forth, which further riled up my own alpha instincts.Her heat is here.

Omegas descended into something similar to a feral state when they went into heat. It was an unpredictable time. My mated friends talked about “types” of heats and how each one was different.

Sweetheart omegas like Lark could turn very angry and bite-y for the span of a heat. Or they could beg for babies after stating beforehand that they didn’t want a pregnancy. Or cry the whole time from the pain in their abdomen. The possibilities were endless and most of them made me quite glad I hadn’t been born an omega.

And I was also, maybe, a bit terrified of what kind of heat Lark was about to have. Not that I would tellanyonethat.

Sometime in my worrying, she tapped my arm. It was my turn with her, thank fuck. I gathered her up to my chest. She inhaled and purred, shifting so she was breathing in close to thecurve of my neck. I couldn’t help a smug smile. “She thinks I smell best.”

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