Page 9 of Fated or Knot

“Arewescent matches?” I asked in disbelief.

His nostrils flared as he scented me. “I strongly suspect so. You smell decadent. Seems I didn’t come all this way for no reason. Of course, we won’t know for sure until you meet my brothers, but I’ll be more than happy to introduce you.”

So the omegas wouldn’t be overwhelmed, each alpha here was a representative of his pack. But the mention of meeting brothers was as effective as a slap. I couldn’t meet his brothers. I couldn’t havescent matches! I was going to be on a magirail tomorrow to a sanctuary city.

“I’m the lead for a pack of four,” Fal continued, not realizing my change in mood. “My brothers will love you. We’ve been searching for our omega for several years.”

I couldn’t tell Fal why I couldn’t meet his brothers or join their pack. My tongue was still bound up in a foolish vow. Stars, this was my fault. I could’ve made money another way. I didn’t have to stoop to Cymora’s level and steal from others to get by.

“Can we get a bit of air?” I asked. It was so hot in this room all of a sudden, and the crush of fae around us didn’t help.

“Of course.” His presence was enough to dissuade anyone from approaching, and his height helped him cut through the crowd.

He led us to one of the massive windows, which was set ajar. I hadn’t realized it coming in, but it was one of several doorways leading out to a stone patio. It was significantly cooler outside, and I pinched the edge of my dress, unsticking it from my skin and venting in a little cold air.

A cramp seized my middle. I bit my lip to keep a curse from escaping at the sudden pinch. My body told me it was going into pre-heat about as subtly as a fist closing around my stomach. I’d put my heat off for so long, the warning signs were sudden and painful.

“Here, have a seat for a moment,” Fal said, nudging me. I was half-blinded by the pain in my middle, but he guided me around the shapes of other fae and potted plants to the edge of a carved stone bench. It was blessedly cool against my thighs. Closing my eyes, I rode out the wave of discomfort until the cramp dissipated. They would only get worse from here, too. My suppressant tattoo had to have gotten a new crack, and I suspected it’d happened the moment I’d scented Fal.

His concerned face swam into view, framed by a starry sky when I opened my eyes and took a ragged breath. My gaze ran from his expression to the jeweled mask glittering from the light of an essence lamp hovering over the patio, and I had aninsaneidea.

I took a glance around. Our bench was guarded by a large fern in an oversized pot, and we were in relative privacy with other couples murmuring on the patio too in other private nooks. There was a raised stone rail behind the bench, overlooking the castle garden from a dizzying distance. We must’ve been on the second story, which certainly made my new idea risky.

However, there was one surefire way to dampen Fal’s view of me. That mask he wore…the number of gemstones alone would be enough to buy me the magirail ticket to my new future. I should try to take it.

“How are you—” he began to ask.

Before I could second-guess myself, I grabbed him and planted my lips on his. He made a surprised “mmph” but didn’t hesitate or balk for a single second. Instead, his lips softened, parting, and his tongue tested the seal of my mouth. He deepened the kiss, flooding my taste buds with the essence of sunny, grassy days, and for one dizzying moment, my worries eased.

A soft vibration lifted from my chest. I didn’t recognize it until his fingers ran through my hair and stroked down my cheek. He repeated the motion. Petting me… I waspurringfor him. Stars, I’d never purred for anyone, but he coaxed it free with a gentle touch.

Remembering why I’d kissed him in the first place, I reached for the knot tying his mask to his face and loosened it with one quick jerk, tugging the fabric off him.

I pulled away first and gasped. The elf across from me had become a different fae completely. My eyes darted from the mask in my hand, which practically vibrated with the essence of a powerful illusion, to the magic unraveling down his hands and unveiling fingers tipped with claws. His eyes were lidded from our kiss, lips pursed around his extra sharp fangs.

It was still Fal, and he was still an elf. His complexion turned a striking shade of blue with deep gray undertones, unlike any forest elf I’d ever met. His suit was different, too, the fabric navy and its silver markings twisting in an unfamiliar style embroidered into the collar and down the sides. The straight, green hair down his back sprang into loose waves, turning black with a sheen of blue in the light.

His long ears went from unadorned to being pierced with silver chains and several hanging stars. And the pack mark on his brow… I caught a glimpse of it as I stared at his transformation, stunned. It was framed by glowing sapphire ink tattoos in motifs of winter, swirls of air and snowflakes that trailed down his temple to frame his high cheekbones. He was… But hecouldn’tbe…

Fal drew me closer to rub his face against my neck and mark me with his scent, a low alpha rumble in his chest. “Why did you do that?” he asked. His accent was thicker. No wonder I didn’t recognize it. It wasSerian.

“You’re Unseelie,” I breathed. The magical forces that shaped our kind had long cursed the Unseelie fae to be known by the evil of their ancestors. They were forced to carry a permanent animal feature so the descendants of the fair Seelie fae knew them on sight.

And he wasn’t just any Unseelie. By the identifying magic in the mark he wore, he was the eldest son of the Unseelie royal pack. A prince of vile tricksters and wicked malcontents. And the most handsome elf I’d ever met, while also being my first, and hopefully only, dark elf. He looked at home in the night, practically a being of cold winter shadows.

Now that I knew the truth of him, the mischievous angle to his smile and the razor-sharp fangs made more sense. He finally looked at me, his eyelids lifting from his animal feature: eyes like a cat’s, dark blue and slitted. And I remained frozen like a quivering mouse before him.

“I am. Now, it’s only fair I see you unmasked as well,” he said in his teasing tone. He pulled the ribbon attaching the mask to my face.

“Wait, no!” I exclaimed. He already had it in hand, and the beautiful lie of my illusions dissipated into lavender sparks. My depleted wings flicked with my distress.

His lips parted in surprise. That feline gaze was pointed at my real dress and the front pocket of my smock, which bulged with everything I’d stolen tonight.

Well, now he knows.No prince, Unseelie or not, would want a common servant to complete his pack. There’d be no introductions to his brothers, no more talk of scent matches. I was as good as rejected.

And stars, that truth hurt worse than I thought it would.

Standing with a jolt, I shoved his mask in with the rest of my ill-gotten gains. “Unseelie!” I shouted, hoping to catch a guard’s attention.

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