Page 23 of Owned By Four Alphas

“I shouldn’t have undermined you like that in front of everyone,” he said at last, his chin resting on her head, “I thought it would be funny, and maybe do some good, and Sarya’s now happily mated to one of the Southern Fae knights and I just didn’t…think. Sometimes it’s so easy to forget that you’re not Fae, that you aren’t accustomed to how things work here.”

She sniffed, her body relaxing ever so slightly as he spoke, unable to resist the soothing rumble from his chest. “But it’s not just that. Ever since then, you and Kaelen have been like this team against the rest of us. Fielding all the political stuff, sorting things out before I even hear about it, making moves without asking the rest of us. It’s not…it isn’t how I want things to be!”

“Little dove, we’re just playing to our strengths-”

“No! You’re not! Not when you keep leaving me out of things.”

“In all fairness, you’re spending so much time working on controlling your magic. And you’re doing an excellent job, don’t get me wrong, but between that and your research,, it’s taking up all your time.”

“But I don’t see why you get to decide what—oof!”

She was cut off as he spun her around, pinning her gently against the bookshelves, his lips dropping to her neck. On impulse, her whole body went limp as his teeth grazed her skin, the touch sending sparks of desire flickering over her body, straight to her core.

“What are y-you…oh,” she moaned as his hands gripped her waist, his sharp teeth digging in further to her skin, his tongue laving over her pulse point.

“You shouldn’t be down here, little dove,” he growled, his voice dropping low, “not by yourself. It’s dangerous, there are too many dark objects that could hurt you.”

“B-but… I…” She trailed off, squeaking as he bit down on her neck, over where he had first given her her mating bite. Every coherent thought, every argument melted away under his touch. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of her rational brain, she realized that Elian was using his alpha designation to distract her, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. Things had been so distant between them lately, so tense, her body rejoiced at finally being close to him once more.

“If you want to come down here, it has to be with me,” he said, and she couldn’t stop herself from nodding in agreement. He pulled back, capturing her chin in his thumb and forefinger, “is that clear, little dove?”

“Yes, Alpha,” she murmured, heat coiling in her belly, “I won’t come down here without you.”

“Good girl,” he purred, one hand gently capturing her neck. “Now, it’s bedtime. We can explore more tomorrow.”

“But I—”-

“Selena,” he growled, and she whimpered, her body going limp once more. “Bed. Now. I’ll take you.”

As he guided her away, her mind still a fog of lust and submission, she faintly realized what one of the titles had read, the gold lettering ornate and faded.

The Prophecies of the Great Gods: The Language of the Divine.

Chapter 10 - Ronan

It was getting late by the time Ronan paced into the library, still as a wolf, frustrated at not finding his pretty little mate in their chambers. Malek was out training his Nightwalkers, Elian and Kaelen wereentertainingsome of the dragon nobles at a late dinner, a dinner he had no interest whatsoever in joining. He had just returned from another mission back west to his territory, another attempt to try and coax his people out of their violent fear of the humans.

It had been less than successful. And now, he wanted nothing more than to find his beautiful queen and greet her properly after a week spent away.

He found her, as suspected, poring over books with the librarian.

“Perhaps if we try conjugating that verb as past continuous, then we would getwere burninginstead ofburnt. That changes the whole order of this particular ritual!”

Selena’s eyebrows knitted together as she contemplated his words, “it still doesn’t tell us what kind of fire they used. Wood fire, dragon fire, divine fire…the recipe is incomplete.”

“Well, we have access to two of those three, and surely any fire you light is in some capacitydivine, so we’ve got that too, and if we try—oh. Y-your Highness! I mean, um…Lord, um—”

“Ronan!” Selena shouted, her eyes widening in delight as she ran over to him, her long black hair streaming behind her. “You’re back!”

He lowered his head to meet her, her arms wrapping tightly around his muzzle, her little fingers curling in his thickfur. He breathed in her scent, so sweet, soperfect, and growled in appreciation.

Selena’s response to his growl was almost immediate. Her pupils widened, her little muscles tensing, her breaths growing shorter. Smoothly, he let his wolf-skin melt away, picking Selena up without pause, carrying her over to the rugs in front of the fire. She mewled, her legs wrapping around his middle, her breasts pressing into the naked flesh of his chest.

“Right! I’m just going to…um…yep! I’m gonna go!” Castien was red from his cheeks to the tips of his pointed ears, his gaze firmly fixed on the desk as he quickly grabbed his things and half-ran from the room.

“Ronan!” Selena half-admonished, but he captured her lips in a searing kiss, cutting off any further complaint.

“Mmm,” she moaned into his mouth, “how was your trip?”

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