Page 59 of The Death God
“I’ll be back before you have time to miss me.”
“Who said I’d miss you?”
Gregory chuckled and ran his hands over Thanatos’ back. “I will miss you.” Then he broke away from the embrace. “Come on. Amell is waiting.”
Thanatos wanted to protest but followed Gregory out into the kitchen.
Amell was sitting on the bench with his head leaning against the wall. His eyes were closed, and Thanatos winced. He looked exhausted.
“Are you okay?”
Amell cracked an eye open, then leaned forward and rubbed his face. “I’ll live.”
“Couldn’t you sleep?” Thanatos got started on making coffee.
“I slept some, but I’ve only had a few naps during the last couple of weeks.”
“Because of the mating?” Thanatos pulled things out of the refrigerator. He could make some scrambled eggs. It was quick work. He placed a pan on the stove, then spotted some bacon and pulled out another pan.
“It was so weird. I was consumed with need for her, and yet in my mind, I knew something wasn’t right. I kept telling myself it was because she was my true mate, but I’ve never…” He grimaced. “I’ve never wanted a female in my entire life, and no matter how much I’ve desired someone in the past, I haven’t been unable to think of anything else. I’m the second in the pack, I need my brain to do my job.”
Thanatos cracked the eggs in the pan while Gregory put plates on the table.
“Once the mating had gone through, Himeros would’ve released you, and you’d gone back to normal.”
Amell’s eyes shifted color, and Thanatos winced. Perhaps it wasn’t the comfort he’d believed it would be.
“I would’ve been forever bound to a female I can’t stand. The only way out of a mating is if I met a true mate, and true matings are few and far between.”
Thanatos stirred the eggs, then looked at him. “Forgive me if I sound…” He grimaced. “But are you that much of a catch?”
Amell widened his eyes, and Gregory laughed, a little louder than necessary in Thanatos’ opinion.
“I mean, you’re impressive.” He gestured at him as his cheeks heated. “But are you important enough for someone to tie themselves to you for life knowing they’d tricked you into it? I take it you wouldn’t have touched her once the compulsion wore off, so it can’t be because she finds you attractive.”
“I don’t know why. Alaric will deal with it. We already have some council members on their way to her pack. Alaric will go too once this is sorted. I’ll remain here because I fear I’ll kill her.”
“Aren’t you allowed to?”
A smile curled Amell’s lips, and Thanatos was struck by how handsome he was, or could have been if he got some sleep and stopped glaring. Where Alaric was charming, Amell gave off a sharp, dangerous edge, and yet they looked a lot alike. Amell’s size only added to the danger-level. Alaric was huge too, but something in the way he moved made him appear less menacing, no less deadly, but less…Thanatos couldn’t put words on it. Less brutal perhaps.
“Once the how and why of it is sorted, I think Alaric will come up with some sort of punishment. We have too few females though. Had it been a male, I’d have been allowed to kill him.”
“The females can do what they want and not get punished?” He’d almost forgotten about the eggs and turned to stir them again. The bacon was sizzling too.
“There will be punishment, but no bodily harm to them.”
Thanatos hummed, pretty sure it wouldn’t help. If a woman was willing to buy a service from a psychic to force someone into a life-long bond, he didn’t think a little punishment that wouldn’t physically hurt would scare them off.
“You disagree with our laws?”
“Your laws are yours, and I have too little knowledge to have an opinion, but someone who’d do what she did is a ruthless creature with her mind set on something.”
“Power. Alaric couldn’t throw together a mating in a couple of weeks. As the alpha, it would have to be a bigger event than what we had planned. And I’m guessing Himeros has a time limit to what he’s able to do. I don’t think he would’ve lasted much longer.”
Thanatos would have to agree. He didn’t believe Himeros would have been able to keep the connection up for more than another day or two, and once he passed out, and it was broken, Amell would come to his senses.
“She was telling me to hurry the ceremony along. Every time we spoke, which was several times a day, she begged me to move the date for the party.” He made a disgusted sound. “I was pleased by her eagerness.”
