I fisted her hair, not wanting it to end, and when it did, she was out of breath, flecks of crimson spotting her pretty lips.
Finding the old train of thought that had deserted me the moment I’d dropped to my knees, I reached into my pocket.
I pulled out the bracelet I’d withdrawn from the safe in my mansion. It was the most important thing I’d returned for. It had been a gift from my grandfather to his scent match.
It wasn’t something I’d given Thistle before now because I had convinced myself it wasn’t needed. She’d always been under my watch and protection.
But the reality was, I’d never wanted to legitimise this bond.
I turned my free hand palm up, waiting. She narrowed her eyes, taking in what I held, then placed her palm in mine.
“Power isn’t made of anything but belief, Omega. Tomorrow, you will take up space with enough confidence that no one dares question you.”
The bracelet was custom made, each of the gems embedded with a trigger. Press the smoother side down, the sharper edge against the skin, and it would inject its poison.
Blue made the wearer venomous, so a bite from her would paralyse the strongest attacker. Red was the reverse—it would make her blood poison to any Alpha that tried to bite or bond her. Pink created a false death, slowing the heartbeat until it was all but undetectable, and black and pearlescent were a true, deadly poison for a painless death, and its antidote.
She stared, one final wave of shock flooding the bond as she realised I was giving her a gift. She picked it up carefully, scent marking it before slipping it onto her wrist beside the slender cuffs Knox had given her. Pride swelled in my chest as I saw it on her—protection passed down from my family now resting upon her body.
“I don’t lose,” I told her. “Not to anyone. Not ever.”
She frowned. “What does that mean?”
“What it means, Omega…” I tilted her head so she couldn’t look away from me. “You can never lose to anyone ever again, because I refuse to belong to anyone less than a queen.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
ROGUE
Thistle and Ace’s midnight escapades had been explosive enough through the bond that they woke me.
I was prodding the bond, monitoring it, but I didn’t notice any alarm bells from her, so I waited, seated on the edge of the bed while Knox cuddled Bunny as he snored behind me.
Finally, after what felt like an age, in crept what seemed to be a very naked Omega, carefully pressing the door shut with as little sound as possible.
Good.
Now I’d be able to smother her with cuddles and get some sl?—
I froze, the haze of moonflower that had entered the room carrying with it the tang of iron.
Blood.
It was dim here, but not so much that I didn’t notice somethingverywrong as Thistle turned around to face the room.
I was on my feet in a moment, and she froze.
“Uh, oh… hi.” The tatters of her nightclothes fell to the floor as they slipped from her fingers.
“What the fuck?”
I didn’t care if I woke Knox.
Actually, heshouldwake up.
“What?” She folded her arms like that might undo the reality I’d already seen.
Across her slender body were a dozen wounds—bites. And a few were still oozing blood.