Page 18 of A Mate for the King
Chapter Six
Cora sucked in a deep breath and looked down at her hands. To the side, taking in the white canvas material of the spacious tent around her. Around and down, to the wood floors brought into to cover the dirt of the forest floor.
Anywhere but at the big blond alpha asleep next to her.
Gingerly, Cora shifted and slowly drew back the covers.
How long had she been here?She stood shakily, her legs weak, as though they weren’t used to the exercise of walking. She took a tentative step forward, eyes frantically sweeping the space, looking for her clothes.
In Cora’s time with the Moonwater Clan, she could honestly say that she had never stayed in such a nice space. What that said about her life as a Moonwater omega, or the level of Zehr’s accommodations, she wasn’t sure.
Another quick stutter-step had her seriously curious about how long her heat had been. All-Mother, her muscles ached. Never having been in heat before, she still suspected hers had run on the long side of heat cycles.
The last memory she had was Tuesday, a mere couple of days before Zehr’s coronation, which meant if she had a long heat…
Oh All-Mother, what day is it?
It didn’t help that her magic still felt weak. Normally it only took Cora a couple of days to recover from using her abilities, a side effect of her mixed parentage. She had used a massive amount in defending herself from her alpha attacker, but even so, her magic should have replenished by now.
Cora touched her chest gingerly and winced at the emptiness where her magic should be. Even if it was weaker than some, it was still ever present in her life, filling up that spot next to her heart with an electric current that buzzed pleasantly along with her. That little hum of energy had acted as her touchstone during the bleak years that had followed her kidnapping.
Now it was gone… or nearly gone?
There was a whisper of her magic, a hint of the power her bruja mother had given her, and that comforted Cora somewhat. But why was it still so weak?
Cora was still frantically running through the possible explanations for her magic’s absence when the alpha stirred. Startled, Cora backed away, eyeing him nervously.
All-Mother. He was beautiful.
Her perusal of Zehr was cut short a second later when she detected a hint of something not entirely Zehr. She sniffed the air tentatively, trying to puzzle out the new smell.
Perhaps a beta had been through? No, not with her in heat. Any shifter foolish enough to get close would have Zehr to answer to. Cora shivered, her eyes landing on him as he slowly sat up. She opened her mouth to greet him but the words died before they left her throat.
Her fingers flew to her neck, finding the bond bite she knew would be there as she met the eyes of the alpha across the room from her.
The new scent was theirs; was hers!
“Come here,” Zehr said gruffly, his voice still flavored with alpha command which had her back snapping straight and her feet moving before she knew what she was doing.
“You bonded me,” Cora whispered. Zehr pushed himself up on an elbow and bit his bottom lip, eyes no longer completely amber. He blew out a sigh and Cora felt a measure of gratefulness when the big alpha lowered his eyes and nodded.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I wanted…” he paused, brow furrowing as he thought carefully about his next words. “I don’t know.”
Cora froze at the foot of the bed.
“You don’t know?” She wrapped her arms around herself and gave him an almost-glare. “How many days has it been?”
“Seven days.”
“A week?” Her eyes shot up to his. “Your coronation?”
Zehr shrugged and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “On hold for the time being.”
“This isn’t good.” Cora shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “This is bad.”
