Page 54 of Bound for Their Pleasure

Louie motions the servant away, and the man fades into the background on silent, slippered feet.

This is all very civilized yet I fear there is a barbaric undertone to it all.

“I want to apologize,” Louie says. “Marshal’s family have been seized, and their estate— what is left of it—will go toward paying their debts.”

“And what of my mother? My father served you for years, yet you left us with nothing save a final wage. Not only did we lose a beloved husband and father, you left us vulnerable to these monsters.”

I remind myself that I’m talking to a king, one who holds my fate in his hands.

He nods, expression grave. “Your mother will be compensated.”

“Yes, now that I’m an omega with value!”

“Regardless, and for the wrong done to your family,” the king replies with sincerity, “she will be compensated.”

Relief that my mother will finally receive her dues is small compensation for the good man we lost. At least she will be able to live comfortably, and I’m grateful for that.

“Once a suitable match is found for you,” the king continues, “they will further ensure your mother wants for nothing.”

So he means to hand me off… “I have a perfect match, thank you—I have two of them. One is presently in chains, languishing in your prison last I heard.”

“He is not in chains.” Louie grimaces and puts down his untouched glass. “He is in my prison lest he go on a rampage.”

“He won’t go on a rampage,” I say with bite. “If you would only give me back.”

“I have petitions already.”

I blanch, feeling the small amount of wine roil like acid in my stomach.

“Giving you back is easier said than done.”

I put my glass down with athunk. “It is as easily done as said. It is literally a few words. I am bonded. I am with child!”

“You cannot possibly know that yet. My best physician—”

I huff out a breath. “My other mate is a shifter. He assuredly knows I am with child.”

“None of which will deter my petitioners. And besides which, your scent has not changed.”

That knocks the wind out of me. My hand reaches for my throat. Panic claws under my skin. What if I am not with child? What if they were wrong? “It must have.”

His face tells me he is very certain of this claim in ways he was not certain about me being with child.

I have never thought much about what it is to be a king, but today I do. Today, I see that leading people is a delicate balance, and what should be simple and right does not always manifest in the actions a king will take. Marshal and his family have committed heinous crimes and will suffer the consequences. Even had I wedded him and then revealed, the king would have nullified the wedding and offered me up to someone else, bending laws to that effect. I see now that the king is as trapped as I am. If he doesn’t allow alphas to petition for me, he will lose support.

That is his problem and not mine. So what if my scent has not changed? I love them, and I want them. I don’t even care that they kidnapped me.

I applaud that they did.

“I thought it was always an omega’s choice.” My voice breaks a little as my hope of a favorable resolution wanes.

He reaches for his wine, pausing when it is near his lips. “It is—within the bounds of those petitions I endorse.”

My nostrils flare. “Well, that is bollocks.”

He chokes on his drink, lowering the glass from his lips, and thumps his chest until it clears. And then he surprises me by chuckling. “I had heard omegas were spirited.”

“You will see more of my spirit than you might like if you don’t release my alpha.”

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