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“Holy?” I blurt out the word, confused.

“Yes. You are our Bonded Mate. All who see our eyes will know that you are linked to us. That you will bear us many sons.”

I swallow hard. I can’t imagine raising children on this planet. Though the Bond is the only way the Aurelian species can procreate, I know some things about them—things I’m not sure are true. But if it’s still active in my mind, not lying dormant, I can know I am not yet pregnant.

“The Fanatics and Priests will now know we are holy.” He repeats the word, andholystarts to sound like a curse. It hurts me, a punch to my gut.

Is that what he was thinking of when he took my virginity? When he had moments to think between the waves of lust, did he imagine gaining respect and status with his cruel peers?

It’s so practical, so unholy and evil. I pull myself from Tarak, pushing myself onto my shaking legs, and stand in front of the mirror.

I can see the prints of their hands on my pale skin. Their seed runs down my leg, tinged with the pink of my virginity, my innocence claimed. I’m linked to these men, and there’s no taking it back. I can feel the strength of their auras, but that white-hot rage is always there, that rage that wasn’t present when I first felt their beings in my vision.

What monsters have I Bonded myself to?

Damian opens the drawer next to the bedside table. He takes out an iron collar and throws it aside, reaching in again.

He pulls out a gleaming collar of silver. It’s not dull iron, like the one Matil wore to the market. He unclasps it and stands behind me. The alien beast towers over me and slowly brings it to my neck.

He closes it around my neck. It snaps shut, forming a seamless circle around me. I stare at the symbol of my ownership.

It’s cold. “Silver, for a holy, Bonded Mate. Gold when you are with our firstborn son.”

I shudder, looking at myself, naked and collared. The brands on his chest seem nightmarish again, the black tattoos filled in for unspeakable deeds.

I thought I could accept them. When I felt their protectiveness, their adoration for me, IknewI could. Now I’m not so sure.

How much of that adoration is for me?

And how much of it is just because I am their Mate? If another woman was the one who could be linked to them, would they feel all the same emotions? Am I nothing more than a signal of status, like the twin brands filled in with black ink?

They bred me so that I would become holy.

Now they have a Bonded Mate, the greatest honor…no, the second greatest honor, inferior only to one thing.

To get their Mate pregnant and have mighty sons.

16

Damian

She stands, collared, the most beautiful creature in the world. I stare at her, then my eyes dart to my reflection, looking at the new color of my eyes. They are her mark on me for eternity.

I turn and go to the drawer, opening it, and take out the long silver leash and the wristband. I clasp the band against my wrist, connect the leash, and walk to her.

She does not protest as I chain her to me. She bites her lip, nervous, but I can sense the tendrils of need. Part of her craves to submit to me, fully, and this symbol of her being owned turns her on.

And yet…

Some part of her is further away than when we were in the midst of passion.

“She’s distant. Why is she distant?”I telepath my battle-brother. Tarak’s aura is strangely blank, but as leader, I was always an expert at reading the emotions of my triad.

“This was much for her. Give her time,”he states, and I hope he’s right.

Athena slowly reaches upwards, touching the collar around her neck. “You will have me wear this? In public?”

I nod. “Yes. All will see you are mine. Do you like it?”