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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

~Arcay~

WHEN WE ARRIVED , the hall was already full, the food laid out, and a cloud of noise hovered above everything. I wished to be done with it all as quickly as possible and get back to my rooms with Clay. Our rooms. Now that he was my mate, what belonged to me also belonged to him. I thrilled at the thought.

Clay was understandably upset at the sudden intimacy of our bond. I had feared that I’d ruined the relationship building between us by neglecting to ensure that he was fully informed. But, after our talk, I was feeling hopeful.

Clay hovered at my side, his proximity making my skin tingle. He looked glorious in his clothes, the smooth expanses of skin with their dusting of fine dark hair in all the right places. I offered a silent prayer of thanks to Kesk for picking the outfit. That beta was indispensable.

“We can leave at any time if you feel uncomfortable,” I said as I tucked Clay against my side. He nodded and he looked around. He was nervous, probably from being among so many alphas, but he had nothing to fear. Still, I kept him close as we made our way to our table at the head of the room.

We settled into our places, and the celebrations washed over me, keeping my attention on Clay. At first, he was still riddled with apprehension, but as we ate and talked, I was relieved to feel him gradually calm.

“Are you comfortable?” I asked.

He nodded and smiled, although I knew it was put on for my sake.

“What is it, Clay? Do you wish to leave? I can end it now if you wish.”

“No, no, I’m fine, I’m just a bit...” He waved his hand around his head and then at the congregation of Aldar.

“Overwhelmed?”

“Yeah.” He looked at me. “The last time I was around so many of you guys you were getting the shit kicked out of you.”

I narrowed my eyes. That must be a human phrase that did not actually mean what it sounded like.

Clay rolled his eyes and added, “Not literally. I mean you were getting badly hurt.”

In a way, it pleased me that Clay was unhappy at the idea of me getting hurt, but I was still a little indignant.

“From what I recall, I triumphed easily.”

“Oh right, is that why you bled on me so much afterward?”

“I won and that is all that matters.” I tilted my head, canting it towards him. “And now you are mine, and I can spill bodily fluids on you as I please.”

His cheeks turned a delicious pink at my words, along with the blushing bloom of arousal he felt. I placed my hand on his thigh, feeling the warmth of his flesh underneath the clothing, and the bloom flowered. He threw me an unimpressed look.

“Geez, not here, Arcay. Seriously. And that sounds disgusting.”

I lingered on his thigh, enjoying the sensation of his secret arousal for a while longer, then conceded and removed my hand.

“So, shall we make more appropriate conversation?” I asked.

“Yes. ” He shifted, subtly adjusting his clothing, and then nodded towards a large Aldar with a shaved head. “If I’m going to be around for a while, I might as well get to know all the names. Who’s that?”

“That is Lat, the chief healer. I am told he owns a pet bird that is trained to defecate on apprentice healers who displease him, although I have yet to see it myself.”

Clay barked out a shout of surprised laughter. I smiled as warmth spread over me.

He motioned again. “And that one?”

I looked over at the Alder in question, a tall, slim alpha of advanced age with a small clearing around him, and leaned conspiratorially close. “Holun. He is known for excreting noxious gas when he has eaten too many fruits.”

Clay snorted. “Damn, I didn’t know you guys could do that. Noted. Don’t give him any more Klava .”

A female alpha approached the table, and I straightened again as she congratulated us on our newly-formed bond. Clay continued to eat, he seemed to particularly be enjoying the sweet rolls and I made a mental note to have more sent to my rooms tomorrow. I would feed him while we lay entwined in bed together. I nodded to the alpha as her words went over my head, not listening.

A spike of fear shattered through the calm and I whipped my head to Clay.

“What is it?”

He was staring across the hall, blue eyes wide. He shook his head slightly and I followed his gaze.

Ulgar stood with a group of unmated alphas on the far side of the congregation. Although the others were talking amongst themselves, Ulgar had his eyes fixed on us. In an instant, my good mood vanished and my body reacted to the threat, snarling a warning that he was too far away to hear.

Why was he here? Jursin had said he was confined to his quarters. Had he let Ulgar go already, with no punishment for what he had done?

“Do not worry, Clay, he cannot do anything,” I said as I put my arm around him and drew him against my side in a way that proclaimed ‘mine’ loud and clear. Across the hall, Ulgar shifted, his gaze darkening.

I broke the stare and looked back down at Clay, his fear was like a cold blade in my side. How dare Ulgar make Clay feel like this on our day of celebration. How dare he even look in Clay’s direction.

Reining in my anger as best I could, I tilted Clay’s face towards me. His eyes remained glued to Ulgar for as long as possible, like an animal keeping a predator in sight, and then they snapped up to mine. So blue. The startling clear color of his eyes always shocked me, and no matter how many times I saw them, they were as dazzling as the first time.

I held his gaze and concentrated on feeling calm, pushing it out and layering it over Clay’s distress. As it started to melt away, Clay’s brow creased in confusion, and then he looked up at me in wonder.

“How did you do that?” He said. “I could feel the calmness coming from you, and I could use it.”

“The bond is how we support each other. We are never alone when our souls are entwined. Whenever you need help, I am here to give it.”

“That’s…pretty handy,” he said.

“It works both ways, in the same way you gave me your panic last night,” I said. “Although I could have done without that.”

I smiled at him, and he smiled back. It was quiet and subtle, but I could tell by the warm glow in my belly that it was genuine this time.

“Thank you,” he said.

“I will do anything in my power to make you happy, my selador .”

“ Selador? What does that mean? ”

It was hard to translate to Panlin. I pressed my hand to my chest, where our connection thrummed. “It is what we call our bonded mate. It is my soul. The one who lives inside me. Who guides me from within.”

A warmth came from him that took my breath away, and the sudden urge to do the kissing again took me. I leaned in.

Two fists slammed down on the table. I bolted upright and Clay jumped, cursing.

Ulgar loomed over us, his face twisted and quivering with rage. Clay’s fear space-rocketed and swirled in my head, sickening and cold, as his attacker stood over him. It took everything in me to keep hold of my anger, for his sake.

“ Withdraw your hands, unless you wish them to be separated from your body, ” I snarled in Aldarian.

He kept them in place and lowered himself over the table until our eyes were level. My hand moved to grasp my spear before I realized I had left it in my quarters.

“ You are not worthy of having an omega ,” he snarled. “ He should be mine. ”

I laughed harshly, though I felt no humor. “If I was not worthy you would have beaten me in the tournament and claimed him for yourself.”

Clay soured at my words and I realized to my horror that I had responded in Panlin. I did not want him to think of Ulgar owning him, and what would happen to him if he did. I spoke quickly in Aldarian.

“But you did not. I beat you. It is you who is not worthy of Clay, or even breathing the same air as him, or any other omega. You are a disgrace to our people and if I were the First I would have been rid of you long ago. ” I slapped my hand down over his and gripped hard, sinking my claws into his flesh. His jaw twitched as he tried to pull away. My voice rose until I was shouting. “You are filth. You are lucky I did not tear you into bleeding chunks after what you did to Clay. Now get away from him, and if you so much as look at him again I will not stop until you are nothing more than a stain to be cleaned off the floor.”

I loosened my grip enough for him to wrench his hand out from under mine and he stepped back. Only then did I become aware that everyone in the hall had fallen silent.

Ulgar looked at me with murder in his eyes, the blood from his hand dripping onto the floor. “You may have strength, but you are weak-minded and it will be the end of you. You will realize it yourself when I am done.”

His threat rang out in the silence, then he turned and left, onlookers parting to let him through. As he stalked past a table, he flipped it with one hand, sending a shower of food across the floor.

It was only when Clay touched my arm that I realized I was snarling under my breath, gripping the table hard enough to raise splinters around my claws.

“What did he say?” Clay asked.

I looked back at Ulgar before he disappeared.

“Nothing worth repeating,” I said.