Page 2 of Love Bites Really Hard (Mated to the King #4)

two

BANE

I stared at the window across from my desk, looking at the glass without seeing the forest outside.

“She thinks one of our guys can start a mate bond with a siren , of all people, and survive a year without imprinting on her?” Lex asked, sprawled out on the chair across from my desk. His monster form was an orc, so he was nearly as large as I was, even while we were both in our human forms.

“Yes.”

He snorted. “She’s insane. A day without imprinting would be a miracle.”

“I said as much. She offered to seal a bond with someone else rather than mate with him.”

“So she really doesn’t like him.”

“I can’t say I blame her. He imprinted on her at a party he was supposed to be attending as a guard, and tried to seduce her into leaving with him.”

“Valid point.” Lex nodded. “No one’s going to go for it, though. We’ve all got our reasons for not wanting to imprint.”

“I tried to explain that, but I think she’s going to go to the dragons for help if I don’t give in.” I ran a hand through my hair. “And given that we still don’t know why Talon wants a siren, I can’t let that happen.”

Between physical and emotional connection, physical was the only one a monster could genuinely control. By staying away, we could guarantee we survived without imprinting.

“Why doesn’t she like Oscar?” he asked. “He’s the nicest guy we have.”

“That’s why she doesn’t like him.”

“Because he’s nice?”

“Yes. And apparently, he keeps sending her ridiculous messages. I love you. I miss you. We’ll be together soon.” I grimaced, shaking my head.

“If a woman sent me messages like that, I would run for the hills.”

“I know.”

“So she’s not into nice. What’s she like?”

“I don’t know. I only met her for a few minutes. She seemed… abrasive.”

“Is she hot?”

I scoffed. “She’s fucking gorgeous.”

I hadn’t managed to get her defiant eyes, slight curves, and wild mane of hair out of my mind since we met.

“Show me a picture. I’m curious now,” Lex said.

“I don’t have a picture. I’m not the one who imprinted on her.”

He grabbed his phone off my desk and typed something in. After a minute, he held up a blurry security camera image Hale had sent of his sirens the first time we met his mate, Blair. Kai’s mate, Clementine, was missing from it, but the other four of them were there.

“Which one is she?”

“The one with the curly brown hair.”

He studied the picture before setting the phone down. “Yeah, she’s a looker, but I’m not attempting her plan. Not interested in mating with a siren. Too much hassle, long-term. People are always after sirens. And I don’t want to have to kill Oscar. She looks breakable. He’ll be good for her.”

“She’s not breakable.”

I’d met the woman.

I’d had her scent in my lungs, and felt my body’s response.

I respected her stubbornness in refusing to mate with someone she wasn’t interested in, too, even if I thought she could make it work with Oscar.

He eyed me. “Unbreakable enough for a gargoyle?”

I grimaced, “I don’t know. But if I spend any more time around her, there’s a very good chance I imprint. And if she doesn’t like how clingy Oscar is, she’s going to fucking hate me.”

Lex leaned toward me. “You like her?”

“I respect her. Grudgingly.”

“No one in their right mind is going to agree to mate with her to keep her from Oscar if they know there’s a chance you’re going to imprint, buddy. It’s just not going to happen,” Lex said bluntly.

“I’m not going to imprint.”

“Oh yeah? What does she smell like?”

My chest rumbled. “Coffee and cinnamon.”

The smell of coffee was usually foul to monsters because it was so strong. But there had been just a hint of it on her skin when I met her the night she imprinted on Oscar, and it was fucking delicious.

Lex barked out a laugh. “You want her.”

“I want her out of my hair.”

“Text her. Get her to meet with Oscar. He’s better in person. Maybe he’ll convince her to seal their bond and be done with it. You need her mated fast, if you’re going to make it through this. Give me her number. I’ll handle it.”

I scowled.

Something possessive in me raged at the thought of letting him talk to her, which was a good sign I needed to back off. Immediately.

Lex reached over the desk and grabbed my phone, ignoring my snarl.

I couldn’t stop myself from shifting, dark gray wings spreading behind my back as I stepped around the desk and took the phone back, but it was too late.

He’d already messaged her.

Me

After you’ve talked to Oscar to see if you can work it out, I’ll start asking around to find someone else to mate with you

“I already tried this,” I growled. “She’s not going to?—”

My phone buzzed when she texted back immediately.

Zora

Fuck you

I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe steadily. I tried to shift back to my human form, but failed.

Lex looked over my shoulder, grinning when he saw the message. “Abrasive does seem like the right word. Maybe you should mate with her.”

“If anyone else said that to me, they’d be dead.” I managed to keep my voice almost calm, but I was still trying to come up with a way to fix the situation.

He grinned. “I know. You love me.”

We both looked down when she sent another message.

Zora

I’ll be there in twenty minutes. With guards. Lots of them.

Relief relaxed my shoulders. “I can’t believe that worked.”

“So she’s abrasive, but not stupid,” Lex said with approval. “You could do worse. You can be the backup plan if we can’t make her fall for Oscar.”

“Why do you keep insisting that I’m the one who’s going to mate with her?”

“Because unlike the rest of us unmated bastards, you’ve never struggled not to imprint on someone. Her being the first seems like a sign.” He flashed me a lazy grin. “Unless she agrees to seal the bond with Oscar. Then, all of this will be nothing but an amusing memory.”

I shook my head, resisting the urge to strangle the bastard.

And claim her before Oscar had the chance.

Fuck.

Lex grinned wider.

Exactly twenty-five minutes later, I stood in the observation area connected to two meeting rooms. The rooms were separated by metal bars and an impenetrable wall. Speakers were wired between the rooms, so the separated occupants could communicate despite being unable to see each other.

Zora’s mated sisters were all gathered in the observation area, with their kings at their sides. The one-way glass between us and the rooms’ occupants meant that we could see them, but they couldn’t see us.

Blair had groaned and dropped her face against Hale’s shoulder two minutes into the conversation.

Izzy looked like she was going to be sick, and was clutching Porter’s hand like it was a lifeline.

Clementine was chewing her lip so roughly, Kai had freed it from between her teeth twice.

Lex had headphones in, but was watching their body positions with interest. He wasn’t risking developing feelings for her by hearing her talk. I should’ve done the same, but I needed to know whether to push their connection or help Zora get out of it.

One minute was all it had taken for me to see why she was so convinced they weren’t compatible. After five, it was painfully clear.

Oscar was pressed up against the wall, his palms spread over the metal as if he could feel her through it.

He couldn’t.

He was being ridiculous.

She simply sat in the provided armchair. Though she’d started the conversation calm for the most part, she had lost her temper quickly.

Very quickly.

“Stop bringing up your fucking feelings,” Zora snarled. “I don’t care how you think you feel about me. If you want this shit to work, you have to be willing to do it at my pace. We?—”

“Zora,” he argued, pressing his forehead to the metal. “You don’t understand. I already love you. I?—”

She stormed over to the wall with the one-way windows on it, and hit the button to silence Oscar before pressing the one to communicate with us.

“Does imprinting automatically make you love someone?” she demanded, then released the button.

Everyone looked at me.

I pressed the one on our side and leaned over to the speaker. “No.”

She stabbed her button again. “What does it do, exactly?”

Her sisters and their mates’ eyes went back to me.

“It creates a feeling of intense possessiveness and slightly alters the body of the male to better suit the female. Those affected typically believe they can’t live without the person they imprinted on. They can usually still behave rationally at this early stage of the bond.”

Zora glared at the metal wall. “See what I mean? He’s insane.”

I couldn’t exactly say otherwise. “You agreed to fifteen minutes. Just try to talk him down and see if he can regain control of himself.”

She fixed her glare on the window, and I swear, it felt like the woman had turned all of her fury on me.

After a long moment, she stormed over to the chair and leaned over the back of it, gripping the edge with both hands.

“Zora doesn’t really talk people down ,” Clementine whispered, shooting me an apologetic look. “She’s more of a rile people up kind of girl.”

Zora yelled at the metal wall again, telling Oscar to go fuck himself.

My cock was already hard enough that it struggled against my jeans. “That’s not a problem. Around here, she’ll fit right in.”

Izzy hit the button to silence the pair’s argument for a moment. “Does he always talk about his feelings this much?”

“I don’t know.” I nudged Lex.

He pulled one of his headphones out. “Huh?”

“Is he always this emotional?” Izzy asked, gesturing to the upset demon.

“Oh. Uh… he’s always pretty sensitive, I guess. Not like this, obviously. But it’s not entirely out of character. He told me he imprinted on Zora before she even said a word.”

Blair groaned. “We need to fix this.”

“She’s usually more understanding, right?” Lex checked.

Izzy snorted. “No.”

His eyebrows lifted, and he looked at me. “We’re going to have to use the backup plan. She’s going to kill him in his sleep otherwise.”

With that, he popped the headphone back into his ear.

Bastard.

His plan and mine were not the same.

“What’s the backup plan?” Hale asked.

“You don’t want to know,” I said.

I looked back at Zora. Her face was so red, I worried she might implode. The way she embraced her anger without pretending she felt anything else made me like her more.

“In this situation, we need to know,” Porter said.

I’d have to give them my backup plan. “I have a few unmated males who are stronger than Oscar. I’m going to try to convince one to imprint on her and mate with her. Together, they may be able to break Oscar’s connection with enough PDA.”

“And if she doesn’t like any of them?” Kai checked.

“She can choose between them and Oscar. That’s the best I can do.”

“What if they don’t like her?” Porter asked.

Izzy elbowed him in the gut, and he grunted.

“We could pair her off with a vampire,” Hale suggested.

“Oscar’s one of my strongest men, and he’s a demon. Vampires aren’t fireproof. If one of your men goes toe to toe with him, they’ll die,” I said bluntly. “It’ll have to be a monster. Someone stronger than him.”

Unless it was a dragon. They could handle him.

But the dragons were even worse than us, which made them off limits.

“We could have one of our fae take her to our realm and wait for his imprint to blow over,” Clementine offered. “She could pick a mate there.”

“Imprints don’t blow over . If she leaves, he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to get to her until he loses his mind entirely. I’ll have to kill him to prevent a massacre here.”

My focus returned to Zora as she stormed back to the wall and slammed her hand against the button, snarling, “I’m done.”

Though she couldn’t have seen me through the one-way glass, her defiant gaze was fixed right on me.

She was fierce. Stubborn . Beautiful .

Something within me shifted, and I clenched my jaw as a sudden wave of need hit me so hard, I couldn’t breathe.

Oscar couldn’t fucking have her.

She was mine .

I gritted my teeth against the intensity of my desire, and grabbed Lex’s arm, pulling him toward me. As soon as his gaze collided with mine, he grinned viciously, and pushed me toward the door.

“Put her in the conference room. I’ll meet you there soon,” I forced out.

“Wait, what?” one of Zora’s sisters called after me, but I was already gone.