Page 102 of The Drama King
"She'll hate us when she wakes," I realized, the thought making my chest tight with unexpected pain. "When the heat recedes and she remembers everything we've done."
"Perhaps," Corvus acknowledged. "Or perhaps the fated bond will mitigate some of that resentment. Biology is powerful, particularly at this level of compatibility."
I looked down at Vespera's sleeping face, peaceful now in the aftermath of heat and claiming. The flush had receded from her skin, leaving her pale and fragile-looking despite the vivid marks we'd left on her body. She looked so small in my massive bed, surrounded by luxury that emphasized the gap between her scholarship-student background and our inherited wealth.
My fated mate. The one person in the world designed specifically to complement me, to challenge me, to complete me.
And I'd claimed her through manipulation and force rather than honest courtship.
"No more breaking," I said firmly. "No more psychological warfare. She's not just an Omega we're putting in her place anymore. She's..." I struggled to find words for what she had become. "She's ours to protect now. To care for. To... treasure."
The word felt strange on my tongue, unfamiliar after months of planning her subjugation. But it was true. A fated mate was beyond price, beyond calculation. The rarest gift an Alpha could receive.
"She won't trust that," Oakley pointed out, his cedar scent carrying notes of genuine concern. "After everything we've done, she'll see it as another manipulation."
"Then we'll have to prove it," I said, determination hardening my voice. "However long it takes."
Corvus was quiet for a moment, his analytical mind processing the implications. "The fated bond will help," he said finally. "Once the connection is established, fighting it becomes... difficult. For both sides."
I knew he was right. The fated mate bond was the strongest imperative known, transcending even heat and rut in its power to influence behavior. Already I could feel it working inside me,transforming possessiveness into protectiveness, dominance into devotion.
Vespera stirred then, a small sound of distress escaping her as the heat began to build again. Even in sleep, her body was responding to our presence, to the bond that had formed and would only strengthen with each claiming.
"Mine," I growled, the word carrying new depths of meaning. Not just ownership now, but recognition. Acceptance of a truth that went beyond anything I'd imagined possible.
Her eyes fluttered open, fever-bright with returning heat but clearer than they had been during last night's frenzy. For a moment, there was confusion in those green depths, then dawning recognition of where she was, what had happened.
"Dorian?" she whispered, her voice rough from sleep and the sounds she'd made throughout the night.
The sound of my name on her lips sent a wave of possessive satisfaction through me, but it was tempered now with something gentler, something I barely recognized in myself.
"I'm here," I said, my hand finding the nape of her neck in what had become a familiar gesture of ownership. "We're all here."
Her eyes took in the opulent surroundings: the master suite that spoke of generations of wealth, the crystal and mahogany, the silk and cashmere that surrounded her. Fear flickered across her face as full awareness returned, as she registered her position in the luxurious nest surrounded by the three Alphas who had claimed her. I could smell it—the sharp edge of terror beneath the sweetening scent of returning heat.
The fear made my chest ache in ways I'd never experienced before. My fated mate, terrified of me. Of us. The wrongness of it struck me with physical force.
"You don't need to be afraid," I told her, my voice gentler than it had ever been with her. "Not anymore."
Confusion replaced the fear, her brow furrowing as she tried to understand the change in my demeanor. "What's happening?" she asked, her body instinctively curling toward me despite her obvious wariness. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
I exchanged glances with Oakley and Corvus, a silent communication passing between us. How to explain what we'd discovered? How to make her understand that everything had shifted in the space of a single breath?
"There's something you need to know," I began, my thumb tracing small circles against the sensitive skin of her throat. "Something we discovered."
She tensed, clearly expecting more manipulation, more cruelty disguised as revelation. The distrust in her eyes was a knife to my gut, made all the more painful by the knowledge that we'd earned it.
"When a claiming takes place," I explained, choosing my words carefully, "certain scent signatures become apparent. Markers that were... hidden before."
"What are you talking about?" Her voice was stronger now, some of that familiar defiance returning as the heat momentarily receded.
"Fated mates," Oakley said gently when I hesitated. "A perfect genetic match between Alpha and Omega. The rarest bond possible."
Her eyes widened, darting between the three of us with growing comprehension. "That's... that's not real," she said, but I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. "It's stories. Myths."
"It's real," I assured her, my hand finding hers and squeezing gently. "And apparently, exceedingly rare as it is... you're mine."
The word 'mine' carried new weight now, new meaning. Not just possession but recognition. Acceptance of a truth that went beyond anything I'd imagined possible.