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He remained hard inside her, his knot lasting longer than it ever had before. So long they were still locked together as Kassandra drifted off to sleep, her face nestled against his chest. Knottings lasted longer to aid with conception or for bonding. With this one lingering so long, it was as if his body was telling him not to end this until he bonded her to him.

His response to her was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Every moment inside her was perfect. She was perfect. From the way she gasped in his ear to the way she shuddered in release, all he wanted was to keep her wrapped around him until he knew every noise of pleasure she’d make. Until he tasted every inch of her skin.

He rolled to his side to take his weight off her. Even in sleep, she remained clutching him as if afraid he’d leave her. For someone so fierce, she looked small and vulnerable right now. He trailed his fingers through her silky hair, and she cooed, nestling closer to him.

His breath hitched. Being with her was supposed to be about breeding. About sex, and only sex. Even though he was still hard inside her, wanting her again, feelings were stirring in his chest that had nothing to do with lust. Something deeper, something foreign, lurked there, too.

Thank the gods above she hadn’t invited him to bite her because he wasn’t sure he would have been able to resist. He’d lost control of himself for a moment, priming her neck, asking for the bond, but at least she hadn’t understood what he was doing, and she hadn’t invited him.

The foreign feeling in his chest twisted in a sharp, angry lash.

Kassandra frowned and rubbed her cheek over his chest as if trying to comfort him in her sleep. The same odd feeling in his chest expanded, warming him all over.

Everything felt off-kilter, like the time in battle his helmet had been hit hard by the butt end of a sword. The world had gone shaky, leaving him untethered. He felt like that now, like something knocked him off course, something he wasn’t sure how to deal with.

He didn’t want to leave this bed. Newly mated pairs might stay in bed together for weeks, not even wanting to leave for food. At least, that’s what he remembered from the few mating ceremonies he’d attended in his village as a young teen. At the thought of spending weeks in bed with her, his groin tightened further.

He gritted his teeth. They weren’t a newly mated pair, and he couldn’t indulge in fantasy.

He finally softened enough to slip free of her, and he got up and tugged on his trousers. When he glanced back at her, his cock leaped to attention again. He’d just had her, yet he wanted her again.

Even worse was the clawing inside to return to bed because she needed him to hold her. She needed her Alpha to provide reassurance. Affection.

She craved affection like a warrior craved his first battle. While he could claim her pleasure, showing her how good he could make her feel, it was the other touches, the intimate ones, that affected her more. She liked being held. She liked it when he stroked her hair or her back. His Alpha side relished it, just like it went crazy when she finally said aloud how much she wanted him.

Focus.

He wanted to satisfy her, but he couldn’t give her more than that. He needed to keep some distance between them.

He growled and strode out of the tent toward the armory. Xander exited a tent nearby, one Lodan thought might be the tent the male Omega was staying in. Xander’s hair was mussed and he had a pleased kind of expression on his face Lodan hadn’t seen in a long time.

Xander’s brows shot up. “I didn’t think I’d see you tonight.” He glanced toward Lodan’s tent. “Not that I meant to, but I did hear the Omega making some pretty happy sounds.”

“Kassandra.” Her scent clung to his skin, filling the air around him. Need clawed through him to return to her. To hold her again. “No more Omega. We’ll call her by name.”

Xander ran his hand over his hair, trying to tidy it. “Right. Kassandra.”

Lodan jerked his chin toward the tent Xander had exited. “Are you having a good night?”

“Yes. But—” Xander frowned and looked away. “Pah. Never mind.”

“What is it?”

Xander took a long moment to answer. “You know the chat we had last week? The one about bondmates?”

Lodan nodded.

“I’ve thought about it often.” He sighed. “We’ve been battling the Sardi for half our lifetime. During that time, I’ve only thought about the next battle, the next hurdle to freeing Anatolia. But we’re Myrdinian Alphas, deep down, we’re built for family.”

The foreign feeling in his chest warmed. “You think so?”

Xander raised his head. “Yes. We fight because of what was taken from us, but deep down, we’re built to take care of our land, to cherish our family, and to build, not destroy.”

Lodan stared at him a long moment. “We’ve always known we fight for vengeance. For what’s right.”

Xander’s gaze flicked back to the tent he’d exited. “And after? Do you think we can return to our old life? I don’t think I even remember what that’s like.”

“I rarely think beyond our next battle.” Lodan rubbed his cheek. “At first because it seemed impossible there would ever be a last battle, and afterward …” He shrugged. “If the prophecy is real, my life will be cut short. If it isn’t, I’ll have Kassandra at my side. She isn’t my bondmate, and we won’t be settling down to live a quiet life. We’ll have to show Anatolia the Blood Laws are gone. We aren’t a true family.”

Another hard wrench inside his chest.

Not that he believed the prophecy, but if it was true, all he wanted, all he’d ever wanted, was to finally kill the king, and defeat the Blood Laws. If he died after those things happened, then that was his destiny, and he accepted it.

That was his choice.

Xander studied him. “You still mean to use the Sardi like that?”

The wrench was replaced by a stabbing between his shoulder blades. “That’s why I took her.” Except the idea of walking her through Anatolia’s cities, displaying the Sardi at his side, the Sardi who would carry his child, made his dinner lurch in his stomach.

“Do you think we’ve become so hardened by war we can’t recognize our bondmate?” Xander asked.

“Why do you ask?”

“My instincts are telling me Cian is the one.” Xander ruffled his hair, messing up what he’d just fixed. “But something is … wrong. The deeper connection isn’t coming.” He went still and stared at Lodan, his expression turning solemn. “Maybe you’re right and the gods have forsaken us. Maybe the prophecy reads true for us all. We can only have glory in battle, or love. Not both.” He glanced back at his tent. “Never both.”

Lodan went numb, all the warmth from lying with Kassandra fading. “I think you might be right.” His body had craved a bond with Kassandra, but he knew that could never happen. His duty was to his warriors, who put their lives on the line to bury the Sardi rule once and for all. His duty was to save Anatolia from its oppression. Bonding with Kassandra and creating a real relationship, would never be the choice he’d make. “With Greta awake, we leave for Argos at dawn tomorrow. Let’s pick up the pace.”

Xander’s expression hardened. “Yes. It’s time to catch a king.”

The king. Kassandra’s brother. Every time he looked at her, he needed to remember that there was no one he hated more than the king. No one who had taken more from him. The Sardi had to be fully destroyed.

“Yes. It’s time to focus on what really matters.”