Filed to story: The Wolf Prince’s Fated Love
Gael’s resistance melted, the anger in his eyes turning to confusion. “I would never betray you, Alpha.” He clenched his jaw and pointedly bared his neck, the act of submission costing him dearly. “I only want to see you safe. The threat of an omega is too great. You know the histories.”
Kane didn’t relent though, his claw-tipped fingers still holding Gael’s throat in a punishing grip as he growled over his friend.
“Brielle,” Leigh hissed. “You have to go to him. He’s too far gone to come back himself.”
I looked quickly back and forth between her and Kane, his back hunched as he held his friend on the brink of death. Was she right? Was this powerful alpha going to bow to me and come away, or was I going to get torn to shreds instead of Gael?
Deep down, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. No matter how far gone he was, I was safe with his wolf. I rose on shaky legs, crossed the few steps between us, and laid a hand gently on the broad expanse of his back.
“Kane, it’s okay.”
His muscles flexed under my palm, and I dug my fingers in slightly, gripping him as I dropped my other hand down to caress him as well. We were like magnets, and even in this awful situation, I couldn’t hold back from touching him. His back was a work of art, finely honed through years of hard work and shifter metabolism, but I didn’t want to appreciate it like this, with him threatening his friend.
His head rose and his eyes bored into mine, but he still didn’t let go of his friend. What would make him come back to me?
“Please? There’s no threat here, because I’m not omega. I’m psi, have been my whole life. My stomach stopped hurting while you were holding me, and I need-“
I was swept off my feet, clutched back to his chest, my head pressed against his bare shoulder, before I could blink.
A sense of calm broke over me, and I sighed, unable to hold it in. He felt right, though my mind was still grappling with the idea of me-a complete weakling who could barely shift-being mated to the second-most powerful shifter in the world. And power pulling? I couldn’t go there, not yet. That was more than I was ready to handle without copious amounts of Oreos and both of my besties in our ugliest pajamas.
Kane didn’t settle back onto my bed. He simply held me, breathing into the top of my hair, and slowly, so slowly, I felt him come back from the brink. When he lifted his head, I looked up, finding his eyes back to their normal human green with gold flecks, fringed by dark lashes any woman would be jealous of.
His mouth was pressed into a hard line as he looked back and forth between Gael-now on his feet next to the rubble, strips missing from his black T-shirt and revealing tanned skin underneath-and Reed, who still studied me with hope that made my heart hurt. Why did he want to believe I was omega? It was impossible, no matter what they thought.
“We need a plan.”
I couldn’t concentrate on Reed’s words, only on the fire in Kane’s eyes. It was all-consuming, and his hands felt like brands where they connected with my arms. All heat, all flames. Licking, stirring up something deep inside me. Something primal, some part of my wolf.
He sucked in a breath as I looked up at him, deep into his glowing green eyes. He took one hand off my forearm and brushed it across my cheekbone so gently, it felt like the shadow of a real touch.
“Your eyes. They’re stunning,” he said, his voice still gravelly with his wolf’s influence.
His face was sharper, more vividly colored, and I realized my wolf must be shining through as well, pushing forward to match his, her mate.
Holy hell.
I had a mate. And not just any mate, but
Kane, son of Kosta, heir to the high alpha-dom of the world.
“What is it? Is it your stomach again?” He shifted his grip to my upper arms, holding me up as my body tried to go limp and gently easing me to the edge of the bed. “Reed!” he snapped, not taking his eyes from mine.
“Yes, Alpha?”
“Is this normal for omegas? Why is she in pain?”
“I… I don’t know, Kane. There are only legends, and none of them that I’ve read mentioned this. Omegas have extra gifts from the moon Goddess, but nothing mentioned-“
Kane snarled, and I lifted my hand to tangle in his close-cropped hair. “Shh, Kane. I’m sure I’ll be okay. It was just a lot today.”
His eyes fell closed, and he leaned into my palm as if he was a parched desert and I was summer rain for him to soak up. And I never, ever wanted him to stop.
Which was insane. But perfect too.
“The mate bond does seem to be progressing differently than typical. Perhaps it’s a side effect? Usually, physical intimacy would precede this level of bond, but… no, I don’t know. I don’t want to make a guess and be wrong.”
Kane growled, the sound a low rumble in his throat, but something had clicked into place for me. Our mate bond was progressing with unusual speed. Usually, it was a slow unfurling of weeks or months, sometimes years mates could know each other, before the bond progressed past a strong attraction and the physical pull.
My stomach pains… If I were sick like my mother, would my wolf somehow be able to accelerate the bond, tie me to Kane? She’d never been very strong, but she had been pushing constantly when he was around, in a way she never had before.
Oh, Goddess. No. I could hear Gael, Reed, and Leigh all talking, but their voices were a background hum to the sick realizations spinning through my mind.
Wolves rarely fell ill, our pack healers primarily setting bones, cleaning up fight injuries, and helping deliver pups when a mated pair was blessed with them. But my mother… my mother had been sickly my whole life.
It was strange, and we lived a life secluded from our pack due to her illness. My father did everything for her, tried everything to save her, even increasingly involved spells and potions from her best friend, a witch, Karissma. It was why I studied medicine, why I wanted to see what differences existed between humans and wolves, to finally figure out why my mother’s wolf genes hadn’t worked like everyone else’s.
But now, I’d found my mate-that word still felt so foreign, but it was rapidly growing on me-and at the same time, developed awful, racking stomach pains.
Just like my mother.
I needed a lab. I needed to look at my blood, see if anything had changed from my last sample, what was causing this. See if I could spot any disease markers not present in the other samples from my friends and pack who’d been willing to trust me with them. I needed-
“Everyone out. Leave us.” Kane’s voice held an alpha command, and four sets of feet began shuffling toward the door, none of them quickly.
“Brielle! Do you want to come with us? You don’t have to stay with him. He can’t force you. Brielle, look at me!” Leigh’s tone snapped me from my panicked train of thought, and I spun around on the bed to where she was gripping the doorframe with white knuckles.
“It’s okay, guys. I’m fine. I think I just need rest.”
“Did you not hear anything we just discussed? You’re not going to get rest. We think you need to deepen the physical connection to fix your mate bond, and if that doesn’t work, they’re going to- Ahh!” She lost her grip, and the last thing I saw was Gael’s grim face as he settled a hand on the doorknob.
“I’ll take one of the hallway positions, Alpha. If you need me, I won’t be far.” With a nod, he turned the lock and shut the door with a resolute click.