“Fine!” Lena says a little too brightly, darting me a look. “We worked it out. He’s on board. We can go over the schedule later with Harl and the others.”
A growl rises in my throat at the mention of Harl, the fur-polluter, the would-be mate-stealer, but I swallow it. He is nothing. Merely another test to pass.
Lena ismyfated one, not his, no matter if he’d prefer I another way. And I will be with her every moment to ensure that he does nottouch her. The growl I’d banished slips out at the thought, and Oljin jerks his head toward me.
“How are you handling the one-sided mate bond?” he asks, eyes narrowed.
“Fine,” I lie, then toss back the dregs of my nomo.Handlingis an overstatement. The constant pull toward Lena, the gnawingneed to possess her that I mistook for hatred, is something Iendurerather than manage.
Rose’s mouth quirks, eyes sparkling across the table at her mate as flickers of blue and lavender pigment cross her forehead. “You were wild until you claimed me. Remember how you dragged me out into the fields so nobody would look at me?”
“He did that?” Lena asks wonderingly, and Rose nods, grinning.
“I couldn’t walk at that point, so he just took me where he wanted me.” It’s a disturbing statement, but she doesn’t seem upset by it. The opposite. It lights up her whole face, revealing a ghost of the young female she once was.
“If you mark her, it will be easier for you,” Oljin says to me, eyes still on his Alara, drinking her in more avidly than his nomo. “The mingled scents help.”
I snort, thinking of all the seed I spread on her belly last night. I hadn’t realized why I was doing it, but the urge to cover her in my scent was too strong to resist. “I did, but she keeps coercing me into cleansing units.”
Lena turns bright red, the color so passionate it makes my cock stiffen in its strap under the table. Rose chuckles and pats her hand. “Glad it’s going well. I wasn’t sure.”
It’s going about as well as my ship’s landing went. No one can argue that I arrived at my destination, and yet the damage is impossible to ignore.
“We should get to work.” Lena shifts and pushes back from the table, avoiding eye contact with me. “Thank you for firstmeal. Do you think you could loan us a little nomo for tomorrow? I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
Rose shrugs, rising alongside her. “I don’t see why not.”
Oljin slaps the flat of his hand on the table. “If my nephew wants nomo, he’ll have to endure my company. I think it a fair penalty for reducing my stores.”
“You’re not so difficult to endure.” Rose drops a kiss on his head as she clears away the firstmeal leavings.
“Yes, well. Ease or difficulty, we Irrans put stock in sharing space, don’t we? It’s not something we do lightly.”
I nod, acknowledging the truth of it. Sharing meals is for family or the closest friends. Allies. His invitation is another test. Do I consider him family? Does he have my loyalty? It makes me wonder what he has planned. How he thinks he can use me.
“You will join us tomorrow.” His mouth orders, but his eyes ask the question.
I give a half-bow, the gesture of respect my answer. “May Alioth smile on you.”
During the brief walk from their quarters to the hatchery, Lena is quiet. I can almost feel the doubt sprouting inside her. She was so warm and open last night. Begging to kiss me this morning. Something changed.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask.
“What?” Her steps speed, almost like she’s running from me.
My legs are so much longer that it’s not hard to keep up. “You changed during firstmeal. You won’t look at me now. I want to know why.”
“I changed?” She stops short. “Youchanged. You’re suddenly all sweet and open, flirting with me, telling them about what we did last night like it was part of the plan. Yesterday you said you might kill me, so this sudden shift feels like a trap. Is it the nomo that’s making you like this?”
“Nomo tea is not that potent,” I say dryly. “Trust me, nothing can cure my temperament. Maybe if I smoked a lot of it, but even then.”
“It’s going to wear off,” she says stubbornly, looking everywhere but me. The floor holds much more fascination, apparently. “We just have to wait until you’re yourself again.”
I will never be myself again. Bitter, I reach her in two strides, have her back against the wall, pinning her there with a knee between her thighs. Still, she won’t look at me, so I’m forced to speak to the top of her head. “Alas, the mate bond does not wear off. But I can be cruel, if you prefer.”
Finally, she cracks, weak thing that she is, and plants her palms against my stomach, her fingers curling like she can’t decide whether to pull me close or push me away. “I don’t want that. Everything just made more sense when you were mean. You made more sense. Explain how you went from hating all Frathiks to being willing to help save their species in less than a day?”
This is what Oljin meant by the one-sided mate bond. She has noideawhat has happened to me since I met her. I curl my fingers around her throat, pushing her chin up so she’s forced to look at me.
