"They will be. They have to be."
Because the alternative is unthinkable. The prophecy must be completed. Eight courts. Eight bonds. Eight women who will either adapt to their new reality or be destroyed by it.
Just like Elise adapted. Just like she chose to become exactly what I needed her to be.
The thought should probably disturb me. Instead, it fills me with dark satisfaction as I drift off to sleep, my pregnant omega safe in my arms and the future of both our worlds slowly taking shape through bonds forged in desperation and claimed through necessity.
Tomorrow will bring new challenges. Tonight, I have everything I never knew I wanted.
CHAPTER 28
ELISE
DAY 160
(Three monthspregnant)
Something's wrong.
I wake up burning from the inside out, skin hypersensitive to even the silk sheets touching me. My nightgown is soaked through with sweat, and there's an ache between my legs that makes me whimper.
This isn't the normal pregnancy arousal I've grown used to. This is something else. Something that makes my magic spike wildly, frost forming on the windows in chaotic spirals.
"Aratus." His name comes out broken, desperate.
He's awake instantly, ice-blue eyes sharp with concern. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I feel—" Another wave of heat crashes through me, making me gasp. "Something's happening."
His nostrils flare, and I watch his expression change. Concern becomes something darker. Hungrier.
"Your scent," he says, voice rough. "Fuck, Elise. You're going into heat."
"That's impossible. I'm pregnant."
"Pregnancy heat. It happens sometimes with bonded omegas carrying powerful offspring." His hands hover over me, not quite touching. "The babies' magic is triggering it."
The explanation barely registers because another spike of need tears through me. I arch off the bed with a cry, every nerve ending on fire.
"Make it stop," I gasp. "Please, Alpha. Make it stop."
"I can't stop it. But I can help." He strips off his sleep clothes, and the sight of his body makes me moan with pure want. "This is going to last hours. Maybe days."
"I can't—" The heat spikes again, worse this time. My magic lashes out, ice covering the walls in violent patterns. "I need?—"
"I know what you need." He settles over me, careful of my belly. "Your alpha's going to take care of you."
When he touches me, skin to skin, it's like relief and torture combined. The heat eases where we connect but builds everywhere else.
"More," I beg. "Please, I need more."
This isn't like my first heat, when I fought every sensation. This time I know exactly what I want. Know exactly what will ease the burning desperation clawing at my insides.
"Tell me," he commands, voice dark with authority. "Tell your alpha what his omega needs."
"You," I gasp, hands clutching at his shoulders. "Inside me. Filling me. I need your cocks stretching me open."
The crude words would have horrified me six months ago. Now they're pure truth, the only thing that matters in this moment.
