I grabbed his arm.
"Don't," I muttered.
Every feather on his body flared, making him look nearly twice his usual size. With his stiff posture and obsessive gaze, he really did resemble a predator in this moment.
And for the first time in my life, that thrilled me instead of terrifying me.
"If I stay…"
Cloud didn't need to finish his sentence. We both knew what the consequences would be.
A line of sweat broke free from my brow and trailed down my temple. I wiped it away.
"Will you be there?" I asked, although in my soul I already knew the answer to that, too.
Cloud understood what I meant. I was asking for him to be there for me during my pregnancy, to be there for childbirth, to be there for our baby. To be our family’s alpha, strong and protective, just the way my Pa was. He nodded slowly.
"Without question," Cloud said in a serious voice. I was used to his lighthearted nature, but this was a side of him I enjoyed as well. I was coming to learn that there wasn't a single side of him that I didn't like.
I shifted my weight on the couch. I was wet already.
My body sure did go from zero to a hundred fast. Thanks, mouse shifter genes.
Locking eyes with Cloud, I leaned back against the couch with my best 'come here right now' gesture.
Cloud caged me in, his talons digging into the old cushion on either side of me. His larger size, which I hated in a petty way when I first met him, now sent shivers of arousal down my spine.
"You drive me crazy, Meeko," Cloud murmured.
My lips quirked. "So do you. In more ways than one."
Cloud kissed me. This one was deeper and more frantic than the one we shared earlier. His tongue was hot and wet against mine, and they tangled together in a desperate dance.
"Take off those clothes," Cloud breathed, "or else Tai is getting them back shredded."
I wasted no time peeling them off. My body already ached for him. I'd been through this before, the sudden onslaught of arousal whenever I had my heat. But this time was different. The sensation was amplified a hundredfold with a partner.
"Cloud," I said.
He paused kissing me. "Yeah?"
"You said your family was full of fated mates." I locked eyes with him. "What am I to you? I don't want to just be a fling, or some novelty."
Cloud furrowed his brow like the idea appalled him. "Meeko, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since the moment we met. To be honest, I think my heart knew better than I did." He smiled. "I thought you were an annoying little mouse with violent tendencies."
"You're not totally wrong about that…"
"But why do you think I want to help you so badly? If you were a novelty or a fling, would I have gone through all this effort for you? Would I have gotten these injuries for you?"
It felt like my heart was on a string and Cloud was dangling it around. I still couldn't believe an alpha had this effect on me. He cracked me open, made me vulnerable. And the strangest part was that I liked it.
I reached around him to hold his back. His powerful shoulder blades dug into my palms.
"There can't be anyone else," I mumbled. I didn't know where the sudden rush of jealousy came from, but I wasn't taking any chances. Kissing Cloud earlier had sealed the deal. My heart already belonged to him and I couldn't bear the idea of him being interested in anybody else.
Cloud actually growled, which was a sound I didn't even know harpies could make. "Never." He almost sounded angry, but then his voice lightened up. "How could I even think about another omega when I have you in my arms, Meeko?" He leaned closer so our foreheads were touching and we breathed each other's air. "You're defiant, you're aggressive, you are sassy… And you're literally the cutest man I've ever seen."
I smirked. "Aside from the cuteness, you just listed off a bunch of things that could be bad qualities."
