I spin Daire, slamming his back against the wall. He groans.
“Now,” when I trace my thumb over the bite on his neck, his groan is of pleasure; his cock tents his robe, “if Lan hurt you like this, then I will tear off the fucker’s bat wings for you.”
“What is it with both of you and your violent threats as love language?” Daire’s eyes twinkle. “It wasn’t bat-face. In fact, he saved me from the bastard who did this. Without him, I would have died on the Hunt.”
I let go of Daire, taking a step back.
My shoulders slump with guilt. “I’m sorry that I took so long to fly here. I did my best?—”
“On the sacred ash, I know you did. I never expected you to fly to my rescue like I’m some type of damsel in need of saving. You keep doing that. What are you trying to prove?”
My pheromones are now a thick miasma. It is becoming harder to think clearly, at least to dissemble.
I press my lips tightly together. Sweat drips between my shoulder blades. My eyes become glassy.
My knot aches. My balls are heavy.
Thank the Shadow Gods for my lessons in self-control.
My labored breathing is like steam in the dark.
I retreat further into the shadowed cave.
“Hey,” Daire calls after me, “I asked you?—"
“That we are pack now,” I burst out, low and rumbling. “Bound and bonded by golden threads. Fated forever, whatever happens.”
Daire and Freya stare at me like they have never believed my other love confessions. Am I truly that cold?
My heart hammers in my chest.
Please let them believe me this time.
Forgive me.
Daire’s expression is more guarded than my Omega’s. “And what about our bat?”
“Ourbat?” I snarl. “Are you forgetting that you are only meant to bepretendingwith him?”
“It’s not pretend,” Freya whispers.
Fury surges through me.
My hand drops to the hilt of my dagger. “Lan is not part of our pack, even if he is bound to us by fate. I won’t?—”
“But it’s not your choice, is it?” Daire’s voice is hard. “It’s Freya’s.”
“And I won’t deliver Lanlin to you,” Freya sounds firmer than ever, “unless you swear that you won’t hurt or kill him. He is my Alpha, just as you are. I want him as part of our pack.”
I turn back to her, my heart breaking.
How can she say that?
“Have you forgotten that his mother murdered yours?” I hate that she winces but I can’t hold back. I am shaking from my rut, unbalanced pheromones, and Hadrian tugging at my mind. “That he killed my brother? Fucking look around you…” I march to the dragon skeleton, whose bones are like the beautiful arches of their own tomb. “They murdered these prisoners. This is what Bloods are: brutal.”
“And what are dragons?Tyrants?” Freya throws back. She grasps Daire’s hand, pulling him after her, as she follows me further into the cave. “Should I judge you by what your parents did? What about by Tarquin’s actions orMaximinus’?”
I look away.
