As if her exit was a cue, another female approached the dais, one I recognized because she’d glared at me once when she’d delivered our evening meal. She placed her goblet of wine on the table.
I didn’t understand what was happening, but my belly tightened once more with something I didn’t like, especially when I saw this female reach out totouchSeerin’s bare shoulder.
“It is a custom,” Avuli said quietly to my left and I looked at her. She must’ve seen the distress on my face because her smile softened. “An old tradition for unmatedVorakkars.”
“What is it exactly?” I asked, not wanting to know, butneedingto.
“Celebrations like this are not only for the horde, but also an opportunity for unmated females to put forward their interest to theVorakkar.”
My gut sank even lower and I took another sip of wine as it did.
“If he had already taken aMorakkari, then the females would not dare approach,” Avuli said. “They bring him wine and if he takes a drink from their goblet, then it means he shares their interest. It could mean he has interest just for the night. Or for longer.”
It was even worse than I thought. I knew that Seerin could have his pick of the unmated females in the horde. I knew a male like him had most likely enjoyed the company of some of the females present. It didn’t make it any easier to stomach.
I stared at the goblets of wine that began to litter his table and watched one female after another approach him, speak with him,touchhim.
He is mine, I thought suddenly, fierce and wanting.
He’d told me so himself.
With that thought, some of my jealousy sizzled away as I realized the truth of his words. Did it matter if other females wanted him after he’d told me he was mine? I relaxed slightly. After another female left his table, his eyes came to me again and I saw what was in them.
A challenge. An invitation.
Dancing had begun, the drums providing a heavy beat for swaying and gyrating bodies. My heart throbbed with the instruments and before I knew what I was doing, I was standing from my seat at the table, clasping my goblet.
I caught Avuli’s smile but I was already walking towards the dais, threading through warm bodies, weaving around barrel fires until he was in perfect view once more.
His expression was unreadable as he watched me emerge from the crowd. Behind me, I heard the noise had quieted, though the drums still beat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a group of unmated females, females who had already presented their goblets to him, looking at me,glaring.
A part of me felt like a fraud, carrying my goblet to a powerful horde king of Dakkar. Though I was dressed in a beautiful gown, I was nothing like those around me. A part of me knew I didn’t belong there.
Then I saw Seerin. And even if I didn’t belong there, at the very least I knew I belonged to him. He was my demon king, who already owned half my soul. That was all that mattered to me.
I climbed the steps of the dais, my heart thundering in my throat, knowing that whatever happened next would change me in a way I would never come back from.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
My goblet never even reached his table.
When I was within arm’s reach, Seerin wrapped his hand around mine, clasping the goblet and guiding it to his lips, taking a healthy swallow.
The frost feast fell away behind me as my heart thudded in my chest and it was just the two of us. Like we were on Lokkas out on the plains. Those grey eyes regarded me as he drained the wine.
When he pulled the goblet away, my mouth was dry and my belly was fluttering.
“I’ll take your ‘maybe,’ demon king,” I said softly to him. “Because maybe you’ll realize you can’t let me go. And maybe I’ll realize that I don’t want you to.”
His eyes flared and then his hand was tugging me forward until I was standing between his thighs.
Even sitting down, his head was level with my breasts and his gaze burned up into mine. I hadn’t expected him to touch me like this, not in front of his entire horde, but the fact that he was filled me with pleasure.
“I already know I do not want to let you go,rei thissie,” he rasped.
“I’m not frightened, Seerin,” I whispered, remembering his question to me when we’d been out on the plains. “Not of this. But it’s alright if you are.”
His eyes sharpened on me.
