A deep, threatening growl shook the room, and the machine began to beep in greater earnest as my body responded to the threat. “Who is Kaleb?” the voice asked, a manifestation of pure malice.
My heart was beating out of control, and I wept, my limbs aching.
“Premier, sir, please. We need to keep her heart rate low…”
Premier?
“Who is Kaleb?” he asked again, not even attempting to lessen the violent intent in his tone.
My chest burst in pain, and multiple alarms sounded, the voice now roaring in frustration and backing up as someone else raced to my side, muttering under their breath about out-of-control alphas. Cool liquid hit my bloodstream, and sleep welcomed me once again.
* * *
“You have to learn how to control your temper, sir. She’s in a delicate state right now and—”
“I’min a delicate state! I’ve just found my mate and I almost killed her!” The sound of pacing footsteps and frustrating growls filled the room. “Then she called out another man’ name, and you’re telling me to becalm?”
My memories flooded back.
Mate.
The Premier of Noctis thought I was his mate, and had nearly killed me in a combined state of bloodlust and rut.
The dry aching between my legs at least signaled my own heat had abated. Maybe nearly dying did that to you?
I didn’t know much about how my body felt in a heat, as I’d never allowed myself to have one. Heats left omegas vulnerable, attracting opportunistic alphas who could take advantage while you were too messed up to consent. I’d wanted to wait until I’d met the right guy before I’d ever put myself in that kind of position.
Apparently, my instincts had been correct, because the first time I had one, I was almost killed by an out-of-control vampirealpha. But since he was calling me his mate, he probably thought he was the right guy.
This was turning into a nightmare.
My pulse quickened and the Premier hissed, turning towards me. “She’s waking up,” he whispered, stepping closer.
I suppressed a whimper as his hand moved through my hair, asking in a deceptively sweet and indulgent voice. “Who is Kaleb?”
“Wa…”
“What’s that, darling?”
“Water…”
He chuffed in annoyance, twisting around to pour a cup of water from a pitcher that had been waiting for me on a side table. He clicked his tongue against his teeth when I tried to sit up, pushing me back and holding the cup with a straw so I could drink while laying down.
“I’m not going to ask you again. Who. Is. Kaleb?”
Well, Kaleb was the perfectly nice elf beta I’d met in my Intro to Machine Learning class last semester. We’d bonded over our shared love of gaming and a few months ago, he’d invited me to join a mission of the tabletop RPGStarlight Dominionthathe was “Navigating.”
Since then, we’d gone on a few dates and fooled around a bit. I was supposed to see him next weekend, actually. We’d talked about him maybe spending the night at my place for the first time.
I liked to set the pace when it came to guys, and luckily Kaleb was more than happy to follow my lead.
But I couldn’t say all that to the freaking Premier of Noctis who now thought he was my mate. I would be sentencing the poor man to death.
“My cousin,” I lied. “I… I forgot where I was when I woke up.”
His eyes narrowed and the muscle in his jaw ticked. Clearly he didn’t believe me, but maybe he’d forget I’d mentioned Kaleb if I distracted him.
“Actually… where am I?” I asked, now finally looking around. I had thought I was in a hospital at first, but it looked more like a bedroom.
