My alpha had reached its own conclusion.
The tower had recognized us.
Possible mates.
Aveline’s scent had already begun to braid itself into my senses, settling somewhere deeper than reason. My alpha responded to it with certainty.
“We don’t have time for bonds,” I said. “Or mating. We have a war to fight.”
Thane’s gaze narrowed. “You feel it too. She’s our match.”
I stood and crossed to the narrow window overlooking the forest.
The trees moved in the morning wind, their autumn leaves drifting toward the ground. Winter would follow soon. The rebellion did not have the numbers for another failed campaign. Our intelligence suggested the king was preparing a final offensive. This battle would decide everything. We could not afford distractions.
My alpha ignored every one of those calculations and demanded something simpler. Go upstairs. Claim her. Bind her to us so no one could take her away. I forced the impulse down.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Too many people are depending on us.”
“What if we’re stronger with her?” Thane said. “What if she’s the weapon we’ve been looking for?”
His words landed exactly where I had been avoiding. Every sign pointed to Aveline. If I was wrong, we were wasting time here. If I were right, we would have to figure out how to use her.
The thought sat poorly with me. She had already been used too many times. Another thought followed close behind it. I wanted to protect her. And I wanted to claim her.
“We still don’t understand how any of this fits together,” I said. “The tower. Aveline. The bond forming between us. We need answers before we move.”
“We may not have that luxury,” Thane said. “Her next spike could come soon. A full heat could follow. We can’t let her face that alone.”
I turned and leaned toward him. “You will not force her into anything.”
Thane rose immediately, shoving me back a step.
“I’m insulted you even suggested that,” he said. “But you know the bond is growing. Would you deny it?”
I could not deny what I felt. Every alpha wanted an omega. It was written into us. Alphas could mate with betas, and most did because omegas had nearly vanished from the Unseelie lands. But those pairings rarely produced another alpha.
Never an omega. Our society was thinning itself out. To stand this close to an omega. To feel a bond forming between us. To feel it shared with Thane. It was difficult to ignore.
“I’m not denying it,” I said. “But we may need her to defeat the king. Bonding her now could cost us that.”
“Fate doesn’t care about plans,” Thane said.
I grunted and turned back to the window. In the quiet that followed, a memory surfaced. My mother’s voice. The rustle of vellum as she turned pages late into the night. The scent of ink lingering in the study. The way she taught me to read texts the court called heresy because she believed truth mattered more than obedience.
“My mother was an omega,” I said. “A seer. Her power deepened after she bonded with my father.”
Thane said nothing.
“The king collected magic-users. You know that. You were one of them.” I rested my hands on the stone sill. “But he also collected omegas. My mother was both.”
I continued before the memory could stall.
“She had already given birth to two alphas. The king wanted her as his mate. She refused to reject her bond. My father refused as well.”
I looked back at him. “So the king came for her.”
Thane waited.
