But it all fit together. It had been right, so right, to open herself to this male who awakened her body in ways she hadn't believed existed.
She'd betrayed her promise to Crispin. But Crispin was…
Not the right alpha. Not her alpha.
The black-robed men had addled her with drugs, but the male she now shared a shower with had just been alone in his scent saturated room. A room that smelled like powerful, delicious, primal male. A too-sweltering room with too much light. He hadn't spoken to her at all.
It had only taken his touch and his purr for her to fall apart, letting him do whatever he wanted.
It must be her breeder dynamic. She'd already had her first maturation. Her body had changed, but her mind had stayed the same. She was still Naya. Her biological differences from betas and drones were as meaningful to her as hair color.
The night she and Crispin had signed the contract, he had held her hand and given her a little rolling sound from his chest.
His purr.
She’d patted him on the arm and told him thank you.
But when this giant, scarred male purred, Naya let him undress her, touch her all over, and even put his face between her thighs. She'd spread her knees so he could lick her. His purr was everything.
Naya shivered. Why wasn't he doing that now? How could she get him to do it again?
He'd made those delicious, bone-melting sounds and turned her to jelly, her entire body relaxing with an endorphin release. He'd made her want him, need him. His touch had quickly become the center of her world.
Mother had told her time and again that she must be careful of alphas who weren't family. Unless bonded, any alpha she came across could make her want to have sex with him.
They'd been so careful. She'd only ever been around approved and trusted males.
Until her engagement, no one had dared. Her father was an influential man of power—not just a scribe, but a scribe master. At the top of his profession, he could devastate a rival in the Administration Courts like few others. Everyone she knew yielded to him.
Crispin was pleasant. Eventually she would desire him. Her biology had to respond to him. But all during their courtship, she'd been thinking of what would happen after the mating more than anticipating the joining of their bodies.
But this strange male...
All she wanted was to get close to him, to mate with him again. It felt incredible.
Her insides pulsed and throbbed with her heartbeat and skin felt tight and uncomfortable. She needed it to stop.
The best way to deal with that itch was rubbing herself against her alpha.
She'd learned that in her lessons. At the time, it had sounded absurd, like it was just something for the alpha's benefit and nothing Naya would ever enjoy. Now with this feeling building inside of her, it didn't seem so ridiculous.
She moved closer, pressing against him. Her breasts ached. Her nipples were sore. Her core was empty, needing to be filled and bathed in alpha sperm. It was his job to take care of her.
Pushing her back again, he put space between them. Then he worked the soapy cloth over her neck and down her arms, skipping her chest altogether.
Naya growled displeasure.
A frown on his lips, he jerked his arm back and stopped washing her.
She took the opportunity to cuddle closer to his stiff manhood. It seemed a lovely idea to rub her belly against it, to let it touch the undersides of her breasts and paint them with the milky fluid leaking from its tip.
"No. Turn," he commanded.
Naya's body turned as if she had no ability whatsoever to resist the alpha's commands.
Who was he? When had they gotten in the shower?
Her head and body felt less heavy, less disassociated than they had for days. Yet she had many questions and few answers.
