Behind him, my guards are sprawled in the hallway, groaning. Thoroughly discouraged from getting up again.
“Our mate.” The male’s voice is rough and dark.
Oh shit.
I try to turn to see him properly, but Callum’s knot keeps me locked in place. I can only watch as this new alpha…Arkan, I suppose…stalks closer, his nostrils flaring.
“I can smell you on her,” he growls at Callum.
Arkan’s eyes drop to where we’re joined, and he groans. “Fuck. She’s perfect.”
I should say something. Assert some authority. Remind them I’m the Queen and he just assaulted my guards.
Instead, I just stare as Arkan drops to his knees in front of us. He’s eye level with me now, and up close he’s even more devastating. Handsome in a rough, brutal way that makes my mouth go dry.
“Hi, Omega,” he rasps out.
“I…hello. You just…my guards…” Great, now I stutter.
“Tried to keep me from my mate.” He says it like that explains everything. “Bad decision on their part.”
“You can’t just attack…”
His jaw ticks. “They’re fine. Nothing was keeping me from you, my queen. Nothing.”
From the hallway, I hear one of my guards groan.
But that barely registers when Arkan leans in, his nose almost touching my throat, and breathes deep. He’s too close; his scent flooding my lungs, pine and rich earth and alpha musk…and I gasp as the bond in my chest expands to make room for him. A second thread, just as strong as the first.
“I can feel you,” I whisper, pressing a hand to my chest. “Both of you. How…”
“You’re our omega. Soon you’ll feel all three of us,” Callum explains.
“Three,” I repeat faintly. “There’s still another…”
And that’s when another roar echoes through the castle. Close. Loud.
More crashes. More shouts. Someone screams, “IT’S A FUCKING WOLF!”
“Baylin,” Callum rumbles through a chuckle. “He doesn’t bother with his human form when he’s in a hurry.”
“A wolf!” I squeak. “There’s a wolf in my castle!”
Arkan adds helpfully, “He’s less… controlled than we are.”
“Less controlled,” I echo, listening to what sounds like furniture being demolished in the hallway.
“He’ll be fine once he claims you,” Callum assures me. “Probably.”
“Probably?” I feel my eyebrows reach my hairline.
Arkan’s hand cups my face, turning me back to him. “Don’t worry about Baylin yet. Worry about me.”
His thumb brushes over my bottom lip. “Open.”
I consider refusing for less than a second. Then I open my mouth, completely unable to resist the temptation of tasting him.
He slides his thumb inside, and I taste salt and something wild. Without thinking, I close my lips around it and suck, my eyes fluttering.
