I left Ember on the bed and hurriedly bathed myself, needing to feel clean after the fight with Vrenus. After I was cleaned up, I curled my body around Ember, pleased to have him safe in my arms. Midos had promised to order food from the kitchen for when Ember would wake, and that meant all I could do was to just sleep and hopefully everything would be well come morning.
Ember woke a couple of hours later, his stomach growling with a demand for food. My own ached with emptiness, so we were in clear agreement now that food was our next goal.
“I smell awful,” he groaned, rubbing his eyes.
“You smell like us,” I grinned, nuzzling his neck with my nose as I inhaled loudly.
He giggled, batting me away. “I meant the blood, you silly dragon.”
I hated the reminder that he’d bled, but he was right, it needed off. “I’ll draw you a bath and then we can eat in bed. How does that sound?”
“Perfect,” he sighed, smiling lazily.
I carried my wonderful mate into the bathroom and did as I’d promised, only leaving his side for a second to alert the guard outside our rooms to bring the food. Then I was back inside the bathroom, gazing at my omega as he rested with his eyes closed. He was just so beautiful.
With soap in hand and a fluffy sponge, I approached Ember, loving that I got to take care of him like this. My poor omega needed all the pampering. Stupid Vrenus had ruined our recovery period after the heat, which should’ve been a fun and intimate experience between Ember and I. At least Ember didn’t seem to be angry with me, but I still felt guilty for leaving him alone and defenseless. I should’ve just done without the soap and candles, but I wanted it to be perfect and romantic. I’d failed spectacularly on that front, though.
“Mmm,” my omega hummed as I ran the sponge over his back. I wasn’t in the bathtub with him, wanting this to be all about Ember. “That feels so nice,” he sighed, nuzzling into my touch.
“After we’ve eaten, I’ll give you a light massage,” I purred, needing to touch every part of him. My dragon needed to seeandfeel that our omega was fine.
“I’d love that,” he grinned, eyes closed as he accepted my light touch.
“I’m sorry for leaving you yesterday,” I finally said, feeling lighter just from acknowledging my failure. The guilt sadly remained.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Ember whispered, biting his bottom lip as his eyes blinked open. “But I am interested in learning why he attacked me. He didn’t even give me a chance to say who I was.”
“And that is why Ciris went to see him,” I said, adding soap to his hair. “He’ll tell us the reason soon, we just need some food first.”
“Food,” he agreed, smiling lazily. “I feel all hazy. Did Penelope do something to make me so… mellow?”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “No, she just made sure you got enough sleep. I’m the one forcing you to relax, because you need it.”
“Only you, though,” he said, eyes meeting mine.
“Only me,” I agreed, knowing he needed reassurance.
“Or if you decide that’s what I need,” he added.
His trust in me was honorable. I would be the best alpha ever from now on. “My one goal in life is to make sure you’re happy, Ember. And I promise to do that as best as I can.”
He smiled. “I know. I can feel it.” He held a hand over his heart and like he’d reminded me, love and affection poured from our bond, mixing between us.
We ate on the bed, both of us clearly still exhausted, but now we felt tired from finally being well fed. There just sadly wasn’t any time for napping. Ciris knocked on the door and upon entering, announced that he wanted us to come in for a meeting. This was rather normal as we often held meetings just with us brothers, but now my omega would be a part of it too. The first outsider ever to be introduced into our most sacred meetings. It felt right.
I’d given Ember some clean clothes to wear, picking out the most comfortable ones I could find. He would appreciate something that wouldn’t be too tight around his stomach right after his heat, even with the healers having helped on that front as well. We then met up with my brothers in the shared office, sitting on the couches like normal. Today there wasn't any wine, much to my disappointment, but it was still considered early so I couldn’t really complain. Knowing Ciris would soon discuss why my omega had been attacked made me briefly consider grabbing a bottle anyway, but Ember’s hand on my thigh hadme rooted in place on the couch. His touch was like a warning, telling me without words that he needed me to remain next to him. It was likely hard for him to hear about as well, his feelings on the matter still fuzzy, as if his own emotions had yet to catch up on what had happened. There was no surprise there, considering he’d been either unconscious or asleep for most of the time.
“I interrogated Vrenus for hours,” Ciris began, the only one of us not sitting as he paced the short space between both couches. “He was reluctant to talk, so I had to use my alpha bark on him. More than once, sadly.” My eldest brother looked exhausted, and I wondered if he’d even slept.
“Is he still in the dungeon?” Midos asked, sitting on the edge of the couch to look at Ciris who was still pacing.
“He is,” Ciris confirmed. “I wish I could tell you he had a good reason for attacking Ember, but I sadly don’t.”
“Why did he do it?” I asked, feeling a mix of trepidation from my mate.
“He thought Ember was in there to seduce me,” Ciris sighed, making all of us frown in confusion.
“Why the fuck would he think that?” Reinos asked. “He was in the royal hot spring, why specifically you?”
