His eyes sparkled like snow in the morning light. “Yes, alphas are strong, aggressive, but all those traits exist so we can serve you—take care of you. There’s nothing you could ask of me that I wouldn’t do. I’d do anything to see you smile. Anything, Sylvie. And I know someone else who would too.”
“You mean…Taimyr?”
“We told you before—we don’t view relationships the way you do. It’s common for an omega to have a herd of alphas.”
I thought about Taimyr—how beautiful he was, how he’d smelled of meadow flowers, petrichor, and cloves. Heat spiked as I remembered the thoughts I’d had in the shower, thoughts that might now become reality.
“I hardly know him,” I protested. Not like that had ever stopped me before, but I knew he was precious to Kenai…which made him precious to me. I wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt him.
“But I know him,” Kenai said gently.
I looked down at the selfless man beneath me, and another wave of heat crashed over me so strong that my nails bit into his chest as tears leaked from my eyes.
“Do you love him?” I asked.
Kenai’s hands squeezed my waist. “Yes. He’s my mate.” He knew what I was really asking. “I trust him with my life.”
I ran my hand over the scar on Kenai’s cheek, and he nuzzled my palm. “Then I can trust him as well.”
Chapter Thirteen
Taimyr
This was pure torture. Kenai, in his rut-addled mind, had done a piss-poor job of setting up the magical barrier around his chalet. Even without our mate bond, I would’ve been able to find this place—especially with Sylvie smelling like that. I’d helped him shore them up but hadn’t thought to add one that might’ve spared me the agony I was in now.
Instead, I had to smell and hear everything they were doing in the next room.
You could go outside. Give them some privacy.
But it wouldn’t make a difference. I would always be able to feel it through my bond with Kenai. And I would protect them. Another alpha was still a risk, with Sylvie being unmated.Kenai was right—off-season like this, any alpha who scented her wouldn’t be able to resist. She’d been outside the barrier’s protection too long.
I’d protect them. That’s what I always did—protect my herd and mate at all costs. Even if the cost was to myself.
A particularly loud moan echoed down the hall, and my fists clenched. My dick throbbed, and sweat gathered along my neck. Sylvie hadn’t thrown me into a rut yet, but it was likely only a matter of time. Hopefully her heat would pass before then—and I could steal Kenai for it.
Maybe she’d want to join as well.She would be more clear-headed then, able to make her choice. I just wished we’d had more time to get to know her first. I had a feeling she was going to become a permanent fixture in my life.
I hadn’t seen Kenai so head over heels for someone since…well, since he met me. The thought made me chuckle. He was so open with his heart, so willing to charge in headfirst. It was one of the things I loved about him—how he never let fear of pain stop him from going after what he wanted. So very different from me.
He would want her to be his mate, and if they were scent matched… Sylvie was human, but that wouldn’t stop him.
Through the bond, I felt the exact moment Kenai’s knot locked inside her again. The sensation crashed through me like a wave—a phantom pleasure that wasn’t quite mine but close enough to make me gasp. I could feel his joy, his desperate need, and underneath it all,hers. A faint echo of Sylvie reaching through Kenai to me, calling,wanting. My body responded without permission, arousal clawing up my spine with vicious intensity.
I wanted her. Not just because Kenai did. I wanted to know what made her laugh, what she was thinking behind those intelligent eyes, how she’d look at me when I knotted deep insideher. I wanted to chase away the exhaustion in her gaze and replace it with rapture.
More noises rose from down the hall, and I groaned as our bond pulsed with Kenai’s rut energy—my dick twitching along with it.
The gray sweatpants I’d thrown on had been a bad idea. There was a dark stain where I was already leaking. I palmed my cock through the fabric, seeking any kind of relief.
Every pulse through the bond made it worse, an echo of what I should’ve been part of. This was torture. Beautiful, agonizing torture.
Not for the first time tonight, I thought about joining them. But Sylvie was already overwhelmed, already struggling with her first heat and everything we’d thrown at her. Adding another alpha to the mix was selfish, even if my instincts screamed that I should be in that room too—taking care of her too. I bit back a bellow of frustration, my cock straining harder.
Then I felt it—Kenai’s presence in my mind, deliberate and clear.We need you.
I was on my feet in an instant,notsprinting toward Kenai’s room. I reached out when the door became an unpassable barrier, my fingers tightening on the knob, my entire body on edge. I was strong, but a shifter could only be pushed so far. If I entered that room, turning around without interfering might be the hardest thing I’d ever done.
Then I heard Sylvie let out a needy whimper and Kenai’s low voice soothing her—and nothing could’ve held me back.
