How… different,I mused.An Alpha who doesn’t want a progeny.
Lorcan snorted in response in my head. Then he looked over my shoulder at Kieran and said, “She’s telling the truth.”
“No shit,” I muttered as I prodded the bite mark on my throat and glanced back at Cillian. “At least I know your friend meant it when he said you didn’t want mates.”
“We need to go,” Lorcan said, ignoring me. “Drink the blood. If it doesn’t work, I’ll bring Quinnlynn back here.”
Kieran’s near-black eyes flashed with obsidian fire as he glowered at mynew mate. “We’re not fucking done with this discussion.” He shadowed over the desk to grab the vial, his movements holding a lethal edge to them.
“You can thank me later,” Lorcan deadpanned.
Kieran’s gaze further narrowed, but this time he glanced from Lorcan to me, his jaw clenching. “You’d better not be tricking us, Omega,” he warned as he unscrewed the cap from the vial.
After all this and he still doesn’t believe me?
Well, fuck him. Fuck this. Fuck everything.
Besides, I wasn’t afraid of him. What else could he do to me, even if I wastrickingthem?
“Pretty sure there isn’t a worse punishment you could give me right now, Alpha,” I told him through my teeth.
I’d been mated against my will once before. While I might have instigated the mating with Lorcan today, it’d certainly not been mychoice.
Lorcan glanced down at me, his eyes flashing.Mating me wasn’t meant to be a punishment, Omega. Nor did I make you mate me. You bit me first.
You may not have made me mate you, but you did force me to take a mate today,I returned.It was that or let my friend suffer. Hence, there wasn’t a choice. And by definition, that implies force.
If he felt bad, he didn’t show it. Nor did he bother replying. Instead, he watched Kieran drink the vial of Quinn’s blood, his expression and mind giving nothing away.
Because why would he feel bad? He was an Alpha, and Alphas took what they wanted. Always.
“Take me to Quinnlynn,” Kieran commanded when he finished.
“Us,” Lorcan interjected, holding out his hand toward me. “Takeusto Quinnlynn.”
“Sure,” I muttered under my breath. “At least I’ll have more knives there.” I grabbed his palm, then reached for Kieran before loudly adding, “I hope this fucking hurts.A lot.”
CHAPTERFOUR
LORCAN
My wolf paced inside me,eager to taste his new mate.
He didn’t care at all that she wasn’t really ours. That none of this had been by design or choice so much asneed. He simply wanted her. His Omega. The fiery little Alpha killer with angry eyes and alluring curves.
I pushed away his desire, focusing instead on the icy landscape appearing around me. Kyra’s thoughts were loud in my mind, her fury over this situation palpable.
Fucking Alphas,she kept thinking.Arrogant assholes.
She wasn’t wrong. Wewerearrogant. Usually.
But when I heard her thoughts about not having a choice, about beingforcedinto this mating, I’d had a moment of pause.
I’d seen this as a dutiful decision, one meant to protect my cousin and best friend. I’d expected her to feel the same. However, mere seconds inside her complex mind had told me her choices in life were far more complicated than my own.
She was loyal to Quinnlynn; that much I knew for certain.
But Kyra had a dark past, one I was trying very hard not to explore. Because it wasn’t my business or my problem. This arrangement between us was strictly professional. An arranged mating with mutual rewards. I helped my best friend and she helped hers. Nothing more and nothing less.
