I woke to cold sheets and an empty bed.
For a moment I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to piece together what was real and what had been heat-induced delirium. The silk sheets against my skin. The ache between my legs. The faint scent of pine and smoke that clung to everything.
Real. All of it horrifyingly, devastatingly real.
I'd let the Alpha King fuck me. Multiple times. I'd begged for it.
The memory made heat crawl up my neck, though whether from embarrassment or residual arousal I couldn't tell. My body still hummed with need, a constant low-level burn that told me the heat wasn't done with me yet. Not even close.
I sat up slowly, wincing at the soreness. Someone had cleaned me up while I slept, dressed me in a shirt that was definitely not mine. It smelled like him. I pulled the collar to my nose and inhaled before I could stop myself.
Pathetic.
Voices drifted from the other room. Male voices, low and tense. I slid out of bed on unsteady legs and crept toward the door they'd left cracked open.
"You bit her." That wasn't Kael. Younger voice, similar timber. "Do you understand what that means?"
"I didn't bite her." Kael's voice was hard. "I stopped myself."
"Barely. I could smell your wolf from down the hall. You were seconds away from marking her."
"But I didn't."
A pause. Then the other voice, quieter now. "She's your mate, Kael. Your fated mate. I can smell it on both of you."
My hand found the doorframe. I gripped it hard enough that my knuckles went white.
"I don't care." Kael's words hit like physical blows. "I can't claim her. The alliance with the Kane pack depends on my mating with Celeste. You know this."
"Fuck the alliance. You're talking about rejecting your true mate for a political marriage?"
"I'm talking about keeping this kingdom stable." Kael's voice rose slightly. "Do you know what will happen if I claim an unknown Omega over Celeste? Her father controls the eastern packs. We'll have civil war."
"And what happens to you if you reject your fated mate? You'll go feral within a year. You know what happens to Alphas who deny the bond."
"Then I'll deal with it."
"By doing what? Locking yourself in a cage until you tear yourself apart? I've seen it happen, Kael. I watched Father's Beta lose his mind after his mate died. It took four of us to put him down."
Silence. Heavy and awful.
"I'll handle it," Kael said finally. "Six more days and she leaves. The bond won't have time to fully form."
"It's already forming. You know it is. Every time you touch her, every time you're intimate, it gets stronger. By the end of seven days—"
"By the end of seven days she'll be gone and I'll go back to my responsibilities. End of discussion, Owen."
I stepped back from the door. My chest felt tight, like someone had wrapped bands around my ribs and was pulling them tighter with every breath.
Fated mates.
The words circled in my head. I knew what it meant. Every wolf knew. Fated mates were rare, precious, the bond stronger than any human marriage or chosen partnership. When you found your fated mate, you claimed them. You built a life with them. You didn't walk away.
Unless you were a king with a kingdom to protect.
Unless your mate was a nobody Omega with no pack, no family, no political value whatsoever.
The door swung open and Kael stood there, fully dressed now in dark slacks and a crisp white shirt. His eyes found mine and something flashed across his face too quick to read.
"You're awake."
"Clearly." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "Is that your brother?"
"Owen. My Beta." He glanced behind him. "Give us a minute."
I heard footsteps retreating, then the quiet click of the suite's main door closing.
Kael and I stared at each other across the bedroom threshold. In the morning light he looked different. Less like the creature of raw dominance from last night and more like a man. Tired lines around his eyes. Jaw tight with tension.
"How much did you hear?" he asked.
"Enough."
"Then you understand the situation."
A laugh bubbled up before I could stop it. Bitter and sharp. "Oh, I understand perfectly. You think I'm your fated mate, but you're going to reject the bond because your political marriage is more important. Did I miss anything?"
His jaw clenched. "It's not that simple."
"It sounds pretty simple to me."
"I have responsibilities. Thousands of wolves depending on my decisions. The alliance with the Kane pack keeps the eastern territories stable. Without it—"
"Without it you might have to actually fight for what you want instead of just taking it." I wrapped my arms around myself. "Don't worry, your majesty. I'm not going to make this difficult. Six more days and I'm gone. You can go back to your perfect political bride and I'll go back to my suppressants and we'll both pretend this never happened."
"Aria—"
"Don't." I held up a hand. "Just don't. You made yourself clear. This is purely physical. Temporary. I'm fine with that."
I wasn't fine with it. Not even a little bit. But I'd be damned if I let him see that.
Another cramp hit without warning. I gasped and doubled over, barely catching myself against the doorframe. The heat was coming back, building like a wave getting ready to crest.
Kael was across the room in two strides, his hands on my shoulders. "When did the last wave end?"
"I don't know. Few hours maybe." The words came out through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine. Just give me a minute."
"You won't be fine." His grip tightened. "The waves are going to get closer together today. More intense. You need—"
"I know what I need." I tried to pull away but my legs were shaking. "You've made it very clear what this is. So let's just get it over with."
Something dark flashed in his eyes. "Get it over with?"
"Isn't that what we're doing? Enduring six more days of biological necessity so I don't die and you don't have to deal with the political fallout of a dead Omega in your territory?"
His hands slid from my shoulders to frame my face, forcing me to look at him. His eyes were blazing now, that ice-blue gone molten. "Is that what you think this is?"
"Isn't it?"
"No." The word came out rough. "If this was just about keeping you alive I'd have handed you off to one of my unmated warriors. Someone strong enough to handle your heat without risking a bond."
The thought of another man touching me made my stomach turn. "Then why—"
"Because the thought of anyone else touching you makes me want to commit murder." His thumb brushed over my cheekbone. "Because when I scented you in that hall, my wolf lost its fucking mind. Because even knowing how badly this is going to end, I can't make myself let you go."
My breath caught. "Kael—"
He kissed me. Hard and desperate and nothing like the calculated seduction from last night. This was messy and raw and tasted like frustration and something that felt dangerously close to need.
I should have pushed him away. Should have reminded him this was just biology. Instead I fisted my hands in his shirt and kissed him back like I was drowning and he was air.
When he pulled back we were both breathing hard. His forehead rested against mine, his eyes closed.
"This is such a bad idea," he muttered.
"Probably the worst."
"Six days. Then you leave."
"That was the deal."
His hands slid down to my waist. "Then we'd better make them count."
The heat wave crashed over me fully and I sagged against him with a whimper. He lifted me easily, carrying me back to the bed I'd just left.
"I've got you," he murmured against my hair. "I've got you."
And as he laid me down, as his hands stripped away the shirt I was wearing, as his mouth found all the places that made me arch and gasp, I tried to pretend this was just physical. Just biology. Just temporary.
But when he slid inside me and I felt that strange pull in my chest, like a thread connecting us, growing stronger with every thrust, I knew we were both lying to ourselves.
This wasn't temporary.
This was going to destroy us both.
***
Hours blurred together. Heat and relief and heat again. Kael stayed with me through all of it, his control impressive even when I could feel his wolf pushing against his skin, demanding he claim what was his.
Every time I got close, every time the pleasure built to that impossible peak, I felt his body tense differently. Felt him fighting something deeper than the physical. Once I actually felt his teeth scrape against the junction of my neck and shoulder, right where a mating mark would go, before he jerked back with a curse and buried his face in my hair instead.
He wanted to mark me. His wolf was screaming for it. And he kept denying it.
I didn't know whether to be grateful or furious.
Sometime in the afternoon, he left.
No warning, no explanation. One minute he was there, the next I was alone in the massive bed with the heat building again and no relief in sight.
I tried to handle it myself. Managed maybe ten minutes before the pain got so bad I was crying, curled into a ball and shaking. It wasn't enough. Nothing was enough except an Alpha's touch, and the Alpha I needed had left me.
The door opened an hour later. I looked up with desperate hope that died the second I saw his face.
Cold. Distant. That careful control back in place like armor.
"You left." My voice was hoarse from crying.
"I had matters to attend to."
"Matters." I laughed, but it came out broken. "Of course. Can't let one inconvenient Omega disrupt the Alpha King's schedule."
His jaw tightened but he didn't respond. Just crossed to the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt with methodical precision.
"Don't." I held up a hand even though my whole body was screaming for him. "Not like this. Not when you're looking at me like I'm a chore to be completed."
"You're in heat. You need—"
"I need you to at least pretend you give a shit about more than just your political problems."
Something cracked in his careful control. He was across the room in a heartbeat, his hand fisting in my hair as he tilted my head back. "You think I don't give a shit? You think it's easy for me to walk away when every instinct I have is screaming at me to chain you to this bed and never let you leave?"
"Then don't let me leave."
"I have to." His grip gentled but he didn't let go. "In three days the council meets. They're going to demand I formalize my engagement to Celeste. If I refuse, her father will pull his support and we'll have civil war. Thousands will die, Aria. Thousands. I can't let that happen for one person, no matter how much I—" He stopped himself. Took a breath. "No matter how much my wolf wants you."
"Just your wolf?"
His thumb traced my lower lip. "Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to."
Another heat wave started building. I could feel it coming like a storm on the horizon. "Kael—"
"I know." He gentled me back onto the bed. "I'm here. I won't leave you like that again. I'm sorry."
The apology surprised me enough that I didn't fight when he settled over me, his weight familiar now in a way that should have terrified me.
This time when he moved inside me, it was different. Slower. His eyes never left mine, like he was trying to memorize every detail. Like he knew this was temporary and wanted to burn it into his memory before it was gone.
I felt it when the pleasure crested. Felt that thread between us pull tight, vibrating like a plucked string. Felt something lock into place in my chest that I knew with bone-deep certainty was the beginning of a bond I had no idea how to break.
His hand found mine, fingers threading through mine and gripping tight enough to hurt.
"Aria." My name was a broken sound against my throat. "Fuck, Aria, I can feel you."
"I know." Because I could feel him too. A presence in the back of my mind that hadn't been there yesterday. Faint but growing stronger. "Is this—"
"The bond." He rested his forehead against mine, both of us breathing hard. "It's starting."
"You said you wouldn't bond me."
"I'm not. This is different." His thumb stroked over my knuckles. "The mating bite creates a permanent bond. This is temporary. A scent bond from repeated intimacy during heat. It'll fade after you leave."
"How long?"
"I don't know. Weeks. Maybe months."
Maybe never, I thought, but didn't say.
We lay there in silence, still joined, that strange new awareness humming between us. I could feel his conflict. His duty warring with something else. Something that felt like want and regret and anger all tangled together.
A knock at the door made us both freeze.
"What?" Kael's voice was pure Alpha command.
"Apologies, your majesty." An older male voice. "But you asked to be informed when Elder Thomas arrived."
Kael cursed under his breath and carefully pulled away from me. "Give me five minutes."
He was already reaching for his discarded clothes when I caught his wrist. "Who's Elder Thomas?"
"A healer. I called him to examine you, make sure the heat isn't damaging you." He pulled on his pants with quick, efficient movements. "He's also one of the few people who might know how to minimize the bond."
Hope flared. "Really?"
Something in his expression shuttered. "Maybe. Stay here. I'll bring him in."
He left before I could respond. I pulled the sheet up to my chin and tried not to feel like an animal being brought to the vet.
The man who entered behind Kael a few minutes later was ancient. Hunched with age, white hair in a long braid, but his eyes were sharp and knowing as they settled on me.
"An Omega." His voice was reedy but warm. "I haven't scented one in forty years. You're even rarer than I thought, child."
"Elder Thomas." Kael's voice had a note of respect I hadn't heard before. "Thank you for coming."
"Of course." The old man moved surprisingly spry for his age, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. "May I?" He gestured to my wrist.
I glanced at Kael, who nodded, then offered my hand.
Elder Thomas's fingers were dry and papery against my skin. He closed his eyes, his breathing deepening as he scented the air around me. After a long moment, his eyes opened and settled on Kael with something that looked like pity.
"You've already started the bond."
"I know. Can it be stopped?"
"Stopped? No." Thomas released my wrist. "The process is already underway. Every time you're intimate, it deepens. Scent bonds are tricky things. They form quickly during heat cycles because the Omega's body is trying to ensure the Alpha will stay, will protect, will provide."
"But it's temporary," I said. "Right? It'll fade when I leave?"
The old man looked between us, his expression unreadable. "That depends."
"On what?" Kael's voice was tight.
"On how deep the bond becomes before you separate. If you complete all seven days of her heat together, the bond will be strong enough that breaking it will cause you both considerable pain. Physical and emotional. It could last months. Maybe longer."
"How much longer?"
"There's no way to know. I've seen scent bonds fade in weeks. I've also seen them never fully break." His gaze settled on me. "Especially if there's a fated mate component."
The room went very quiet.
"There's no way to know if we're fated mates," Kael said carefully. "Not while she's in heat. The pheromones could be mimicking—"
"I know what fated mates smell like, boy." Thomas's tone was patient but firm. "And you two reek of it. The only question is whether you'll acknowledge it or try to fight it."
"I'm not fighting anything. I'm being realistic about my responsibilities."
"Responsibilities." Thomas stood with a sigh. "Is that what we're calling it now? Very well. Here's my medical opinion: this Omega is healthy. Her heat is strong but not dangerous. You can continue helping her through it, or you can bring in another Alpha. Either way, she'll survive."
Kael's hands fisted at his sides. "Another Alpha isn't an option."
"Then you accept that the bond will deepen."
"Isn't there anything else?" I heard myself ask. "Some herb or potion or something that could—"
"Break a developing mate bond?" Thomas looked at me with those knowing eyes. "No, child. And even if there were, I wouldn't give it to you. The Moon doesn't make mistakes with fated mates. If She's chosen you for each other, there's a reason."
"The Moon can take Her reasons and—" Kael started.
A door slamming in the outer room cut him off. Then voices, raised and angry. A woman's voice, high and furious.
"I don't care what he's doing. I have every right to be here. I'm his intended mate."
Kael went very still. "Celeste."
"I'll just see myself out," Thomas murmured, moving toward the door with surprising speed for someone his age.
But he wasn't fast enough.
The bedroom door flew open and a woman swept in like a storm made flesh. Beautiful in the way of wolves born to power. Sleek dark hair, expensive clothes, and eyes that landed on me with such hatred I actually flinched back.
"So it's true." Her voice could have cut glass. "You're actually keeping an Omega in your bed."
Kael stepped between us, his body blocking her view of me. "Celeste. You need to leave."
"Leave? You bring some stray into our home and you expect me to leave?" She tried to step around him but he moved with her, keeping himself as a barrier. "I want to see her. I want to see the whore who thinks she can steal what's mine."
"She's not a whore and this isn't your home." Kael's voice dropped to something dangerous. "You're here as a guest. Act like it or get out."
"A guest?" She laughed, sharp and bitter. "I'm your intended mate, Kael. We've been planning this alliance for two years. My father has already started preparing the contracts. And you're throwing it all away for an unmated Omega who was probably spreading her legs for half the wolves in that hall before you claimed her."
The insult hit like a slap. I started to scramble out of bed, ready to defend myself, but Kael's hand shot out in a staying gesture.
"One more word about her and I'll have you thrown out of my territory entirely. Are we clear?"
Something in his tone must have finally penetrated because Celeste went very still. Her eyes, when they met his, were cold. "You're making a mistake."
"That's my decision to make."
"Is it?" She tilted her head, studying him. "Because in three days the council convenes. They'll want to formalize our engagement. They'll want guarantees of the alliance. And what will you tell them? That you're rejecting two years of diplomatic work for an Omega whose name you probably don't even know?"
"Her name is Aria Morgan." Each word was precisely enunciated. "And what I do with her is none of the council's concern."
"Everything you do is the council's concern. You're the Alpha King." Celeste's smile was sharp. "But I'll let them explain that to you. I'm sure they'll be far more persuasive than I am." She turned toward the door, then paused. "Oh, and Aria? Enjoy your week. It's all you're going to get. The council meets in three days, and when they're done, you'll be out of his bed and out of his territory. Probably with a nice escort to make sure you don't come back."
She swept out without waiting for a response.
The silence she left behind was deafening.
I stared at Kael's back, at the rigid line of his shoulders, and felt that thread between us vibrating with his anger.
"She's right, isn't she?" My voice sounded small. "In three days they're going to make you choose."
He didn't turn around. "Yes."
"And you'll choose your throne."
"I have to."
"Then we should stop." I pulled the sheet tighter around myself. "Right now. You should bring in another Alpha to help me through the rest of the heat."
That made him turn. His eyes were blazing. "No."
"Kael—"
"No other Alpha touches you." He crossed to the bed in three strides. "Do you understand me? No one else."
"But you just said—"
"I don't care what I said." His hand cupped my jaw, tilting my face up tomeet his gaze.
"Five more days. That's what you agreed to. That's what I'm holding you to."
"Even though it's making the bond stronger? Even though it's going to hurt more when I leave?"
"Yes."
"Why?" I searched his face for an answer. "Why does it matter? Why not just let me go now and save us both the pain?
For a long moment he didn't answer. Just looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. Then he leaned down and kissed me, soft and careful, like I was something precious.
When he pulled back, his voice was rough. "Because I'm a selfish bastard who's going to take every second with you I can get. Even knowing how it ends."
Another heat wave started building. I felt it pulling tight in my lower abdomen, that familiar ache spreading through my limbs.
Kael felt it too. His nostrils flared, his eyes tracking the flush spreading across my skin.
"Five more days," he repeated, his hands already reaching for me. "Then you walk away and we both pretend this never happened."
I let him pull me close, let him ease me back onto the bed, let myself believe the lie for just a little longer.
But as he moved over me, inside me, as I felt that bond pulling tighter with every touch, I knew the truth.
We could pretend all we wanted.
But some things, once started, couldn't be undone.
And the thread connecting us was already too strong to break.