Dark Alpha: A Fated Mates Novel

17: BOND MATES

~SINCLAIR~

"I want to be bound to you," Sin's mate announced, bursting into his private chambers without care of his current state of undress.

Not that he was complaining. He'd spent many moons honing his body to pleasure his mate if he ever found her. So now, if there was a chance in hell that she'd notice, he was taking it.

Of course, she remained immune to the powers of his semi-nudity, not even seeming to take notice of it.

And then, what she said hit him over the head. "What?"

A smirk grew on her face, that one she wore when she was feeling particularly spunky. "You heard me."

Ah. If he'd ever felt his heart was about to pound clear out of his chest because of her, he'd been sorely mistaken. Now, it felt like a giant object held his organ in its hand, bloody and battered, and kept squeezing in its cruel hands.

"Why?" He croaked, even though that was the last thing he should have been doing. He should have been on his knees thanking whichever of the moon gods gave him this gift. She was offering her hand to him without him asking, without negotiation.

He'd expected it to take five moons at least to get her to this point.

She draped herself across his armchair. He didn't know if she did it provocatively on purpose, but he doubted it. One, she'd left her town young enough to know nothing about feminine charms and wiles. For two, even if she did know that the way she sat now, arm thrown over the handle and knees joined primly, was making the blood rush in his ears down to his groin, surely she wouldn't be doing it.

He swallowed down his need and the shame that came with it, waiting for her reason.
"Well, because I want your powers."

He didn't have it in him to be concerned about how blunt that phrasing was, because it was the truth, anyway. Once she became tied to him in matrimony, she became his equal. The other half of his soul. His partner in ruling the Realms.

His late Mam, Rosann, may have been submissive and attentive to his Sire, but Sin knew the truth. If his Mam ever raised her voice in anger, or ever thought to battle against his Sire, she'd win every time. She'd draw blood first. She'd kill him in his sleep before he even had the chance to suspect anything.

Sin relaxed against his headboard, knowing that Vannie being custodian of equal powers would spell certain doom for him and the Inlands. But he couldn't even bring himself to care about it.

He only knew that if she could have some control over something, maybe she wouldn't be so terrified of her future here. Maybe she'd wreak enough havoc on the Inlands, and on him, to get her anger out of the way.
And then maybe, just maybe, she'd forgive him.

"I see," he said shortly, pretending that last thought didn't make him breathless. "When do you wish to get bound, my Queen?"

"Tomorrow."

He, Sinclair de Noir, Alpha of all Alphas and King of the beasts, Nineteenth Ruler over the lupine Realms, gasped.

***

"I don't know the first thing about planning a wedding. And yes, we have to call it a wedding, don't we? Even though she was raised in Zhode, she had a faerie Mam and grew up with fae values. So this is not just going to be the normal tradition of becoming bond mates. I have to put a ring on her finger like the fae folk do."

Silence punctuated the end with a sigh that was supposed to communicate resignation, but only sounded eager.

"But I do know it has to be perfect. Yes, nothing short of the best for my. . ." My wife. My Luna. My Queen. A thought struck him, and he turned to Zara with horror. "Is it because she's about to go into heat? Is that why she suddenly wants to get married so quickly?"

Zara sounded like she was muffling laughter when she said, "The Queen's wolf is dormant. Surely, she's not going into heat anytime soon."

Sin relaxed, a little relieved, a little disappointed. "Oh. Then she's getting married because—"

"Because she has finally realized that there's nowhere else to go, and that it's better to capitalize on this opportunity as soon as possible," Zara filled in. He was too keyed up to snarl at her for interrupting him.

That was pretty much the same thing Vannie implied. 'I want your powers,' she'd said. But something told Sin that it was much deeper than that. There was something else going on in the background, and all he had to do was figure it out.

But for now, "How can I get the perfect wedding for my mate by tomorrow?" He began to pace again. "I should have bargained, maybe? Asked her to shift it to the day after tomorrow." He stopped. "No, screw that. What my mate wants, she gets."

Zara's smile became full-blown.

A growl suddenly ripped out of his throat. "My sly Queen. I was going to berate her for going to the apothecary alone. She made me completely forget about it."

His Seer smirked. "You can still summon her to berate her."

He frowned. "No. Tomorrow is our bound day. I won't risk her anger on a day like this. But when next she's going to the apothecary, I want you or Maeve to follow her with a dozen Keepers."

"A dozen!"

Sin started. "You're right. A dozen is not enough. Take three."

"We cannot go to the tiny apothecary with thirty-six Keepers, Your Majesty!" Zara spluttered. "The Queen isn't even comfortable around Keepers."

Good point. "Then whenever she's going to the apothecary, she's taking me. I'm not risking her safety like that. Gods, I can't believe Maeve actually let her go by herself. I should have her head for it."

Then he turned to Zara. "You and Maeve can send a message to all the Alphas of the other territories. Immediately. Tell them we're expecting them by tomorrow's moon for the wedding."

She bowed low in acquiescence, looking very thrilled. She must like weddings. "I'm your servant, Your Majesty."

A/N:
We're getting so close to the spicy scenes guys and like the pervert I am idk what to doooooooo. I'm so nervous and excited for you to read ittttt.

Anyway, see you next week.