Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Elias stepped into the government building with his parents and followed them toward the center where the round room of his doom was located.

They were a few minutes late, which was considered rude and unacceptable, but he was struggling to care. No one would comment. That would be even ruder.

Resigned, he lifted his head and took a deep breath, thinking to fortify himself. Instead, he stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the hallway. His vision swam, and he felt like he might faint, so he reached out with a hand and planted his palm on the wall to ground himself.

His parents stopped moving and turned around.

“Elias?” his mother said, worry in her voice.

His father chuckled, the bastard.

Elias lifted a finger to stop the questions. He needed a moment.

Holy fuck .

He’d been told how powerful the connection would be, all-consuming, but he’d had no way of fully grasping what everyone meant. They’d expressed that, too. His friends and his brother, and even his father, had laughed when they’d tried to explain this feeling, informing him he could not understand until it happened.

And here he was. It was happening.

He let out a slow breath and drew in another, simply because he needed oxygen to survive. Breathing made things worse, though. His knees weakened. Every inhale drew her into his body as if she were physically entering him.

Thousands of thoughts raced through his mind, one on top of the next. He was an asshole for ever thinking he could have ignored this bond. He hadn’t put forth any effort at all to prepare for his intended mate as though she would mean nothing to him.

He’d seen her as an inconvenience, someone who would move into his private space, touch his things, speak when he liked to be alone with his thoughts.

Never had he grasped how instantaneously he would put her at the top of his priority list and never look back. That’s how he felt, and he hadn’t even seen her yet. He could scent her from the hallway, for fuck’s sake.

How much more powerful would this feel when he stepped into the room, when he touched her, when he held her, when he set his mark upon her?

Was she feeling the same magnetic pull, even now? Did she have the same ability to sense him, her body already aligning with his from yards away, through a wall, and past a door?

His cock was hard. His heart raced. His mouth was dry. Was her pussy wet? He had to assume so. According to lore, the physical connection would be maddening.

His friends spoke of the frenzy of need that caused them to claim their mate over and over for weeks. The near-constant nudity. The inability to keep their hands off each other and let their marks align.

Elias had been a monstrous fool to think this wouldn’t happen in the way he’d been told.

“We should go inside, son,” his father said softly.

Elias nodded and took several steps forward. The door loomed just feet from him. When he reached it, he flattened his palm on it, trying to pull himself together so he wouldn’t appear daft in front of his mate and her parents.

Another breath confirmed what he’d suspected. Her scent had changed. She was aroused by his proximity. The sweet smell of her essence filled his nostrils and made him dizzy.

How did anyone survive this onslaught? He was expected to enter this room, stand in front of her throughout the ceremony, and even respond to the words that would bind them for the rest of time.

How long would it take before his parents and hers left the room to give them their first moment of privacy? More importantly, how would he keep his pants on and his hands to himself?

He knew that even through the fog of lust, he would not touch her inappropriately in this government building. He would carry her up the mountain to their home in his arms. Until then, he would restrain himself.

And then what? He couldn’t strip her naked and fuck her then either. He needed to wait for her to accept their union. He would need to woo her for a few days until she craved him uncontrollably and begged him to enter her.

Elias was familiar with every aspect of the tradition. He’d heard about it his entire life. He knew to be gentle and patient with his mate. He knew she would be nervous about exposing herself to him and eventually taking him into her body.

Everything he believed about his universe changed in a heartbeat. His life was on the other side of this door. He would kill for her. He would protect her at all costs.

He needed to know everything about her. Now. It was time to step over the threshold.

Owen set his hand on Elias’s shoulder. “Now you know. Be mindful of your mark, son. It’s powerful. Keep it covered by your dress shirt and suit jacket for now. Hers will be covered by her dress sleeve. If either of you touches the other with your mark, the frenzy you feel will increase tenfold. If you press the two marks against one another, you will float off this planet.”

He didn’t laugh. His advice was meant to be serious, and Elias nodded, taking it as it was meant. A warning.

A promise.