Chapter 15

15

Akai

A slave raising a child. I'd never really thought of it that way before. But great heats, a nice alpha and miraculous views aside, that was my situation. All the chocolate shakes in the world wouldn't change it.

We ate our takeout from the diner together on the couch. Danon had ordered a bit of everything. It was way too much food.

"Savoy wanted me to punish you," Danon said.

"Are you going to? I stomped hard."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I should?"

"No. I think alphas should be punished."

"All of them?"

"Maybe. Something's wrong with them. They don't know how to behave but they think they are above everyone, the best at everything. Yet my alpha father left my omega papa. And he paid some of the bills, but he never saw me, never got to know me. Who does that? How is that being the best? I was his child."

Now we were getting back to the subject I didn't want to talk about. My own fault.

"A lot of alphas could use a bit of cleanup," Danon said. "But there are good ones, too."

"My pack leader was horrible. It sounds like your flight master is, too. Why are they so arrogant and self-centered? Is it taught? Are there secret classes, because even most of the ones in school were awful."

"Hmm. I'm not too old to remember. No secret classes. But the combination of alpha and adolescence isn't always pretty."

"I guess some never grow out of it."

"That is true." Danon helped himself to more chicken wings.

I was hogging the nachos.

"If I did have an egg inside me right now, the child would be ours, right?"

Danon leaned forward. "Of course he would."

"Even as a slave? Would I have the right to call him mine?"

"You would." He paused.

I blinked hard. "I don't mean to be morbid, but what if something happened to you? What then? Is he still mine?"

A confused look came over Danon's his face. "You've thought this out that far?"

"I can't help it. If I am carrying a life, a real person, I need to make sure that person is safe and loved and that nothing bad can happen to him."

"That's very smart, thinking ahead like that. Of course, all of that matters. I promise, I'll do all the research and necessary paperwork to assure the security of both you and our child. I want both of you to be safe."

"Thank you."

"Is that what you were upset about at the diner?"

"Yes. And if I do have an egg inside, the idea of our child makes me emotional."

"That's not wrong. It lets me know you care. A child is a big deal."

"I want him to be mine. I don't want it to be like Sage where he just visits his kids."

"We're not doing anything like Sage," Danon assured me. "You will raise him, too. This is your home, too, now."

I looked around me. The walls of the house looked strong, just like Danon's words. He was one of the good alphas. He made me feel secure.

We gobbled the food until we were groaning from overeating.

"Guess we're making up for meals missed when we—" I stopped. I didn't know how to refer to our mating. When we rutted? When we heated?

"I guess we are," Danon replied with a smile.

"Aside from Savoy, I really liked today."

"I'm glad. And again, I apologize for those two. I haven't seen them in years. They're not friends."

"Just guys you used to hang out with. I know."

Danon smiled. "You're very smart. You know that?"

"No."

"You're alert. You pick up on things others might miss."

I wasn't sure what to say. My heart beat faster. Danon was noticing something about me that wasn't about sexuality and being an omega or a slave, but beyond that. Deeper.

"You're alert, too," I replied.

He smiled. I tuned into him easily. He gave off a safe, relaxed feeling. I had told him he didn't need to caretake me anymore, but he was doing it naturally. Maybe he didn't even know it. What a fluke that the guy behind the bushy whiskers turned out to be the prince in hiding of my fantasies.

My heat was gone, but my body still wanted him. Inside, just below the surface of my skin, a different heat-fever simmered.

The rest of the day, I wanted to be close to him. I never let him out of my sight. If he noticed, he didn't comment. But I was like a dog scampering after him everywhere he went except the bathroom.

Later, we went for a walk in the yard. I loved to explore. Every time I went out there, I found something new I hadn't seen before.

Danon stood in the middle of his backyard, arms out to the breeze.

"Will you let me see you shift?"

"No."

"Why not?"

He huffed. "I'm not going to shift right now."

"But some time?"

He didn't respond.

"I would love to meet your dragon."

"I shift and fly alone."

"That's okay."

"It's a very personal thing for me," he said.

And the mating wasn't? But I kept my thought to myself. I wandered off to smell the big trees. The ones that weren't evergreen were turning for fall, blends of golds and scarlet that were magical. Danon had chosen a beautiful part of dragon country to live in. A breeze gusted overhead, and leaves fell in dizzying pirouettes all around me.

I spun with them. When I stopped, Danon was about six feet away.

"You're beautiful," he said.

I put both my palms to my face to hide my grin. My emotions were all over the place. In my new captivity, shouldn't I be grim and frowny all the time?

Slowly, I lowered my hands. "I love fall."

"Me, too."

Yet another way in which we were compatible. I wished I didn't have all the garbage in my head to deal with. I wished I'd met Danon another way, not as a slave but as just me. He would notice me and smile and say hi and we'd get to know each other, be friends. Then he'd ask me out.

But my wishes were long gone in the past. And today had been great. He had taken me out. He had smiled. Even laughed. And he had defended me against his rude alpha hunting companions.

I walked across the fallen leaves toward him. Together, we turned and headed back to the house.

That night, we parted for bed. I dragged myself to my room alone, a dull ache settling throughout my body. Something tugged my insides. My heart veered toward Danon's bedroom. It must've been muscle memory that made me want to behave as if I was still in heat. I was over that. I had my own bed.

I changed into pajamas and lay down. The darkness was thick. The whole world had gone away. I closed my eyes and curled onto my side, clutching a pillow.

Images from the day flashed through my mind. The view had been spectacular. I hadn't cared that the wind was so cold.

In such a short time, Danon had shown me many things about himself, including what a wonderful lover he was during a rut. He had taken such good care of me. The connection between us deepened fast. I couldn't help it. I had said it was just going to be sex, but it was much more.

Yet, he still wouldn't let me meet his dragon. I imagined it must be ugly. Or huge and wild. Or unpredictable. Somehow, I knew I was wrong. Whatever was going on with Danon's dragon, it had to be something else.

It didn't matter what the dragon was like. I still wanted to meet him. He was a part of Danon. We should know each other.

I sat up in the darkness, muscles tense. A voice inside me told me I should let Danon know about that. Now. The voice was tiny. Distant. But so alluring, as if it was casting some sort of spell over me.

I couldn't go to his room now. It was nighttime. He'd be asleep.

But the allure was like standing on the edge of a cliff. If I didn't back up, I'd fall. In this case, if I didn't go to Danon, I felt like I'd somehow suffer.

Shivering, I got out of my bed and opened my door. The hall was dark except for one nightlight at floor level. That helped.

I moved past Danon's office to his bedroom door, standing in front of it. I didn't move for about a minute. Finally, I took a deep breath and knocked.

"It's unlocked," said a voice from inside. He didn't sound gruff or slurred like he'd been asleep.

Slowly, I opened the door.

The bedside lamp came on. Every time I saw Danon, I felt a new little shock. Without his whiskers, he was so different. So handsome. Danon lifted himself on his elbows. "Akai? What's wrong?"

I swung my hands in front of me. "I—I don't know."

"Don't just stand there. Come in."

I walked in until I stood in the middle of the room.

"Are you okay?" Danon asked.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"I'm—I'm not sure. I just feel—" I couldn't find the words.

"Alone?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Me, too."

We both stared at each other for a few seconds. I was still shivering, pressing hard on my hands to keep them still.

"Do you think you might like to climb into bed?" He pushed the covers down on the side I'd occupied during our mating. It looked right. Felt right. Like that was where I was supposed to be.

"Come on." Danon smiled. "At least get in and get warm."

I couldn't resist. I strode to the bed and slid in. Danon brought the covers over me and that was all it took. All anxiety left me. I was safe. I was comfortable. My muscles began to relax.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Danon asked.

"I never went to sleep."

"Not tired?"

"I just—I kept remembering all the stuff from today. And well, I may have stepped on an alpha's toe, but it was a good day. I don't know if I should be feeling that, but I do."

"Why shouldn't you feel good?"

"Because ever since I was designated a set-omega, life has been like a nightmare. But you're in it, so it turned into a better dream."

"At least there's that." Danon smiled. "I didn't want this, either. But you've changed my mind."

"Changed your mind?"

"About you. I didn't want anyone in my life. Least of all someone forced to be with me."

"Same."

"But we are compatible, Akai. I can't deny it."

"Is that why I feel like I had to come in here?"

"Only you know that."

"I thought I was going to be very proper. You know. During the—mating. I was supposed to, well, not hate it but not like it, either. But I couldn't separate myself from it. From you." My skin heated. Talking was hard.

"It's called bonding." Danon spoke so low I almost didn't hear him.

"Bonding?" I knew what the word meant. But I didn't think about that. The heat took over and I was a prisoner to it. Bonding was the last thing on my mind.

"I wasn't sure you felt it, too. No wonder you're feeling confused."

"Did we bond?"

Danon tilted his head as if listening to a voice in his mind. "We seem to have formed a connection. The bond is there to be nurtured. But only if both parties agree."

"It just happened naturally?" Guilt swept through me. What if Danon didn't agree?

"It seems that way. We turned out to be very very compatible. But it doesn't have to go further than that."

I was on a full honesty roll now. "But I felt strange last night and now tonight. Being apart from you. Almost like it makes me sick."

Danon pressed his lips tight. I couldn't read his emotions, but after today, I knew he felt the same.

Finally, he spoke. "It's hard to sleep when I expect you to be at my side and you're not there."

"Did I do something wrong?

"Never. You did everything perfectly."

Softly, I asked. "So, these feelings are okay with you?"

Danon's eyes flashed as he met my gaze. "More than okay."

"Will we have a real bond?" I asked.

"Yes. We will."

"But I'm a slave. A set-omega. It doesn't disgust you?"

Danon reached across the covers and took my hand in his. "Of course not. What disgusted me was forcing you into it. That isn't my nature. I revere omegas. I'd never want to hurt one."

My stomach fluttered.

"We were so compatible," he continued, "that your presence prompted my rut which prompted your heat. But that still didn't mean we would bond. Both of us must be willing."

"It's already happened, though. It's still happening."

"It seems so."

I made my boldest statement yet. "That must mean we're willing."

Danon squeezed my hand. "I know I am."

"That's what I was feeling. And why I had to come knock on your door."

"I'm very glad you did."

I could barely hold back my smile. I snuggled deeper into the pillows. "I was cold in my bed. I'm warm now."

"It feels right. Being next to you. From now on, you'll sleep in here," Danon said. "All right?"

"Yes. I want to sleep where you are."

"Good." He reached to turn off the light.

"Danon?"

"Yes."

"Could you hold me like you did after we—after we?—"

His arms came around me and I fit right into his embrace. It was as if we were made for each other.

In the darkness, Danon whispered into my ear, "We can still do that, too. Any time. You don't have to be in heat for that."

I longed for his kiss again, deep and possessive. But that would lead to more and suddenly I was very tired.

"I know. I want it. But we could just hug for tonight if that's okay."

"I'd like nothing more than to cuddle you to sleep."

I put my arm around him and pressed my face to his shoulder.