12. Henri

We didn't talk again until we were back in the room. I hated the way things went down with the king because he wasn't just a politician—he was my father-in-law and my mate's father. I felt bad about my feelings toward him, but, gods, he was awful. Not that my father was any prize. I very much expected Cole to feel similarly about him.

Both of them had one thing in common—they saw their sons as a means to an end, not children they should love and cherish and be proud of. If I ever became a father, I was going to accept the role as the gift that it was. I was going to love them and help them achieve their dreams, not mine.

The only plus side of my father looking at me as the pawn all these years was that he gave Lavender the life she deserved. She was happy and allowed to do pretty much what she wanted. Of course that was because in his mind she wasn't valuable and that sucked. But at least she hadn't been a prisoner to her position the way I had. And for that I was grateful. I needed to get in touch with her and let her know that all was going well. But first, I had to make sure it was.

"We should mark each other," I said before the door had completely closed.

"No," Cole said immediately and firmly. "We're not doing that. We're not making decisions about marking based on something my father said."

Gods, he only made me want him more.

"Our parents controlled when we got married and to whom. Fate gave us our mates as those marriages. Now we get to decide… not my father… not your father… and not obligation." The way he went to bat for me, fate had done well by me. I might not have liked the way it happened, but I refused to be upset that it had.

I stepped into his arms and hugged him close. There was something so soothing about being in my alpha's arms. It was like I was home.

"I agree." I snuggled into his chest, longing to be completely covered by him, to be in a mate cocoon if that were a thing. Why couldn't that be a thing?

"Alpha mine, we can't do things because our families require it, because of stupid contracts or whatever the reasoning was behind all of that. But our beasts want this." I pulled back slightly and looked up at him. "You can feel your bear pushing himself so close to the surface. I know you can because I feel him there too. Just by being in your arms, I feel his presence. He wants this."

"Yes, he does. And I can feel your fox. He wants this, too." It was barely a whisper, as if he were afraid if he said it too loudly that he might jinx it.

"He does, he wants it so bad. And yeah, maybe it's the exact thing that our parents want from us, but that doesn't mean we should deny ourselves, does it?" I pressed a kiss where my fox longed to mark him. "We can have it, right?"

He ran his hands down my arms and took my hand in his. We went over to the couch, or as he called it, "the settee," and then laughed when I rolled my eyes at the antiquated term. There had to be a story there, and I'd ask him about it, but not today. Today, we needed to figure this all out.

"You had so much stolen from you," he said, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Your first kiss was in front of a zillion people, and not because it was what you wanted, but because it was what was required of you."

I wanted to argue that it was okay and that I didn't mind. But the truth was that I did mind. How I wished it could've been just the two of us, enjoying each other without worrying about photo ops and teens giggling.

"We need to have our mating be for you, omega mine. One hundred percent for you. And if that means we wait, we wait. But I refuse for you to have any regrets over when or how we mate."

This man, this bear who my beast recognized as my mate, he was a walking green flag.

"Thank you," I said, my voice trembling with emotion. Thank the goddess and fate for bringing him into my life. I couldn't have picked someone better than the man beside me. "I have wanted this since before your father told us that it was mandatory. I really have. But… I think… I would like it if we saved the rest of the mating for another time." My face burned like I was under a thousand suns. "You know, the other stuff.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait for it all?" he asked, his eyes searching mine.

"Yeah, I'm sure. More than sure. It will calm our beasts, give our families what they want, and won't take away from what I know is going to be a beautiful thing. Our first time making love will be for us."

He kissed my forehead. "I promise it will be just for us. They can meddle with every other part of this and already have—but I will not allow them to take that from you… from me… from us."

The longing in his eyes matched my own. We held each other, my fox coming to the surface and taking over, my teeth sinking into my mate's shoulder and he did the same to mine. There was no thinking or forcing, the way there had been with our marriage. We both wanted this.

Our bond snapped into place, and a feeling of completeness came over me. It might not have been how I always pictured it, but this was special too. The connection of our mating bond solidifying like this—there was no better feeling in this world.