Page 155 of The Crown of Nyx

The shifter only stared at me for another long moment. I wanted to know what he was thinking. I hadn’t realised until now how much I relied on the bonds to understand what they weren’t saying aloud.

But with this unknown male, I couldn’t read any part of him. I didn’t know what to think. He’d sounded surprised when he’d asked if I actually cared about him. And although I didn’t know him, a part of me did. Just like I did Hawk, who wanted to refuse our bond, and even Damon. I couldn’t explain it other than my magic, but I knew it was more than that.

His skin rippled as he shifted from beast to man. My eyes widened as I watched him shrink, as the bones of his body snapped into place. Those dark eyes remained trained on me the entire time.

I recognised him immediately from the palace ruins. He’d been the one to talk to the leader on our behalf. My magic had reacted to him before, but I never would have expected it to reveal a bond.

He still had the same pointed ears decorated with rings running the length of his left ear. The only thing different about him was the fact he was completely naked, letting it all hang loose. He had tightly coiled muscles, and although he wasn’t nearly as broad or large as Elias, he was still larger than Adrian and Rowan, who were lithe. Themale had a body shape similar to Hawk’s, but taller, I was certain. His ebony skin was smooth, with no blemishes or scars that I could see. Was it because his people healed faster, or because he’d never seen a fight before?

Something about that worried me.

Elias growled, the sound startling me out of my thoughts. “Fucking hell, man. Clothes.”

The male smirked. “We do not have clothing that shifts with us.”

My cheeks flushed, but I quickly looked away. “No wonder you didn’t want to shift.”

Damon, though, snorted. “Oh, he isn’t worried about perception. It appears he inherited the way of dragons.”

I frowned, looking from Damon to the male. “Uh, do I want to know what that means?”

“He means a knot,” Maeve deadpanned, though she looked at neither of them. “Dragons would knot their mates.”

That sounded like something Thea would read about. “Again, my question stands.”

“You may want to know for future reference. That’s what they’re getting at, Princess,” Hawk replied, tone hard. “Knots are at the base of a cock, and swell during the climax, locking you in place until you’ve been sufficiently bred.”

If I had coffee in my mouth, I would have spat it out. Instead, all I could do was gape at him. Not a single word would form on my lips. Normal dicks, I was used to. As a matter of fact, that wasallI was used to. That was all I read about, because weird ones were Thea’s domain.

Damn, I missed my best friend. She would know exactly what to do and say right now.

Instead, I was pretty sure I looked like an idiot.

Adrian snickered, still lying in my lap. “You have rendered her speechless, asshole. Good work.”

My cheeks burned, and I knew the rest of my body did, too. Clearing my throat, I blinked hard and glanced back at the malewithoutlooking down at his junk. “Sorry about him.”

The male shrugged. “That is generally the function,” he said, though he wasn’t arrogant about it. “For those like me, we mate in our Primal form.”

“Primal?” I asked.

“Yes, that is what we are when we…shift.” He cocked his head. “Is that not how you do it?”

I quickly shook my head. The tension from my earlier promises was completely gone now. Because the bonds were less dark with anger, and more open with a desire to understand who my new mate was.

Do you thinkIwould have to mate him in his…Primal form?I asked no one in particular. There was something about the idea of it that had me questioning everything. But especially Nyx and this choice.

“Mating looks different for different, uh, species,” Rowan explained. “I’m a mage, so it’s magic with sex. That snaps the bond. Shifters claim with a bite. Ivy has one on her shoulder from Elias. For vampires, like Maeve, it’s about sharing blood.”

“Fae fuck, too,” Orion muttered. “Though it depends on the court.”

“I don’t remember anything other than, uh, sex when we bonded,” I said. It was hard thinking aboutthatnight. Especially in front of everyone. But I was also curious.

Orion rubbed the back of his neck. “Each court has a different speciality of magic, obviously. So, when you complete your mate bond, you connect through your court’s magic. I took you into a dream. You probably don’t remember it, which is for the best, but that was how I completed the bond.”

“Oh.” I didn’t remember, which made me feel guilty. The night had been blocked from my mind for so long, that all I really remembered about it was the utter betrayal afterwards when I woke up and he was gone.

Orion’s violet eyes softened with sadness as he ducked his head. “I still have a lot of work to do to make it up to you, but just know that if anything happens out there, I already have a plan in place.”

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