Page 6 of His Bonded Omega Mate
“This cannot stand.” My heart dropped. Was I in trouble? “My son has acted unforgivably. Omegas such as yourself are precious to a pride. I need to think about an appropriate punishment.”
“The betrothal?”
There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “Hiroshi.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“They tied my hands over the betrothal. Nothing short of your fated mate will stop the match from happening. You’ve got eleven months left to find him. I just pray to The Luna that she makes that happen for you.”
“So —“
“No, Hiroshi. I see what my son is. His mother spoiled him. The entire tiger clan that she came from doted on him and turned a sweet boy into an entitled prince.” Logan’s voice gentled. “I value you as a person. Your position as our healer is important. I want you to follow your heart, but those betas aren’t your future.”
“But —“ He cut me off. Again. I was getting sick of this one sided conversation.
“No, Hiroshi. Your former clan wants cubs from you. That means you need an alpha. Preferably a tiger like you.”
“There are no tigers like me. That’s the problem,” I said wryly. All too aware that I was one of just a few Japanese tigers, a species long since extinct in non shifter animals.
“Jared is a tiger, too,” Logan reminded me. “You’d only have to mate for long enough to have a cub. Hopefully, it would be the right type to calm your family’s clan.”
I snorted. “And just how long will that take? You’ve seen the birth numbers, read the research. Forced matings never work to breed a species back into being. There’s just too few of us for this to work.”
Logan sighed heavily. “I know.”
“Then I’ll be stuck with him for decades until I’m too old to give him cubs. What then?” My bitterness leaked out.
“Hiroshi —“
It was my turn to cut him off. “It isn’t fair.” Tears welled in my eyes, spilling over and down my cheeks.
“No. It isn’t. I’m sorry. I really am.” He was silent for a second. In the background, I could hear the sounds of his office. He was rubbing his face. “The alternative is war. You know this. The pride and your old clan negotiated for years for this betrothal. If you don’t play your part, they will use your perceived mistreatment as an excuse to go to war.” I wanted to rage that Jared had mistreated me. I still had the marks hours later, even with accelerated shifter healing. “They’ll say Jared didn’t court you properly, that I didn’t guide him correctly. Not to mention the other alphas in the pride will take any excuse to take control from me for losing you. If I don’t make this happen, they’ll see me as weak. It all ends in war.”
“So what do we do?”
“Once your betas are on their feet, you need to end it and look for your mate properly.” Unseen, I flinched. I hated the idea of giving them up. “Hire a witch, get a seeking spell.” He made it sound all too easy. His voice gentled. “I want you to be happy, but eleven months isn’t long enough to undo twenty-three years of spoiling. Of course, I’ll try to coach him to be a suitable mate. It’s just not enough time.”
“I know.”
“Hiroshi?”
“Yes, Alpha?”
“I’ll do everything in my power to free you from this. I swear it.”
New Allies
Roan
“Areyousureyouwant to go down to the office?” Larken asked carefully, as I limped out of the bathroom, my arm clutched to my chest. The other alpha had been hovering over me all morning. I’d slept later than I’d planned, knocked out after a healing draught Aldrin had insisted I take to help boost my healing. When I awoke, Larken had been in the room waiting for me.
Larken and I shared a room. Less than ideal, but with the medical staff hired by the council and all the betas taking up space in the houses surrounding the mansion, we had to make do. As roommates went he was pretty decent, and over the last few weeks, he’d become a close friend.
“I need to get some work done, or Blake will get suspicious,.” I answered, dodging the real question.
“Kade’s already wondering where you are. Your phone’s been blowing up.” He tossed my phone so it landed next to me on my bed.
“Fuck!” This was the last thing that I needed. Blake wasn’t as naturally suspicious as Kade was. He’d also understand me needing to get some sleep from the extra hours I’d been working. Kade would just wonder why I wasn’t answering my phone.
