Page 1 of Bonds of Pain
Chapter One
LOGAN
This is the first time I’ve ever seen Maya truly calm. Every feature on her face relaxed, the daze of her stupor overcoming all that unnecessary emotion. Those little furrows on her forehead have smoothed out, and the tension that usually tightens the cupid’s bow of her lips has disappeared.
Too many orgasms, too much pleasure overloading every synapse until her mind was forced to shut down.
Blissed out.
If only I thought this would last after she wakes up.
Her heat ended quickly, lasting hours rather than days. I like to think that I made the most of it, but I’m looking forward to the next one. And the next. Every heat cycle she has from this day forward will belong to me.
Because she belongs to me. Finally.
The squeak of a mattress distracts me from my study of Maya’s face.
Cillian glares at me, expression more baleful than it’s ever been. The contrast between them is pure irony.
I cut him off before he opens his mouth. “Whatever you’re going to say, I don’t want to hear it.”’
He ignores the implied threat in my voice, which doesn’t surprise me.
Pale hair falls across his face as he pushes himself up at the edge of his nest, arms trembling as he struggles to support his own weight.
Cillian’s voice cuts through the room, devastating in the quiet. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”
I stroke a few violet strands of Maya’s hair away from her face, savoring the silky texture between my fingers. “I’ve claimed what’s mine.”
“But she isn’tjustyours, is she?” Cillian stands on shaking legs, his lean frame vibrating with tension. “You manipulated me into creating a mating bond with her. You used me like a fucking puppet.”
I meet his ice-chip eyes without flinching. “I did what I had to do.”
“Necessary?” He takes a stumbling step, hands clenching and unclenching. “I always knew you were selfish, Logan, but this? This is a new low, even for you.”
The accusation stings more than it should. What does he want from me? I did this to protect all of us, Maya included. Eventually, the king was going to expect to see some proof of my bond with a female Omega. Unless Cillian plans to leap headfirst off the palace’s highest tower or find some previously unknown way to break a mating bond, this is the only viable solution.
I found the only viable solution.
He should be thanking me for accomplishing something that shouldn’t even be possible.
I rise from Maya’s nest, drawing myself to my full height. My royal blood, my status as pack Alpha, is none of it enough to demand his respect?
“You forget your place.”
“My place?” Cillian’s laugh holds no humor. “Please remind me what my place is,Your Highness. It’s been long enough that I find myself unable to recall so many details.”
My reply is cold, anger restrained, so I don’t do something I’ll regret. “You are a member of this pack. You have a permanent place of privilege at my side. What more is there for me to give you?”
He doesn’t even blink. “That is the question, isn’t it?”
The walls he keeps erected between us have cracks, giving me the barest glimpse into the emotions swirling behind that icy gaze. Jealousy, I expect. Even the rage is understandable.
But it’s the sudden spike of fear that has me staring at him until he finally looks away.
My attention returns to Maya. That furrow is back between her closed eyes. She won’t be unconscious for much longer. “She’ll accept this. She doesn’t have any other choice.”
“That’s your solution? Force her into a terrible situation and expect her to just deal with it because she has no options?” Cillian steps closer, hunched posture still somehow laden with threat. “That’s not how consent works.”
