Page 74 of Fortune Fae Academy
He steadied himself, then made a fist. “Because she’s an Omega of her word, Seif. She’ll leave you behind before she accepts your dominion ever again. She has Axel now, so it’s a luxury she can afford. You’d do well to remember she has options.”
I raised a brow. “Is that a threat?” I knew he had Gina’s ear, but I wasn’t sure how much was bravado and how much was truth.Good thing I’m a Fortune Fae now.I rested a hand on his shoulder and read his timelines, which would tell me everything I needed to know.
Shuffling past the startling ones of consuming fire that didn’t make sense, I found the threads I was looking for. Ones where Rowan convinced Gina that she didn’t need me.
Those ended in her death.
How ironic it was that in order to protect Gina, I had to let her walk directly into death’s lair, because Amell and Roderik were most certainly death personified.
“I think you can see my threat holds merit,” Rowan replied, his voice pained. I realized that what Dust I had used to read his future blistered his skin, so I pulled away. He stumbled ontothe edge of the bed, finally slumping down in his pain. “You can kill me for saying it, if you want, but you’ve been an asshole, Seifiek. You’ve abused your power as an Alpha and you continue to demonstrate that all you’re capable of doing is chasing your Omega. She’s done running, Seif. So stop trying to get her to flee.”
Rowan’s words hit me like an Alpha’s blow. But it was his unsaid words that gave me pause.
I’d seen something else in that brief glimpse of his threads. Rowan hated me for ordering Axel to break him and Zeke. I hadn’t even stopped to consider what that had entailed. When Axel had brought them back to me, the job was done. That was all that had mattered.
But now I’d seen the months of sensual torment. Axel had tested and refined his toxin bite on Rowan and Zeke.
It was why he had the toxin to offer Roderik now. My decision had not only allowed Axel to transition into an Alpha, but it had also put us in this predicament where Roderik had become too powerful.
Fuck.
“You’re right,” I said aloud, coming to the logical conclusion that as much as I wanted to blame others, I had to take responsibility. “I… apologize.”
If I was going to forge a new timeline, I had to also recognize my mistakes so I didn’t repeat them.
“What?” Rowan asked, glancing up as if that was the last thing he had expected to come out of my mouth. An Alpha apologizing to his Beta was probably a rare occurrence, but I didn’t feel like it should be. Not when Rowan only spoke the truth.
“You’re right,” I repeated. “Which is why I have accepted Axel as my equal. It’s why I’ve bonded Gina together with him, but it shouldn’t end there. Gina chose you. She chose Zeke.Because of that, I will choose you, too, if you will accept my protection.”
Rowan stared at me, completely speechless. He flexed his fingers before he finally responded. “Are you saying you want to bite me?”
I nodded.
“And if I say no?” he pressed.
I didn’t outwardly respond, but I recognized the possibility that he might reject me. It was an odd feeling, to entertain the idea of rejection and to respect that choice. An Alpha took what he wanted—or at least, that was what Fortune Fae Academy taught.
Their lessons were flawed.
Kodiak had given me different teachings. A true Alpha respected his mate-circle and potential additional members, even placing their needs above his own.
“If you say no, then I will protect you as best I can without biting you. But I will still attempt to protect you, Rowan. Gina is mated to you; therefore, you are my mate by proxy with or without a claiming bite.”
He seemed to ponder that for a moment. “Gina mentioned that she could communicate telepathically with you and Axel. Is that something you could teach me to do?”
I tilted my head. “It… comes naturally. I don’t know if it’s something I could teach, but my bite is likely what you’re missing to be able to communicate directly with Gina.”
I had a feeling that my toxin offered more than sensuality. It took effort to make a claiming toxin, one that would link our souls together and change both of us on a fundamental level. If he couldn’t talk telepathically with Gina even though they were mated, my toxin was probably what he was missing. Even if Axel was an Alpha, I had mated Gina first. It was my toxin that Rowan needed to complete his bond with Gina, whether or nothe realized it. I was more important than he wanted to admit when it came to the functionality of this mate-circle.
But still, I would give him a choice.
Rowan leaned back on the bed and relaxed his muscles as if he’d determined I was no longer a threat. “And Zeke?”
I frowned. “You can’t telepathically talk to Zeke?” The two Betas had seemed beautifully connected. Even without my bite, they should have been able to communicate.
Rowan shook his head. “Normally, I can feel him and sense his emotional state, but he’s walled me off. I don’t have any power over Dust right now to break through, so I don’t even know if he’s okay. Gina also doesn’t seem to be able to reach him. But if you… bite me,” he said as if forcing out the words, “then maybe I can overcome whatever block is going on around my soul right now. I can’t explain what’s happening. My spirit is being drawn by the Fire Fae Source, a legacy from my mother, who is a converted Fire Fae.”
I raised a brow. Now that was interesting. “I didn’t think Fortune Fae were supposed to have any remaining links with their original Sources. Especially those who were naturally born as a Fortune Fae.”
