“You aren’t in heat any longer, Freya. Getting a spanking now is going to hurt far more than it did before,” he warned, and I shivered. His hand and his belt had hurt plenty enough to still leave my bottom incredibly sore and I didn’t want to imagine how it could hurt even more than that.
“I don’t want another spanking,” I replied softly. He chuckled, the sound lighthearted.
“Then you will get out of bed with me and let me serve you a good meal, omega. If you continue to protest, you will find your bare bottom back over my knee for a thorough lesson in what happens when you disobey me, only this time it will be with that wooden hairbrush you keep on your dresser over there. Do you understand me?” he questioned, taking a moment to press his finger beneath my chin. He forced me to meet his eyes and I felt so very small and vulnerable in that moment.
“I understand, alpha,” I whimpered. My eyes flicked over to my thick mahogany hairbrush, suddenly nervous of the far too flat back side of it that I was certain would teach a very memorable lesson indeed.
He uncurled his body from mine and climbed out of bed. He offered me a hand, waiting expectantly. I knew what would happen if I didn’t, so I took it quickly and he smiled with pleas
ure at my obedience.
“Good girl,” he said softly and a thrill of my own raced up and down my spine.
Carefully, he led me over to a small table in the corner of my bedroom. There was a mountain of food on top of it and two chairs to either side. I stared at the delectable spread, unable to keep my mouth from watering. I licked my lips and my stomach growled angrily.
Aric was right. I was starving. Even though the two of us had eaten and gulped down full cups of water several times, we’d worked all of it off. The amount of slick that I had produced had left me dehydrated and still exceedingly thirsty. He poured me a serving of water from the pitcher and had me drink it all twice before he put a very full plate of meats, cheeses, and fruits in front of me.
“You will eat every last bite, omega,” he said darkly.
I wanted to say something smart in return, although I thought better of it and instead popped a large piece of melon into my mouth. Once I took the first bite, it was easy to take the next and the next, until my plate was empty and my belly was full. I hummed with pleasure, feeling fully satiated now that I had something more in my stomach other than his thick alpha seed.
Once I was finished, I leaned back in my chair, watching as he finished his own rather large portion of food. I reached for a thick piece of bread and slathered it in butter, enjoying every bite of the honeyed cinnamon spread. He reached for a pewter goblet and poured me a glass of red wine, handing it to me after that. I took it with a bit of hesitation, watching him more carefully now.
Even though we’d just spent the past several days fucking each other and getting to know every inch of our bodies, I hardly knew this man. He was still so much of a stranger and I wanted to know more about him. Why had he snuck into my chambers in the middle of the night? Had he come by himself or had someone else ordered him to come here? How had he known I would go into heat simply by being in his presence? There was so much I wanted to know, and I had every intention of making him answer all of them once my energy returned to a normal level.
The pair bond between us pulsed, and I wondered if he could sense my uneasiness. He gazed at me, almost as if he could read my thoughts even though I hadn’t said them out loud. His eyes searched mine, and he cocked his head to the side.
“How do you feel now, Freya?” he asked, assessing me as I sat there before him.
“Like myself at the same time I don’t feel like myself,” I answered honestly.
“Do you know why that might be?” he asked carefully.
I sat back against my chair, swallowing a mouthful of wine. I watched him carefully, studying him for any open signs of hostility and I found none. I didn’t feel any animosity through our link either. Instead, he gazed back at me with a certain gentleness that left me feeling both comfortable and just a little anxious.
“I do not. Why don’t you tell me?” I answered. I lifted my chin a bit in a silent show of defiance. His eyes narrowed just the slightest bit, letting me know that he’d caught the slight challenge, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he just cleared his throat and sat back, smiling back at me gently.
“You’re a very unique little female, Freya. You’ve led your life under the assumption that you’re a very rare alpha female. You’d worked hard and earned a multitude of respect as a warrior and now as the Queen of Valgertha. But when the people I work with looked a bit deeper into your genetic background, they found something very surprising hidden by your dominant alpha gene,” he began.
“And what was that?”
“You have an omega gene too. It’s never been properly activated by the right set of conditions, be it hormonally, epigenetically, or even environmentally, so you’ve never known about its existence. I think you do now though,” he continued.
I swallowed carefully. What he was saying made sense, but that didn’t mean I wanted to accept it yet. I still couldn’t sense any danger from him through the growing pair bond between us. I wanted to hate every single word that he was saying, but I couldn’t, not when he’d been the one to guide me through my first heat and especially not when I could feel how much he cared through our link. He didn’t want to hurt me. That much I was sure of.
He wasn’t wrong about the omega within me. Even I could feel her, stretching her wings and growing stronger with every passing hour. It felt like my alpha was still there too, although she was much quieter than she had been before.
“You are alpha and omega, Freya. Someone like you has never been seen before. You are strong and fierce. You will not bow to just any alpha, only to me. You are my beautiful little omega,” he said softly, and I lifted my eyes to meet his.
“Why you?” I asked. “Why did I react this way to you specifically?”
“My genetics are directly compatible with your own,” he answered. “Our scientists tested mine against yours and determined that there was a 99.8% chance that your omega would awaken once in the presence of my alpha,” he replied softly.
“How can you be sure that still holds true now that my estrous is over? Maybe it was just a temporary thing?” I questioned, feeling a bit frustrated that he seemingly knew more about me than I did.
He growled and my core cramped down hard. I felt my slick moisten between my thighs and I huffed with understanding. He stood up and knelt before me, grasping my chin in his fingers and forcing me to meet his eyes.
“Does this feel temporary to you, Freya?” he asked, slipping his fingers between my thighs. “You are bonded to me now, little omega, and you will remain so for the rest of our days. This pretty cunt is going to crave my cock, again and again. You’re mine and you will do well to remember that.”