The Alpha's Cursed Mate

Chapter 14

I wake on the study floor to the sound of a door opening and closing. The carpet and pillows didn't offer much repose, but fell asleep anyway, it seems. I shift to my other side and find Tabitha waiting. She tilts her head and asks, "Has the big, scary Alpha kicked you out of his bed?"

I groan and rise to a sitting position. The fireplace is full of ash, and the room has succumbed to the cold. "So you've decided to come back? Well, you've missed plenty."

"Have I? I apologize, but I was busy discovering the cause of your bleeding the night of the ceremony."

I clear my throat and sit tall. "And did you? Find the cause?"

"I wouldn't come back empty-handed," she says and rounds the davenport to sit down in front of me. "The cause is your mate bond."

"How so?"

"You were right to think that the God made you bleed on purpose; he wants you to pay for the bond. He doesn't like it, and as long as you have it, he will call you to feed."

"How often?" I question.

Tabitha shakes her head. "We won't know until it happens again."

"Yes, of course," I mutter and encourage myself to stand. I drop some cut logs and tinder from the firewood bucket into the fireplace then light it with the flint and steel from the mantle. If the God is going to make me bleed, I can only hope that it is annually. I couldn't imagine being in a situation like the night of the ceremony ever again. Hundreds of eyes could have caught me.

"I'm eager to hear what I missed while I was gone."

I swipe my hand through the space between us to summon my men. Both doors of the study open, and they walk through as anyone would. "This is Carden and Larris—my new councilmen," I introduce. "They used to appear out of thin air, but I spoke to them about entering more naturally. They won't respond when you talk to them, but they follow my—"

"Brea," she interrupts, and I'm able to sense unease. "What are they? I know they aren't men, not actually. The God can't produce the beings of our world."

"Then they must be beings of his world."

"And when have you become so indifferent toward such things? Has anyone else seen them?"

I place the flint and steel back on the mantle then smooth my hair. "Yes."

"The Alpha and his men?"

"They have."

She's silenced by her irritation, so I say, "Carden and Larris have done great work for me. I've been able to sleep now that the day-to-day duties are handled. Without them, I wouldn't be able to attend daily meetings with Alexei and his men to finalize our contract."

"But you cannot parade—"

"I'm not parading them."

She asks, "Is that it then? I leave and you replaced me with two demons?"

"If they are demons, they are rather gentle." I look at them and feel our sprouting relationship, one where I can find security in their unwavering loyalty. My hand waves once, and they're here; they always come back. "But no, there is one more thing."

"Out with it."

"I made a divine landmark in the forest between our territories so we have something to distract from the fact that Alexei and I are taking the land. I made up a story of a prolific dream where the Goddess walked our world. If anyone asks, we went to the forest and found her glorious steps. You can see them for yourself; they're quite pretty, and Alexei and Karim are sending for priests."