Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“He appeared right here one day, as a youngling,” Krav says. “He was screeching so loudly, I could hear him from my room. His wing was injured. I healed him."
"With magic?"
He nods. “After making sure he could fly again, I let him go… but he kept coming back. Eventually, it was clear he had decided he lives here now, so I made him this cage. It’s more to give him shelter than to keep him locked up. As a child, I always wanted a pet.”
“Your parents didn’t allow you one?”
“Oh no. If my sire had been alive, he would have killed Plutus on sight. Or had the jynx do it.”
I shiver. The little hints Krav drops about his father make me think he wasn’t a nice guy. Cold. Selfish. An all-round terrible dad… and king.
Krav seems to think he should follow in his father’s footsteps, and he does… but occasionally I get glimpses of how kind and gentle he can be. Like now.
Reaching between the bars, Krav scratches the top of Plutus’s head, ruffling the short, spiky feathers, and in that instant, it hits me.
I’m falling for the demon.
Goddamnit.
Eight
Krav
On our way back inside the castle, Renee fills the silence with chatter.
“Females should be seen and not heard,” my father once told me. He believed the same of his progeny, only summoning me when he felt the need to pass on a bit of paternal wisdom.
Did my mother try to fill the silence between us, as Renee does now? My memories of her are vague, faded over time, but I do recall the grace with which she moved, and the elegance with which she carried herself, whether taking a stroll, or playing haunting melodies on the hriox, her preferred instrument. She was tall for an Omega, and impossibly slender. My father was gigantic by comparison. Another reason to wonder how they made me.
Renee’s ass sways as she walks ahead of me. It’s so plump, so enticing, even when I’m not in rut. I’m glad I made her remove the cloak the moment we got back inside. The fire-stone jewel between her cheeks winks at me through her gauzy gown.
Striding down the corridors, heading for the main hall, she’s babbling about myths and unicorns and something called a onesie. I could command her to be silent, but her one-sided conversation is endearing.
Is this constant need to talk and ask questions a Hoo-man thing? Do Ulfarri females behave this way? For the first time, it occurs to me that there are other kings I could ask about these things. Khan, Aurus, the Hunter King—even that disfigured Bestian—have all claimed Hoo-man Omegas. Did they ever compare research? Turn to one another for advice?
Suppressing a sigh, I dismiss the idea. I have no need of guidance. Renee is my pet, not my queen. She does as I command, either of her own volition, or when I make her. And thankfully her instinctive reaction to any display of dominance from me, her Master, is to stay her tongue.
A surge of heat rushes through my groin when I recall her response to my threat to take her even though she’s not in estrus. The look in her eyes was exquisite. While it’s true she will likely not produce as much slick as when she’s in heat, the rest was said to intimidate her. I will always ensure she can handle me, even if she doesn’t know I’m doing it.
We’ve reached the great hall and she turns to me. “I’m thirsty,” she says.
“I expect you would be, my pet. Since we left Plutus, you’ve barely drawn a breath.”
She wrinkles her nose. “I have to do something to distract myself from this plug.”
I chuckle. “It’s not the plug you wish to forget. It is your response to it.”
Her face turns pink but she ignores what I said, proving my point. “Could we please have something to drink?”
“Of course. There’s juice over there.” I point to the jug on the table.
“Do you have any hot drinks here?” My confusion must be obvious because she adds, “You know, tea, coffee, cocoa?”
“Tea… like medicine?” I summon a jynx.
“No! Well, I mean, we do have herbal teas back home, but I meant more the other kind. Chai. English. Green.”
Once again, I have no idea what she’s babbling on about. But she is my pet and I wish to indulge her every whim, so I ask her to describe one of her favorite beverages to me. I cannot make it myself, since nothing created with magic should be swallowed, but perhaps the jynx can find something similar.
“Do y’all have chocolate over here?” she says at length. “It’s made from the cocoa bean. Brown, sweet, creamy. Delicious. We like to drink it in hot liquid form, topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. I… no, I can’t describe those. Squishy. Sweet. Fluffy.”