Cora wasn’t sure what she had expected when she disclosed her magical heritage to the Fireheart alpha. She was the product of a bruja mother and a shifter father, star-crossed lovers who should have never been but were and as a consequence lost their lives. But not before creating Cora, an omega despised by her own clan’s alphas and only tenuously accepted by the rest of her pack.

Not that Cora truly considered herself a member of any pack; as an orphan she was clan, but pack?

No, never that.

And now, All-Mother knew why, Cora was in front of the Fireheart alpha, the single most powerful alpha she had ever encountered, and her king. Or soon-to-be-king, at least, and he was taking all of it in stride. Upon her announcement, all the alpha had done was give her a jerky nod and then ask:

“Are you alright?”

“I-ah, yes,” she said, wincing, and looked down at her wound, which was still bleeding freely.

“I tried to stop the bleeding but I just… I’m sorry.” The words came out in a rush as she tried to calm herself with a deep breath.

The last hour had been a nightmare and now the stress and adrenaline of it all was crashing around her, and before she knew it Cora was falling to her knees in front of the Fireheart alpha. Her wolf was howling for her to submit. To give in to his command and accept his decision. If he took charge of things, it would be so much better for her. He would know what to do. She tilted her neck to the side, baring her throat to him in silent offering.

“None of that.” He crouched down beside her and to her shock whipped off his shirt. “Let me see. I’ll help stop the bleeding with this.” The alpha tore his shirt in half and gestured for her to remove her hands.

“You shirt?” Cora blinked at him, her mouth dry at the sight of the muscular physique now on full display mere inches from her.

“My shirt’s the best I have, but we’ll get it properly tended to back at camp,” he told her, and clicked his tongue at the sight of the three crude puncture wounds at the top of her shoulder, just a few inches shy of where a mate’s bond bite should go. His eyes moved unbidden to that spot as he worked at securing the wound.

Cora held back a longing sigh as she studied the alpha. He had formidable appearance, wild even, as every bit of him was purposefully honed muscle. Playing into the air of wildness about him was the unruly mass of dirty blond hair that fell just past his shoulders, and her fingers itched to see how soft it was. His face was stern with a square jaw covered by a thick but neatly kept beard, an aquiline nose, strong brow, and a mouth that Cora would give her magic to have on her. She swallowed thickly and tried not to think about how easy it would be for him to lean close to her, push his lips against her skin—how it wouldn’t take much pressure for the alpha to give her his teeth, to break the skin and mark her.

All-Mother, she wanted that.

“Thank you,” she demurred instead.

“You’re welcome,” th alpha murmured, and swallowed hard, forcing his gaze to the knot he was tying off. “I only wish I had come sooner.” He stood then and then paused. “May I?” he asked.

“Sorry?”

“Carry you?” he clarified. “I mean, may I carry you back to camp?”

“I can walk,” Cora said, moving to stand, but she only made it a step before she swayed.

He grunted at the sight and before she could take another teetering step forward he swept her up in his arms and against his chest as he turned back toward the camp.

“I’m fine, honest,” Cora protested weakly, but he was already moving.

“You’ve been through a less than ideal start to your heat. Let me take care of you.”

“You want to, ah, do that?”

He snorted at her question. “Have you smelled yourself? Even with all the magic buzzing about, you’re amazing.”

Cora blushed. “Oh.”

“I’m Zehr,” he offered, seeing the pink blush on her cheeks.

“I know,” she whispered and bit her bottom lip. “Everyone knows.”

Zehr chuckled. “Good.”

“What were you doing so far out here?” Cora asked quietly.

She was grateful for his appearance but why had the world’s most important alpha been in the woods? Didn’t he know they were only full of danger and magic? Who would let him wander alone so close to his coronation?

It was madness.

There were fae folk in the woods, for All-Mother’s sake!

Zehr lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I needed some peace and then…” His voice trailed off, prompting Cora to lean closer to him. She relished the hard feeling of his bare chest against her arms before she asked.

“And then?”

“Then I smelled you.”

“I see.”

“What’s your name, little omega?”

Cora’s eyes lifted to meet Zehr’s. She was grateful to see the amber had receded and given way to the most unusual eyes Cora had ever seen. They were almost green, but there was far too much amber in them, which gave his eyes a surreal look. Cora had only seen eyes like his once before, when her clan had happened upon a feral band of shifters—they were a cautionary tale to Cora and her peers. What happened when shifters allowed their animal sides to reign unchecked.

The amber she saw in Zehr’s eyes was a dead giveaway that a shifter was further from their human sides than was allowed in polite society.

She wondered if it was a result of his connection to the All-Mother. It had to be. She’d never seen eyes like that on anyone so in control of themselves.

Zehr’s eyes were, in Cora’s estimation, the softest thing about the Alpha, and that alone should have been enough to send her running rather than let him carry her. But somehow she felt safer than could ever remember in his arms, and she shifted closer to him with a contented sigh.

“Sweets.”

The single word made Cora’s eyes flutter open from where they had begun to drift closed as she nosed at Zehr’s collarbone.

“Your name?” Zehr raised an eyebrow and Cora wished she could magic herself to be invisible. She’d been musing over his eyes and mooning over the alpha while he waited for her to answer him.

“Cora,” she blurted out, and instantly winced at the shrill sound of her voice. Omegas about to enter their heat were supposed to be languid, soft, and throaty-voiced. All aimed at securing the attention of the alpha of their choosing. But here she was, in the company of royalty, and she was practically shrieking in her soon-to-be-king’s ear.

How utterly perfect for her first heat.

“Beautiful name.” Zehr smiled at her.

“Thank you,” Cora coughed out, and did her best to keep her breathing steady. Though she was sure her omega pheromones were telling the alpha a different story. There was no way he didn’t know how aroused she was by his presence, how affected she was by the his touch, even in such an innocent manner as him carrying her back to camp

Did he have to do it shirtless?

Cora bit her lip and rubbed her thighs together at the aching now beginning in earnest between her legs. Already she could feel slick beginning to wet her panties and dampen the jeans she wore. This was going to be...difficult.

But if she was quick she could manage to make it back into the company of her omega friends. They would know how to guide her through her first heat, an event that was much belated, and just one of the reasons for her ill-treatment by her clan’s alphas.

They had termed her broken. Defective because of her dirty blood. In their estimation, the magic in her had tainted the omega half of her. And for as long as Cora could remember she had believed them.

And then today, everything had changed.

Her heat had struck her out of nowhere. And now the Fireheart alpha was carrying her, shirtless. Surely this was a dream and she would awake disappointed, alone, and still heatless on the floor of the tent she had been sharing with her friends. But no: somehow she didn’t wake and Zehr kept walking on, his arms strong and sure around her while she did her best not to give into the thoughts of how nice her name sounded rolling off his tongue, and how much better it would sound right before he sank his teeth into her and knotted her.

Cora huffed out a sigh and wiggled, trying to discreetly rub her thighs together. Anything to give her throbbing clit some relief. Her thighs were already damp with her slick and she was starting to see stars from how touch-starved she was. Having Zehr holding her was good, but she needed more, and she bit the inside of her cheek to muffle her moan as she was finally able to create much-needed friction.

For a second Cora forgot that she was in a royal’s arms, but the brief feeling of ecstasy lasted only a second before Zehr coughed.

Cora’s eyes flew up to see that he was looking away from her, his eyes steadfastly fixated on the trees above her head. He was trying to give her the illusion of privacy, but she could have died because she knew the alpha knew precisely what she had been doing a moment before.

“Are you—can you make it back for me to clean your wound?” Zehr ventured. Immediately Cora stiffened and looked up at him, her cheeks red.

“I’m sorry. You’re just—” She swallowed hard, her hands tightening into fists. “You’re very hard to resist,” she confessed.

“Me?” Zehr shook his head, blond hair spilling over his broad shoulders. “You have no idea how delicious you smell, sweets.”

“I do?” Cora gaped in shock.

“You’re practically sinful.”

“Oh.”

Cora licked her lips. This time her hand defied the logical part of her brain, and with her hindbrain in full control, darted down to her thighs. Her fingers had just begun to skirt the tops of her thighs when Zehr sucked in a breath and he turned his face away with a jerk as he went stiff against her. His once cradling arms now felt like stone around her and Cora felt her breath catch at the sudden shift in the alpha's demeanor. He was no longer warm and comforting, but cold, and she could nearly feel the distance he was forcing between them.

“I didn’t know. I’m sor—” Cora began. She would never forgive herself if he thought she was trying to tempt him into bonding her while she was on the cusp of her heat.

“And now you do know,” he said gruffly, cutting Cora’s apology off. He sped up his stride and Cora said nothing as she watched the open expression on Zehr’s face vanish like mist in the sunlight. The shift in the atmosphere between them had changed from aroused to cold and Cora forced herself to stay as still as she could while Zehr brought them back to camp.

Not another word passed between them, though she wondered how she could make amends and, more importantly, how she could convince him to take her as a heat partner. But she stayed silent not daring to speak.

He was her better. Her king. And it was not her place to ask such things. An alpha like him would offer if he so chose, but Zehr made no such overtures as they walked on in heavy silence.

Her wolf was inconsolable.

But it too would learn just as Cora had that life did not always give one what one wanted.