Cora sucked in a deep breath and looked down at her hands. To the side, taking in the white canvas material of the spacious tent around her. Around and down, to the wood floors brought into to cover the dirt of the forest floor.

Anywhere but at the big blond alpha asleep next to her.

Gingerly, Cora shifted and slowly drew back the covers.

How long had she been here? She stood shakily, her legs weak, as though they weren’t used to the exercise of walking. She took a tentative step forward, eyes frantically sweeping the space, looking for her clothes.

In Cora’s time with the Moonwater Clan, she could honestly say that she had never stayed in such a nice space. What that said about her life as a Moonwater omega, or the level of Zehr’s accommodations, she wasn’t sure.

Another quick stutter-step had her seriously curious about how long her heat had been. All-Mother, her muscles ached. Never having been in heat before, she still suspected hers had run on the long side of heat cycles.

The last memory she had was Tuesday, a mere couple of days before Zehr’s coronation, which meant if she had a long heat…

Oh All-Mother, what day is it?

It didn’t help that her magic still felt weak. Normally it only took Cora a couple of days to recover from using her abilities, a side effect of her mixed parentage. She had used a massive amount in defending herself from her alpha attacker, but even so, her magic should have replenished by now.

Cora touched her chest gingerly and winced at the emptiness where her magic should be. Even if it was weaker than some, it was still ever present in her life, filling up that spot next to her heart with an electric current that buzzed pleasantly along with her. That little hum of energy had acted as her touchstone during the bleak years that had followed her kidnapping.

Now it was gone… or nearly gone?

There was a whisper of her magic, a hint of the power her bruja mother had given her, and that comforted Cora somewhat. But why was it still so weak?

Cora was still frantically running through the possible explanations for her magic’s absence when the alpha stirred. Startled, Cora backed away, eyeing him nervously.

All-Mother. He was beautiful.

Her perusal of Zehr was cut short a second later when she detected a hint of something not entirely Zehr. She sniffed the air tentatively, trying to puzzle out the new smell.

Perhaps a beta had been through? No, not with her in heat. Any shifter foolish enough to get close would have Zehr to answer to. Cora shivered, her eyes landing on him as he slowly sat up. She opened her mouth to greet him but the words died before they left her throat.

Her fingers flew to her neck, finding the bond bite she knew would be there as she met the eyes of the alpha across the room from her.

The new scent was theirs; was hers!

“Come here,” Zehr said gruffly, his voice still flavored with alpha command which had her back snapping straight and her feet moving before she knew what she was doing.

“You bonded me,” Cora whispered. Zehr pushed himself up on an elbow and bit his bottom lip, eyes no longer completely amber. He blew out a sigh and Cora felt a measure of gratefulness when the big alpha lowered his eyes and nodded.

“I did.”

“Why?”

“I wanted…” he paused, brow furrowing as he thought carefully about his next words. “I don’t know.”

Cora froze at the foot of the bed.

“You don’t know?” She wrapped her arms around herself and gave him an almost-glare. “How many days has it been?”

“Seven days.”

“A week?” Her eyes shot up to his. “Your coronation?”

Zehr shrugged and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “On hold for the time being.”

“This isn’t good.” Cora shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “This is bad.”

“Why?”

“My clan, they are going to be furious with me. They’ll think I did this on purpose. They hate being among the other shifters and they’re going to make me pay for this. I have to go.”

Zehr’s nostrils flared at the words, his scent immediately taking on a spicier twinge that made Cora go still as a statute. She looked at her alpha to see him stalking toward her.

“No one is going to make you do anything.”

“But...”

Zehr put his hands on her shoulder; her once-injured shoulder, she noted distractedly. Such rapid healing was likely an added bonus of mating such a powerful alpha.

“You answer to no shifter. Not anymore.” His deep voice vibrated soothingly against her skin.

“Except you?”

“Yes, except me. You are my mate. Do you understand?”

“Yes, alpha.”

Zehr’s words served to calm her and he let out a pleased purr when Cora’s scent of distress disappeared. She was all cake batter and sprinkles again. She could sense he meant it and she knew enough of her world to know that the Fireheart Clan alpha’s word was as good as law. There would be no repercussions for prolonging the gathering for the coronation.

She would never have to look at the alphas who had made her life hard ever again.

As if reading her mind, Zehr spoke, his breath warm against her ear as he held her.

“I’ll have someone go for your things. You’re done with them.”

“There isn’t much,” Cora told him quietly.

Zehr shrugged and gave her an easy smile that warmed her through. “It’ll be quick then.”

Cora gave him a quick nod and then wrapped her arms around herself again and pulled back from him. She was suddenly self-conscious about her naked state and cleared her throat, eyes once more sweeping the room.

“My clothes?”

“Sent them out to be laundered.” Zehr took a slow sauntering step toward her and raised an eyebrow at her crossed arms.

“Are you...hiding yourself from your alpha, sweets?”

Cora swallowed hard and managed to just dart up to meet his gaze before she looked away again.

“Very different than when you’re in a heat.”

Cora blushed furiously and closed her eyes as she took in a steadying breath. Everything had moved so quickly in the span of a few days.

“What do you mean?”

Zehr smirked. “You’re just very...vivacious in a heat. Eager.”

“Eager?” The word came out sounding shrill, making him chuckle.

Moon above, his laugh alone was enough to sustain her for days. Nevermind the fact that he was her mate.

He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I quite enjoyed your heat.”

“You bonded me.” Cora wrapped her arms around herself and shifted from foot to foot. “And you don’t know why.”

“I don’t.”

“Okay.” It was all she could do not to howl in frustration.

Zehr opened his mouth to say more but a succinct knock at the tent’s entrance stopped him.

“That’s probably your clothes.” He ambled over to the opening and Cora reddened, seeing her alpha not in the least concerned with his nakedness. When he returned he held her clothes, all of which were neatly folded and curiously devoid of any scent.

“No one would have dared handle them without gloves,” Zehr said, taking in her questioning look. “Not with your heat and, well,” he waved a hand at himself, “I can be intimidating.”

Cora cracked a slight smile.

“I hadn’t noticed.” She moved to pull her tank top on but he caught her hands in his and pulled her toward him.

“Not so fast, little omega.” The look he leveled at her burned her through. “I’m not done with you yet.”

“I, ah, you’re not?”

Zehr shook his head, blond hair sliding across his shoulders and down his chest. He took a step toward her then and without meaning to Cora took a step back. The reaction made Zehr smile as he stalked forward.

“Don’t be nervous, sweets,” the alpha crooned as he backed her up against the bed. When her legs hit the mattress Cora fell backward with a squeak. A second later the big alpha had her pressed back into the mattress as he crowded her with a chuckle. He nosed at her neck, breath puffing warmly against her skin, teeth scraping her bond bite.

Cora leaned back on her elbows to look Zehr in the eyes. She licked her lips and let her eyes move slowly along the tattooed lines that covered his sculpted torso and arms.

But eyes landed on something unexpected.

Among all the reminders of power, status, and birthright, there was a stargazer lily depicted in delicate lines. She hesitated for a moment before reaching out to touch the least intimidating tattoo on the Alpha’s chest.

This would be safe.

It was the only marking on his chest that didn’t tell Cora that Zehr was her better.

“For the All-Mother,” Zehr explained when he noticed her attention on the tattoo. And then she remembered.

The flower stood for that first and most sacred of omegas, for her beauty, strength, and fertility, all qualities every shifter had been taught to honor. Until this moment, Cora had never cared for the flower. It had mocked her as a Moonwater omega, rather than inspired.

“It’s beautiful,” Cora nodded, her fingers still moving across her alpha’s skin. On a whim she darted forward and pressed her lips against the flower’s center, prompting a sigh from Zehr.

“Sweets,” he murmured, eyes closed, body leaning towards her. When she moved to kiss him again, he caught her chin in his hand and tipped her face up to his.

Then he surprised her when he knelt in front of her. She only caught on when he hooked her legs over his shoulders.

“Zehr!” she cried out when he lowered his golden head to her core and licked a slow wet line over her sensitive flesh. Cora’s hips moved to buck but her alpha caught them in his hands, fingers digging into her.

He wasn’t just licking, biting, or kissing her pussy. He was devouring it like a shifter possessed. She gasped when he added his fingers to his ministrations.

His pupils were dilated and he licked his lips clean of her slick. The sight only worked to further inflame Cora and she pulled the alpha forward with one leg.

Zehr moved like lightning and Cora moaned eagerly when he flipped her onto her stomach. Before she could even get her hands under her, Zehr yanked her up, pushing into her with one hard thrust.

For a moment neither of them moved, his hands painfully tight on her waist, his big body held taut like a drawn bow string as he breathed raggedly. Cora shuddered at the pleasure of being filled by Zehr, seated on his lap, her own frantically beating heart pounding in her ears.

“Please,” Cora whispered, voice cracking in the stillness of the room.

Her head lolled back against his shoulder and she felt the air in her lungs whoosh out when he drove his hips up and against her ass.

“Cora, Cora...”

His voice filled her ears. In Zehr’s mouth, her name was a prayer. He moaned, hips moving faster now and drew her even closer pressing her back against his front as he took her with increasing force.

She snaked a hand back and wound her fingers through his long blond hair, her fingernails dragging across his scalp in a way that made her ho, groan with pleasure. Then he leaned away, making her mewl with dissatisfaction. It was only a moment, as he turned her to face him and with a moan pushed her back onto his hard cock.

She gasped, feeling the stirrings of her magic blossoming in her chest, filling up that space by her heart with warmth and energy.

Faster and faster they moved together, the familiar swell of his knot making her cry out in anticipation. The cracking blue light appeared at the tips of her fingers, fanning out from her hands and licking a path her tongue longed to travel across Zehr’s skin. The alpha’s eyes dropped down in shock to the blue electricity that crackled between them.

“Trust me,” Cora whispered. When her mate didn’t answer immediately she cradled his face in her hands and leaned her forehead against his.

“Trust me?” she tried again, putting every drop of what she felt for her new alpha into her plea. He had to trust her.

She would never let her magic harm him.

She held her breath as Zehr continued to watch the blue move over their skin. She wanted to beg him to say yes, but she wouldn’t. This had to be a decision he came to himself.

“I trust you,” he said, eyes soft. The alpha returned her smile and crushed her to him as they chased their pleasure, moving faster and faster until he tipped his head to the side, all of that sun-spun hair sliding out of the way, and said, “Give me your teeth.”

Cora lost her sense of rhythm and stared at him in shock. “What?”

“Give me your teeth,” Zehr repeated, his amber eyes glowing in the blue light of her magic, fixed on hers.

“Mark me.” He thrust up into her, seeing her uncertainty, and kissed her, gentler this time. “It’s custom, sweets.”

“I...where? With who?” Cora breathed. There was a fire in her belly that flared to life at the thought of marking Zehr, and she didn’t understand it at all.

“In my clan, it is.”

That explained it.

“I don’t know how,” Cora admitted. She was scared to do it wrong. She was scared of what shifters would say that she, a half-breed, magic-spinning trash omega, had marked their king.

“Give me your teeth.” Zehr’s voice was full of command, something she only realized as she moved forward by compulsion that he had done to give her the instincts of what to do.

She could feel his knot swelling, could feel him preparing to flood her with his seed. Maybe even fill her with his pups. A thrill went through her at the thought of carrying their offspring and on the high of it she lowered her head and bit down until her teeth broke Zehr’s skin. He came the moment she did so, and the electric current of Cora’s magic hummed around them, filling the tent with a bright flash of blue light.

Cora withdrew, dazed, and looked at her handiwork. The bite was clean, well-formed, and she laved it with her tongue. A spark of her magic leaped between them, its blue color glowing bright as the sun on the bite mark before it vanished.

Finally, with her alpha’s knot deep in her, Cora collapsed against his chest and rested.

She was safe. Content. She hadn’t felt those things for quite some time, and after so long on her own, she welcomed the respite.

If her magic trusted Zehr, then she could extend the same courtesy to him. It was, after all, the only thing she had left connecting her to her mother and it had never steered her wrong.

She breathed deeply and snuggled closer to Zehr. This was what she had craved upon waking from her first heat as his mate, and she was, for the first time in a long time, truly happy.