Page 218 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

She laughs at that. “It does have a lot of volume, doesn’t it?”

“It does, and I like it just as it is,” I murmur, kissing her neck again, softer this time. She lets out a soft sigh, her eyes fluttering shut.

“Tease…” she murmurs when I pull away.

I smirk. “A little patience, Darling. The sun hasn’t even set yet,” I tease playfully.

“I hope you’re well rested,” she remarks with confidence, making me smirk.

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”

“I think I can match your energy,” she replies with confidence.

“We’ll have to put that to the test then.”

If she wants the win, I’ll give it to her; she’s pregnant with our child, and I’m not about to exhaust her excessively.

I kiss her shoulder softly; just holding her brings a calmness that nothing else can.

“And what about the alliance? Did Uncle Leo say anything about that?”

“The Royals haven’t said anything clearly, so it’s kind of up in the air.” I frown, staring out at the lake. “They wish to retreat and heal in retrospect.”

Her fingers curl over my forearm. “I don’t blame them,” she says softly.

“I didn’t say I did.”

“You sounded like you wanted to.”

“I sound like that naturally,” I counter arrogantly. But despite my annoyance, I get it. “But I do understand; they lost Mikhail. That’s not something small.”

He was their heir, their commander, and they lost hundreds of their own. It doesn’t matter that in the end we succeeded in taming the drakaths; to them, that’s still a risk to their kind.

“They probably want the drakath dead,” she says after a moment.

“They should be glad that power didn’t end up in Vincenzo’s hands.”

She glances up at me, and for a moment neither of us speaks because we both know exactly what I’m thinking of.

The binding… Something we have both been avoiding talking about – more her.

“I spoke to Ahren,” I say quietly.

Her expression changes instantly as she sits up and turns to look at me directly.

“About what?”

“About the binding.”

Her heart races as she observes me, as if wondering what I’m about to say.

We are meant to be mates. Lovers. The future Alpha and Luna. Parents to a pup that doesn’t even know what kind of fucked-up world he’s coming into.

“What did he say?” she asks softly.

I smile faintly. “Some good news, actually, as long as we bind it by blood. An oath in a way.” I frown, hating having to do this. “We will need to perform a small ritual, but it will bind you to obey me only when I command you by your demon name. Without it, you won’t need to obey.”

“Jayce… it really bothers you.” It’s not a question, just a statement.