MATED TO FATHER, FATED TO SONS

AMARIS

His hands were on my face now, warm and surprisingly gentle, having just moved from cupping my breasts moments ago like he wasn’t so against touching me when I first got here.

Him agreeing to the traditional mating option I had given him after I had fucked his two sons was causing my heart to pound so violently in my chest I thought it might actually break through my ribs

I had to think of a way to ease this sinking feeling in my head before I had a full-blown panic attack right here in his arms, and that was why I asked a question that had occasionally lingered in my mind but I had not found the right opportunity to ask before now.

I thought his countenance would change dramatically when I brought up Zoya, thought he would pull away or his expression would harden into that cold mask he usually wore around everyone, but he remained completely still. His dark eyes stayed on me intensely. His hands stayed on my face, his thumbs gently stroking my cheeks in slow circles.

"I knew the day would come when you would ask me about this." His voice came out quiet, contemplative. "I was hoping it wouldn’t and you would just randomly take whatever story you hear from people as truth and never question it."

I glanced at him, studying his face carefully in the light from the window. His hands were gently caressing my cheeks with a tenderness I didn’t know he was capable of possessing.

Why did I feel this kind of calm with his touch? This was definitely my unresolved daddy issues playing out in real time because why the hell wasn’t my nervous system resisting him after I had just had his sons’ cocks in my mouth and between my legs just hours ago?

Seriously, Amaris, what is wrong with you? You should be terrified right now.

"The first time I met Victor, he told me that there was more to the story that I didn’t know." I kept my voice steady even though my heart was racing. "And he asked if I wouldn’t want to know the truth. I wondered what he meant by that."

Alpha Corvin made a low contemplative sound in his throat, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear with his fingers.

I never knew the brooding man who had once made me walk on hot coals in front of the entire pack as punishment was capable of being this gentle with anyone, let alone me.

"What have you heard so far." His eyes searched mine intently. "And I would tell you if that is true or not."

I smiled slightly despite myself. "Is this some sort of game we are playing?"

"Well, something to lighten the tension after the hell of a day you have been through." His thumb traced my cheekbone.

If only you knew what kind of hell I actually put myself through today willingly.

"Okay then." I took a deep breath, trying to organize my thoughts. "They said you met your fated mate when Victor came to introduce her as his fiancée."

"True." No hesitation whatsoever in his response.

Well, that was straightforward at least.

"That Luna Zoya was not pleased about it." I watched his face carefully for any reaction.

"Yes." Simple confirmation, his expression not changing.

I looked at him, trying to read what he wasn’t saying. "Nobody actually told me this part directly, but I assumed you didn’t reject her. I mean Freya, your fated mate."

"Your assumptions are accurate." His expression remained unreadable, like a locked door I didn’t have the key to.

I knew the pressing question that I really wanted to ask, the one that had been burning in my mind since I learned about all of this, but I couldn’t just shoot directly at it. I needed to work my way to it carefully, build up to it so it didn’t feel like an ambush.

"Why didn’t you reject her?" I started to ask, genuinely curious about his reasoning.

"Just true or false questions for now." He interrupted gently but firmly, his thumb still stroking my cheek in that maddening way.

I nodded, understanding the rules he was setting, adjusting my approach. "Is it true that Victor almost destroyed the pack and it was Ryker who saved it?"

"True." He confirmed without elaboration.

I processed that for a moment. So Ryker really had saved the pack from total destruction. That must be why he carried himself with such confidence bordering on arrogance. He had actually earned some of it.

I gathered my courage for the next question, the one I was almost afraid to ask. "Is it true you slept with Freya while being married to Luna Zoya?"

He went silent, his hands didn’t leave my face though, still gently holding me like I was something precious that might break.

"True." His voice dropped almost to a whisper. "I did."

It sounded more like he was confessing a sin to a priest rather than just admitting a simple fact to me. Like the words physically hurt him to say out loud.

I watched his expression carefully, studying every micro-expression I could catch. It wasn’t sympathetic. Not apologetic either. Just one with unspoken explanation lingering behind his dark eyes, something complex and layered I couldn’t quite read in the dark light.

It showed clearly that there was so much more to what he had just admitted, layers of story and context he wasn’t telling me, but I couldn’t ask for elaboration because those weren’t the rules of this strange game we were playing.

My heart was pounding harder now as I prepared for the final question, the one I had been building up to.

I asked the question I had been wanting to ask since the very beginning, the one that had been burning in my mind since the day I arrived at this pack and heard the whispers.

"Is it true you killed Luna Zoya?"

He went completely quiet. His entire body went absolutely still like he had turned to stone beneath me.

I could feel the tension radiating off him in waves.

"False." The word came out firm, final, leaving no room for doubt.