My Mate. My Mission

Chapter 6

Vae

"Mate"

Lora surged hard, trying to take over. I shoved her back with everything I had. The bond. The pull. His scent. I couldn’t let any of it win.

He leaned in, face tilting, eyes locked on my lips??

I shoved at his chest and turned my face away. He followed anyway. His nose brushed the line of my jaw as he dragged in a deep breath, like he couldn’t help himself either.

No. I had to get out of here somehow, I can't do this…Not until..

But my body betrayed me, my nose kept pulling his scent in deeper.

His lips crashed into mine.

Hot. Dark. Demanding

The little resistance I held gave in, my lips parted in a sound I didn't mean to make and I let him in.

His hand on the small of my back tightened and my back hit the bark of a tree.Hard, solid and cold. The impact should have cleared my head. It didn't.

His tongue slid against mine, slow and devastating,the pull became unbearable.

My hands stopped pushing and curled into his shirt instead, dragging him closer until there was no space left.

His grip tightened on my waist, fingers digging in, holding me against the wall like he needed to feel me there.

The scent of him wrapped around me, sweet and intoxicating, drowning out every reason I had to pull away. All that existed was the heat of his mouth, the way his tongue moved against mine, the way my body answered without permission.

He kept drowning me in and all I wanted now was him. All of him. And the intoxicating scent that refused to settle…to be lost in it…..

He tilted his head and took the kiss deeper. One of his hands left my waist and slid up into my hair, gripping the back of my neck. Not hard enough to hurt. Just enough to keep me exactly where he wanted me. Another growl rolled through him when I made a small sound against his mouth. The sound went straight to Lora. She pushed harder, trying to claim.

I tried to mentally fight her side of control, I fought the way my fingers were now fisted in his shirt like I was afraid he might disappear.

But the kiss kept going.

He kissed me like he was starving, the bond making him just as desperate as it made me. Every time I thought he might pull back, he only dragged me closer.

My back scraped against the bark. I barely felt it. All I could feel was the solid wall of his chest, the heat of his mouth, the way his heartbeat thundered against mine. The mate bond pulled between us, loud and relentless. It didn’t care about Silvermoon. It didn’t care about the blood on Ironfang’s hands. It only cared about this.

Lora clawed at the inside of my mind. Mine. Ours. Stay.

I tried to remember my mother’s face. The smoke. The screams. The mission. The order from the Black Lotus. Kill him. Use him. Cut the heart out of the kingdom that destroyed mine.

The memories flickered and then drowned under the next slide of his tongue.

He made a rough sound against my mouth when I kissed him back harder than I meant to. His hand in my hair tightened. The one at my waist slid lower, gripping me like he needed to anchor himself. I could feel the tension in his body, the way he held himself back just enough not to completely lose control. Even that small restraint made Lora restless.

The kiss turned messier. Hungrier. His mouth moved over mine like he was trying to memorize the shape of it. I stopped thinking. Stopped planning. Stopped hating for a few dangerous seconds. There was only the bond, the heat, and the taste of dark honey and cedarwood that I knew I should hate.

My fingers unclenched from his shirt and slid up to his shoulders. Then higher, into the hair at his back. I didn’t mean to do it. My body just moved. He growled again, deeper this time, and pressed me harder against the tree. The bark bit into my back through my jacket. I didn’t care.

Every breath I took was full of him. Every second the kiss lasted made it harder to remember why I was supposed to hate him. The bond hummed under my skin like it was alive. It pulled and pulled and pulled until I felt like I was coming apart.

He slowed just a little, as if testing whether I would chase his mouth. I did. The small, helpless sound I made when his lips almost left mine seemed to snap something in him. He kissed me again, harder, deeper, like the almost-break had made him hungrier.

I lost track of time. Lost track of how long we stayed like that, lips moving, bodies pressed tight, the forest quiet around us except for the sound of our breathing and the low growls that kept slipping from his chest. Lora kept answering them. Soft. Wanting. Dangerous.

Finally the kiss began to soften.

It didn’t end all at once. It eased. Slowed. His lips lingered against mine like he wasn’t ready to let go. Then again. Softer. Then once more, almost gentle, before he finally pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against mine.

His eyes were dark now, the bond still humming between us like a live wire I couldn’t cut.

I stared at him, lips swollen, heart slamming against my ribs, the taste of him still thick on my tongue.

My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to beat its way out of my body just to get closer to him.

Did I just?.

No. No. No…

I tried to pull away.

He felt it instantly. His arms locked around me again, slamming my body back against his chest. Anger flashed in his eyes.

I looked up at him. His gaze said it clearly: ‘You’re not going anywhere.’

This wouldn’t work. I had to play it smart.

I widened my eyes and let them turn soft and pitiful. I made myself look small. The same trembling look those omegas had worn in the registration hall.

I lowered my voice. “I—I apologize, Your Highness. I forgot my place.”

I felt his eyes soften. That was the effect I needed. His grip loosened just enough.

I slipped free.

He reached for me again, but stopped when he saw me bow.

“I should have known better,” I said, keeping my eyes glued to his boots so he wouldn’t see the anger burning in them. “A low-ranking student has no right to take up your time. Please… let me leave.”

I put a small whimper into the words.

Making him feel guilty was the only way out of this.

He stayed quiet. I could almost taste the guilt in the air.

“No. You’re not—” He took two steps forward, hand reaching out.

I took two steps back and bowed deeper, letting my hair fall over my face completely.

I hate this!

“Please forgive me, Your Highness. I need to return to my dorm before I cause more trouble.”

I turned on my heel and moved with my speed.

Fast.

He tried to follow, but I pushed my speed higher, no longer caring if it cracked my omega cover. The only thing that mattered was getting away before my body overrides my mind again.

Wanting two opposite things this strongly felt like being torn in half. One side screaming for his head, the other side clawing to go back to him. The two needs kept dragging me in circles until my head spun.

I circled through the denser part of the forest first, making sure my path wasn’t easy to track. By the time I reached the omega hall, the prince was far behind. If he had tried to catch me, he would have lost my trail by now.

I forced myself to slow down before anyone saw. Then I walked to the east corridor, pulled the keycard from the inner pocket of my jacket, and swiped it.

The door slid open.

Nyx stood right there with her phone in her right hand, like she was just about to open the door.

She blinked, surprised for a second, then relaxed when she saw it was me.

I stepped inside. The door shuts behind me. Nyx’s eyes scanned me from head to toe, she takes a glance at her phone and snaps her head back to me.

A wicked grin spread across her face as she walked closer with a teasing smirk and reached up to brush the leaves and dust off the shoulder of my jacket. I hadn’t even noticed they were there.

Then she leaned in and whispered,

"So..”

“How was your little makeout in the woods?”

She pulled back, her smirk turning into a full grin now.

My eyes went wide.

How did she know??