Forbidden Flame: A Dark Mafia Omegaverse Fated-Mates Romance Novella (Ruthless Warlords)

by Alison Aimes

  “No. I did not.”

  “They are good men, looking for a leader who can give them hope for a new life.”

  He frowned. “They deserve it.” Maybe they had grown on him a little.

  “Enough to be pardoned and return with you to the Approved Sector?” she asked, proving once again how tenderhearted she could be. “They could be integrated with the trained soldiers.”

  The thought would have been amusing if it wasn’t so horrific. The Approved Sector was formal, almost stuffy.

  The exiled Alphas were too wild and coarse for the polished civility of the capital center. Neither Pavel nor Axel, with their crude tattoos and piercings, would be welcomed. Frankly, they’d probably hate it as much as he often had. He’d forgotten until now how cloying he sometimes found daily life in the capital.

  “It would be best if they remained here. I will send monthly supplies to thank them for their show of loyalty and to encourage them to make improvements.”

  Was that a flash of disappointment in his omega’s gaze?

  He bristled. “What?”

  “Do you think the current peace will continue without a strong leader to keep them from turning on each other again?”

  Irritation flared, he did not like to be managed—or made to feel guilty. “It will or it won’t. I have other obligations.”

  She looked away. “Of course.”

  He suspected he knew the real source of her concern. “You will not be going with me to deal with my uncle. You were right before. It’s too dangerous.”

  It was easy to see the shock on her face but, if anything, she looked even more upset. “Of course, I must go. If you are set on this path, you have to have me with you. It is the only way you’ll be let inside.”

  “I will figure out an alternative.”

  “Your uncle knows what I am. He will not be fooled by anything else.”

  “I will work it out.”

  Frustration surged through their bond. “You were willing to risk your life for mine. You must allow me to do the same.” She paused as if gathering her courage. “It is the least I can do, given how little I can be a proper fated mate to you.”

  “You are a perfect mate.” He waved away her concern. “I will find a different way to kill my uncle—and my brother as well.”

  She stilled. Her small hand rubbed at her chest. “I can feel your pain when you mention your sibling.”

  He shoved back from the bed and paced. Damned bond could be an inconvenience at times.

  Still, he wouldn’t give it up for anything.

  “He is my twin,” he said at last, wading through feelings he’d done his best to leave unexamined until now. “Though there was competition between us and he was closer to my uncle than I to our sire, I thought Tarquin and I had each other’s backs always.”

  She followed him with her gaze. “Grief does strange things to people.”

  “Maybe so, but nothing can excuse the fact that he plotted against his own father and brother.”

  “Perhaps.”

  He stilled. “What do you mean, perhaps?”

  “You say your brother conspired with your uncle. How you do you know that for sure?”

  Even now, he didn’t like remembering. “My own twin came after me as I was fighting off my uncle. My uncle had drugged both my father and my drink. That was the only way he was able to get the drop on either of us. By the time I recovered, my sire was already dead. I’d already been stabbed several times too, but I was doing my best to stave my uncle off. My brother came in and instantly leapt to my uncle’s defense. He sought to keep me from escaping. I barely survived.”

  She considered his words for a few heartbeats. “Maybe he saw you as the aggressor in your fight with your uncle and didn’t realize it was, in fact, the other way around?”

  Magnus’s head hurt. Omega-thinking was too full of gray. He liked things black and white. “My brother is serving as his capo. Carrying out his orders. He took over my position and my army without a pause. He’s training my men. Sleeping in my bed. The bastard is no innocent.”

  “Maybe not. But neither are you. And yet you didn’t do what you’re accused of.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “Your uncle is not only a killer but a liar. By your own admission, it was his words that turned the rest of the family against you. Maybe he deceived your brother about what you had done as well. Maybe because you are so strong, it never occurred to your twin that you might not have been the instigator. Your twin may well be a traitor, but it could also be that your brother’s only sin is believing what seems most obvious to him. Much as you’ve done.”

  Magnus waved a hand in dismissal. “He should have known. He should have believed in me no matter what anyone else said.”

  “Maybe he thinks the same about you.” She did not back down. “Did you reach out to him through any back channels and try to explain what happened? Or did you just stew and decide he should believe you?” She saved him from answering by continuing. “I have seen how grief can color a situation and cloud judgment. Not only that, but in my experience, lies and distrust are like weeds. Easy to sow anywhere.” She paused. “What’s more, they spread easily. Kind of like vengeance. In the end, all they cause is rot.”

  Could she be right? Part of him didn’t want to hear since it put him in as bad a light as Tarquin, but another part wondered . . . Like a tiny splinter beneath his heel, her suggestions pricked at his certainty.

  What if he and his brother’s shared grief and pain had allowed them to be divided and played by the same devious bastard?

  Hells. He had some thinking to do.

  “You are upset.” She plucked at the blanket. “I should not have said anything. Forgive me, I am not used to having to be delicate about a subject. Too much time spent alone.” She shot him a rueful smile. “Perhaps you will not miss me so much when I am gone.”

  “Gone?” His voice dropped to a menacing growl. “Where the hells are you going?”

  His omega stilled and then shot him a defiant glare. “You cannot think I would stay after what almost happened between us? It is impossible. I begged you to fuck me and you almost gave in. It’s only going to get harder to resist.”

  “We’ll find a way.”

  For the first time, anger flashed in her gaze. “And the near escape from the fire? What if a blanket hadn’t been available? Or it had proved too thin? You would have died.”

  “But I didn’t.” He slammed his fist into his palm. “You’re focusing on all the negatives instead of seeing the positives.”

  “That’s rich coming from you.”

  “What the hells does that mean?”

  “Look around.” She shook her head and sighed. “We are getting off course.” She promptly returned to the subject he liked least. “I won’t be responsible for your death. I have to go.”

  Rage and pain clawed at his chest. How could she not see what he did? Feel what he did? “You are not going anywhere. If I have to chain you to my bed, I will do it. You are mine—and I am yours.”

  “I don’t question that. I feel the bond too. But sometimes even such a connection is not enough to overcome circumstances.”

  “You will feel differently when we are in the capital. It will be safer there for you. More guards. Luxuries. I will give you everything you never had.”

  Her lips tilted upward, but there was no joy in her eyes. “You asked me once what I wanted. I did not tell you then, but I will tell you now. What I have wanted all my life was to stop being a freak. To finally fit in and find a place I could call home. To be safe and cared for, and care for someone in return. Most of all, I’ve wanted a good male for my own. One who could hold me, touch me, support me, and allow me to do all of that in return.” She paused. “But none of that can ever be. Even you, with all your formidable will, cannot give those wishes to me.”

  For the first time, he felt powerless.

  He didn’t like it.

  “No amount
of luxury can replace true connection.” She held up her wrist and pointed toward the golden line that stretched three-quarters of the way around her skin. “Even now, the golden band remains incomplete, the circle unfinished, our bond unable to reach its full potential. If I stay, seeing you and craving you, and all the while not being able to touch you, will be the worst torment.”

  Her words made his throat thicken with sorrow and guilt. He understood. He ached for her too, but being without her altogether would be greater torture. “We will find a way. We have yet to hear back from that doctor.”

  “He can’t magically wave a wand and change what I am. I’ve killed enough people to know.”

  “It will work out.”

  Amethyst eyes full of doubt stared back at him. “Do you honestly believe that someone like me would be welcome in the capital? You laughed to yourself at the idea of these soldiers joining you—and yet I am not so different from them. I am a better fit with the outcasts here.”

  His anger sparked higher. “I told you what would happen if you continued to refer to yourself in such an insulting way.”

  “What? You’ll issue a correction?” Her fury ignited to match his. “We both know that can’t happen. You may be holding onto the illusion that we’ll have a proper Alpha-omega bond some rotation, but that will never be. And if you insist on bringing me back with you to the capital once you reclaim your place, I will only drag you down with me.”

  “I won’t allow it.”

  She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You can’t bully everyone in the capital into accepting me.” She looked away. “Eventually, you’ll resent me. The beauty of our bond will be corrupted. There is no place for me in your future vision.”

  “What are you saying? That you don’t want me to avenge my father? Reclaim my birthright?”

  “I am saying nothing of the kind. I want whatever makes you happy. But the idea of coming with you to that place does not make me happy in return.”

  He reeled, her words cutting him off at the knees. How could she not see he would do whatever it took to make sure she was safe and content? How could she not want to be with him as bad as he needed to be with her?

  She struck again. “What you consider an insult—outcast, freak—is nothing more than the truth of what I am. Nothing will ever change that. Even your refusal to accept it.”

  “I did not expect you to give up on us so easily.”

  Pain flared in her gaze. Frustration too. “I’m not giving up. I’m trying to do what’s best for you. I could not bear to be the reason you were shamed or cast out again, or even worse, killed by my hand. I’ll do whatever it takes to shield you from those fates.”

  “No.”

  Her shoulders sagged. “You are a powerful Alpha. You are used to getting what you want. You don’t understand yet that for most of us, there are always sacrifices required in life.”

  “Hardly.” He gestured to the crumbling room, his own fury flaring in response. “Look around. I understand all too well.”

  “But even here, you command everyone in your path and they bend beneath your boot.” She rose to her knees, a beautiful, fierce temptress who had already stolen his soul. “But some things cannot be molded to your will. I will always be a weapon and a danger to you and those around me.”

  “I will find a way to give you what you want.” He stomped to the foot of the bed and loomed over her, the fury and hurt inside him a blazing inferno. “The very drive and determination you mentioned will ensure it. I will make you happy.”

  It happened without thought.

  Her insistence on leaving—and his instinct to hold her to him above all else—burned away everything else.

  He wrapped his hand around her forearm to claim what was his.

  Horrified eyes locked with his. “Magnus, no!”

  8

  Sparks singed his palm.

  Tiny fireworks sizzled from her flesh to his as heat unlike any Magnus had ever known coursed beneath his skin and electrified every nerve ending. His cock went hard as rock. His balls tingled.

  Her skin was like the softest silk. Touching her even better than he’d imagined while the essence of her spread like a glittering pink and purple wildfire, lighting him up, even as it burned through muscle and tissue to his bones.

  “No, no, no!”

  The horrified chant, so full of pain, ripped him from the white-hot daze.

  His omega was suffering. His omega needed him.

  He came back to himself to discover his hand still wrapped around Amora’s arm, her gaze wide with horror as she stared at his grip.

  Had it only been a heartbeat since he reached out?

  He let go.

  She scrambled back, pinning her spine once more to the headboard.

  His stomach dropped. He’d promised to protect her. To remain vigilant and in control—and then he’d failed her. Now she’d have to live with the burden of his death. And he’d never get to touch her again.

  “Amora, don’t blame yourself. I am at fault.”

  “No, no, no!” The broken look in her eyes hurt more than any burn ever could.

  “Amora, this is on me.”

  “No, I . . . ” she trailed off, the wild madness clearing from her gaze as she stared at him. “How are you still here?” She whispered the words. “How are you consoling me? It always happens in an instant.”

  Heart slowing, he took stock. Patted his body. No ash.

  He studied his palm. The skin where he’d touch her stung and he could see a few small golden blisters forming atop the rough callouses, but he hadn’t gone up in flames.

  He. Was. Still. Alive.

  Even after touching her.

  Triumph surged through him. Satisfaction and a sense of victory too.

  His blood pumped much as it did after a good battle.

  The collection of scars on his body proved he wasn’t invincible, but at that moment everything inside him roared he was.

  “I knew we’d find a way.” Chest puffed wide, he slammed his singed palm to the space above his heart. “Clearly, it’s a lot harder to kill me than those other Alphaholes.”

  She didn’t smile. Or look at him as if he was indomitable. Instead, her stare snagged on the blisters at his palm, and her big amethyst eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know how you managed to survive that, but you could easily have died.” Her voice was strained. “I told you before, I’m too dangerous. I can’t stay.”

  His emotions rocketed in the other direction. “How can you say that after this? I am fine.”

  “This time.”

  “Just as I will be next time too.”

  “Next time?” Outrage sent her shooting off the bed, the blanket held tight to her chest. “You want to purposely touch me again?” She shook her head. “What if this was some crazy fluke? You saw the sparks just like me. You have a burn to prove you’re not immune.” She glared at him. “I can’t believe you would ask me to put you in jeopardy. You dismiss my concerns as if they are insignificant. You refuse to deliver me to your uncle because you don’t want me in danger. How can you dare to ask me to do any less for you?”

  Her words stung. The look of betrayal in her gaze cut even worse.

  He frowned. “I am a doer. I will do what it takes to make you happy and keep us together.”

  “And if both are not possible?”

  His comms beeped. He stifled a curse. “The time to deliver the package is soon approaching and I must make plans with my men.” He pinned her with a hard stare. “You will remain here. Under lock and key. We will finish this discussion when I return,”

  She sighed and sat back on the bed. “Alright. Go. Make your plans.” Her grip on the blanket tightened. “I just . . . I just want you to understand before you leave that it is because you drive me so wildly, blissfully out of control that I don’t think I should stay. Like a spark to tinder, we’re pure combustion.” She swallowed hard. “But no matter what happens next, I will never forget how you
make me feel. The joy and comfort, the ecstasy and sense of connection, is more beautiful than anything I could ever have imagined was possible.”

  A sense of foreboding climbed down his spine and gripped his balls, but he dismissed it. She might be issuing her own form of goodbye, but his room was on the fifth floor of the castle, the windows were barred, and he was about to lock her in. There was nowhere for her to go.

  “You will have a lifetime to feel that joy.” He’d be back—and he’d figure out a way to convince her she could share in his future. He refused to allow it to be any other way. “I will bring fresh water and some sort of clean fabric for you to fashion into a gown before its time to go.” He wasn’t above a bit of coaxing. “Soon enough though, you’ll have all the running water and clothes you need.”

  Her expression didn’t change.

  His seared palm tingled, the skin raw. Just like the organ in his chest.

  With a low growl, he stalked to the exit and closed the door firmly behind him—taking extra care to make sure the padlock that was keyed to his biology alone was securely locked and impossible to open by anyone else, including her.

  Amora waited until Magnus’s footsteps had long stopped echoing down the hall before she left his bed, the blanket still clutched in her hand.

  Even if he refused to see how dangerous she was to his dreams and his life, she did.

  She could not believe he’d touched her. Or that he’d survived. He truly was an extraordinary Alpha, stronger and more formidable than most.

  But he wasn’t indestructible. He could still be killed.

  She couldn’t allow it to be by her hand.

  Her heart hurt. She rubbed at it. The pain wouldn’t go away. She knew some of it was his.

  It crushed her to know her words had hurt him. She’d only been trying to be honest—and to protect him.

  He was clearly too reckless to do it himself.

  It shouldn’t come as a surprise, though, to learn he wasn’t thrilled by her impulse. He was a true Alpha through and through. The motto my way or the galactic highway was burned into his bones and imprinted in his DNA.