The Lycan King's Outcast Omega (by Cara Anderson) novel Chapter 133

"Come to bed." He brushes his lips across my forehead. "Just to rest. Let your mind settle."

In our chambers, he helps me undress with reverent hands, his touch grounding me as my mind continues racing. When he pulls me against his chest beneath the covers, our bond pulses with shared warmth.

"Talk to me," he murmurs against my hair. "Not about conspiracies or councils. About you. How you're really feeling."

The simple question breaks something open inside me. "Scared," I admit, the word barely audible. "Not of dying. But of what they want to do to wolves like me. What they've already done to so many others."

His arms tighten around me. "I won't let them—"

"I know." I place my fingers against his lips. "That's not what scares me. What if..." I struggle to articulate the fear that's been building since the lab. "What if my powers keep evolving? Keep changing? What if I become something even you don't recognize?"

Through our bond, his unwavering certainty flows like a river. "I will always recognize you, Sage. Not your powers, not your abilities. You. The woman who sees good in everyone. Who heals not because she can, but because she must. Who faced down Eris's schemes and Cassius's poison with equal grace."

His hand finds mine, fingers interlacing. "You could develop the power to move mountains, and I'd still know you by the way your eyes light up when you help someone. By how you hum while brewing tea. By a thousand little things that have nothing to do with abilities and everything to do with who you are."

Tears blur my vision as his words sink deep, healing parts of me I didn't know were wounded. Through our bond, my love for him flows unchecked.

"When did you get so wise?" I manage a watery smile.

"When I almost lost you." His voice roughens with memory. "When I realized nothing – not crown, not kingdom, not even my own life – matters without you beside me."

His kiss tastes of promise and devotion, deepening as our bond pulses between us. For precious moments, the world outside falls away – no conspiracies, no councils, no ancient prejudices. Just us, our connection, our love that somehow grows stronger with each challenge.

Later, resting in the circle of his arms, I feel my racing mind finally quiet. Through our bond, his contentment surrounds me like a shield against darker thoughts.

A sharp knock breaks the peace. Garrett's voice carries urgency even through the heavy door. "Alaric. News from the northern border."

Alaric's decision forms with clarity I feel through our bond. "Garrett and Iris will prepare our case for the council. Gather evidence, secure potential allies. Meanwhile, I'll lead the force to investigate this facility."

"We will investigate," I correct firmly. "My abilities are our best chance of understanding what we find."

His protest rises automatically, protective instinct warring with tactical necessity. Through our bond, I feel his struggle – the need to keep me safe battling the knowledge that I'm right.

"Together," he agrees finally.

As preparations begin around us, his hand finds mine again. Through our bond, our shared resolution forms into something unbreakable. Whatever waits at that facility, whatever schemes unfold at the council meeting, we face it united.

Not just as king and healer, not just as mates, but as partners who have found in each other something worth fighting any darkness to protect.