Taming the Wild Beast of Alamina

"No," Thomas said, bitterness cutting through the exhaustion. "I never thought that."

Marianne stilled.

Daniel’s gaze sharpened, quiet and attentive.

Thomas looked toward the door Sylvia had been taken through, jaw tight. "But my relationship with Sylvia started as a temporary situation. Andrea tried to use her as gossip, and I would have hated myself if I let her become entertainment for others."

Marianne said nothing.

Thomas’s fingers curled against the armrest. "At first, it was easier to keep it private. She was beta. She was close to Dean. She had no reason to be dragged through Rohan court because I enjoyed her company and wanted her in my bed."

Daniel’s brows rose slightly.

Thomas closed his eyes. "That sounded worse than intended."

"It sounded honest," Daniel said.

Marianne’s face did not soften, but her anger dimmed with understanding.

Thomas opened his eyes again. "Then it stopped being temporary."

The words sat heavily between them.

"I knew it had changed before I admitted it," he continued. "I knew when I started checking her routes without telling her. When I knew which wine she liked and which guards made her nervous. When I stopped thinking about after and started arranging my days around when I could see her again."

He let out a shaky breath.

Pain cut through him, sharp and bright, reminding him that his ribs were, unfortunately, necessary.

Daniel’s hand tightened on his shoulder. "Breathe slower."

Thomas obeyed because the alternative was falling apart in front of his parents, and he had already surrendered too much dignity for one day.

"I did not know Nero could do that," he said, his voice rough. "I did not know he could alter her body that far. I did not know he could make her... this."

Marianne’s expression changed at Tom’s hesitation; both she and Daniel knew how difficult life was for a dominant without a mate or bond. They had been helpful when Andrea was appointed as Thomas’ future mate, only to have their hopes dashed by that snake.

Thomas looked at the scan display, at Sylvia’s name, and at the cold medical tags crawling beneath it.

"Fuck," he whispered. "She was worried about not being able to help me. When my pheromones recoiled. When I was tired. When I came back from field rotation and could barely keep the edge down. She thought being beta made her less useful to me."

His jaw tightened.

"I told her she was enough as she was."

Daniel’s voice softened. "Did you mean it?"

Thomas’s eyes snapped to him, wounded by the fact that the question had to be asked. "Yes."

"Then say the rest."

Thomas closed his eyes.

Marianne did not rescue him.

Neither did Daniel.

They had always been cruel like that about honesty.

"I meant it," Thomas said. "I meant every word. I did not want more pressure on her because she was not what the world expected her to be. I did not want her to think she had to change her body to deserve standing beside me."

His fingers curled against the armrest.

"Her parents know about me generally. They know I exist around her life. They know I am..." He swallowed. "Important, maybe. But even there, I kept it blurred because I thought privacy was kinder."

Marianne’s mouth tightened.

"And now?" she asked.

Thomas opened his eyes.

The scan feed switched. A new image appeared, pale lines mapping the impossible structure at Sylvia’s nape.

A main gland, new pathways, and the clear evidence of her being a dominant omega now.

"She is my mate now," he said.

His voice almost broke on it. "In every way the world can understand and use."

Daniel said nothing.

When Thomas looked at his mother, the shame on his face was worse because it was accompanied by relief.

"And I am selfish enough to be happy."

Marianne’s eyes softened.

Thomas looked down. "That is the part I hate most. She is in pain. She is frightened. Nero carved something into her body because the corridor was full of beasts and Andrea was a monster, and I still—"

His voice failed.

Daniel finished gently, "You still feel relieved that the world will finally have to call her yours."

Thomas’s jaw clenched.

"Yes."

Marianne came closer and took his face in both hands.

He froze.

She did not let him look away.

"That is not the worst part of you," she said.

Thomas stared at her.

"It is human," Marianne continued. "Ugly, perhaps. Complicated, certainly. But human. You can be relieved that she will be protected by a name, a classification, and a bond the court understands and still hate the pain that brought her there."

"I should not be happy."

"You are not happy she suffered," Daniel said.

Thomas looked at him.

"You are happy she is alive," Daniel said. "You are happy she can reach you now. You are happy the world has fewer excuses to dismiss her. Those are not the same thing as being happy it happened."

Thomas’s breath shuddered.

Marianne lowered her hands but stayed close. "Do not turn guilt into another way of making decisions for her."

His eyes sharpened.

"Yes," Marianne said, reading him easily. "You will be tempted. You will try to protect her from your own relief. You will try to make yourself smaller, colder, and more careful, as if punishing yourself gives her something back."

Thomas said nothing.

"You will not do that," Marianne said. "You will apologize. You will tell her the truth. You will let her be angry. And when she decides what she wants from you, you will listen."

Daniel’s mouth curved faintly. "Even if what she wants is to scold you for an unreasonable amount of time."

Thomas closed his eyes. "She has earned it."

"She has," Marianne said. "And so have we."

He opened one eye.

Daniel looked far too amused for a man whose son was injured, disgraced, and emotionally dismantled in a hospital chair.

Thomas sighed. "I am surrounded."

"No," Marianne said. "You are supported."

That landed quietly.

Worse than comfort.

Better than punishment.

Thomas looked back at the scan feed, where Sylvia’s body was being translated into data by machines that could not understand her.

"She was enough," he said, almost to himself.

Marianne’s hand settled carefully over his. "Then make sure she never doubts that again."

Thomas nodded once.

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