(Amaia)

My pet bird is...Saiph.

My pet bird is...Saiph.

My pet bird is...Saiph.

The mantra keeps repeating in my head as I stare, and stare, at this enigmatic man, and then at his dong.

He is huge, in every sense and has not a shred of shame.

I am angry at him, no, I am mad at him, and yet I don’t fear or hate him.

Since that nightmare he induced where I saw two heads with black hair and my vision with Aziel, where he said five mates, my mind has been in turmoil, thinking.

And today, that thin thread I felt connecting me to Saiph.

Could it be?

He comes and looms over me like a giant. I have never seen a man build like him. A tattoo of a scythe has been carved on the left side of his chest.

Our gazes meet, and that glacial layer that always coats his eyes breaks, revealing the tenderness he hides in their depths.

Like an arrogant prick, he answers my questions until the last one.

"I don’t like jokes or bets. They are for kids. Besides, I would never joke about something as serious as my feelings. I take them very seriously. And they are innumerable when it comes to you."

My heart skips a beat at his words. His hand comes to rest on my cheek.

Touch is warm, almost possessive.

"What do you mean?" I question, irritated and frustrated at the same time.

Unwillingly, I move away from his touch, and silently he places his hand on the door near my face, palm straight. His other hand remains on the top of my head, fisted.

No touching until he gives me some answers.

The words from my dream earlier echo in my mind.

The five stars of the Constellation of Orion. Saiph is part of the constellation, so is he named after the star?

Does that mean he is my mate too?

"Don’t you feel anything for me? A pull? A distant emotion? You certainly love Zille."

"Yeah! I loved Zille because I thought he was a bird, not a fucking yeti." I glare at him and he tries to hide the amusement descending in his eyes.

"Loved? You don’t love him anymore? Won’t you let him sleep on your chest?" His gaze unapologetically drops towards my breasts.

Okay! What was it with all the men in my life and my breasts today?

"Eyes on my face, big guy." I place my finger under his chin and lift it.

Saiph smells like an expensive cocktail of danger and madness. He is haughty and even more stubborn than Alnilam.

He takes his time, swiping his eyes back.

"What you did, the way you hid yourself from me. It’s a crime. You can be severely punished if I report you to the queen." My eyes narrow at him as I fold my arms over my aching chest.

A slow and deliberate smile creeps up on his crimson lips.

It’s beautiful and mesmerising. He hardly smiles, just like Alnilam, that man never smiles.

"That will be tragic. Do you really want to see me whipped?" His head slowly tilts, and he ends another inch of distance between us.

I am very much aware of his muscled chest, bare in front of my face.

’Don’t look,’ I warn myself, trying to keep my breathing in control.

"Just answer the damn question. Why didn’t you tell me?" I straighten myself, so I won’t feel intimidated by him.

"I was returning from a mission but got injured, overestimated my strength that I could make it back to the palace but fell." His eyes, which held the oceans, softened.

"Maybe it was destiny that I fell at the feet of my mate."

Mate???

Did he just call me mate???

"What?" My throat goes dry, completely.

"I am not a werewolf, Amaia. The bond between you and me will not be the same. I am a warlock, and I sensed you as my mate from the first moment I saw you. It’s the feeling in your heart. Can’t you sense it?" He lifts his hand and presses it against my chest, right above my heart.

His touch brings me peace, irrespective of how frustrated I am at him.

He lowers his head and whispers in my ear. "Do I bring you peace, Amaia?"

How does he know???

A shiver drizzles down my spine, making my body tremble. Since his hand is on my heart, he feels that.

A slow smirk makes his lips loop to one side.

I push his hand away from my chest. "Why didn’t you tell me about your identity?"

That makes him think for a second.

"I wanted to but then I saw how you cared for me. How you felt at peace with me. My revelation would have changed that and I wouldn’t have been able to sleep in bed, curled up with you."

He wasn’t wrong. He was there for me in all of my hard times. The silent cries and my whimpers, he witnessed and stayed. He drank my tears and kissed me, showing his affection.

Could I be even mad at him for that?

"What do you want, Saiph? Why now?"

A slow, painful smile replaces his smirk, and I didn’t like it. Nothing good follows, painful smiles.

"We had a premonition today and it made me realise. If others can be with you, why can’t I be in my human form as well? I will make you stronger, you just have to accept me."

That made sense especially concerning what Alnilam had said. I needed to mate with all my mates to become stronger and for my wings to grow and reach their full potential.

Saiph has to be the last part of the puzzle that was missing.

Rigel didn’t want to have sex. Irrespective of how twisted his brain is, he is a romantic at heart. He pleases me in other ways, but he refuses to have sex.

Alnilam is out of the question. His righteousness and his duty to his fiancée prevent him from seeing what’s right in his face.

But, Saiph. He wants me, I can see desires pooling into his sapphire eyes.

The question is, do I want to go down this road with him just on his first confession?

And how will others take it, once knowing that Saiph is my mate too?

Should I speak to them first?