Chapter Seven - The Confrontation

"There is only one pairing that is held at a higher regard than that of fated mates, and that is one of true mates. While fated mates seem to be matched based on the alpha's needs and an ideal biological coupling, true mates are a perfect biological coupling as well as exactly what both members of the pair need, rather than solely the alpha. True mates are two pieces of one whole. There have only been two instances of true mates since the start of the New Age, and in both pairings the couples have been able to communicate mind to mind. We are still unsure how this is, as we do not have a large enough sample size to conduct adequate research. I hope in the years to come, we see more true mate pairings, and begin to understand what it is about them that makes this coupling so rare and exceptional."

- Excerpt from 'A Study into Fated Mate Pairings' by Professor Drake Gallo

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"Din, Din, oh Din," the chorus of his name in her sweet voice was almost more than he could handle, and Din dug his fingers into the meat of her hips and ground into her, his head falling back on his neck in a moan as her warmth wrapped around him, as his cockhead dug into the soft, spongy end of her.

He needed to get her to eat something, needed to give her a bath, needed her to drink the glass of water that lay abandoned next to her nest; but every time he knotted her- all three times now- she fell asleep, and when she woke up, she was keening and whining again, begging for him, and he could do nothing but concede to her plea.

"I'm not going to last much longer, Daisy, I need you to come for me, baby," he gritted out, trailing one of his hands around her hip so he could circle her swollen, little clit with his thumb. She wailed at the contact, her cunt squeezing him tight, a low flutter starting deep in that spongy part of her, and he groaned, grinding his teeth, shutting his eyes tight to try to ward off his own end so she could reach hers first.

He didn't know what he was doing... how this was going to end in anything but tragedy. He'd already- essentially- lied to her for weeks, surely, he couldn't admit the truth now. But he couldn't stay away, his body- the beast- wouldn't let him. She was engaged to marry Jeremy, that little golden band was still wrapped around her finger and each time he saw it, it ripped him apart further.

Din didn't want her to marry Jeremy, the notion alone was so vile it made him violent.

But he didn't want her to be with him because she had to, that went against everything he believed in, went against everything he'd fought for in that war that would never end.

If she could just choose to be with him, without knowing that he was her mate, then maybe that would be okay... maybe he could live with that.

Was this her choosing him, or was this just a decision made in the desperation of her heat...? Din didn't know, nor did he know how to ask. She still had her engagement ring on while he was inside of her, so maybe that was enough of an answer.

There were too many unknowns, including that glowing thread in his head that he had slammed an impenetrable wall of will down in front of so he wouldn't have to think about it yet.

Daisy came with a cry, her cunt flooding and fluttering around him and Din succumbed to his own orgasm with a roar, his knot already half swollen inside of her by the time he started coming. He wrapped one arm around her waist, used his other hand to cradle her head, then collapsed onto his side, wrapping himself around her little, trembling form.

"Stay awake this time, Daisy, I need you to eat, need to give you a bath..." he said, his eyes trailing down to her thighs, to the blankets beneath them, both were covered in her slick and his cum.

"But I'm so sleepy," she whined, nestling her head into his chest in a manner that made his heart ache. "I couldn't sleep last night, everything hurt too much."

Sloshing guilt cleaved Din in two.

His fault. If he would have had the foresight to realize that this heat would be so excruciating for her, he never would have made her leave his car.

He crooned, low in his throat, nuzzling his face into the top of her head. "Sleep then," he hummed, "but when you wake up, you're eating."

"Yes, alpha," she chimed mockingly, through a yawn and Din reprimanded her with a low growl into the silky tendrils of her hair.

She giggled, and yawned again, her eyes fluttering closed, and the affection that flooded Din's chest was so overwhelming that he tightened his arms around her to cope, picking his head up so he could nuzzle his face into the side of her soft, fragrant neck, even though he knew he already smelled entirely of her, that the both of their scents had intertwined and morphed into something new.

Daisy was asleep again not even a minute later.

Din pet her golden hair while he waited for his knot to deflate, pressed a soft kiss to the delicate skin of her temple, counted and mapped the freckles on her nose.

There were eighty-five freckles, just covering the expanse of her nose. Din stored that number in his head along with all the other things he'd memorized about her- the little specks of green in her dark blue irises, the way the corner of her lip would twitch when she caught herself babbling, the whimpering sound she made just before she came.

When Din's knot deflated, he carefully unwrapped himself from around her, letting out a low croon to settle her when she began stirring as he detached himself. He stood, and quietly tugged his discarded boxers back on, keeping one eye on her sleeping form as he quietly padded into the adjacent kitchen.

He needed her to eat something, but he didn't think he had enough time to make her a proper meal before she woke up again, so he riffled through her pantry, pushing aside boxes of pasta and bags of potatoes, looking for something simple, a protein bar or a box of cereal, anything she could eat before she needed him to knot her again, before he needed to knot her again.

Din's hand had just closed around a box of granola bars, when a crash echoed from the living room, followed by a yelp from Daisy, and then a man's voice- Jeremy's voice- yelling.

"What the fuck is going on, here?"

Din stormed back into the room, the box of granola bars abandoned on the floor of the kitchen, his body radiating violence, the brunt of it a black storm swirling around his chest.

The baser part of Din wanted to kill him, just for bearing witness to her during such a vulnerable time, while she was naked, in heat, covered in his cum.

Mine, mine, my mate, mine.

"Weak ass omega, you had to call him to get through your heat, pathetic, I-"

Din interrupted Jeremy's rampage with a snarl, throwing himself between them two of them, his chest heaving, his neck craned so he could stare down at Jeremy with all the violence, all the hatred swirling in his core.

"If you take one more step toward her, I will rip your head clean off of your neck," Din growled, his hands curled into shaking fists at his sides so that he wouldn't immediately make good on his threat.

Daisy couldn't see Jeremy anymore, not with the bulk of Din's form blocking him from her view, but she could feel his anger, his disgust swirling around the room, mingling with the rage radiating off of Din- the combination made it hard to breathe, impossible to move from her position- trembling in the mess of her nest, her fingers twisted in one of the blankets, which she'd pulled up to cover her chest.

Hiding herself, not from the man she'd just had an affair with, but from her fiancé.

What a disgusting, horrible creature she was...

Even more terrible for how little guilt seemed to swell in her gut, it took a backseat to the fear that Din might leave, that she might have to traverse the rest of her heat without him.

"She's my fiancé," Jeremy managed to exhale, even with his features plagued with fear.

She's my mate, my mate, mine.

"I don't care," Din replied coldly, "she needs me right now."

"So, what, I'm just supposed to share my wife with you every time she goes into heat or you go through a rut?!" Jeremy exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

"She's not your wife," Din growled, the word tasting bitter on his tongue, "and perhaps we'll have to come up with an arrangement until your hormones turn you into a fucking alpha," he scoffed.

"Din," Daisy's voice croaked, interrupting Jeremy before he could open his mouth in a rebuttal.

"Get your things, Daisy," Din ordered, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder.

Daisy scrambled to comply, grabbing his sweatshirt from the ground and tugging it on over her head, then racing into the bedroom.

Din stood his ground, glaring down at Jeremy until Daisy raced back into the living room with a tote bag hanging from her shoulder, where she began trying to gather all her nesting materials into her arms.

His heart pinched as he shot Jeremy one more glare that ordered him to stay put, then he turned and walked over to Daisy, gently lifting her up by her waist from where she'd bent over to try to gather all those pillows and blankets.

"You can make a new nest at my house," he whispered, petting down her crazed hair with his palm.

"O-okay," she nodded a little manically, her pupils blown out, her entire body trembling, from this situation, or from the slick he could smell leaking down her thighs. She shouldn't be moving this much while in heat, she still needed to eat, to bathe, and by the heady scent pouring off of her, she already needed his knot again.

His cock swelled in response, and his eyes flickered down to his abandoned clothes.

Din moved her behind him as he dressed, his eyes locked on Jeremy, daring him to try to take a step toward them.

And maybe this whole situation proved just how cruel and brutal he was, stealing her away from her fiancé while Din's cum leaked from her cunt, threatening to kill Jeremy in his own house.

But she was his, and Jeremy was cruel, and the thought of her belonging to someone like him made Din want to rip apart the world to stop their wedding from happening.

Din took Daisy's bag from her shoulder, tugging it over his own, then hoisted her little form into his arms, cradling her to his chest, growling at Jeremy as he began carrying her toward the door.

"We- we're going to talk about this later, Daisy!" Jeremy spat out as Din walked past him. "This is unacceptable behavior."

"You are not her keeper," Din barked, then kicked the broken door open and marched out.

Daisy whimpered, trembling in his arms and he crooned, curling her body further into his chest.

"Are you angry with me?" Din asked, the question like ash on his tongue.

Daisy shook her head against his chest. "I need you; I was- was so scared you would leave without me."

Her words shot straight into his heart and Din crooned again, dropping his head to nuzzle his face into her neck. "I promised you I wouldn't leave. I got you, little omega, you're safe."

Daisy clung to the front of his shirt, his too big sweatshirt sleeves pooled up around her wrists as he carried her down the stairs and out of the apartment, the cool Bay air biting at her flushed cheeks, her wet thighs. And maybe she was rotten for leaving Jeremy there, for choosing to go with Din, but she was still simply a toiler to her heat... never mind that she knew she would have gone with him even if she hadn't been in heat...

Din opened his car door, carefully setting her inside, and she whined as the comfort of his thick arms departed her, leaving her feeling bereft even as he stood above her, his towering form frowning down at her. Slick was pouring down her thighs and that fire in her core was back with a vengeance. She needed him now, not in however long it would take for them to get to his house.

"Soon, sweet girl," he said, seeming to read her mind as his gaze flickered to her clenched thighs and sparked a hunger across his features.

He leaned down, parting his lips over hers in a fast, heated kiss that was laced with a growl, his cock aching as it snaked down his pant leg, then he forced himself to pull away and close the door, circling the front of the car and getting in the driver's side.

Din started the engine, peeling onto the street and barreling toward 6th, which would take him straight to 280 and then almost directly to his apartment building.

Daisy trembled in the seat across from him, her thighs pressed together, a whine flooding the space as her heady, ambrosial scent cloyed Din's nose.

"I'm sorry, baby," he hummed, his eyes flashing toward her, his cock throbbing in the confines of his jeans. "We'll be there soon, I promise."

The sun was just beginning to set, dipping toward the edge of the horizon, glaring off his windshield, painting the sky in messy sweeps of pink and orange, the reflection decorating the windows of the buildings that he raced by. And Daisy was whimpering next to him, slick pouring down her thighs, drenching the seat beneath her, and Din gripped the steering wheel with pale knuckles, twisting his fists around it, while his cock threatened to burst out of his jeans.

"Din- I need- please," she whined, begged, and he growled, his head spinning as he sped onto the freeway onramp, his left hand leaving the steering wheel to shoot across the car, pushing his sweatshirt up her thighs, his hand diving between her legs, to her soaked cunt, two of his fingers hammering into her while his thumb pressed down on her swollen clit.

Daisy wailed, the small relief like a tidal wave, her hand shooting down to his forearm, her fingers not long enough to wrap around the thick, hairy expanse of his wrist, but she still fruitlessly attempted to hold him there, while she grinded against fingers, his palm, her head tilting back against the seat.

"That's it, baby," he grunted, pounding his fingers into that soft spot at the end of her, his eyes flickering over to watch her come undone- her pretty head thrown back, her puffy lips parted in a moan, her lashes fluttering against the flushed apples of her cheeks- before he forced them back to the road. "Come on my hand, I'll give you my knot when we get there, but come on my hand, now."

And she did, like the demand pulled it out of her, her cunt pulsing around his fingers, flooding his palm with slick, a pretty little whimper tumbling from her lips.

"Good girl," he crooned, letting that praise trail off into that low, rumbling lull.

She kept her little fingers wrapped around his wrist, and so he kept his hand there, his fingers still inside her crying cunt, his thumb rubbing soothing circles over her clit.

"I need your knot, Din, I need it so badly," she cried, agonizing tears trailing down her cheeks when he turned his head to look at her.

"Gonna knot you just as soon as we get inside, I promise, just a few more minutes, Daisy," he ground out, his molars feeling like they might burst from the pressure of his clenched jaw, his cock jolting against the inseam of his jeans.

He barreled his car off the freeway and onto Third Street, whipping around slower cars until he finally made it to the Unmated Quarters cluster of apartment buildings. Ironic... that he still lived there, that he was taking her inside.

Din pulled into a parking spot along the street, cutting the engine and bolting out of the car, materializing on the passenger's side faster than Daisy could blink.

"Come here," he muttered, crouching down between the open door and the car, tugging Daisy to the edge of the seat with two firm hands gripping her thighs, her legs dangling on either side of his wide torso.

"Din, what're you-" she started to ask, before her words fell off into a whimper as he lowered his head and began lapping the slick from her thighs with his wide, hot tongue.

Daisy tangled her fingers in his curls, trying to grind down onto his face, her cunt already aching for another reprieve.

"This place is filled with alphas, I don't want them smelling you," he snarled against her thigh, rubbing his stubbled cheek along that sensitive gland, then barely nipping at it with his dull front teeth, not enough to mark her, but enough that she whimpered in submission, parting her legs wider for him.

She'd let him mark her, she realized, if he tried, she would let him.

More than that, she wanted him to.

What a despicable thing she was, with Jeremy's ring still on her finger.

Din forced himself to push his body back onto his feet, then tugged Daisy's bag over his shoulder before he hoisted her up into his arms, doing as much as he could to shield her with the bulk of his body as he carried her toward his apartment building.

He knew licking her slick off her legs, scenting her, had done very little to hide the smell of her heat, any alpha within a mile would be able to smell her.

And Din thought he might kill anyone who dared to even look in her direction during the trip from the car to his apartment.

That was the beast, surely, but Din could barely tell the difference anymore.

As soon as Din entered his apartment building, the man at the front desk rose to his feet, his eyes snapping toward Daisy's half-hidden form in Din's arms, his pupils visibly blowing out at the scent radiating off of her. And the black, bubbling rage that had been swirling in Din's gut since the moment Jeremy walked into Daisy's apartment, exploded.

He snarled, baring his teeth at the man, snapping them like a rabid animal, curling Daisy even further into his chest.

"She's mine," he growled, his eyes drilling to the other alpha, who slowly put his hands up and sat back down behind his desk.

Din still wanted to kill him, even after he yielded, the violence that was swirling in his core was not laced with logic or reason, it was pure instinct, the need to claim and mark.

My mate, my mate, my mate.

The only thing that got him to budge, to move toward the elevator, was Daisy, whimpering in his arms, her thighs rubbing together in need.

He flashed one more glare at the man, then turned toward the elevator, dropping his head and crooning into Daisy's neck.

"You're okay, baby, I got you, almost there," he hummed into that soft, fragrant skin as he carried her into the elevator, pressing the button for the fifth floor with his knuckle.

She's mine.

Those words echoed in Daisy's head as the elevator climbed. They tunneled into her chest, and anchored themselves there. His, Din's. That notion felt so grounding, so right. Was that horrible of her? Did that make her a terrible, immoral creature? While an engagement ring from another man adorned her finger?

Surely it did.

Unless...

She knew she'd heard his voice in her head, knew that he had heard hers. Even though it hadn't happened since, even though there was a thick, stone wall blocking that glowing thread now. And the tug... her dreams... it all had to mean something.

Didn't it?

Even if he wasn't... her mate, she loved him. There was no denying that now. Her love for him had already bled into every crevice of her form. Her heart had already begun to beat to the cadence of it.

And so maybe she could live with being a despicable creature, if she still belonged to Din.

He carried her out of the elevator when it chimed on the fifth floor. He hadn't thought to lock his door when he'd rushed out earlier that afternoon, so he managed to open it without adjusting his grip on Daisy. But as soon as they were inside, he moved his arm from beneath her knees, letting her legs drop to dangle down the length of his body, while he kept her locked against him with his other arm wrapped tight around her waist, his free hand grabbed her jaw, tilting her head back and urgently parting his lips over hers with a growl.

Daisy whimpered against him, while he licked a claim over her palate, his wide, hot tongue thrusting into her mouth.

"Mine," he growled, without foresight, forgoing logic, his big hand trailing down from her jaw to wrap around the thin column of her neck.

Daisy seemed to react immediately, her little hands coming up to clutch at the hinges of his jaw, then further to tug at his hair, her lips moving fervently against his, her soft, wet tongue kitten licking behind his teeth.

"Make your nest, Daisy," he urged into the hot cavern of her mouth, "now, before I fuck you right here against the kitchen counter."

She swayed when he set her down, her head spinning, her cunt throbbing like an open wound dug out from between her thighs, but she obeyed, scrambling into the living room behind them, her eyes bouncing over the space.

His apartment was clean- except for a shattered lamp near the back wall of his living room, almost barren, decorated in a monochrome palette of black and gray and white. The couch was large, but it looked stiff, and the hardwood floor lacked a rug. This room would not do, it was too cold, and even though this was his house, it seemed to lack his scent.

She carefully wandered down the hall, toward the back of the apartment, following the trail of his scent that seemed to radiate from the room at the very end.

His bedroom.

It was a small room, the large, unmade bed took up most of the space. There was a single table next to it, which hosted a lamp and an empty water glass, a closet along the right wall, and a large window on the left- the gray curtains drawn shut.

Daisy felt Din materialize behind her and she turned to him slowly, craning her neck to gaze up at him.

"Can I- Could I make my nest in here?" she asked softly, biting down hard on her bottom lip.

Din's eyebrows pinched together, etching a knot between them, almost like he was confused why she would even need to ask.

"Of course you can," he nodded, stepping out of her way when she scampered back into the living room to collect the pillows and throw blankets from the couch, gathering them in her arms and carrying them back into the bedroom, beginning to construct her nest on his bed.

Din stood at the doorway and watched her, his cock leaking down the leg of his pants, as she crawled up onto the bed, fluffing pillows and tugging blankets, arranging them to her liking, her bottom lip jutted up between her teeth as she glanced around at her work.

He felt a pinch of guilt erupt between his ribs, that he did not have enough soft, fluffy things for her to use. Perhaps he should have helped her gather her own nesting materials from her house, or maybe he should go out now, to the store, buy her as many velvet pillows and fleece blankets as he could find.

"Is it- do you need anything else? I can run to the store, get you better pillows, more-"

Daisy interrupted him with a quick shake of her head, her golden hair bouncing around her shoulders at the motion. "No, it's- it smells like you," she said sheepishly, a blush flooding her cheeks, "that's all I really need."

Din's stomach flopped at that, his heart pinching in his chest as he tugged his shirt off over his head, discarding the rest of his clothes in his pursuit toward her.

He ripped his sweatshirt off of her just as soon as he crawled into her nest, pushing her onto her back with one big hand gripping her shoulder, his head lowering so he could close his mouth over one of her pink, puckered nipples, groaning into the soft skin of her little breast.

Daisy's breath hitched, his wet mouth sending warm, rolling waves of pleasure down her spine. She dug her nails into the taut muscles in his back to cope and he growled against her breast, his dark eyes flashing up to her face, causing a flood of slick to stream down her thighs.

His tongue rolled around her nipple, then he tugged at it with his dull front teeth, one of his arms sliding underneath her, to crush her to his hot, solid torso.

"Want to see your pretty face while I knot you," his voice rumbled against her chest.

Daisy whimpered at that, letting her hand slide down his back, around his hip, where she wrapped her hand around the thick length of his cock- too large even, for her fingers to touch- and squeezed.

Din growled, his cock jolting in her grip, those soft fingers sure to be the death of him.

"Fuck Daisy," he groaned, his hips shuddering, his cock sliding against the silky skin of her palm. "Don't make me come before I'm even inside of you."

"Need you now, Din, please," she begged, releasing his cock to claw at his chest.

"You don't have to beg," he crooned, releasing her breast from the hot claim of his mouth, nuzzling his face against her neck as he worked on positioning himself between her legs, taking his cock in his hand and notching it at her fluttering entrance.

He pushed himself into her- for the fourth time, even though each time still held the ecstasy of the first- so just his fat cockhead was engulfed by her warmth, then let out a moan into the top of her head.

The size difference between the two of them did not allow Din to easily look at her pretty face as he pushed into her, his height put his head above hers, but he needed to see, so he reached down and grabbed her jaw, tilting her head back, so those deep blue eyes were locked on his- her pupils so large they looked like two black holes dug from her skull.

Daisy keened, her fingers digging into the taut muscles in his biceps as euphoric relief poured through her core, dousing the fire there, replacing it with a pleasure so intense she felt drunk with it.

"Oh Din, more please, more," she begged, her legs struggling to wrap around the width of his hips, her little heels digging into his ass- a physical extension of her plea.

The beast had been singing in the back of Din's head since the moment he'd crashed through her apartment door that afternoon, singing a demented chorus that presented itself in a mirage of images he could not shake from his head- Daisy swollen and round, Daisy holding a little bundle of blankets, two eyes the same deep blue color as hers staring up at them, Daisy full of him.

Din didn't even know if she was on birth control, he should have asked, he should have cared, but he didn't, the beast wouldn't let him. All the beast wanted to do was mark her, and claim her, and breed her, fuck his baby into her right here, right now, so she could never leave him.

His hips shuddered with a groan and the motion pushed him into her to the hilt, his fat head pressing against that soft, spongy part at the end of her, his thick length filling her so completely it felt like he was everywhere, in her core, in her belly, in her head- that thick stone wall there creaking open, for just a moment, bright light streaming through a crack in that impenetrable barricade, his rumbling voice tumbling down that glowing thread.

"I want to see you round and swollen with me, Daisy, I want to fuck my baby into this perfect cunt, never let you go, keep you both safe."

Daisy whimpered, her pussy gushing around him, a deep, needy ache grabbing hold of her core.

It had been so long since she thought she could ever have that, a family, she'd abandoned that dream the moment she agreed to marry Jeremy. But oh did she still want it, the need was embedded so deep within her, carved into her bones, etched into her veins, and to have that with Din...

"Breed me, Din, I only want you," she managed to broadcast down that glowing thread before that thick stone wall repaired itself, sealing the crack and cutting off her access to him, but she knew he'd heard her, because his face twisted with pleasure, a hunger so thick she could taste it blossomed in his eyes and then he was pounding into her, hard, urgent thrusts, one of his hands grabbing a fistful of her hair to keep her head craned back so he could look at her, his other hand tight on waist so he could keep her still while he fucked into her.

He growled, his wide, tanned chest vibrating above her, his teeth bared, curls plastered to his slick forehead, his eyes so black they seemed to absorb everything around them, so it was just him, just the two of them in the void, wrapped around each other, a single entity in the darkness.

Din wanted to mark her so badly it was taking every ounce of his restraint to keep himself from sinking his teeth into that soft space that connected her neck to her shoulder. The beast howled in frustration, churning out a mantra of mine, mine, my mate. And the need became so great as he felt her begin to flutter around him, that he let his head drop, his body curling in on itself so he could reach her neck, so he could lick a hot stripe over that space he wanted to bite, building up enough discipline that he allowed himself to suck that soft skin into his mouth.

Daisy whimpered, her cunt going tight like a vise, her head tilting further up on its own accord, granting him full access, giving him silent permission to mark her.

"Make me yours, I already belong to you," she sent down that glowing bond, hoping it would somehow sink through that stone wall.

Din growled against her skin, grinding his cock into the end of her, tying a chain around the beast to keep his teeth from sinking in.

"You can't do that, Daisy," he husked, "You don't want me to mark you."

"Yes, I do," she gasped, flooding sincerity, certainty down that bond. "Make me yours."

"Fuck," Din spat out, forcing himself to lift his head, his dark eyes finding hers, tugging her head back with a fistful of her hair, so he could fuck into her with better leverage.

"You're already mine," he growled.

And Daisy came at that, with a keening moan, her face twisted with pleasure as her cunt fluttered around him, flooding his cock with slick.

"That's my girl," he groaned, his knot already swelling inside her as he hammered into the end of her. "My sweet girl," he purred, then he was coming, fucking her full of his cum, his knot swelling until he could barely move, his head falling back onto her neck, where he grazed his teeth along that sacred spot, but did not mark her.

Because she still had that tortuous golden ring on her finger.

Din wrapped his arms around her, rolled onto his back, moved her on top of him, crushed to his chest, while his knot stayed swelled inside of her. Daisy curled herself into his wide, warm chest, the hair covering his pecs tickling her cheeks, his big ribs rattling her form as he refilled his lungs.

"Why won't you mark me?" Daisy inquired softly, her voice muffled by his chest, her heart squeezing in her chest when he let out a rumbling sigh. "Is it... is it because I'm not your mate?" she asked, in an even smaller voice.

Din should tell her now, she had given him the perfect opportunity, but she still had that golden band on her finger, and he stared at it as her hand twitched on his chest, violence churning low in his gut.

He needed her to want to be with him, not feel forced to because of some sick power dynamic created in the end of the Old World.

The same power dynamic that had gotten his parents killed.

"You're engaged, Daisy," he said, in a low mutter, instead of answering her question, because he didn't think he could lie to her that way, not aloud, not directly.

Daisy tilted her head on his chest, so she could stare up at him while he craned his neck, his chin nearly touching his chest, a tight knot sitting between his eyebrows.

"What if I leave Jeremy, will you mark me then?" she asked, her question buzzing between them.

"I need you to make that decision when your head is clear, not while you're in heat," Din exhaled, unwinding one of his arms from around her so he could pet her silky, golden hair with his palm.

Daisy leaned her head into his large, warm palm, her eyes fluttering closed as a little purr echoed from her lips. "Fine, but I've already made up my mind," she said softly, turning her face into his hand when he let it slip down to her cheek, her soft lips brushing against his skin. "I've dreamt about you my whole life, I should have just waited, but I-"

Din cut her off, his breath getting stuck somewhere inside his chest, choking him as her words rattled through his head.

"You've- you've dreamt about me?" he spat out, swallowing hard, his eyes manically scanning her face when she let her eyes flutter open.

She nodded, looking drunk, looking high on her heat, but her voice was steady and certain when she began to speak. "Yes. At first it was just your voice. I would hear your voice every time I slept, ever since I was a little girl. Then after I met you the dreams- they changed... and then it was you, your face and your voice, every time I dream, except these past few times, I think because you're here. I don't have to dream about you when you're here."

Din couldn't breathe.

There was something large wedged in his chest, blocking off his airway.

She'd dreamt about him... since she was a girl?

He had heard of this, during the war, fated mates who were more than mates, two pieces of one cloth, ripped apart before the creation of Earth and mankind and thought.

True mates.

The notion was so rare some scientists didn't even believe it was real. But in the two cases that were documented, the omegas had dreamt of their alphas, their own version of the Vision. In both cases the pairs could communicate with their minds.

That glowing thread in his head, the one he'd slammed a wall of will down in front of.

His mate.

His true mate.

Something solid clicked into place in Din's chest, something shaped like her.

Fated mates were just nature's way of ensuring the population continued to grow and heal, fated mates were crafted solely for the alpha's needs and desires, a gross power imbalance that had made Din sick, that had made him reject who he was since the moment he started presenting.

But true mates, true mates were not made, they were forged in stardust, they were two pieces of one whole, they were what both omega and alpha needed, not just an excuse to breed, but an intertwining of severed souls.

Din choked, his eyes going hot and pinched.

He should have never lied to her, he should have told her the truth from the very beginning, but how could he now, when he had already bypassed her question, when she was staring at him like he hung the stars in the sky?

He would wait, he would wait until she left Jeremy, of her own volition. Then he would tell her, even if it made her hate him, she was owed the truth.

His mate, his true mate.

Oh god.

Din crushed Daisy even further to his chest, crooning into the top of her head, breathing in the floral scent of her like a man living on borrowed time.

His mate, his mate, his mate.

There was a solid thing in his chest, a glowing warm thing that had been living there, lying dormant for as long as Din had been alive, or perhaps it had not been dormant, more than he had not understood what it was yet, couldn't understand until her.

But he realized then, that it was his love for her, it was tied to the very foundation of him, etched into his bones, written on the stars that had collided to make the two of them.

He loved her- in a manner so intense and foundational it consumed him, entirely, it flowed through his veins with a purifying power that seemed almost otherworldly.

Was it just the beast? Forcing his hand? Tying him to her so that he could mate her and breed her and make more alphas and omegas that would be damned to the same fate, the same lack of choice, the same condemnation?

Din didn't know, couldn't care, not with his love for her cloying his veins, seeping into every crevice of his head.

Din kept her crushed to him, breathing her in, until his knot deflated enough that he could pull out of her with a groan, then he tugged her further up his body, swiveling his hips so he could plant his feet on the ground.

He carried her pliant, sleepy form down the hall, to his bathroom, kept her locked against him as he knelt next to the tub, filling it with hot soapy water, testing the temperature of it with his hand.

"Bath time for you, little one," he purred into her hair, lifting her into the tub while he took a seat on the edge, brushing tendrils of those golden waves from her sleepy face when she blinked up at him.

"Are you coming in too?" she asked softly, voice like honey sweet on his tongue.

He shook his head, running his knuckles gently down her jaw. "Need to take care of you before you need my knot again, sweet girl."

A pretty, pink blush spread over her cheeks, highlighting the freckles on the bridge of her nose- all eighty-five of them- and Din's heart squeezed brutally in his chest.

Oh, I love her, my mate, my mate.

"Lean back and wet your hair, then face the wall for me, baby," he hummed, reaching over and grabbing the shampoo from the other end of the tub.

Daisy did as she was told, a little whimper flooding from her mouth when Din began massaging shampoo into her scalp, his thick, strong fingers working it into a lather.

No one had ever taken care of her like this, not since she was a little girl and her mom would wash her hair for her, two of her older sisters closest in age crowded into the same tub. But no one had cared for just her, no one had ever had the time, the patience, the desire.

But Din took care of her, even from their very first meeting, when he'd worried about her living in the Tenderloin, when he'd bought her favorite coffee from that little shop on Market Street.

And so maybe she wasn't such a disgusting, immoral creature, for the plan she was beginning to craft in her head, for the speech she was trying to string together to deliver to Jeremy once her heat was over.

Even if they weren't mates, even if his silent denial of that felt like fate ripping in two, felt like a falsity so erroneous it was eating away at her.

She could not bear the thought of being away from him, could not handle the tug any longer, and so even if her decision was selfish, it felt vital, necessary for her continued existence.

"Lean back again for me," Din said, his hands leaving her head to dip into the bath water, the shampoo dissolving from his palms.

Daisy turned, letting her head tilt back into the water, her eyes fluttering open to stare up at Din as he began scrubbing the shampoo from her scalp, his warm gaze drifting to her face, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, etching a dimple into his stubbly right cheek.

Her heart ached at the sight, her love for him overflowing its capacity, flooding down to swim through her belly, all warm and bright.

He helped her sit back up with a broad hand splayed out on her back, then gently squeezed the excess water from her hair, reaching over to grab a bottle of conditioner, the woody scent of it flooding her nose as he poured some onto his palms.

He worked it through her hair, then leaned down and pressed a kiss to the slope of her shoulder, turning his head and crooning into the side of her neck.

Daisy melted into the warmth of the tub, the warmth of him, her nipples peaked into tight knots as his nose, his mustache rubbed against that sensitive gland.

Din kissed that space he still had not marked, then lifted his head, turning around and grabbing a washcloth from the cupboard under the sink, wetting it in the soapy bath water, then beginning to scrub her back, her shoulders, her neck, down her arms. He had her turn around then did the same to her chest, her breasts, her tummy.

"Stand up for me, baby," he hummed, and she did, on shaky legs, her wet hand grabbing onto his wide shoulder for balance as he scrubbed her thighs, her butt, the curly hair above her pretty pussy. She whimpered when he let the washcloth drop into the water, his head leaning forward to press a soft kiss to her swollen clit.

He stood up then, his hand snaking around her waist to help keep her balance as he grabbed the shower head, detaching it and turning on the water again, washing the soap from her body, the conditioner from her head.

He lifted her out once he was finished, tugging a large, fluffy blue towel from the rack and wrapping her in it, then hoisting her damp, warm body back into his arms.

She curled into his chest, her wet hair sticking to his skin, her legs wrapped lazily around his hips as he kept her locked to him with one arm firmly around her waist, the under tucked under her butt.

"Time to eat," he hummed, even as his cock flooded with blood again, almost fully erect, jutting from his pelvis, even as her cunt began to leak against his belly.

"Need your knot again, alpha" she whimpered into his chest, trying to grind her lower body against the solid wall of him.

"Eat first," his voice rumbled, a quiet demand, and she submitted, rubbing her face into the warmth of his neck in a silent apology.

Din set her down on one of the stools at the kitchen island, cupping her lovely face in his hands and roughly parting his lips over hers with a groan. "I'll be right back," he muttered into her mouth, nipping at her plump bottom lip before forcing himself away, marching back into his bedroom, where he pulled on a clean pair of boxers before coming back out into the kitchen, his eyes struggling not to linger on her little form, wrapped in that too big towel, her skin pink from the bath, her wet hair a shade darker, snaking from her head, those big, blue eyes tracking his every move.

My mate, my mate, my mate.

He forced himself to walk past her, into the kitchen, where he tugged open his fridge and began pulling out items- a marinated chicken breast, a bag of broccoli, a half-eaten baguette. He made a mental note to go grocery shopping. He rarely did that, but if she was here, he needed to have food for her, needed to be able to cook for her, needed to take care of her.

He began cooking while he felt Daisy twitching in the seat behind him, the heady smell of her slick beginning to fill the room despite the chicken cooking on the stove.

As soon as he had the broccoli roasting in the oven, he cleared the space between them, getting on his knees and eating her drooling cunt like a man starved of anything good, anything sweet. He kept her from falling off the stool with his hands locked on her waist, while she rode his face with her fingers twisted in his hair. It was only a few minutes before she came on his tongue with a wail and he forced himself back to the stove with his cock tenting his boxers, a wet smear of pre-cum seeping through the fabric.

She hadn't eaten anything all day, and he would loathe himself if he knotted her again before she had any food in her stomach.

He plated her food when it was finished, far more than he thought she could eat- an entire chicken breast, half a toasted baguette and an entire head of broccoli- but it was already dark outside, and he needed her to eat before taking her to bed, to knot her again, probably at least another three times throughout the night.

"Eat, as much of that as you can, please, and drink all of this," he ordered, placing the food down in front of her along with a glass of water.

She blinked at him, those dark, blue eyes almost entirely pupil, that fluffy towel now pooled up around her waist so that her upper half was entirely bare- pink, nipples puckered, her golden hair beginning to dry into waves that draped her little, rounded shoulders. She blinked, then picked up the fork and began shoveling food into her mouth.

"Slowly, Daisy," he reprimanded with a low chuckle, "you're going to choke."

She conceded to his demand, but still ate at an alarming pace, only taking breaks to chug her water glass, which Din refilled twice before she even picked up the baguette.

He felt a pinch of guilt erupt between his ribs as he watched her eat. He should have fed her earlier, should have demanded that she drink more water. Tomorrow he would make sure she had three meals, and snacks, he would order groceries if he had to.

He would take care of her.

Because that was what he had been created to do, hadn't he?

His mate.

His true mate.

When Daisy finished eating Din carried her back to her nest, knotted her again- for the fifth time that still felt like the first- then crushed her to his chest, held her there while they both slipped under a thin veil of sleep. Not for long, as her heat and his rut would wake them both throughout the night, but it was a peaceful sleep, a dreamless sleep for the both of them.

Two pieces of one soul intertwined again, after a lifetime estranged.