Missing some vital pieces, I’d wager. I felt my lips curl back, baring my teeth.
“Then the Guildmaster sent word two years ago that they had an Omega in a camp who wasn’t broken. My father made a bid for you and told me I was to be your mate. But I refused, unless he promised to let you choose, after we met.”
“Choose you, you mean?” She snarled. “Did you think you could force me to choose? Wait for me to go into heat and trick me?”
“Roya!” The young man barked her name, and she jumped. “Be still and listen to me.” She glared at him, and he puffed up his chest. “I would never force you to make any choice. You have lured more than enough Alphas here. I would protect you while you went into heat, fucking watch if that was all you would allow.”
He dropped to one knee before her. “Omegas always choose, Roya. The Goddess protects you. If you only allowed me only the chance to gaze upon your face, I would take it and count myself the most fortunate of warriors.” His eyes blazed. “You are everything a woman should be. Fierce, brave, loyal, strong. You fight for justice with no thought to gain. Your beauty is insignificant, compared to the magnificence of your soul. Roya, you are not an Omega to me. You are my queen.” He dropped his head.
“All I ask is that you believe me when I say every choice I’ve made has been to protect you. Every step I take from now until I die, will be in service to you. Take me as a mate, take my life if you must. But I will never stop loving you. And I will never leave you.”
I found a smile creeping over my face. It was a glorious thing, to witness a young Alpha coming into his manhood. To know that he saw what I did. That he was worthy of this woman.
My heart broke just a little at the realization that I had found the one who would be with my queen when I was gone. Whether she accepted him as her mate or not, he had pledged himself to her.
“You’ll gather flies like that, Roya,” I said as I limped past. “Close your mouth.” I heard a click as she shut it, but she didn’t look away from Kavin, her eyes glistening with emotion.
Which was as it should be, though my heart ached fiercely at the knowledge that at least on some level, Roya felt for the young man, too.
“Kavin should join us. Altair, as well. We must get you to safety. Your heat is coming on fast, and you need to be with Alphas you trust.”
“Or I could find some more herbs,” she muttered.
“Your heat will be worse because you took them for so long.” Kavin shrugged when she sputtered a protest.
“The side effect is infertility! Tell him, Thorn.” I shook my head when she glanced my way, and she went pale.
Kavin frowned. “I tried to warn you, side effects are wildly different between Betas and Omegas. Betas don’t have heats. An Omega cycles once every twelve months from the age of eighteen, if not earlier. You’ve missed at least two cycles, so your body will force the heat more quickly, and it will be painful. Longer, like three cycles at once. If you took more herbs now, it would only cause more serious side effects. Truly, you are probably more fertile now than before.” I shot him a look to stop there; she didn’t need to know there was a possibility she might die.
Roya blinked. “Goddess, anything else?”
Kavin shrugged, his eyes glittering with suppressed frustration and anger. “It’s possible you’ll cycle more than once a year for the first few years. And your lure will continue to attract Alphas until your Omega nature feels you are well-protected.”
A weak voice carried over from the sleeping pile of sailors. “I may not be worth much as an Alpha, but I would protect you, Roya.”
“Altair!” She ran to him. “I didn’t give you much; Thorn and I needed to be sure—” He reached up and allowed her to help him rise, then swatted her on the bottom. “What?” She puffed up like an offended kitten.
“You deserve more than that for drugging your Alpha.”
“My Alpha?” she repeated. “You think you’re mine?”
“I know it, woman,” he said. “I may not be the only one, but I am yours, heart and soul. Now, I’m assuming something went wrong with Icarus, since his men are sleeping like the dead?”
“Yes.” I turned back to the hut where I had left the wyvern. “He’s planning to take Roya to his brother Talon and give her to him.”
“Truly?” Altair seemed shocked. “For a mate? Even now?”
I narrowed my eyes. “You knew of his plan?”
“I knew someone from Wyngel would come for her. Before I knew who she was, my servants woke me with news of your arrival on Havira. I…” He turned a sickly shade. “I had them send a messenger bird.”
“You traitor!” Roya hissed. She grabbed her cloak, and I wondered if she was about to kill the man. Her temper was beyond frayed; I recognized the signs of an impending explosion.
“Roya, I had no idea who you were,” he pleaded. “Only that there was an Omega who would be in danger. I messaged Talon to ask for assistance in getting whoever it was away from the regent, before she was murdered like so many others. I did not know then that my servant had heard your name from Gullen and included it in the message.”
His voice was filled with pain, and honesty. I nodded, and Altair continued, “I’m just shocked that Icarus would still be planning to give Roya to his brother for any reason—as a mate, or even to protect.”
“Why would he not?”
