"Do you know her?"
"Mhm. Emily Anderson," Brigid said as the woman who looked to be a little older than Brigid herself stepped slowly down the stairs.
My eyebrows rose at that. I hadn't ever met the woman, but I knew who she was. "Cameron Murray's omega?"
Brigid nodded, her stare following Emily's progress toward the stage. "She made that man rich with her family's shipping business. Malcolm always said it drove Murray mad that he couldn't lay claim to the business himself, only the money. I suppose he decided he had enough of it now to last him."
"If it's her business that makes him prosperous, why look for another omega?" I asked, watching Brigid's expressions twist and shift.
"No heir," she murmured. "They had an affair."
I frowned. "Her beta and?—"
Brigid shook her head, eyes bouncing quickly now between the stage and Emily Anderson. "Malcolm and Emily. For a year or so. She was the first woman I caught him with."
I stiffened, following her gaze finally and realizing what she watched. Malcolm stood center stage, and his eyes tracked the fluttering, giggling swarms of omegas like a predator, but he seemed to take no notice of Emily, who was only just mounting the steps. The crowd was loud and boisterous, arguments and joyful unions taking place throughout the field. One young girlstood nearly wrapped around her lover, as two older figures, clearly her parents, pleaded at her oblivious back.
I'd made a mess of the local dragonkin. But my focus was on my omega.
"Do you hate her?"
Brigid turned to me then, looking genuinely surprised at the thought. Color flashed in her cheeks, and she settled, leaning more fully into me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, now interested to see how things would play out on the stage.
"I did at the time," Brigid admitted softly. "When I was foolish enough to think Malcolm might've been true to me if not for the seduction of another woman. It didn't take long to realize that was never the case."
Malcolm stiffened as Emily neared him on the stage, as if suddenly realizing thepossibilityof being claimed, but she passed him without a glance.
"Who do you think she will choose?" I asked Brigid.
Her brow furrowed as she scanned the stage and her frown deepened. "I'm afraid she will go back to Murray."
"After he took his chances looking for a new omega?" I asked, startled by the idea, now searching for the man on the stage. He stood in the corner, clearly disgruntled by the absolute lack of interest of any of the younger women. He was an old beta, albeit a wealthy one, but it seemed the young woman who'd first claimed her handsome beau had set the tone for the afternoon. The omegas were makingtheir ownchoices, and the winners of the day appeared to be younger betas of various standing.
"Sometimes, it's easier to forgive," Brigid muttered, wincing as she shrugged. She froze, and then her expression cleared, eyes widening slightly and lips curving up at the corners.
Emily Anderson had stopped, but not in front of Malcolm or Murray, or any of the other older beta gentlemen who might've been amenable to a companion rather than a woman youngenough to produce an heir. She stood now in front of a very tall, very surprised, and somewhat shabby looking young beta. I didn't recognize him, but he had more of the look of a human farmer than a member of dragonkin nobility, if not for his almost comically large black wings. Perhaps he would grow into them. Either way, he stared down at the petite and lovely older woman. Dragonkin males' ages might be deceptive, but it was clear this lad wasn't very long past his majority, somewhere in his twenties. He was young for a beta, but then again, he was a great deal closer in age to Emily than she had been to her previous beta.
He spoke to the omega, having to hunch to reach her ear. Brigid's hand squeezed mine as Emily rose up on her toes, one hand resting on the young dragon's shoulder, her lips whispering back into his ear. He nodded, obviously eager, eyes wide and earnest, and Emily offered him a small smile.
And then the young man snatched the woman off her toes, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other hand catching her at the back of the neck. Brigid huffed a laugh as Emily Anderson was kissed by her eager new beta.
"She'll make him rich," Brigid said to me, with a smile in her eyes that I usually only saw after thoroughly pleasing her in bed. "And I expect she'll enjoy his…youthful vigor?"
It looked as thoughmanyof Grave Hills' omegas would be enjoying youthful vigor. It also looked as though I was going to have a fight on my hands from some of the older, more established, morepowerfulbetas.
I should've cared. I should've regretted my plan for the day.
But two delicate fingers were sliding up the back of my neck, twisting a lock of hair at my nape. A soft breast pressed to my arm, and warm breath caressed my ear.
"If we leave now, we can have the keep locked before the dust settles," she teased.
Some of the betas, the ones who'd won eager omegas today, were wisely considering the same, fervent couples making their way out of the crowds, hopefully soon to find their way home.
On the stage, still at the center, Malcolm Barr remained standing alone, glaring daggers not at me, but at my omega. I swallowed the growl in my throat and turned to Brigid, lowering the arm over her shoulder to wrap around her waist.
"I'll have to bear their complaints," I said, and then to soften the rejection before she could misinterpret it, I added, "And truth be told, if I go to bed with you, omega, we may not make it back out for the Flight."
I caught the wince of her features, but Francis Keane—who had not subjected himself to the humiliation of the stage—was marching closer with a warning glare, and I didn't have a moment to quiz my omega.
