The problem of the land dispute might be simple enough, provided good land was all Malcolm was really coveting. I could negotiate a parcel for him on his terms. But there was spite in the position he'd put his omega in, and that spoke of a more complicated twist. I wanted the woman away from his machinations, but that would mean putting another woman, probably a younger one, in his way.
I rolled away from the sun with a groan, planting my hands in my bed to rise up, when the sound of a distant male shout, nearly a bark, echoed through the keep and to my door. With a cold shock of warning, I leapt from the bed, scrambling into a pair of leather trousers—there wasn't time to wrap my plaid—and throwing open the door, nearly scaring a maid into dropping a jug of water.
"Who is that downstairs?" I asked, snapping the words a little too hard.
The maid gaped at me, and I shook my head, pushing past her.
"A local beta, my lord. His omega is?—"
Brigid Grant. It didn't matter how drunk I'd been—fairly, but not terribly—her name was as clear and firm in my mind as her voice had been, as the hard little tip of her chin as she'd stared stubbornly back at me.
I ran down the stairs, the stone hard under my bare feet, cold morning air nipping at my bare chest.
"Going behind my back?—"
"You cannot take my home from me, Malcolm!"
The beta snarled something too low to hear in answer just as I made it to the balcony that overlooked the great room. Therewere a few betas that lived near the keep watching the scene, watching the large man reach for Brigid Grant, her spine stiff as she leaned back but refusing to give quarter by stepping away from him.
All at once, the worst and simplest solution rose up in me. The idea I'd toyed with and rejected a half dozen times in the night before falling asleep with it rooted in my imagination.
"I know you aren't about to touch my omega, Malcolm Barr."
The room stilled into a tableau of outraged shock, every man and maid freezing in place, aside from one. Brigid stepped out of reach of the beta who'd berated her, moving toward the stairs. I took slow steps to meet her, keeping my eyes on Barr, pleased with the silence of her acquiescence.
"Alpha Feargus," Barr said, turning my name into a curse. Someone had tended the scratch my dragon had delivered to his right wing, plastering it to give it time to heal. He wasn't up for another fight with me. "Brigid may not have been at my side at recent events, but you cannot be unaware?—"
"You cannot be unaware that the alpha has the right to take the omega he chooses. Whoever she may be," I said, descending the stairs.
Of course, it would be akin to declaring war to claim another man's omega.
"I have not lived under your roof for five years," Brigid murmured.
Malcolm raised a brow and glared at her. "In fact of contract, you have."
"In fact of contract, that roof now belongs to me," I said, raising the signed papers in the air. "'And to whomever she is bound, she brings with her the assets left to her.'"
There was more, and I wondered if Brigid had seen it there, or if she'd taken Malcolm at his word. Her freedom was nearly inthe contract. It would take someone to argue her case, but it was possible.
My current solution was simpler.
Barr's upper lip curled with menace, but he focused that stare on Brigid rather than me. He'd always been obsequious with my father, and that facade was failing to stand in the face of this betrayal. Which was what this was. I wasn't a fool. He probably thought I was doing it out of spite for the way he'd orchestrated the other betas against me in the battle yesterday. For that reason alone, I'd searched for a different solution, knowing too well how much it would cost me with my new position to steal an omega away from one of the betas.It wouldn't please the other men for me to appear so pettily vengeful on the back of a victory.
"She's barren," Barr spat out.
Then again, he's a bastard, I thought, all remorse vanishing.
Brigid flinched, a sharp catch of breath and a faltering step. But I'd reached the main floor, reached her, and as she swayed back, I caught her waist in my hand. For a moment, her weight leaned into me, surrendering. Smug, dark satisfaction unfurled through me, my wings spreading around us.
This was a terrible plan. I'd have Barr and the other betas at my throat for years at least, a clear line drawn between us. I'd fight them tooth and nail for every proposal I issued.
It was right too. Brigid gathered herself once more, body lean but strong, and made no move to pull away from me.
"Then you will have the opportunity to find a more fruitful partner," she said, chin lifting. She had a long, graceful throat, and she hadn't replaced the shawl tucked into her dress this morning, so the lines and shadows of her clavicle were on display, elegant and a little too pronounced.
"We can discuss land. There are—" I started, knowing any consolation would be too belated an offer now.
The beta growled, hands fisting at his side and jaw working under the heavy dark beard. "Keep your pity parcels. I'll keep my anger,AlphaFeargus. Don't show weakness now, not when you led with force."
