There were hugs, of course, the story of the unexpected trip to the Seelie Court one they were all discussing across the Pack.
Donovan took a steadying breath. Some of this he would have to tell the coven and Serepta, no doubt. Other pieces would be carried around and people would have opinions about the Legate’s omega.
Greene was not there, Donovan noted. And he squeezed Seath’s hand back. More like Pack-Alpha, or soon-to-be.
“First of all, I should say thank you.” Donovan smiled, wanting to clear his throat, but not. He had been taught to talk when there were difficult times, difficult truths. And he had been taught to do so with his back straight and his voice clear.
“I want you to hear that from me,” he continued, eyes meeting those of everyone in the room. “The me you know, in case the me I am about to tell you about is different to you in any way that matters.
“It is true. I am Prince Donovan of Taured. My memories were restored at the Seelie Court. As that is a place where the unseen becomes seen and where truth is known, Serepta and Caine both were there and agree this is the truth of who I am.”
Donovan made sure to continue the eye contact.
“I was a spoiled prince, and that’s not something I can hide. The youngest of three, and a male omega. Everyone here knows Taured. You know our customs, what we believe. You might know an omega hasn’t ever taken the throne there, although there is a claim to omegas being treated equally to Alphas.”
In Donovan’s mind’s eye he could see the rolling hills. Olive trees and vineyards of his childhood. He could smell the scents of a salty sea and feel warm sun on the stone casement of his window where he overlooked a world that was both his, and also never meant for him.
“I was not happy with my lot in life, but I accepted it. I was not content to be fragile, and demanded to be taught like my brother and sister. To defend myself, to do the things a boy does to gain muscle and strength and become a man.”
He held up his arm, flexing his thin muscle with a goofy smile. “It worked, marginally. There were, of course, those who disapproved of such antics from a male omega. But, the tide was changing, and I was trained along with my brother and sister, even as the lone omega.”
His eyes unfocused as the group laughed at his joke. He focused on what had happened that led him here.
“My parents died when I was young, putting my brother in charge. He was too young to rule, so my uncle stepped in. My uncle is not a bad man. But, he had no children, and did not want to be the handler of a teenage-king. But he did it. His views on omegas were more traditional than those of my parents. He wanted me prepared for my fated mate, not living my own life until the time came.
“It was—is—a point of great pride in Taured, for some, that I had a fated mate. I think Tremon was happier about the pairing and the prediction than he was about me even being gone. So, he hired someone to help me learn the ways of the NorthWest Pack. An omega-tutor.
“I hated her. Hated the idea that my future was not my own. The duties of the crown weighed heavily once my parents died, and the idea of my life being chosen for me by some old seer and the stars was not something I wanted to accept.
“My brothers also were quick to talk about me being paired with a shifter, which was seen also as something below us. Despite the fact that as omega-mate to the Northwest Pack, I would have greater luxuries, greater freedom, than in Taured.”
Donovan felt the sting in his eyes. He had been incredibly foolish. The privilege of the young, to know everything and have the world so clear, only to live a little longer and know how wrong he was.
“You can call it the selfishness of the young, the hurt of a spoiled child who now had to grow up — but any way you look at it . . .well, the burden rests on me.” Donovan kept talking but in his mind, he was back in Taured, meeting Lisette for the first time. He let his mind reminisce and his words follow for the group.
He told them how Lisette had come to tutor him and earned his trust. He told her things he had never told a soul. How he resented the jealousy of his other siblings who did not have a fated mate. How he resented the choices given to his Alpha siblings.
He had believed, naively, that telling someone, confiding in them would make the burden easier to bear.
It had not.
Instead, that dark seed of discontent grew and grew. He could hear whispers when he walked the halls. Whispers when he slept, or more often when he didn’t sleep because those same whispers had kept him up.
Inside, the dark swirl of hurt from losing his parents transformed into something dark and bitter.
Finally, it was time to make plans to meet his fated mate. He had heard the name, but refused to look him up, refused to see a picture of Seath Rawson. A child-like refusal to open his eyes and face reality.
And then, an idea had sprung forth.
Lisette had told him, two years into their student and tutor relationship, that there was a way to get rid of the fated bond.
“She what?” Seath said, gasping at the words. He didn’t mean to interrupt, but breaking the bond was not a slight thing. Not at all. It had huge repercussions to try and as far as he knew, it could not be done.
Donovan cracked then, reaching for his mate’s hand. His regal bearing didn’t shift, but he drew in a deep breath of air, as if keeping his emotions in check.
“At the time, I wanted out of it. I was obsessed with the idea once it took hold. Lisette told me I would lose myself in this mating. Become nothing but the reactions to the whim of my mate. It was like something reached into my mind and refocused everything to that idea and how awful it would be, how I had to get out of it. I barely thought any thoughts other than those about how I could get out of the bond.”
Caine leaned forward, gathering each word Donovan spoke like apples from the harvest. “Did Lisette give you anything? A token? Something you would wear, perhaps?”
