I miss him.
I knew he was going to ruin me right at the start, and I still walked blindly into the fire. And how it burned so brightly. How I loved every moment of it, and would do it all again.
The moment is steeped in tragedy; to understand, you must move beyond something you desire more than life itself. He’s now part of the ruling elite. He will go down in history and help shape the future of an Empire with many worlds and people.
My love and pride in him bloom anew even as my heart is sore. I knew he was extraordinary. This is only him proving it. He deserves this. How many people will look at him today, and in the days to come, and wish they could have his eyes on them, his touch, his lips, if only for a moment.
And I got that, didn’t I? I got more than most.
But this empty space in my heart still hurts… And when the screen cuts away to someone else, it feels like he’s being torn from me all over again.
I never told him I loved him. Probably for the best, with hindsight. One less opportunity to make a fool of myself.
This time, when the camera cuts back, there’s a young female reporter poised to ask him a question.
“What are your first plans, Governor Thorne?”
“My first plans are personal in nature.” He smiles and shifts his eyes from the reporter to the camera. That smile has a distinctly wolfish aspect, and it feels like it’s directed right at me.“I misplaced something after my last mission. So, you know, it’s time I went and collected her.”
Someone squeals on the other side of the room.
Someone else shushes them.
Her?I can’t breathe.
“This is very intriguing, Governor Thorne,” the reporter says, a laugh in her voice. “Can we assume that this mystery‘her’is important?”
“Yeah,” he says, “You definitely could say that.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Zeb
Ifield a few more questions before the press secretary steps in and commandeers the media’s attention. It’s the opening I need to slip away.
Out of the corner of my eye, I feel Governor Brach watching me. He gives a small nod.
By now, he’s probably concluded that zetas are every bit as possessive as alphas. Ethan Black and Ryker Sherwin—and the chaos they’ve caused with his daughter—have no doubt taught him that sometimes it’s smarter to yield than interfere.
Not a chance I’m backing down on this course of action.
Omegas are rare and reserved for the elite alphas whether that’s a controller or those wielding political power. Other dynamics, they don’t get to make a claim. So, you know, it took me a while to get myself into a position where I felt I could make a credible pitch without just resorting to kidnapping my woman.
I mean, that was on the table if Brach wasn’t going to play ball, but it’s better like this, and she deserves the best, to live in a nice home, one where she doesn’t need to be looking over her shoulder fearing some asshole will rip us apart.
Not that I would let that happen, but my girl’s a worrier. Don’t want her worrying, not in her condition.
I slip into the back of a sleek glider with its butter-soft leather seats.
“Where to, sir?” my driver asks.
“The omega community.”
His return smile is small. “Yes, sir.”
We take to the sky, gliding over the soaring towers of the government district, heading due west.
I wonder if she saw the news report.
