“Oh, Goddess, not again,” Ryu groaned, covering his face with his hand. Just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse. “Every time we have a ceremony, or a festival, or a damn garden party, you make me go and dance with a bunch of completely dull twits in ridiculous gowns.” Yep, another lecture was right on the cards for this evening, as Ryu noted his father’s expression turn a shade or two darker. But he’d come this far, so he might as well finish the complaint. “All the noble omegas just flit about like they’re completely helpless. They want you to fetch a drink for them, they want to move to the shade because it’s too hot, they want to move to asunny spot because it’s too cold, they want you to hold their hand, so they don’t trip over their own two damn feet! It’s a wonder any of them are capable of getting themselves dressed in the morning!”
“Ryu, that is not an appropriate tone to use at the dining table,” his father reprimanded him, right on cue. “I know we’re having a private dinner this evening, but that is no excuse to forget your manners.”
Ryu clenched his jaw, not willing to dig the hole any deeper. “I’m sorry,” he apologised, not quite able to look the king in the eye. “But I genuinely don’t understand why you want me to spend so much time looking for a partner that I actually like when the chances of that person being my soulmate are slim to none.”
Elise let out a melodic laugh. “Oh, Ryu, all I’m trying to do is to persuade you to have a littlefun! Most alphas actuallyenjoydoing favours for omegas. Show a bit of leadership and you might be surprised who sits up and pays attention. Show off a bit of muscle. Well, uh… no, maybe that’s not really your thing,” she corrected herself hastily. “But nonetheless, you might find doing a little bit of flirting enjoyable anyway.”
Goddess above, hadhis own motherjust decided he wasn’t quite up to scratch as an alpha? What the hell did he have to do, start bench-pressing omegas and bellowing orders from the rooftops just to prove he had both the strength and attitude of an alpha?
“Besides which, this is not about finding your perfect match,” she continued, sweeping past her own insulting denouncement. “As you’ve said before, if we wanted to do that, we would just register your soul mark and be done with it. This is about learning whoyouare. Finding out whatyoulike in a partner. If you just give it a decent go for once, I honestly think you’ll find it’s not so difficult.”
“Yes, mother,” Ryu said, with an absolute lack of enthusiasm. “What a splendid idea.”
CHAPTER SIX
It was almost nine o’clock when Ryu finally escaped the dining room, and he headed straight for the royal apartment. As usual, his parents had stayed for a liqueur to finish off the meal, but he’d begged off the usual review of the politics of the day with the excuse that he wanted to go to bed early, so he could study for his maths exam in the morning. Whether or not his parents believed the lie, they both agreed, and he wasted no time in hightailing it out of there and up the stairs.
He’d been planning on playing half an hour of his favourite video game before bed, confident he’d be safely tucked away in his room before his parents arrived, but his plans changed the instant he came around the final corner into the hallway that led to his front door. Kentario was pacing the hall, and the immediate look of relief on his face made it clear he’d been waiting for Ryu.
“Thank the Goddess,” Kentario muttered. “I was worried you’d be coming back with your parents.”
“They’re still in the dining room,” Ryu told him, entering the code to open the security lock on the door. He held it open, letting Kentario go in ahead of him. “What the hell happened today?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing. Maro showed up at the hall, told me to get lost, then took over the whole ‘rescue’ operation.” A look of guilt crossed his face briefly before he turned away, still standing awkwardly in the entrance hall. “I’m so sorry. I should never have left you.”
“I don’t blame you for any of this,” Ryu said, moving further into the apartment. He collapsed on the sofa, worn out after a day of far too much stress. “It’s not like Maro gave you much of a choice.”
Kentario followed him, easing down gently onto the edge of the sofa. A few wisps of hair had escaped from his ponytail, and Ryu felt an urge to brush the dark strands away from his face.
Of course, if he actually did so, Kentario would think he’d lost his mind. But the man’s scent wasn’t doing anything to help Ryu’s roiling emotions. He was wearing a t-shirt with a low-cut neck, giving Ryu a clear view of his scent glands, and the scent currently rolling off him was dark and smoky – an indication that he was feeling both protective and apprehensive.
“What happened after I left?” his bodyguard asked.
“Not a whole lot. We went out the back of the school, got in the car, drove around a bit, then suddenly the guards on bikes had their sirens on and they’re arresting three guys in a big black SUV. That’s pretty much all I know.”
“Were you scared?” It was asked cautiously, as if Kentario was worried about offending him. But over the past two years, Ryu had come to trust his bodyguard implicitly, and he saw no reason to hide the truth from him now.
“I don’t know. It was weird. I mean, there’s Maro telling me I’m in danger and acting all tough and snappy, like he does when shit’s hitting the fan, but aside from right at the end, there were no sirens, no guns, no explosions. It was like, where’s the danger? I know my safety is a big deal and all, especially given who’s next in line for the throne, but it just seemed… I don’t know. It was like a fire drill, more than a real emergency.” He glanced up at Kentario. The man’s right hand was flexing agitatedly around the holster of his gun, the muscles of his thighs tense beneath his leather pants. “I’m guessing you’re pretty pissed off about it all?”
He was expecting any one of a variety of responses, the most likely being an unflattering comment about Maro’s manhood. But what Kentario actually said came straight out of left field.
“I was terrified of losing you.” The deep, smoky scent got stronger.
He meant the words in the professional sense, Ryu reminded himself, even as a warm thrill of longing shot through him. The stark honesty in Kentario’s eyes, the rough fear in his voice, made him feel precious and wanted and valued beyond reason.
But such feelings were completely inappropriate, he told himself forcefully. In just a couple of weeks, he would finally register his soul mark and meet his soulmate, and then they’d start some comical farce of a romance in which they both tried to convince each other that they were over the moon about the match. And at that point, he would have to very quickly and decisively get over this ridiculous crush on Kentario, once and for all. Alphas didn’t marry other alphas. Nobility did not marry their bodyguards. And princes most certainly did not even contemplate marrying anyone who was not their Goddess-ordained soulmate.
“I’m fine,” Ryu assured him, resisting the urge to reach out and take his hands in his own. “Really. I’m fine. I mean, I don’t like being a pawn in someone else’s political game,” he said, knowing that Kentario wouldn’tbelieve him if he just tried to sweep the whole incident under the rug. “But aside from that, I’m fine.”
Kentario didn’t reply. His eyes were fixed on the floor, and there was a look on his face that Ryu had never seen before. It was like grief, or embarrassment, or…
Shame.
It was both a relief and the cause of a sudden, gut-wrenching pain to realise that Ryu was apparently not the only one who was considered lacking competence to do his job properly. He was weeks away from becoming an adult, but in so many ways, still treated like a child. But over the years, he’d gotten used to his father’s disapproval, and he rationalised it by reminding himself that though he was nearly eighteen, he still had a lot to learn about life.
But Kentario had been doing his job for years, and being told now that he wasn’t capable of completing it must hurt like a well-aimed bullet in the back.
“I believe in you,” he told Kentario, meaning the words from the bottom of his heart. “Even if they don’t.” He didn’t bother with idle platitudes and dismissed the insulting idea that Kentario would have plenty of time to prove himself later, even as it crossed his mind. That was the sort of thing people told Ryu constantly, and it only ever made him angry. Instead, he just let his words hang in the air unadorned.
