Prologue
Sebastian
“Tell it again!” I demanded, my eyes bugging out as I pouted like I always did to get my way.
Grandpa chuckled, and I knew I had him. “All right, Sebby. It all began when I was a young omega, just nearing my first heat. I was promised to be married to a young man, and, naïve as I was, I believed we could be happy. But he soon turned violent, making me scared to even exist.” My grandfather shook his head in anger. “And one day, my magic told me it was enough. I screamed at the top of my lungs, and my magic calmed the alpha, making him docile and friendly. Other alphas were affected, too, making the world a safer place for all of us. You have to remember, Sebby, that alphas do not wish to harm omegas; it is simply their violent nature that makes them unable to stop themselves. Their instinct to dominate drives them. That is why the king needs to release his magic every year: to ensure the safety and peaceful co-existence of all alphas and omegas. It is our duty. Our calling.”
“Mine too!” I piped up, loving the ending, the one where he spoke the magic words, which always left me with pride as the heir.
“You, Sebby, are the next king in line after your father, and our hope for a bright and safe future. One day, you will find an alpha and give birth to the next king and tell him this very story, so that our past never repeats itself. You, Sebastian, are our future.”
Chapter 1
Sebastian
The day I’d dreaded my entire life was apparently here. I eyed my four royal advisors with masked fear as they approached me. I’d thought this gloriously sunny day would be spent lounging in the shade and just enjoying the peace and quiet of the palace gardens, but my advisors seemed determined to ruin this tranquil moment, as they eagerly moved across the gravel to where I was sitting on a blanket.
“Your Majesty,” the eldest of them, Brennan, said, bowing his head. “It is time.”
I sighed internally. Yes, it was just as I’d feared.
“But,” I began, protesting like I’d done for years, but Clive, another senior advisor, interrupted me.
“You need an heir, Your Majesty. The entire future of your kingdom is at stake. It can’t be postponed any longer. The people are getting restless. They want an heir, Your Majesty.”
An heir. I scoffed. They’d always been pushy about me having a child, but they seemed to forget how dangerous alphas wereto us omegas. That was, after all, why they always insisted on picking the alphas who served me during my heats, stating it was a precaution to ensure my safety. Never had I been able to choose for myself. I was reluctant to let an alpha breed me and bear his child. Couldn’t I just pick another omega as my successor? Some distant cousin or something? I already knew the answer. Another omega wouldn’t do. They wouldn’t have the power, the magic, to suppress the alphas, which was the only real reason I was king. I held the unique power, passed on to me by my father and my grandfather before him.
My grandfather had been the first omega to be blessed with magic. His own alpha mate had been a cruel man, like all alphas were, and my grandfather’s magic had protected him. Once a year, my grandfather had used his magic to suppress the violent and destructive nature of the alphas and now, I was the one performing the ritual at a yearly ceremony, subduing the alphas’ instincts and urges so they posed no threat to us omegas.
“Your Majesty,” Brennan urged, sounding a tad annoyed by my reluctance.
“Can’t I wait another year?” I pleaded. I was the king, but still I had to listen to my royal advisors if I wanted to continue being a good leader. I knew that. It wasn’t justmyfuture at stake here, but the entire kingdom’s. I just feared what might happen when I carried an alpha’s child.
My own alpha father had been shipped overseas as soon as my omega father became pregnant. It was customary for omegas to raise their children on their own since alphas were only used for the actual breeding. Would the alpha who bred me end up overseas too?
“Your Majesty,” Clive began, using the same tone as when I was a child. “You’re already past your prime time of conception.” Wow, okay, rude. “If you keep putting it off, it could prove dangerous for you to give birth.”
Sighing, I gave in with a nod. I knew it was pointless arguing any further. “Am I at least allowed to pick this one myself?”
Four shaking heads was all the answer I got.
Jerold gave me a pitying look. “It simply wouldn’t be wise, Your Majesty.” He was my favorite of the four of them, not that it meant much, since I truly didn’t care much for any of them. They were simply too old-fashioned to see reason. I looked forward to the day their sons, some of whom were my close friends, would take over their positions.
Nicholai stepped forward and bowed his head. “Think of my Elias, Your Majesty. He protested this very thing himself, and look how happy he is today.”
Nicholai probably wouldn’t be this elated if he ever learned the truth. That my best friend Elias had been taken by one of the royal guards and not the alpha Nicholai had chosen for him. I loved my best friend, and his secret would stay with me, even if I found him foolish for having a child with an alpha this close by. Elias could give birth any moment now, and I feared what the alpha would do once that happened. It was reckless, to say the least.
“You’re right,” I conceded, because Eliaswashappy. I blamed it on the hormones. That simply had to be the only reason he was so damn joyful as he walked around with that big belly. Elias had, like myself, not wanted a pregnancy. He’d feared what would happen with the alpha, because we all knew there was a huge difference between being with an alpha through your heat and being bred by one.
“We’re only doing this to protect the future omegas, Your Majesty. Remember that,” Clive stated before they all bowed their heads and left me. A sudden chill ran through me despite the sunny day, and the ground, which had before felt warm and soft underneath me, was now hard and cold. I shivered at the thought of my upcoming heat.
Would they be leaving to find my alpha already? Or would I have a few days to get used to the idea? Who was I kidding? Knowing my advisors, they would be leaving within the hour.
Sighing, I stood and went to seek Elias. Maybe talking this through with him would do me some good.
I spotted my best friend wobbling toward the palace library. Since his job was to assist my royal advisors and one day take over his father’s position, he didn’t have much to do now that he couldn’t shadow them. I quickly caught up with him, since his growing belly made it increasingly harder for him to move around effortlessly.
“Elias!” I called out as I reached him.
