The king stepped in front of Stark. His shoulders were pushed back and his chin was held high in the air. He glanced for a moment at Scout with an unreadable expression, then turned to Killian.
“Killian,” he said.
“Father,” Killian said curtly.
“You were expected in the meeting room five minutes ago,” the king said, his cool voice barely covering up the annoyance in his tone. “Is there a reason you’ve been delayed?”
The king barely concealed a glare in Scout’s direction. Scout shrank back, but Killian gripped him tighter.
“No,” the prince stated. He stood and was about to make his way over to the door, but stopped, leaned down, and pressed a deliberate kiss to Scout’s lips.
When Killian finally pulled away, Scout saw the small smile on Stark’s face and the tight-lipped frown on the king’s, but he was too elated to care about the king’s disappointment right now. All he could think of in the afterglow of Killian’s kiss was how soft and strong his mate’s lips were. He let out a gentle sigh.
“I’ll see you soon,” Killian said, shooting a final smile in Scout’s direction before he disappeared behind the door with Stark and the king.
Scout slumped back on the bed. The room seemed so vast and empty without Killian’s strong presence filling it. He stared upat the tall ceiling. In the silence, the thoughts of his conversation with Killian came rushing back — the stolen omegas, how the king hadn’t sent a rescue party for them — and he shuddered. He rolled over, trying to force the thoughts out of his mind. They weren’t useful right now; not when he felt so helpless.
But then he remembered Killian’s face — the resolve etched across his features as he promised to save the omegas. Scout smiled. Maybe he wasn’t so helpless after all. Maybe he’d underestimated how important and influential being the alpha prince’s mate could be.
He sat up and forced himself out of bed. He knew from experience how easy it was to fall into a cycle of depressing thoughts. He shook his head. There was no need for that anymore. His life was great now — he lived in the royal manor and was mated to the alpha prince, for God’s sake.
Scout strolled through the hallway, past the meeting room’s tightly shut door, to the open courtyard. On either side the walls fell away and Scout could see how far the orchard stretched in every direction. He inhaled deeply, taking in the lovely floral scents of apple and cherry blossoms. He leaned on the marble railing and looked down at the ocean of flowers below.
It happened so fast.
Scout didn’t pay much mind to the sound behind him. He was too absorbed in the beauty of the blossoms that he barely noticed the familiar clicking of claws on tile. His mind just didn’t process it as a threat — the guards were allowed to roam the palace in their wolf forms, surely.
But adrenaline exploded into his bloodstream as something hard and heavy slammed into him from behind. Scout gasped, his vision flashing black and stars bursting behind his eyes as his forehead thudded against the marble railing. In a panic, he tried to struggle, to at least turn around and see his assailant, but the figure was huge — it had him pinned to the tile floor where he laid, shaking and afraid for his life.
Scout was vaguely aware of someone screaming. His mind was fogged over with fear, but one single thought pierced the thickening haze — Killian’s voice.
“Silvercreek pack has been stealing omegas from our territory.”
A sharp, lucid feeling pierced through Scout. That was it. He was an omega. He was being stolen.
The panic boiling in his blood turned to anger. In an instant, he shifted into his own wolf form, but — being an omega — he was much smaller than a beta or alpha shifter. Scout’s attacker was easily twice his size, and no matter how hard Scout fought to kick and scratch him away, the assailant didn’t budge.
Scout’s sudden rage melted back into fear. He cried out. They were going to take him away. They were going to do who-knew-what to him. He wouldn’t see Killian again.
Where was Killian?
A shrieking noise tore the air, followed by a dark blur and a rush of wind. It took Scout a moment to realize what happened. The wolf on top of him was gone.
He scrambled to his paws. His chest was heaving and he felt like his lungs were going to burst.
On top of the grey wolf that attacked Scout was another giant wolf — huge, with snapping white fangs and a thick black pelt.
“Killian…?” Scout asked through their telepathic connection.
But the alpha prince was too busy fighting off the grey wolf to respond. This was the first time Scout had seen his mate in wolf form. It was the angriest he’d seen any wolf in his life. His face was twisted into a horrible snarl, showing off every single one of his sharp white fangs. His yellow eyes glinted with fury as he swiped a massive paw across the assailant’s face, sending chunks of fur flying across the courtyard.
The wolf beneath Killian flailed and scrambled out of his grip. Scout’s heart pounded. For a moment he was sure the wolf would run away — he was clearly outmatched by Killian and never tried to attack him back, only defend himself — but to Scout’s horror, the wolf ran straight towards him.
Scout barely had time to gasp before the grey wolf was on him again. It sunk its fangs into Scout’s back leg as he tried to turn and scamper away. He cried out in pain. The sharp teeth penetrated his skin and punctured the flesh below. Scout kicked and struggled, crying out in pain until the black furious mass that was Killian appeared again, slamming into the grey wolf’s side.
But this time the wolf did not let go.
“Killian!”Scout cried through their mental link. “He’s trying to steal me!”
