“Knights!” he called. “This alpha is attacking me!”
Usually I would’ve watched my mouth, but this man had just attacked Sebastian for no reason I could discern. If Sebastian had thrown a rock at him or something first, I would have understood. This was just idiocy. I didn’t care if the knights answered his call.
“Shut the fuck up,” I said.
The omega paled, then went still from fear in my grip.
With him under control, I glanced down to Sebastian. Thankfully, he didn’t seem hurt, just startled. He got to his feet and dusted himself off with an irritated expression.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Fine,” Sebastian mumbled. But I knew at a glance that he wasn’t completely fine. It worried me to see that, beneath the surface level irritation, there was a layer of fear.
I hated it. I hated seeing him scared.
“Why did you attack the prince?” I demanded, whirling back on the assailant.
The omega’s face was a flurry of emotion, going from rage to terror to betrayal. “Your alpha is attacking me, Your Highness!” Even as he begged Sebastian for help, there was a snide tone in the way he addressed him. Was this man for fucking real? “Knights! I’m being attacked by an alpha!”
The clanging of armor filled the courtyard, along with the gasps of bystanders. My blood instinctively began to race. Memories of the entrance hall flooded back to me, too fresh from yesterday. I didn’t want a repeat of the situation that had terrified Sebastian and his younger brothers.
I let go of the omega and stepped back to Sebastian’s side. In any other situation, I might have stood behind him, but I wasn’t convinced this guy wouldn’t try anything again. If he was bold enough to attack the prince in broad daylight, would the presence of the knights stop him?
“Do not come any closer,” Sebastian said. “And don’t you dare lay a hand on my alpha.”
The knights stopped in their tracks. Despite the grievous taboo I’d committed—an alpha reacting aggressively to an omega—the word of the prince might as well have been law. I let out a small breath of relief. Good. I didn’t want to have to fight off knights again.
The courtyard went silent until the middle-aged omega began to babble angrily.
“You—you hypocrite! You traitor! I can’t believe you! I don’t care if youarethe prince, you should be arrested for your crimes!”
The few muffled gasps from the crowd faded as Sebastian spoke. His voice was loud and clear.
“Mr. Woods,” he said. “You have already assaulted me in public, so be thankful I haven’t had you executed on the spot. Be warned now that I won’t tolerate any further infractions. Youwillwatch your mouth when you speak to me.”
The omega called Woods vibrated with fury. His hands were fists that shook at his side. “You stole Bjorn away from me, and for what? So you could turn around and do the same thing that I did?”
I sucked in a breath.
Bjorn?
The pieces fell into place. The anger, the raw emotion. The outrageous behavior of both this omega and Bjorn. This man must have been Eugene, the omega who had purchased Bjorn. Obviously, the alpha could be no other than my friend who had been purchased and then promptly returned. But now he was a different man. Almost… broken.
But Woods seemed broken, too. There was no other explanation for it. Their forced separation had wrecked them, turned them into the shells of men they used to be. They were both frantic, edgy, and highly emotional in a way that almost felt dangerous. Like they would both doanythingto reach the other.
“I did no such thing to you, Mr. Woods,” Sebastian went on. “I had no part in separating you from your alpha.”
Remembering Bjorn’s angry commentary, I said, “Bjorn said it was the knights and an omega from the upper ring who ratted you out. He never mentioned the prince.”
This stilled Woods for a second. When he realized I’d talked to Bjorn since their separation, his eyes lit up. He suddenly forgot his anger and talked to me excitedly, like Sebastian didn’t even exist. “What did he say? Did he mention me?”
“He did,” I said. “He… he seemed like he wanted to return to you.”
Woods gaped. His eyes filled with tears and he began weeping. It was an uncomfortable display, but one that confirmed my strange idea. I’d doubted Bjorn, but he was telling the truth. They really had forged a close mutual relationship, even in that short span of time.
What the hell was going on?
The knights slowly moved in to apprehend Woods. Whatever happened, he had still attacked the prince without provocation right in full view of everybody.
