“No! You cannot!”
Hunter grabs the orb. Light blazes around his hands, bright enough to blind. I cry out, along with several members of the crowd. Hunter leaps into the air and raises his arms, spiking the orb. It smashes on the flagstones at his feet. There’s another blast of light, and a chemical smell rises.
What the actual fuck?
The room erupts. People in the back scoop up their crying children. There’s a stampede to leave. Alpha guards are shouting.
The hooded councilors and courtiers throng the throne, crowding as close to the dais as they can without getting near the broken orb that’s oozing foul-smelling fluid onto the floor.
“This is an abomination,” one is shouting. “You have given injury to the Stone King!”
“This could mean war!”
“There is only one answer,” Mikkan says. “We must surrender the Omega to the Stone King.” His eyes flit over me before he turns to the rest of the councilors, some of whom are nodding along. “She is rightfully his. He arranged—and likely paid a great deal—to have her brought here.”
“Hestolethe Ogsul technology,” Brokk argues, pushing through the crowd. “I doubt he paid anything. Besides, that is of no consequence. Surely after everything the Hunter King has done for our people, he deserves an Omega. He saved us from the Slythin once, he can do so again. You should be standing by him.” He glares at the chaotic room. “Allof you! We should support our king!”
I’m frozen on the throne. There’s a deep, throbbing ache in my chest. Disheartened doesn’t seem a good enough word for what I’m feeling. Devastated is more like it.
Hunter stands over the orb. He nudges a shard of glass with his foot, looking like he wishes it wasn’t broken, so he can smash it again.
Unable to stand to look at him for a moment longer, I slide off my chair and rush out of the room. Nobody follows me.
He doesn’t follow me.
I’m blinded by stinging tears but I don’t know why I’m weeping. My feet take me straight to our private quarters—when did I start regarding them as ours?— but I’m unable to get in on account of the stupid magic doors hidden within the wall.
I stand in front of them, glaring.
Luckily, a hooded Beta appears.
“Open them,” I say, and my voice has a ringing command to it I didn’t even know I was capable of.
The servant glides to a tile and as soon as she’s standing on it, the thick doors slide smoothly open.
“Thank you. I do not wish to be disturbed.” With as much dignity as someone who was just bested by a set of doors can muster, I march on into the bedchamber.
Then I throw myself onto the furs on the giant bed, squeeze my eyes shut to prevent the tears from coming, and try to gather my thoughts. I want to make a pillow fort out of all the cushions, but I’m too upset. The room is stuffy and strange. Without Hunter, it doesn’t feel safe.
That’s the second court audience that was a dumpster fire. This whole thing is insane. I’m on an alien planet, and I’m some special Omega who’s so precious that I’m passed around like a Pokémon card?
What if the councilors get their way, and I’m given to the Stone King?
And Hunter smashing the orb—does this mean we’re at war? What the fuck is going to happen now? If the councilors do get their way, what the fuck am I going to do?
The worst part is, I need Hunter more than ever, and things aren’t right between us. Why am I so hurt by him? Who is he to me? It’s not like I chose him. Like we went on dates and he wooed me. Like any of this went the way things usually go when two people discover they have feelings for each other. Like I even know his fucking name.
There’s a grunt, and I look up to see him standing there. His hazel eyes sweep over me.
There’s a tightness in my chest that makes it hard to breathe. This must be the bond Sian told me about. I don't know if what I’m feeling is from him or me. I feel despair… and rage. The desire to go kill the Stone King. That one’s probably Hunter’s.
“Hey-leah,” he says, and even though he struggles to say it, my name on his tongue makes my belly flutter.
“Go away,” I mutter. “I want to be alone.”
Ignoring me, even though I know for a fact he heard me, he gets down on the bed with me and lays a huge, possessive hand on my ass.
His smoky, syrupy scent fills me and when his hand slides down to caress the back of my thigh before creeping between my legs, the sudden rush of liquid heat almost takes my breath away.
