Kim scrambles up, coming to her knees. “You met an Omega? Not a human turned into one, but an OG Omega?”
“Yes.” I hesitate, but then explain a bit about the Stone King’s magic that extended Diala’s life, while leaving out her name or former status as queen. “She doesn’t want anyone to know who she is. I wasn’t even going to tell Hunter but he figured it out.”
“Hunter?” Kim snorts. “Is that the name of the Hunter King?”
“No. He… I just call him that. He doesn’t have a name. Or, if he does, he hasn’t told me or anyone else what it is.” I take a sip of my drink, hoping to hide the bitter twist of my mouth, but Kim tilts her head.
“Trouble in paradise?” she asks lightly.
I shake my head.
Kim barks a laugh. “It’s okay. The Big G-A and I got into all sorts of fights when we first got together.”
“The Big G-A?” I ask.
“Golden Asshole. That’s what I call him. Amongst other things.”
I choke on my drink.
“We still fight, actually, but it’s a lot more fun.” Kim’s eyebrows bounce suggestively.
“Oh my god.” I set my glass down with a thunk. “Anyway. This Omega I’m trying to help needs a way to hide who she is. Is there a way to hide the Omega scent?”
“Probably, but I’d bet if there is, the magicians frown on it. The way Ulfarri culture is set up, Omegas have so little power. I'm guessing that there are lots of Omegas who'd like to hide their scent and hide who they are. Maybe they’re not all extinct, just hiding.”
“I just want to help her,” I say. “I even asked Hunter if there was a way to reverse being an Omega. Like the Omega serum but the opposite.”
“Oh wow,” Kim says. “How did Hunter take it?”
“Not well. That might be why he’s so upset.”
“Probably. It’s okay. One good rut will fix it all.”
“Yep, that's all I’m good for,” I mutter.
“Hey. That’s the role they want us to play, but it doesn't have to be that way.”
Easy for her to say. “I’m not much of a queen. Or a fighter.”
“Wait a damn second.” Kim shakes her head. “Didn’t you kill the Stone King? Or was that rumor exaggerated?”
For a second I’m back in that stinking castle, staring at a moldy corpse. “No.” I shudder. “I did that. I don't know how I did that, but I did.”
“How did it happen?” There’s a bloodthirsty gleam in Kim’s eyes.
“I threw a weapon just right,” I tell her. Maybe talking about it will be cathartic. “The thing is, I don’t know how. It was a little multi-bladed weapon, like a snowflake.”
“An inxi,” Kim interjects knowingly.
“Yeah. In any case, Hunter wanted to teach me how to throw that thing properly, but I was too scared to even hold it… until that moment in the Stone King’s castle. It was like I had muscle memory that I don’t remember building up.”
Kim taps her chin. “You could’ve drawn on his instincts. The Alpha-Omega soul bond is pretty neat that way. I don't remember my Earth life, but I was either a stunt devil badass with a bunch of martial arts training—or the bond worked to give a bunch of Aurus’s knowledge to me. Or both. No way to tell, I just enjoy the results.”
“You don't remember home?”
She shrugs. “Aurus is home.”
An arrow hits my heart. I want to feel that way about Hunter.Maybe I already do.
