“At training,” Silki volunteers. “In the pit.”
That sounds a hell of a lot more interesting than lazing around. “Can we go and watch?”
“Absolutely not!” Lenah’s tone brooks no discussion.
I don’t care. “I demand that you take me to him,” I say as imperiously as I can manage. If they see me as some valuable Omega, surely they’ll want to keep me happy?
Juno looks uncertain. “If she wishes—”
“I forbid it,” Lenah interrupts her.
“I don’t believe,” I begin slowly, “I have to take orders from you.”
There’s a long, excruciating silence.
Then Juno says, “She is correct. We have been instructed to take care of her, but not command her. Only his Majesty can do that.”
He only thinks he can, I add silently, then glimpse a flash of gold on Silki’s thigh. Her dagger. In a fit of temper, I lunge and snatch it out of its sheath.
I don’t even know how I knew to do that, but it seems I can move fast if I want to. I hold up the weapon—it feels right in my palm. Light glints off the sharp blade.
The women give a collective gasp.
“I’m not going to hurt any of you,” I say, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. “But I do demand that you take me to the pit where Aurus is.”
There’s a long silence. An apricot-hued girl casts a terrified glance at Lenah, who purses her lips and gives an almost imperceptible shake of her head.
“No?” I say, when there aren’t any volunteers. “Well, I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’re not leaving me any choice.” Taking a huge hank of my shoulder-length hair, I slice it off with the dagger.
The Betas gasp.
“No!” Juno cries, lunging forward. “His Majesty—”
“Fuck his Majesty!” I snap, and my audience gasps again. I hack away all over my head until shiny golden locks are drifting around my bare feet. “He’s not here, is he? He didn’t care to stick around for the morning after, so he won’t care about this, will he?” I run my hands through my short, shaggy hair, and tousle it to dust the shorn bits off my head. My skin itches from the fallen hairs. Part of me is triumphant, but part of me feels queasy with anger. “He left me to my own devices. He doesn’t get a fucking say.”
Is that why I’m so mad, though? Because Aurus isn’t here? Because after all that crap about me being this special Omega and the rut, estrus and so on, all that pomp and ceremony, the moment he’d actually gotten his dick wet—albeit several times in a row—he decided he was done with me?
And if so… why does that upset me? Why do I care? I don’t want to be his plaything, anyway.
I glare at the handful of brightly colored Ulfarri females as they gawk at me. Two have their hands over their mouths. Lenah’s face has turned to stone.
“His Majesty will care,” Juno says. Her voice is soft, a huge contrast to my shouted ranting. “And to prove that, I will take you to him.”
“Thank you,” I mutter. In a show of good faith, I set the dagger down on a nearby table, even though I really want to keep it. Interesting that I would feel right with a weapon in my hand. Silki rushes forward and grabs the dagger, holding it to her chest. She looks like I stabbed her puppy.
It isn’t until Juno turns and begins to glide away, obviously expecting me to follow her, that I feel the first pang of regret. I shouldn’t behave like a child, regardless of the situation. And what if Aurus decides to punish the Betas for my transgression?
Goddamnit, why is everything so complicated? I need to get out of here.
SEVEN
Aurus
The heatof the training grounds is thick enough to cut with a sword. The sand burns, and so does the sweat trickling in my eyes. The oven-hot pressure and weight of my weapons is solid. Familiar. I make a point of joining my army at training every chance I can get, but today my mind is full with thoughts of a little peach and gold creature…
The way she smells…
The way she tastes…
