Never before had I considered such a thing, my mind immediately rejecting his words. The gods may work in mysterious ways, but they were omnipotent—they would not make a mistake such as this.
“Are you speaking of me or you?” I asked, my voice challenging. “Is that why she was in such a state when she came in today?”
Bedivere’s lips pinched together. “I cannot protect her—how can she have an alpha that cannot protect her?”
“So you wound her heart instead?”
I could see the guilt clear as day on the alpha’s face, but I pushed on anyway, forging ahead through the hurt.
“You feel as if you cannot protect her, but who ever said you needed to? The gods meant for your pack to work together as agroup—a family. They never said anything about your ability to wield a sword, Sir Bedivere.”
Bedivere finally sat next to me on the settee, his shoulders sinking as he sighed. “Can the same not be said for you? The gods may never have shown you your place in all of this, but they also did not show you that you cannot be with her—if that is what you wish for.”
My head shook involuntarily. “I should not even consider it.”
“Then why should I?” Bedivere questioned, giving my shoulder a little bump with his. It was more affection than I could ever remember receiving from the older alpha.
He also had a point, the bastard.
“Do you think Guinevere is overly angry with us?” I asked after a few moments of tense, thought-filled silence.
“I do not know, though she does have quite the temper,” the alpha said before he let out a rumbling chuckle, thinking of our omega queen. “I feel that we should be more worried about Arthur than Guinevere, though. The man will probably come round shortly to tear us a new arsehole.”
I grimaced at that.
“Lovely,” I finally said. “Then, shall we play some cards while we wait for the inevitable?”
I still was not completely sure about my next course of action, but at the very least I felt better having spoken with Bedivere.
Maybe hewasright—maybe the gods would not mind if I pursued Guinevere as more than just her magic teacher.
But did I even have the courage to do so? Of that, I was uncertain.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The last thing I expected after a long afternoon in my study was that my very upset omega would burst through the doors with Gawain on her heels.
“Little queen?” I asked as she threw herself into my arms with a stuttering huff. Her normally sweet scent had soured with discontent and it nearly made me growl. “What ails you?”
She did not utter a word until I had settled back into my seat with her tucked into my lap.
“Nothing,” she muttered, her lips moving against the skin of my neck. “It’s just that your omega has no game whatsoever.”
I did not understand what she meant by the word ‘game’, but I had an inkling of what she was trying to tell me.
Gently pulling her away from my neck so I could see her face, I found her eyes to be red-rimmed and filled with tears. “Explain, love.”
She quickly wiped at her face before crossing her arms over her chest. “I struck out not once but twice, Arthur, how the hell do the gods expect me to help you form a pack if I have about as much game as Fester Addams?”
“You keep using words that I do not understand, Guinevere,” I reminded her softly.
Guinevere threw her hands into the air and I noticed her bandaged hand for the first time and concern filled me at the sight of it. Who had allowed my omega to hurt herself? “I tried to ask Bedivere why he was avoiding me and ended up embarrassing the hell out of myself—and if that isn’t bad enough my stupid ass decided that maybe asking Merlin for a kiss to ‘strengthen our magic’ was a damned good idea. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.”
My brows rose with each word she spoke, my eyes looking at Gawain over her shoulder. The younger alpha just shrugged, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Guinevere,” I said to her gently. “Do you feel attracted to Merlin?”
Merlin was an enigma. He smelled of nothing, so most people tended to give the wizard a wide berth and had ever since we were boys. As such the man had trouble making any friends let alone taking a lover.
