“Turn this way,” Hayce murmured.
It was almost shameful how quickly Ehlian turned, allowing Hayce’s strong arms to close around him. But shame didn’tmatter now. He needed something,anythingstable and grounding. Safety. Protection.
He pressed his forehead against Hayce’s chest, his eyes slipping closed, the steady rise and fall of Hayce’s breathing surrounded him. Hayce’s fingers threaded lazily through his hair, blunt nails lightly scratching his scalp. The sensation was soothing, almost hypnotic, and the addictive calmness of Hayce radiating through the pack bond drowned out the sharp clanks and clatters of the distant fight.
“What did you do to him?” Ehlian asked softly after a while, his voice muffled against Hayce’s chest.
“Less than what he deserved,” Hayce replied, his tone unapologetic.
Ehlian shoved away the ugly memory of 665’s face, unwilling to spare him another thought.
“Do fights like that happen often?”
“Every few months. You’ll get used to it.”
“I don’t think I will.” Ehlian shook his head. “I don’t understand how you can be so calm.”
“I was taught self-defence from a very young age.”
The safety of an heir to a centuries-old empire was sacred. An investment. A security. But that didn’t mean anyone could be mentally prepared for the sheer ugliness of violence. Ehlian wondered whether Hayce had faced it, even beyond prison.
His body tensed when he remembered that fragile omega. “We have to go back. That omega—”
“He’s fine,” Hayce said. “I left him with Aric.”
Ehlian let out a sigh of relief, realising Hayce had gone for the omega first before coming for him.
“Please don’t let Grasson claim him.” He tipped his head back, looking up at Hayce with a pleading glow in his eyes. “Please.”
Hayce measured him silently for a moment. “He’ll be in good hands with Kraiton.”
“The one Grasson attacked?” Ehlian asked. When Hayce nodded, he added, “But… is Kraiton less of a lunatic? Or just better at hiding it?”
“He’s one of the more reasonable ones,” Hayce said. “But it’s still a transaction, something for something. You’ll drive yourself mad if you try to save everyone. If that omega picks Kraiton, he walks out of this place alive. That’s more than most get.”
It wasn’t exactly a satisfying answer, especially the something-for-something part, even if Ehlian already knew the nature of this place. The alphas in Hayce’s pack already had omegas at their side, the pack’s size stretching nearly beyond control.
“Can you…” Ehlian cleared his throat. “Take him in? Have, you know… two omegas?”
Hayce’s fingers paused in Ehlian’s hair, then tucked a few strands behind his ear. “That’s what you want?”
“I…” Ehlian stalled. The wordyesbalanced on his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. It left him confused, even shocked. What was he hesitating about? He couldn’t be so selfish as to want Hayce all to himself. Heat rushed to his face. He didn’t want Hayce. Gods, he was acting like some mindless, possessive omega. Hayce wasn’t his alpha, and Ehlian wasn’t his omega. Not really. It was a deal, forged by circumstance. Nothing more.
“I just want him safe,” he mumbled at last, unwilling to examine too closely the fact that he blindly trusted Hayce to protect that omega. “Can you keep him safe… please?” Then, after a heartbeat, he whispered. “You have the power. I know you can.”
Hayce drew Ehlian’s head against his chest again. “I’ll consider it.”
It had the weight of a promise, and Ehlian’s breathing slowed, finding peace finally.
He half-opened his eyes, catching the faint edge of a scar on Hayce’s neck. Without thinking, his thumb brushed lightly against it, then he snatched his hand back. “What happened?”
“It was a warning.”
Ehlian frowned, struggling to recall any article about Hayce’s injury. If there was one, he’d probably never read it. Sure, he’d seen pictures of Hayce before prison—polished photoshoots, sharp suits, flawless image. But he had never been the kind of omega to obsess over an untouchable, wealthy alpha.
“A warning?”
Hayce didn’t answer.
