I wouldn’t even ask it of her.
She deserves to have all of us.
When I usher Ren through a side door and into the palace, the place that should be her home as well—or where she should at least be welcome—she pauses, looking around with wide eyes. Her pulse thrums in her neck and her scent turns a little bitter with fear.
“I don’t think we should be here,” she mutters, shaking her head, and then turning to look up at me. “Please, Court, can we just go?”
Unable to ignore her distress, I pull her into my body and wrap myself around her, a low rumbling purr vibrating out of my chest. She stiffens against the embrace for a moment, and that breaks my heart just the tiniest bit. She shouldn’t hesitate to take comfort from me. I’m her alpha, it’s literally what I’m here for. Her comfort. Her safety.
But then she melts like butter on a hot pan, arms wrapping around my waist as she nestles deeper into me. A sweet little sigh falls from her mouth like rain, and I let it bathe me for just a moment.
“We came this early, because hardly anyone will be up,” I murmur into the top of her head, the soft strands of her hair tickling my lips. “I know how to avoid the ones that are up. This is important to me, Pix. I want to show you something… something no one else has seen. Not even my pack.”
She draws back at that, looking up at me with wide eyes, a little furrow in her brows that I want to kiss away. After a long moment, my brave omega nods. “Okay. I trust you.”
My heart clenches painfully in my chest, vocalized by a soft groan. My hand releases her to rub at the spot. “Fuck, Pixie. Do you have any idea what it does to me to hear you say that? After everything? It's… the best thing. Bloody brilliant.”
One corner of her mouth ticks up. “It took me by surprise too. But just to clarify, I trust you not to let me get arrested and thrown into Bravonnian jail. I’m not sure I’m there with… the other stuff.”
Well, damn. That takes the wind out of my sails a bit, but what else did I expect? I nod, slowly. “Okay, yeah. That makes sense.”
And since she just told me she trusts me to keep her safe in this situation, I better actually do that. So without any warning, I bend at the waist and hook one arm under her knees and the other around her back, hauling her against me.
“Court!” she whisper-shouts at me, as I take off at a jog through the palace, staying light on my feet like I’ve managed the entire time I’ve lived here.
“Shh,” I tell her as I duck around a corner, avoiding the kitchen and the people I know are already trickling in there. It's just about the only place in the early morning that is busy at all. The queen likes to eat promptly at seven am, after all. So they need to have everything prepped and ready to go. “Since we’re not getting arrested today, this is faster.”
Florence scowls up at me in that way that I love and I beam back at her, gratified when a faint flush colors her cheeks.
Fuck. I want to kiss those cheeks, those lips. Every inch of her. I want to bloody worship her, a pilgrim at her altar, praying for just an ounce of her love, of her attention.
“I can walk, you know. My knee might be messed up-”
“No,” I cut her off. “This has nothing to do with your knee and everything to do with it being an excuse to hold you, Pixie. I want to feel you against me, my alpha bloody craves it every second of every day. And right now, he recognizes that this isn’t the safest place for you to be, so just humor me. Please?”
With a huff she wraps an arm around my shoulder, a silent acquiescence to my request. And again that clench happens in my chest.
I know what it is, what it means. I just need to be brave enough to say the words.
I blow out a breath when we turn down a familiar hallway, a single floor down from the suite of rooms we share. I’m tempted to take Ren up there first, to show her where we live, where she’ll live too, if she takes us as her mates, but seeing as it’s the family wing of the palace, it’s much more likely we’ll run into someone up there.
And it’s not what we’re here for anyway.
We stop midway down the hall, and I carefully set my omega on her feet, keeping my hands on her until I know she’s steady, and then for a little bit longer just ‘cause I like the feel of her under my palms.
I always have.
Nerves thunder through me as we turn to the door.
The door no one but me has stepped through in years.
“Court?” she whispers, sounding… not scared per se, but thrilled. Like we’ve just gone on a rollercoaster and she’s buzzing from it, from the rush of adrenaline.
I turn toward her, meeting her eyes and wanting her to understand how important this is for me. “Behind this door is my safe space. My refuge. The quiet in all the madness that is being a member of the royal pack.”
Ren’s expression sobers and her eyes shine with something else. Something soft and sweet and understanding. “You don’t have-”
“No,” I cut her off, using my grip on her hand to pull her closer. “No. I want to show you. You’re the only person I think I could tolerate in this space. I just want you to know…”
