“Isn’t there any other way but to kill Zeus?” The moment the words are out, I know it’s a mistake.
Kayden’s features form into a mask. He’s so good at hiding his emotions; his face is inscrutable. Unlike Zeus, who as much as he tries to keep his feelings under control, I can always sense them lying there under the surface. Waiting for me, calling to me, aching…for me. The mating cord whines and shivers. A shudder runs down my body.
“You are bonded to him.” Kayden angles his head. “You care for him.”
My breath catches in my chest. I want to deny it, but from the silence in the room, the way that Kayden stares at me, the way Reena moves away from me, her nostrils flaring as she sniffs me, the realization that Kayden is right dawns on her face, and I know it’s too late.
“So it is him? He is the alpha you are bonded to.” Reena wrings her fingers together, and in this moment it’s clear she is much more omega than alpha.
“Are you going to give me up to him?” I glance from Reena to Kayden.
His lips peel back in a smile. “Give you up? Hell no.” He stalks to the seat and slides back into it, legs parted, chest planes wide, hands gripping the arms of the chair and dwarfing it. “You are bait, sweetheart. The alpha is hunting his mate, and when he gets to you, guess who will be waiting for him?”
34
Zeus
I wake up with my heart pounding. Sweat drips down my back so my vest is stuck to it. There is a feeling of impending darkness, of something so heavy in my chest that it seems to get larger by the minute.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stay there, panting. My heart stutters, and I rub my chest.
The beats are erratic. There is a sense of impending gloom. Of something coming at me, something more sinister than anything I’ve faced before. I hang my head forward, grip my knees, and will myself to breathe. One breath, two breaths, slowly, in and out. Focus, I must focus. The mating cord in my chest strains and a groan rips out of me.
My scalp prickles and I wipe my damp palms on the sheet covering the bed. I know it’s her emotions I am feeling. She’s afraid.
When I’d taken her, I had only meant to bind her to me. My only thought had been to ensure that I had someone who belonged to me. Not to the city, not to my men…not to the sense of duty that despite everything I do, I carry with me.
Perhaps I am my father’s son more than I’d known. Perhaps hidden somewhere inside is this need to do right by the city, and I don’t understand where it is coming from.
This sudden attack of conscience that’s forcing me awake in the middle of the night.
This need to keep my omega safe.
My Lucia…it is because of her that I am being tainted. Her thoughts, her emotions, her idealistic need to do good by all, it's dripping into me. Creeping in my subconscious. The mating cord binds her to me, but it also ties me to her. It’s influencing me in ways I cannot begin to understand.
Fear shudders down my spine, and helplessness…and mixed with it is this urgency. Is she trying to get to me, to warn me away?
My shoulders bunch.
I raise my head, firm my thighs, and push myself up on my feet. I walk out of the door of the bedroom in the warehouse that I’ve kept in the city. Another relic of my father’s days. He’d kept this house incognito in order to be able to go about the city without being recognized.
One of the traditions that I decided to continue.
I stagger into the living room to find Ethan walking in from the other room.
Solomon, who’s been keeping watch in a chair by the window, rises to his feet. “What are the two of you doing up? It’s only four a.m.” He yawns and scratches his chin.
“I need to go to her.” I strive to keep my voice low, but it comes out harsh. I shake my head. I have to find a way to control myself. Whatever is happening to me, there’s an easy explanation for it. It’s normal, isn’t it, when an omega is bonded to an alpha, to be aware of her emotions, to perhaps also want to take care of her?
I squeeze the bridge of my nose. Where are these thoughts coming from?
“You okay?” Ethan’s voice cuts through the thoughts swirling around in my head.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I snarl out, angrier with myself for feeling this vulnerable.
It’s as if the mating cord is burrowing inside my soul and ripping out all the layers I’ve built over the years. It’s laying my emotions bare, making me feel naked and exposed, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.
Walking to the table next to the surveillance equipment that Sol had been monitoring, I pick up the bottle of water and drink from it.
It does nothing to soothe the sick feeling twisting my stomach.
Pouring the rest of the water over my head, I then drop the bottle back on the table. “What’s the latest? Have any of the soldiers seen anything?”
The mating cord throbs and a wave of terror engulfs me. My skin seems to burn, and there’s a ball of emotion in my chest so huge that I cannot breathe.
I stumble to the window, and grabbing the sill, I shove open the pane and lean out.
It’s a security risk to do that. Anyone could recognize me…which is not the issue. My own citizens aren’t exactly filled with love for me. Not like I've done much to deserve their respect either. And fuck…there I go, playing the violin again.
I’ve never, in all these years, thought of their needs even once, about what I can do for them.
My father had done his version of the right thing. He'd flung my mother back to the East End of the city, the gutters where she’d come from.
He could have kept her, taken care of her and his son, but he hadn’t cared. Not for her, not for any of the omegas. He’d only cared about his precious city…well, for the parts that are filled with the upper classes, the rich and wealthy who live in the districts closest to the palace. He’d made sure they had everything they needed. He’d turned his back on the poor. And me?
I’d gone a step further.
I’d wanted to punish the ruling classes but I’d ended up doing my worst by both the rich and the poor. It didn’t matter what your class, or your status or indeed where you lived. I was an asshole to everyone alike. Everyone except her. With her, I cannot keep up this charade; it has always been nothing but a front.
Just, I’ve never wanted to own up to it. I cannot let her do this to me.
Being near her, in her, having her essence mixing with mine is changing me from the inside out. It’s making me…more empathetic, wanting to do good for my people, but this stinking city has given me nothing but fear and pain and a start in life that I’ll never be able to live down. I cannot allow myself to develop a conscience, not now.
I cannot let myself care for my people.
Cannot let the man I really am come to the surface. The one who feels duty-bound to do right by his city.
The one who wants to use his power to change the flawed system that my father had so callously imposed.
I’ve come too far.
Planned too long.
Lost too much.
Too much to let one omega sweep in and upset all my plans, to change me, mold me into a version who is half me…the real me who is a responsible, conscientious leader who wants to protect his people.