Chapter 14 Oros
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
OROS
There’s an Omega in my bed.
It’s a realization that wakes me with a start, my knot instantly throbbing with awareness.
Because the little female is curled up against my side, sleeping soundly.
I didn’t mean to fall asleep beside her. But it doesn’t appear to be feasible to have any intentions around Taliana. Because it’s clear that nothing in this fated arrangement is predictable.
Including my instincts.
I’ve never brought an Omega into my quarters, let alone into my bed.
I never wanted to encourage nesting.
Yet now I’m disappointed to find the bed mostly untouched.
Onyx said Taliana was considering making a nest in my bed. Taliana also confirmed that desire.
However, I see no evidence of that interest. And I find that strangely disconcerting.
I pleased her. I know I did. So why isn’t she nesting?
Maybe she just needs rest, I decide, noting her relaxed form. So beautiful. Alluring. Perfect. And mine.
My chest aches at that last thought.
The urge to mark her remains, my gold around her neck not enough.
I need to go for a flight. Stretch my wings. Think.
Otherwise, I’m going to do something rash.
A little late for that, I decide, glancing down at the pretty Omega.
So leaving is a good idea before I make another rash decision, then.
Taking a deep breath, I prepare to maneuver away from the addictive female in my bed. She shifts a little as I move, her head stealing my pillow to burrow into the soft silk.
I still as she inhales deeply, like she’s as addicted to my scent as I am to hers.
Then she settles on a sigh, clearly content once more.
Hmm, I hum to myself, admiring the view of her naked body in my bed. I want to keep her in this state.
Not just naked, but pleased.
Stalking over to my en-suite kitchen, I consider the contents of the fridge and pick out some items for her.
Fresh fruit.
Cheese.
Water.
I arrange it all—slicing the berries into a bowl and cutting up some cheese on a plate that I line with crackers—and set everything on a tray with a glass for her drink.
Almost perfect, I think, searching for a pen and paper. Yesterday, she expressed concern over her intruding on my space. I make it clear in a few words that my suite is her suite and she’s welcome to do whatever she wants here.
Satisfied with my gift, I walk over to place it on the nightstand, then frown.
Something is still missing.
I pull the blankets up to tuck her in, my gaze catching on her necklace along the way. My lips curl, my inner beast pleased by the placement of our mark.
Seeing it also provokes an idea, one I’m already working on before the thought completes in my mind.
Gold weaves between my fingers, the magic familiar and warm as a cuff appears in my hand, one that suits Taliana’s much smaller wrist.
A symbol glitters up at me, the one I know well—a lotus flower with flame-like petals. My family emblem.
I set the bracelet down on the tray, then grab the note I wrote and add a few more words to it about my gift.
Right, now it’s perfect.
Pleased, I step away from the bed, my gaze on my female.
She doesn’t stir or react, too lost to her dreams to notice I’m slowly creeping backward out of the room.
I don’t take my eyes off of her until I reach the balcony closest to my bed.
Then I search the sky and note the dawning sun.
I obviously fell asleep for hours, which explains my dragon’s burning need for a flight.
Well, the Omega in our bed is part of that burning need, too.
But I usually go on night patrols, enjoying the starry evening sky around the midnight hour. And I missed that opportunity while sleeping with Taliana in my bed.
So a morning scout it is.
I run forward and jump into the sky as fire flows through my veins, my dragon instantly taking the reins over our form.
The shift isn’t immediate, but it’s not slow either. Within seconds, we’re soaring through the sky, our wings sprawling to control our free fall.
My dragon huffs as our dive turns into a spin that pivots us upward.
And then we take off toward the horizon.
My mind settles with each passing moment, Taliana’s scent lost to the wind ripping around me. I feel free. Properly able to think. To process everything that’s happened.
Yet deep down, I feel unsettled in a way I’ve never experienced before.
I love to fly, to explore alone with my dragon and simply exist without having to worry about anyone or anything else.
However, the freedom I often crave isn’t nearly as inviting or pleasing as it has been in the past.
Because she’s not here.
Her missing scent… is no longer satisfying. It’s troubling instead.
I miss her, I realize, startled by the epiphany. How can I miss someone I just met?
Drakonians are covetous by nature, and we’re strongly possessive of our mates. But she isn’t mine. Not yet.
I’m not even sure I want to claim her.
Which is a lie, I suppose. I’ve already marked her in a way I’ve never marked anyone.
Fuck. My dragon growls as though agreeing with the curse. Then he growls for an entirely different reason as a pair of silver wings flash in the rising sun. Onyx.
It’s not uncommon for my brother to join me on a flight, but not quite like this. And especially not this early in the morning.
Sighing, I tell my dragon to follow his.
And naturally, my brother leads us to the landing outside my office.
I inhale deeply as I shift back into my human form, my short flight nowhere near satiating my animal’s needs. Yet he appears to be pacified by something else entirely now—our Omega’s scent.
Because we’re right below my suite here.
There’s even a set of stairs outside that leads up to the outdoor platform framing my quarters.
“Sorry,” my brother says as he grabs some pants from the stash in my closet. He tosses a pair to me before bending to pull the other up his long legs, our sizes nearly identical. “I wouldn’t interrupt your flight without cause.”
I hum, aware that he obviously has something important to share. But I can’t help ribbing him a bit. “The last flight you interrupted was to tell me an Alpha was requesting an audience with the court to discuss his Omega daughter. And look how that turned out.”
“You smell like her, so I’m going to say it didn’t turn out all that badly,” my brother returns.
I grunt. Although, he’s not wrong. I do smell like her.
Fuck, I can still taste her on my tongue.
Just thinking about it has me very carefully zipping up my pants, my knot throbbing to life in an instant.
“What’s happened now?” I ask, needing his news to distract me from thinking about the Omega lying in my bed.
He takes a deep breath, telling me without words that this is going to be bad. “Our scouts in Azores Sector reached out. Obsidian Sector just claimed Lanzarote as their own.”
I was halfway to my office bar when my brother dropped that last sentence, causing me to stop mid-step and spin toward him. “What? How the fuck did they get through Gibraltar?” Because I know Riordan didn’t let Prince Basalt and his merry band of Alpha fuckwits through.
“It’s unclear,” my brother hedges, clearing his throat. “But I think they went through Djinn Sector.”
My stomach clenches at the mention of the infamous smokelike creatures known for having taken over the deserts of the North Africa region. Djinn Sector was commonly considered to be the center of that world, Alpha Aisha the renowned Queen of the Djinn.
“If Aisha and Basalt have aligned,” I begin, swallowing as an array of possibilities slam into my thoughts, none of them good. I sum them all up with a succinct “Fuck.”
“Yes.” My brother walks around me to the bar and pours both of us a double shot of lavaball. I down the drink in one go, slamming the glass on the gold-coated counter. Onyx instantly refills it, then drinks his own.
It’s not even eight in the morning, and we’re both drinking the hard shit. “We need to talk to Riordan.”
“I’ve already reached out. Just waiting for him to call back.”
I nod and stalk over to my desk, my screens appearing in the air as I sit down. There are four of them, all translucent until I reach for one. They’re sensitive to touch, their magic tangible as I call up my messages.
Nothing from Riordan.
But I know he’s seen and read my latest missive. The Alpha practically lives on his devices, making it impossible for him to have gone this long without seeing my note.
Hmm. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that Riordan sent us his spy and Basalt has somehow slipped through the seas to reach Lanzarote, all at the same time?” I ask my brother.
“I really don’t think Riordan let him through Gibraltar,” my brother says. “He hates Basalt even more than we do.”
“Yet Rio apparently let Alpha Keegan remain there for fires know how long,” I point out.
When Keegan told me about the arrangement yesterday, I originally assumed Riordan allowed him to stay there because he wanted Keegan to spy on Obsidian Sector.
What if it was all prearranged? I wonder now. What if Rio’s hatred for Basalt was a front for something else entirely?
Impossible, I think in the next beat. I would have sensed—
“You’re assuming Alpha Keegan is telling you the truth,” my brother says, interrupting my mental debate regarding Rio’s motives.
“I do have a knack for sniffing out lies,” I remind him coolly.
“But is your ability working properly right now?” he counters, making my eyes narrow.
“What are you implying?” I ask, wanting him to lay all his cards on the table. “If you’re going to insult me, at least be thorough.”
He grunts at that and collapses into his favorite chair across from me. “You let an unknown Omega into your quarters, brother. Yet you’ve never let any other Omega up there, including the ones you’ve knotted through several heats.”
My jaw ticks. He’s not wrong. But I don’t like what he’s suggesting. “My ability is working just fine.” Although, my senses are arguably occupied by Taliana’s perfume.
However, lies always smell like burnt rubber.
That stench would absolutely override her alluring scent.
“Is it?” he presses, referring back to my claim regarding my talent for distinguishing truth from fiction. “Tell me what you smell right now.”
“I’m not trying to scent lies at the moment.”
“Not the point.”
I sigh and swipe my hand through the air, clearing my desk of the translucent screens so I can catch and hold my brother’s stare. “Can I smell her right now? Yes. But she’s literally above my head.”
“Yet all I smell is her residual claim on your skin and nothing more,” he tells me, his hand moving in a way that suggests he just made his point. “She’s captivated your senses, Oros. At least acknowledge that. Then we can discuss what cause Keegan has to lie. Her, too.”
I swallow, not liking the trajectory of this conversation. “You’re suggesting she’s here as a distraction from whatever Basalt is up to. And you’re insinuating that Rio might be in on it. Except you also said you don’t think he let them through Gibraltar.”
“Because I don’t think Rio is in on anything,” he says. “But I don’t think Keegan and his daughter are here by error. The timing is too suspicious, as is your sudden infatuation with her.”
I frown at him. “Keegan said he was old friends with Riordan.”
“And you believe him,” my brother replies. “I don’t.”
My brow furrows even more. “Why?”
“Because it’s too convenient. And, returning to your question regarding coincidences, no, I don’t find it to be a coincidence at all. I think Keegan and his daughter are here as a distraction, just like you insinuated. And now we’re finding out why the distraction was needed.”
“To keep us from reacting to Basalt’s movements,” I say.
Onyx nods, his silver hair flickering in the early morning rays of the sun streaming in from the balcony. “He probably thought you would be too deep into knotting the little Omega to see or hear reason.” My brother leans forward. “He severely underestimated your control.”
“Or you’re wrong and this really is a coincidence.”
He lifts a shoulder. “I guess we’ll find out when Riordan returns my call.”
I consider him and my hidden screens once more. “He never replied to my message.” Which I already decided was strange, but now… now I’m even more concerned. “I asked about his pet spy.”
“So you might have offended him,” my brother translates.
“Maybe.” I settle back into my chair again. “But it wouldn’t be the first time. And he loves to prove me wrong. Why not use this opportunity to do so?”
“Perhaps he’s concerned that you’ve fallen into a trap?” Onyx suggests, arching a brow. “Have you?”
I snort. “I’m sitting here talking to you. What do you think?”
“I think you smell like a claimed Alpha,” he replies without missing a beat. “I know you weren’t foolish enough to give in to her pussy that easily, but I have concerns.”
My dragon instantly growls, not liking my brother’s crass words. “Careful,” I warn him.
“That,” he says, gesturing to me. “That is why I have concerns. You don’t know her, Oros. Yet you’ve half lost your mind over her already.”
“You don’t know if she’s a trap or not,” I remind him flatly. “You’re guessing.”
“And you’re defending something that should be a huge fucking red flag,” he retorts. “I’m your Second for a reason, Oros. Remember that.”
“Are you threatening me?” I ask, startled by the conviction in his tone.
“No. I’m reminding you of who I am and why you put me in this position. If that female drugs your senses, I will handle the problem. That’s my job.”
“So you’re threatening her,” I realize aloud, standing. “Don’t you fucking touch—”
A knock at my office door pauses me mid-shout, causing both me and my brother to glance at the threshold.
One sniff tells me who it is, and I’m already sighing as she enters without waiting for me to answer her knock.
Bella Chambers.
The Omega I last knotted.
I glare at my brother, certain he’s the reason she’s here.
He thinks I’ve lost my mind over Taliana Embers, and maybe I have. But calling this Omega up here is not the solution.
I’m going to fucking kill you, I tell him with a look.
His trademark amusement is missing. Instead, he has the grace to look alarmed. Good. He should be alarmed.
Because I don’t have patience for tests or games.
I’m the Gold Sector Prince.
No Omega will ever change that.