34. Ridge
34
RIDGE
I smooth a hand over my blond hair as I wait to be called on.
I can’t remember the last time I was this nervous. Eros Academy and my service to this country afterward beat that particular emotion out of me. However, the queen has always been an intimidating woman, and knowing that she’s the mother of my mate makes me almost desperate to make a good impression.
Inwardly, I curse, wondering when I’ve become so goddamn whipped. I’ve killed countless Noths throughout my years. Infiltrated enemy camps. Weeded out traitors and brought them to court, then saw to their executions. Something like this shouldn’t scare me, shouldn’t cause my hands to shake or sweat to drip down my neck.
Despite what I repeatedly tell myself, nothing I do is capable of alleviating the emotions percolating inside of me. They continually bubble up, demanding an outlet, threatening to explode like a geyser in every direction.
The door closest to me opens, and I stand automatically, straightening my spine and placing my hands behind my back. I widen my stance until my legs are a shoulder’s width apart and then heft my chin in the air. I expect to see the queen gracefully striding into the room, ready to begin our scheduled meeting, but it isn’t her. It’s someone much, much more terrifying.
Brylee.
My mate.
I take a moment to study her while she’s unaware of my presence. Her golden hair has been plaited away from her face in a tight French braid. I don’t like it on her. Of course, she looks beautiful no matter what she does, but I prefer her hair down and cascading around her shoulders. It makes me yearn to run my hands through it, to wrap it around my fist as I guide her head?—
I shut that shit down, quickly, and take stock of the dark shadows beneath her eyes and the sunken quality of her cheeks. Has she been sleeping well?
I suddenly have the irresistible urge to banish all of the ghosts that haunt her, decimate all of the demons that dare to harm her.
She’ll never allow me to, but I want to. God, I want to.
I don’t know if she senses my eyes on her or she sees me out of her periphery. Either way, she stiffens, a tremor reverberating through her, and slowly slides her gaze in my direction. The pure vitriol in those blue orbs takes me by surprise. I don’t understand why my omega is being so damn stubborn. She’s my scent match, destined for me and my pack, yet she pushes us away at every opportunity.
“You fuckers seriously are stalking me, aren’t you?” She pops her hip out, displaying a level of sass that makes me want to bend her over my knee and spank the shit out of her. I wonder how her ass will look with my handprint on it. The thought instantly hardens my cock, and I turn slightly, so my erection isn’t as obvious.
“Believe it or not, Your Highness, my world doesn’t revolve around you,” I say with a scoff. I don’t bother to tack on that it could, if she would allow it to. Stubborn omega.
That seems to take her by surprise. Those pouty lips of hers pop open, forming a perfect O, and color enters her cheeks.
“I guess I just assumed…” She awkwardly scratches at the inside of her wrist, looking everywhere but at me.
“That we were all so incredibly obsessed with you that we would follow you anywhere?” Sarcasm laces my tone. It’s better than sincerity. She doesn’t need to know that we absolutely would follow her anywhere.
“Of course I don’t think that.” Her hands ball into fists, and I half expect her to stomp her foot like a petulant toddler. It’s…cute. She’s cute. “You four barely know me.”
“We know that you’re our scent match,” I feel the need to point out. “And that we could be fucking incredible together if you would give us a chance.”
She opens her mouth, closes it, and then slowly shakes her head. “I’m not having this conversation with you.”
This woman…
This damn woman…
She’s fierce, stubborn, pigheaded, and everything I shouldn’t want in an omega. But damn if she’s not everything I’ve been waiting for. The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew. She’s the one. Fate doesn’t mess around. It’s written in the stars, in every battle I’ve fought, in every scar I’ve earned.
She is mine, and I am hers, and that’s the fucking way it’s supposed to be.
“You don’t get it,” I tell her, my voice steady, even though inside, I’m bracing myself. “This isn’t just about me or you. This is about something bigger than us. Something that’s been coming for a long damn time.”
She crosses her arms, a challenge glinting in those arresting blue eyes of hers. “And what exactly is that? Fate? You think that just because I smell good to you, you and your friends ”—she practically spits the word—“are destined to be with me?”
She doesn’t just smell good. She smells like perfection. I want to lose myself in her scent, in her, in the sensations her mere presence evokes within me.
“You can call it whatever you want, but you feel it too. You know it. You’ve felt it since the first moment our eyes met.”
She doesn’t respond, but the smallest shift in her posture tells me I’ve hit a nerve. She won’t admit it, not now, but I can see it.
You can run, little omega, but you can’t hide. Not from me.
Irritation distorts her features. “Once you stop chasing me, you’ll realize that this will never work. You have rose-tinted glasses on?—”
I cut her off before she can continue, fury blazing through me. “You think I’m just here for the thrill of the chase?”
Her eyes flare with defiance. “I think you’re here because you’re used to getting whatever you want. But I’m not some prize to be won. And, if you actually get to know me, you’ll realize that.”
I don’t like that self-deprecating tone of hers. Not one fucking bit. I want to spank it out of her.
I take a step toward her, unsure of how she’ll react. I’m so much bigger than her that I’m afraid she’ll be intimidated or even frightened by me. Instead, she lifts her chin in the air and meets my stare unflinchingly, her eyes flinty.
“I don’t think you’re a prize, Princess,” I tell her, allowing a small, knowing smile to curve up my lips. “I think you’re my future. I think you’re my fate.” I let that hang between us, the words heavy with meaning, with truth. “And that means I won’t back down. Not until you see it too.”
Her eyes narrow. “I don’t give a damn about fate.”
I can see the walls she’s built, can see how deep she’s buried whatever vulnerability she has under layers of pride. I don’t know who hurt her in the past, but I want to topple these barricades she erected around herself. I want to see the true Brylee, the one who isn’t weighed down by past hurts and secrets she has yet to reveal.
“You should,” I tell her, my voice quieter now, sincere. “Because fate doesn’t care if you’re ready or not. It’s already decided that I belong to you, and I’m not leaving until you understand that.”
She sucks in a sharp gasp, and I can see the hesitation in her eyes. The smallest crack in her armor. That’s all I need. Before she can rebuild her wall up, I plow through, shattering her defenses like they’re nothing but papier-maché.
“Give me a chance,” I say, my breath whispering across her face. “Give us a chance. That’s all I’m asking for.”
I can see her wavering, her carefully constructed walls tumbling down around her. Once again, I wonder what happened in her past to create such shadows in her eyes. Is there a way I can find out without betraying her trust?
Her lips part, and I instinctively lean in even closer, her scent coiling around me?—
“Commander Ridge?” The unfamiliar voice comes from directly behind me, and I inwardly curse.
Brylee jumps a foot in the air as if she had just been electrocuted and hastily steps backward. Color darkens her cheeks, and despite my probing gaze, she won’t look up and meet my eyes.
With heavy reluctance, I turn to face the older gentleman standing just inside the doorframe, his posture immaculate and his hands clasped behind his back.
“The queen will see you now,” he tells me, already spinning on his heel and stalking away.
The queen.
Fuck.
I almost forgot why I came in the first place.
I fork my fingers through my hair and turn toward Brylee, prepared to ask her to wait for me here, but she’s already gone.
Her unique scent lingers in the air long after, torturing me with a future I’ll do anything to make a reality.