CHAPTER TWELVE #2
For my plan to work, I needed ingredients from my shop. While Moon worked with his soldiers, Ryung accompanied me back to my little establishment. We rode on the imugi, who was far larger in his dragon form than I'd expected.
I'd never felt more alive than I did soaring through the sky with Ryung's arms wrapped securely around my waist, the wind whipping through my hair, the world reduced to a patchwork far below us.
It was freedom in its purest form, and it was intoxicating. The imugi landed behind my shop, his massive form shrinking down to fit into the limited space. Another ability I hadn't expected.
He lowered his head, allowing us to dismount. I couldn't resist patting his nose affectionately before heading inside with Ryung close behind me.
"Don't touch anything," I warned my alpha as he reached toward a shelf of colorful potions. "Some of these could burn your skin off."
"You sell dildos here?" Ryung gasped a moment later, having wandered to another section of my shop.
I glanced over from where I was gathering dried herbs. "Yep. If I'd killed you and Moon, I'd considered molding your cocks into dildos and selling them too."
"You vicious little witch," he teased, his eyes dancing with amusement rather than horror. I loved that he understood my dark sense of humor.
But I wasn’t joking.
I continued adding items to my satchel, vials of rare ingredients, specialized tools, and a few spellbooks I might need. I also packed a bag of clothing, toiletries, and a few novels to read. Once I'd gathered everything, I headed to the front door to leave a new sign.
ON VACATION.
With Ryung holding my bags, we locked up and mounted Imugi. And then we were off.
"You know, we don't expect you to give up your shop," Ryung said as we soared through the air again, the imugi carrying us swiftly back toward the tower.
"You don't?" I yelled over the rushing wind. "But won't that look bad on Prince Moon if his mate has a shop on the black market?"
Ryung looked thoughtful for a moment, but I could feel his answer through our bond before he spoke. My occupation would indeed reflect poorly on the prince. Still, I wasn't willing to abandon my shop completely.
I'd worked too damn hard to establish myself, to create something that was mine alone. My mates had their duties, their positions. I needed something of my own, too.
"I'll talk to Moon," Ryung promised, his voice close to my ear. "No matter what, I refuse to have you lose your shop. And I know he'll feel the same way."
A compromise suddenly occurred to me.
"I've got an idea. What if I kept my store and trained someone to run it for me?
I could also offer them free room and board in my shop," I suggested, already thinking of a fellow witch who worked at the butcher shop but complained constantly about the smell.
She'd jump at the chance to work for me instead.
"Are you sure?" Ryung asked. "That's your shop. And it's a great shop."
I beamed at the compliment. "Thank you. It'll still be my shop. I'll just have someone run it for me. That'll leave me time to explore something I've always wanted to do."
"And what's that?" he asked.
"I've always wanted to teach a self-defense class for omegas," I admitted. "A safe space where they can learn a few moves to protect themselves. I know some omegas wouldn't be interested, but there are some who could really benefit from it."
Not all omegas found good alphas to be with. Many were mistreated and abused, used as playthings because of their heat cycles and the fact that they lost control once they were in heat. I wanted to teach those omegas how to resist an alpha’s bark.
And how to fight back long enough to at least flee someone who was physically stronger than them. Most alphas didn’t see the need for omegas to know how to protect themselves.
I mean, that’s supposedly what alphas were there for. So, I waited for Ryung to laugh at my idea or dismiss it as unnecessary. Instead, he surprised me.
"I think that's just what Fortress City needs," he said, his tone entirely sincere.
"Really?" I twisted to look over my shoulder at him.
"Really, princess." He pressed a kiss to my forehead.
I leaned against him with a contented sigh, smiling to myself. Part of me suspected that even if I'd said I wanted to start a murder agency, he would've told me it was brilliant and helped me set it up.
Even so, I loved the way my alphas loved me, completely, unconditionally, accepting every dark and twisted part of my nature. I was not a normal omega. Never had been. Never would be. It made me happy that they were okay with that.
As we soared through the sky, my mind returned to my plan for dealing with Kwang. It would take a few days to get everything ready, but by the time he arrived at the fortress to have dinner with Moon, we'd be more than prepared.
He thought he'd hired the perfect assassin, but he was wrong. He'd hired the one person who would do anything to protect her mates. I spent the next couple of days working on my potions.
Moon set me up a room on the first floor to use as my workspace. While my alphas worked with their soldiers and guarded the border, patrolling the outskirts of enemy territory, I mixed, stirred, and chanted, with our imugi wrapped protectively around my arm.
I also had two guards stationed nearby under orders to watch over me from a distance. As if I needed protection. All I needed was my imugi and my magic. Besides, I'd been surviving on my own all my life, doing whatever I had to in order to stay alive.
I was confident I could take down both guards if I wanted to. Still, it was sweet that my mates wanted me protected. By the third day, I had everything ready for the envoys' arrival and planned to spend the day in bed relaxing with a good book.
Imagine my surprise when I was awakened that morning by my mates before the sun had even risen. I sat up quickly, my heart racing, instantly alert. The darkness was still thick around us, no hint of dawn creeping through the tower windows.
"What’s wrong?" I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes as I tried to figure out why my alphas were hovering over me.
Did Kwang do something? Were we under attack? Did I need to kill someone? Ryung looked to Moon with an expression of exasperation.
"I told him not to wake you," Ryung stated, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "I told him this could wait until you woke up. But he couldn't resist, and I couldn't stop him."
My gaze drifted to Moon, who was practically vibrating with anticipation, his silver eyes gleaming in the dim light, pale hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“Are your eyes silver because your wolf is excited?” I asked.
He nodded, and I smiled. I was slowly learning more and more about these shifters who already owned my heart. His excitement flowed through our bond, infecting me despite my confusion.
"Did something good happen? Did Prince Kwang die?" I asked hopefully.
Both of my alphas burst out laughing. I'm pretty sure one of them whispered that all I thought about was death. That wasn't true at all. I thought about plenty of other things. Like food and knots.
And occasionally, which poisons would be most effective in different scenarios. You know, normal witch stuff.
"Do you know what today is?" Moon asked.
What was today? I racked my brain, trying to remember if there was some special holiday I'd forgotten about. It wasn't Christmas. I'd celebrated that a couple of months ago with my black-market friends, drinking too much smuggled whiskey and exchanging stolen goods as gifts.
"Umm..." I hummed, drawing a complete blank.
"It's Valentine's Day," Moon finally told me.
Valentine's Day?
I frowned, trying to understand why that would warrant waking me before dawn. It was just another commercial holiday designed for consumers to buy overpriced products for the ones they loved.
My thoughts scattered as Moon scooped me into his strong arms, lifting me from the bed effortlessly. That's when I saw them: three large wooden chests arranged on the floor in front of the bed, each one intricately carved with designs that matched the décor of our nest.
"What's this?" I asked, moving closer once Moon set me down.
"Your Valentine's Day gifts," Ryung replied, an adorable smile playing across his lips. "Do you like them?"
"Valentine's Day gifts?" I whispered, my brain trying to process those words.
I'd never received Valentine's Day gifts before. The holiday had always been just another day to me, though admittedly one where I sold a lot of love potions to desperate customers.
That was the only thing I'd ever appreciated about this special day, and that was purely because it meant extra coins in my pocket. But now I had two special men in my life. And they'd remembered Valentine's Day, even when I hadn't.
Even though they were swamped with work and with the weight of protecting the border resting on their shoulders, they still thought to do this for me. I swallowed, telling myself not to cry.
But, damn, I loved these alphas.