Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
ARES
I sprint through the smoke-filled corridors, checking every room and alcove for Maya. My heart pounds against my ribs, not from exertion but from the growing dread that we won’t find her in time.
Footsteps echo off the marble floors. Through the haze, Poe emerges, carrying Maya’s limp form. Her navy dress is torn, embroidery a mess of shredded thread at her back, and her skin is covered in soot.
The realization that she is still breathing leaves me a little lightheaded.
“Take her.” Poe thrusts Maya into my arms before I can process what’s happening. Her head lolls against my chest, dark hair matted with blood near her temple.
“What happened to her?” I cradle Maya closer, checking her pulse. It flutters beneath my fingers, weak but steady.
“Someone tried to take her.” Poe’s face hardens into granite. “Get her back to the apartment. Now.”
“Where are you going?”
“To hunt down the bastard responsible for this.” Poe pulls a blade from his boot, the steel catching what little light filters through the smoke. “I saw where the one who had her went. I’m going to track the bastard down.”
I want to argue, to tell him it’s too dangerous to go alone. But Maya stirs in my arms with a soft whimper of pain. Her safety comes first.
“Don’t get yourself killed,” I call after Poe’s retreating form.
He shoots me a salute using his middle finger before disappearing around a corner.
Maya feels too light in my arms as I carry her through the chaos. Her usual sweet scent is tainted with fear and blood. I press my nose to her hair, breathing in what remains of her true fragrance beneath the acrid smoke. The urge to protect her, to keep her safe, crashes over me with devastating force.
“I’ve got you, little one,” I murmur against her temple. “No one’s going to hurt you now.”
Carrying Maya back to the apartment takes twice as long as it should because of the wreckage. Her body trembles against my chest even in unconsciousness. Each tiny shiver feeds the rage building inside me.
The apartment door is locked when I reach it. I shift Maya carefully in my arms to punch in my security code, keeping her head stable against my shoulder. The panel flashes red.
“Override Epsilon-Seven-Delta,” I growl.
The door clicks open and automatically locks again behind us.
Inside, I don’t hesitate to take her straight back to my room and deposit her on the bed. I let her out of my sight just long enough to fetch a first aid kit from the bathroom before returning to her side.
Maya blinks herself awake for a few seconds, initially tensing before she recognizes me hovering over her. She releases a relieved sound that makes me want to chain her to the bed so it’s impossible for to leave it again.
The fact that I would happily fuck her while she’s unconscious and injured should probably bother me, but it absolutely doesn’t. It isn’t a conscience that compels me to act like a gentleman.
When I finally have her, I want to make sure she can feel it.
Her head wound isn’t deep and won’t require stitches, but I still take my time cleaning and bandaging it. Bruises darken her arms where someone grabbed her. Anger drawls a growl from my lips.
“Ares?” Maya’s eyes flutter open, unfocused and glazed with pain.
“I’m here.” I grab a blanket folded at the foot of the bed and tuck it around her. “You’re safe now.”
“Where is he? You have to…” She tries to rise on her elbows but sways dangerously. It takes little effort to press her back down with gentle pressure on her shoulders.
When she ineffectually pushes at my hand, still fighting to get up, I don’t hesitate to give her a command. “Stay.”
She collapses back on the bed with a pained sigh.
“You took a nasty hit to the head. Do you feel nauseous? Is your vision doubled?”
Maya shakes her head before freezing with a sound of pain. “You have to find him?”
“Who? ”
“The doctor…he tried to take me.”
“The fuck? Who tried to take you?”
Maya stares up at me with eyes gone wide, her expression made up of something more than just pain. She only now seems to realize what she’s been saying. “I don’t know.”
Part of me wants to press her. She’s injured, possibly concussed, too weak to resist if I insist she tell me whatever secrets she has been hiding.
But I decide to let it go. For now.
“Shh.” I stroke her cheek, wiping away a smudge of soot. “No one’s taking you anywhere. I promise.”
Maya falls asleep again while I clean the dirt off her face. My attention lingers on the soft curve of her cheek. The slight bruise blooming there makes me want to murder someone. I set down the damp rag, fighting off a sudden urge to finish the job by licking her clean.
I sit back on my heels at the end of the bed, mulling over what to do next. Something is definitely missing.
Maybe we need food. Maya might be hungry when she wakes up. But the servants are likely still in lockdown and I can’t leave her long enough to fetch anything myself.
She huddles deeper into the bedding with a slight shiver, prompting me to go to the closet and pull out a pile of spare pillows and blankets.
I pile it all up around her haphazardly. The pillows keep falling over when I try to tuck them at her sides, so I have to roll up the smallest quilt and shove it underneath as a prop.
I just want to see her cradled, protected. I’d feel this way about any Omega in my den. In my bed.
But when I form another depression in the pile of blankets and slip into the bed beside her, it feels a bit like coming home.
“ T his might be the worst excuse for a nest I’ve ever seen.”
I snap awake with a painful burst of adrenaline. A quick glance reassures me that Maya is still sleeping beside me, allowing my heart rate to return to normal.
Raising one hand to shield my eyes from the bright light, I have to squint to make out the figure standing at the end of the bed.
Cillian smirks down at me, looking entirely unruffled even though he still wears the same clothes he had on last night.
“The fuck would you know about it?” I grouse, collapsing back against the pillows.
“I know the Omega is supposed to be the one to make it.”
“Yeah, well, it’s my bed and I’ll do what I want in it.”
His gaze passes over Maya’s prone form and I resist the urge to clutch to her my chest like a stuffed animal. “Does she need a doctor?”
“Nope.”
“Then she should be back in the harem. The King has tasked Logan to oversee the clean-up and repair of the east wing.”
I pull a pillow over my head. Now that I’m fully awake, my sleepiness has evaporated. But that doesn’t mean I have any intention of leaving this bed. “Sounds like you should be talking to Logan, then.”
“I did. He told me to get you.”
The familiar pull to follow orders tingles between my shoulder blades. Fucking pack hierarchy. “Where’s Poe?”
“On an adventure, apparently.” Cillian’s tone is sardonic. “Last time he checked in, he said he was hunting down one of the attackers that might have escaped.”
Which probably means someone will have to die bloody before Poe finally makes his way back.
I push up on my elbows with a groan. Jostling the bed makes Maya shift slightly. She lets out the cutest snuffling sound before burying herself further in the blankets. Her scent has lost its edge of anxiety, leaving the soft scent of fizzing cherry suffused in the bedding.
“Logan is waiting,” Cillian prods.
“You can’t expect me to leave her here alone. The palace was just attacked.”
“We’ve already installed biometric locks on the door and assigned vetted guards. She’ll be fine.”
“She needs food for when she wakes up.”
With a sigh, Cillian makes a few taps on his tablet. “I’ll have something sent up.”
I glare at him. “You could at least pretend like you care.”
He raises a questioning eyebrow. “Why would I do that?”
I drag myself out of bed, careful not to disturb Maya. My muscles protest after spending the last few hours in an awkward position to avoid crushing her smaller frame.
“Fine. But I’m coming right back after we deal with whatever Logan needs. ”
“Of course you are.” Cillian’s tone drips with sarcasm.
I grab a fresh shirt from my dresser, pulling it over my head as I follow him to the door. The fabric catches on my stubble, reminding me I need to shave.
“You know, you could try being less of an asshole about this.” I pause at the threshold, casting one last look at Maya’s sleeping form. “She’s pack now, whether you like it or not.”
“She really is not.” Cillian strides down the hallway, forcing me to jog to catch up. “And the sooner you accept that, the better.”
“Logan has done everything short of claiming her in front of the entire court.”
“Logan is playing politics.” His shoes click against the marble floor in a steady rhythm. “Once he secures his position as heir, she’ll be gone faster than you can say ‘mating contract.’”
The growl builds in my chest before I can stop it. “You don’t know that.”
“I know Logan.” Cillian stops at the elevator, jabbing the call button with more force than necessary. “And I know you’re getting attached to something that isn’t yours to keep, especially if you’re waiting for him to have a change of heart.”
My fists clench at my sides. The urge to slam him into the wall wars with years of pack loyalty. “Maybe you just don’t like her having influence over him. Logan has never voiced any of our suggestions in a council meeting.”
Cillian just shakes his head derisively. “Maybe you should focus more on your job and less on playing house.”
The elevator arrives with a soft ding, saving me from having to respond. We ride down in tense silence, the air thick with unspoken accusations.
“Must be nice living life as a beta. Never having to manage your biological impulses. You have no idea what it’s like for Alphas and Omegas.”
“How true.” Glacial eyes rise to meet mine. “So maybe you should stop managing your impulses.”
I freeze, staring at him. “Meaning what?”
“You want the Omega so badly? Then claim her for yourself.”
The elevator doors open and Cillian doesn’t wait for my response from me as he strides away.
I stalk after Cillian, my blood boiling at his suggestion. The very idea of betraying Logan like that makes my skin crawl, even if Maya is appealing enough that the idea stays rooted in my mind.
We round the corner to find Logan directing a team of workers who are clearing debris from one of the damaged corridors. Dust and sweat mars his usual perfect appearance, sleeves rolled up as he points out weak spots in the ceiling to a structural engineer.
“About time,” Logan snaps when he spots us. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Watching over Maya,” I reply, crossing my arms. “You know, the Omega who was nearly kidnapped last night?”
Logan’s jaw tightens. “She’s fine now. I need you here.”
“She’s not fine. She was terrified and babbling about some doctor before she passed out.”
“A doctor?” Cillian’s head snaps up, suddenly interested.
“Yeah, she kept saying the doctor is here or something before she fell asleep.” I frown at Cillian’s intense expression. “Why?”
“Did she say anything else?” Logan demands, waving away the engineer.
“No, she was pretty out of it.” I look between their tense faces. “What am I missing?”
Logan ignores my question. “I need you to coordinate with palace security. We’re instituting new protocols, and I want you to oversee the training.”
“But Maya?—”
“Is no longer your concern.” Logan’s voice carries that edge of Alpha command that makes my spine straighten automatically. “Focus on your actual duties.”
“Sure, boss.” I clench my jaw, fighting the urge to argue. The memory of Maya’s trembling form in my arms makes my chest ache.“Whatever you say.”
Pack hierarchy is pack hierarchy.
Just until it isn’t anymore.