by Zoey Ellis
“So if you all live there, why do you have this lodge?”
“Those of us who undertake dangerous missions tend to need time and space on our own… to process some of the things we experience. It’s better sometimes to do that away from the other Omegas. This lodge used to belong to an older Omega spy who retired.”
Drocco was silent for a long time. “Did your Omega leaders provide you with proof of what they told you about Alphas?”
Cailyn’s discomfort turned to a mild defensiveness. “They showed us reports. And many of the witness statements of Omegas who were alive at the time.”
“Those could be faked.” Drocco turned the shutter over slowly, his brows knit. “Were any of your council alive when this village was started?”
“At least one of them was.”
“And she didn’t have a mate?”
Cailyn lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know. I think she did.”
“You should know,” Drocco said sharply, snapping his head up to look at her. “How can you blindly follow someone that cannot prove what they say?”
“There is no reason for them to lie,” Cailyn shot back. “What would be the point? Tell me what benefit there is in going through the hassle of creating such a secret and hidden life only to support a lie? They are Omegas themselves and have deprived themselves too. They know that Omegas need and crave—” She stopped abruptly, shocked at what she had been about to say.
Something changed in his eyes, and a smirk appeared on his lips. “That you need and crave what?” His whole stance changed and, in an instant, he was the Drocco from the Palace bedroom—the one that didn’t give a shit about her concerns and simply fucked and knotted her to his heart’s content. Her nipples hardened and a divine tingle between her legs told her her slick was gathering. Yes, it was this Drocco a large part of her wanted.
She forced herself to look away from him. “N-nothing,” she stuttered. “That’s not what I meant to say.”
Drocco made that familiar noise in the back of his throat. When she glanced back at him, he was attaching the shutter to the window frame.
A harsh annoyance flared through her at the realization that he was not going to act on his desire. She got up abruptly and moved over to the couch, but halfway there, he began talking.
"My father was born in Hallowcryst. He also grew up learning the Southern Lands warrior beliefs as well as my grandfather’s carpenter training."
Cailyn padded back to the wooden chair and sat back down quietly.
"But my father wasn’t a warrior—he struggled with any weapon my grandfather tried to train him in, but he did excel in design." Drocco tested the shutter, pressing it firmly to see whether it would move. When he was satisfied, he brushed off his hands and began to clear up. “He spent his time thinking up designs that would help around their home and trying to create them. His creations were impressive, and eventually Grandfather sent him to Grence so he could receive further training. As he trained, he would design weapons and Grandfather would create them, and they were beautiful. Grandfather used them to train. Soon, my father’s designs were in high demand. No one knew that he could create weapons but his other designs, especially those that made life easier in the home, became very popular.
"Eventually, the King of Ashens requested him to make items for his Palace. My father would visit the Palace every week to consult with him on the projects that he wanted. However, the King of Ashens had begun to collect Omegas."
“Collect Omegas?"
“Yes. He had rounded up the last of the unattached Omegas in Ashens in order to protect them from being taken—at least, that's what he said he was doing. My father was tasked to design items for their living area. He visited the Palace regularly in order to fit and test the items, and that was where he met my mother."
Drocco paused as he surveyed the window. He glanced around looking at the rest of the room. "Are there any other windows to mend in here?"
“Did he instantly know that she was for him too?" Cailyn asked.
“I don't know," Drocco replied. "He did go to see her regularly and they had a relationship."
“Did they soul-bond?"
“Not straight away." The hardness of Drocco's jaw told her something wasn't quite right. He moved across the room to examine the broken part of the fireplace.
“Why not?"
Drocco took a moment to answer. "She belonged to the King of Ashens who claimed that she was there for her safety and he couldn’t possibly let her go to such a rural area in Hallowcryst. My father tried to get him to change his mind; pleading with him and trying to persuade him, but the king remained firm.”
Cailyn frowned. “Your father was an Alpha?”
“Exactly!” Drocco barked, his eyes flashing. “He was a fucking Alpha. He shouldn’t have been pleading or begging anyone.”
“You believe he should have just taken her?” Cailyn said evenly. “Like your grandfather did?” Like he did.
Drocco shot her a look that suggested he had guessed her unspoken thought. He headed over to where the spare materials and tools lay and sifted through them.
“Maybe he wanted to respect the King of Ashens?” Cailyn suggested. “Maybe he was loyal to him. Did you consider that?”
“My grandfather reached that conclusion too,” Drocco responded, gruffly. “He had instilled the meaning of honor into my father, but he was honor bound to the wrong person.”
“Why? What happened?”
Drocco found what he was looking for and returned to the fireplace. “My mother became pregnant.”
Cailyn’s brows shot up. “While she was still at the Palace?”
“Yes. The King of Ashens wasn’t happy, but he had to accept that it was what my mother wanted. He had to allow her to be with her Alpha during the pregnancy. However, he still didn’t believe that she would be safe so he sent three Talent-crafters to watch over her.”
Cailyn almost groaned, a sense of dread growing.
"My mother and father were happy for a period of time. She gave birth to me and she felt safe and content. However, the Talent-crafters weren’t happy at all. They had been removed from the luxuries of Ashens to live in the rural countryside of Hallowcryst. Their magic hid the village from outsiders, but they complained continuously about their new lives and found excitement and entertainment in torturing the people of our village. During the time I grew up, I was careful never to be near them or to antagonize them, but the village was small and they cycled through the villagers in order to keep themselves amused.
"I once came across them torturing a boy from a neighboring plot who sometimes trained with me. They would wrap magic around his head so he couldn't breathe and then release him when they thought he'd had enough. It was game to see how long they could make him hold his breath."
"That's horrible," Cailyn whispered.
"I ran home and got my axe."
"You had an axe? How old were you?"
"Eight," Drocco said, glancing at her. "Grandfather taught me about weaponry and trained me since the age of five. He claimed I had a knack for it and he made my father design me my own axe. It was smaller than my grandfather's, but it was sharp and strong."
Cailyn fidgeted on her chair, on edge about what she was about to hear next. "What happened?"
"The Talent-crafters laughed at me. I stood in front of the boy, who could barely stand by then, and told them to leave him alone. They laughed and mocked me. They believed that a stupid little Alpha couldn't do them any damage. So I threw my axe into one of their heads."
Cailyn gasped. "One of the king’s Talent-crafters?"
"I don't give a shit who they were," Drocco thundered, throwing her a dark look. "They weren’t doing their jobs. They preferred to torture people and force the village to give them supplies and food and clothing for free, just because they could wield magic. They were despicable." He exhaled slowly, turning back to the fireplace. "Me and the boy escaped, but of course the remaining Talent-crafters
knew where to find me. They destroyed our home and took all of my grandfather's weaponry, but my mother was heavily pregnant at this time and they destroyed her home and nest. The rest of the villagers were outraged and petitioned the king to do something about them.
"The king’s guards came to question me and the Talent-crafters, who still remained in the village making our lives hell. Eventually, the king visited the village and held a trial of sorts. He asked me what happened, and I told him. He explained to me that the Talent-crafters had given him their word to protect my mother and if he were to punish them for being in my village, then he would be punishing their loyalty. He asked me if I wanted them to keep their word and stay in Hallowcryst. I said no. I told him that keeping their word should not be a burden on others. He laughed and said that they needed some compensation for their sacrifice to stay in a village such as mine. They were in the early stages of madness caused by the Talent and that had to be tolerated if I expected my mother to be kept safe.”
Drocco worked solidly on the fireplace, carefully cementing over the last broken brick. But Cailyn could tell by the way he held himself that he was tense. He remained silent for such a long while that Cailyn thought he wasn’t going to continue.
“My grandfather argued on my behalf and the father and grandfather of the boy I had helped argued on my behalf. I expected my father to say something—he didn’t. And then I found out why.”
Cailyn almost held her breath. “Why?” she breathed.
“He had promised the king the first Omega child my mother bore. The one she was pregnant with. He knew that if, for any reason, the Talent-crafters stopped protecting her and she disappeared, he would be held for treason.”
“But the disappearance wouldn’t have been his fault,” Cailyn argued.
“He took her from the king’s Palace where she was supposedly safe,” Drocco said, through gritted teeth. “It didn’t matter that all of the other Omegas she’d been held with were taken. It didn’t matter that any Omega child she had was likely to be taken too. None of that mattered to the king.”
Cailyn exhaled the breath she had been holding. “This was the late king? The one you defeated? Is this why you killed him?”
Drocco glanced at her. “The story is not over.” He stepped back to look at his work. “When it was all revealed, my grandfather was furious. I had not yet understood the impact of the king’s words, but the villagers were shocked. The king knelt down to speak to me and explained the importance of promises and honor. I told him that my grandfather had already taught me that. He told me that I had committed a crime by murdering one of his Talent-crafters and that the debt had to be repaid. My grandfather tried to interrupt but he and the other villagers were held back. He asked me if I would allow the Talent-crafters to take their repayment, and if so, he would allow them to break their promise and leave the village. I would not be arrested and the villagers would be left in peace. I told him yes and swore my agreement to the deal. The king rose and told them to repay the debt.”
Drocco took a breath and turned to her. Cailyn couldn’t look away from the complex depth in his eyes.
“The Talent-crafters, in their madness, used the Talent to rip my unborn sibling from my mother’s womb.”
Cailyn gasped. “What?” She blinked repeatedly, tears prickling her eyes as the shock pounded through her.
Drocco’s eyes held hers. “The king urged them not to hurt the baby, but they tore her open with magic to get the child out. The villagers were in an uproar but the king’s guards still held them back. When they checked the child afterward to ensure it was healthy, they discovered that the child was male, and therefore couldn’t be the Omega female the king wanted. My father had lied because he knew the king’s patience was running thin—I don’t know how he hoped to keep it a secret. At least if the child had been female, it would have given him more time before her dynamic was discovered. The king ordered him imprisoned for treason and threw my brother, like trash, to the ground to die next to my mother.”
Cailyn had no words. Her hands fidgeted in her lap and her erratic breathing filled her own ears. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could be so cruel, or how a young boy could deal with such an event.
“Before he left, he told me that I should respect when someone gives their word, and that he trusted I would remember that a promise given to the king is the strongest of all. I had forced the Talent-crafters to break their promise to him, so he had intended to take the child with him immediately.” Drocco’s jaw clenched as he spoke. “I told him I would give him another promise to replace theirs. I vowed to one day repay him and take three of the things he held dear above all others. And I did. I took his kingdom, his family, and his life.”
The silence that grew in the room was thick but Cailyn dared not break it. Drocco stood by the fireplace, his eyes distant with memory. She had never seen such a tortured expression on his face before.
“After that, my grandfather trained me and the other boy, Torin,” he said, his voice quiet. He bent back down to the fireplace. “He taught us that lies bring nothing but pain. That there is nothing we come into the world with except our word. Nothing is more important than honor and loyalty, especially when it comes to our Omegas.” He lifted his head again, and his black eyes swirled. “My father disrespected his Omega. He wasn’t loyal to her or her well-being, he didn’t intend to protect her for the rest of her life. She was one of the last Omegas that existed in the Eastern Lands at that time and he was not worthy of her. The moment I realized this, I knew I had to find mine. An Omega of my own—the one that’s supposed to be for me. One I can be worthy for.”
Something strange skipped down Cailyn’s spine. Her eyes held his for a long moment and a longing arose to touch him. Then he turned back to the fireplace.
Cailyn rose slowly from her chair and padded to their makeshift bed on the floor. Drocco glanced at her, frowning as she sat down. “Are you unwell?”
“I’m tired,” she whispered, her throat aching from the sobs that had threatened. Drocco watched her as she lay on her side and curled her legs up. She watched him back.
Finally he rose, and slowly made his way to her, slipping in behind her and pulling her into him. She rubbed her hand along his thick arm around her waist and his purr erupted, heavy and deep. He curled his legs underneath hers, creating a strong, hard, rumbling cocoon for her, and lowered his face into her shoulder. He traced his nose in circles on her shoulder, and then ran the tip down her collarbone and up her neck, sending a tingly shiver straight to her core. As he scented her, she knew he was taking comfort in her; in the feel of her, the smell of her, and in the fact that she had invited him to. And that pleased her more than she ever thought possible.
***
Time passed slowly, but soon much of the property was fixed to Drocco’s standards. They entered a kind of limbo, where there wasn't much to do. Cailyn began cooking for them, instead of letting Drocco do it. The man could fix a window, but his skills with an earthstove were seriously lacking. Of course, she didn’t do it to feed him—it was only to give her something to do as the time passed, and she did enjoy cooking.
She decided not to be insulted by his utter amazement at her cooking skills. He almost finished the entire pot of her spiced boar and bean stew after ensuring she ate twice, and then told her she would be cooking for the rest of their stay. She also busied herself by washing and making clothes, while Drocco kept the fireplace maintained and replanted her earth patch. He also watched her a lot of the time, peculiar expressions on his face, and she was content to let him do so. They didn’t exchange stories again. A strange atmosphere enveloped them since he told her about his parents, and she didn’t know how to shake it off. She couldn’t look at him the same way. Clearly, in his childhood, he’d suffered a trauma that revolved around honesty, loyalty, and oath-breaking. It was no wonder those things were the most important to him.
One morning, as she lay thinking deeper about his upbringing, she
asked, “Why is Torin in your army?”
His arm jolted very slightly around her. “Why not?” Drocco asked.
“It’s just, the rest of your army are Alphas and he is a Beta…”
Drocco was silent as he thought, his breathing smooth and steady.
“Part of the reason why I created an Alpha army is to protect Alphas,” Drocco said. “I didn’t want any Alpha to suffer at the hands of Betas in power, like my unborn brother. I came to realize quickly that Alpha birth rates would decline, and I didn’t want the same panic that happened with the Omegas to be our downfall. We are stronger together.” He shifted her slightly and she felt his hardness on her bottom. “My grandfather had also taught me about dynamic purity, and I realized that I was one of the few pure Alphas left, and that made our situation even worse. I realized I would be the one likely to succeed in creating the Lox because other Alphas would instinctively feel that connection with me.”
“To follow you?” Cailyn asked, tilting her bottom slightly.
“No,” Drocco struggled to find the words he meant. “To be… inspired. Or to recognize I had something different from them. I don’t know how to explain it. But the point is it fell to me to make the decision to do that because of dynamic purity—something I had no control over. Torin has no control over the fact that he is a Beta. I underestimate him frequently because of his dynamic, yet he has been by my side even when I didn’t want him to be. He has proven the most loyal, most passionate, and most cunning of all of my warriors. He could have easily been born an Alpha. He’s not in awe of me. And his intelligence is unique. He doesn’t think how I think and that is useful to me. But most importantly, he tells me the truth, always.”
Cailyn turned around to face him. “Do you think it’s guilt?”
Drocco frowned. “Guilt for what?”
“You helped him, and as a result, you lost most of your family.”
“It was my choice to deal with that situation in that way.”
