by P. Jameson
Evander pawed at a giant wooden door carved with the symbol of Luxoria. I was surprised that His Majesty opened the door himself. I envied him for feeling safe in his own home, even when it was under attack. He had the audacity to think he could never lose his crown. It was admirable, until it was stupid.
The betas had broken into the armory. There was no telling what other royal secrets had been compromised.
King Adalai’s gaze shifted from Evander, to me, and then back to Evander. A smile finally bloomed on his lips. “A bit dramatic, Evander, don’t you think?”
The king had a sense of humor? That had to be Zelene’s doing.
“Not at all,” Evander replied. “It feels fucking good to be who I am.”
The king steeled himself, and I had a feeling I was missing some major context that I’d have to ask Evander about once we were alone. If we could keep our hands off of each other long enough to do it.
“Zelene,” His Majesty said without turning away from us. “Bring your courtesan to her quarters and monitor her shift.”
Oh. So the king was not amused we showed up furry. Tension was thick, and a little bit of that old fear returned. Of watching Evander getting reprimanded by his trainer, and that horrible beating. But he was a man now, and he could defend himself, even against the king.
Zelene appeared behind her mate in the doorway. “Your tail is wagging. It’s adorable.”
I huffed out a breath. “I’m not cute. I’m fierce.”
“Come on, these two want to talk about alpha things, which is fine with me. We have omega things to catch up on.” She waved me on but didn’t say anything else until we’d turned a corner, then she went down on one knee and hugged me.
“It’s so good to see you like this.” She buried her face in my fur. “We were so scared for you.”
“How bad was I?” I’d never considered the possibility that I wouldn’t recover but judging from the tears welling in Zelene’s eyes, she certainly had.
“We thought…” A sob choked her words. “We thought you’d been permanently altered. Like you could go full mutant. At first, your condition got worse. We’ve got some omegas at the castle who never turned around. That’s why we put you in a coma. Some of the other doctors thought we should give up on you—”
“What do you mean, give up on me?”
“They suggested euthanizing.” She shuddered. “But Evander told me to have faith, and he’d make you better. I was hoping it wasn’t just for his pride. I wanted the two of you to have a connection.” She ran her fingers through my fur. “You’re so soft. Your fur is full and silky. A shift can make a lot of bad stuff go away.”
“Can I see them? The omegas that are here?” It would take me awhile to come to terms with what she’d just shared with me. But maybe I could find some closure with these omegas, and make some good come out of this horrible situation.
“Yes, but not like that.” Zelene struggled to get to her feet. The baby had to be coming any day. “I’m not sure what kind of effect it would have on them. Can you shift back?”
“Yeah.” Two complete shifts in two days wasn’t the only thing that scared me. I wondered if the craving for juice when I was in bed with Evander last night had anything to do with my shift. If it was another lingering effect of the poisoning.
And coming face to face with what could have happened to me was absolutely terrifying.
Walking into to my quarters after a month away was surreal. It never felt like it belonged to me. “Stay with me,” I begged Zelene.
She nodded as she sunk into a chair near the window. “You’re safe here. I hate seeing you so afraid. Adalai will protect you, no matter what happens.”
That was a loaded statement, because it could have referred to my condition, or the state of the city.
“Evander will protect me.”
She smiled, and rubbed her belly. “Yes, he will.”
After I shifted, I took a quick shower and once again dressed as a member of the queen’s court, like nothing had ever happened. But since I’d last laced up my corset, my entire life had changed.
“Isn’t there something in between these stuffy dresses and military uniforms we can wear?” They were both horribly uncomfortable.
“Wear whatever you want,” she said with a chuckle. “When we were kids in the Badlands, I always wanted one of the gorgeous dresses that we saw the alphas wear to the galas. I think only Ashla shared that dream, or she’s too polite to ask for what she really wants. Speaking up takes some getting used to, but it’s worth it. What did you dream about?”
Heat rose in my cheeks. “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”
“We’re in the castle, and I answer to the title of Your Majesty. Kind of makes me think anything is possible.”
I tapped my chest, hating that I didn’t have the button. I’d always done my best to keep a secret from the girls when we were in the shack. But now, I wanted to show her.
“I dreamed of Evander.”
Her lips parted, and she nodded. She thought I was speaking figuratively, not literally, and someday, I’d tell her the whole story. Maybe I’d tell her baby too. I had a feeling she was having a girl, and as her auntie, I wanted to make sure she knew dreams came true.
Zelene led me through the castle, to the service hallways. They still felt more familiar than the living quarters I should’ve called home. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be here long, unless Evander preferred to call the castle home.
I shuddered from the familiar smell of the infirmary. It was too similar to the clinic. And it didn’t have any windows either. There had to be some sort of significance to keeping sick omegas away from natural light. I wondered if it was because it made us more susceptible to their heat. Or if it intensified the cravings for juice.
Because both things had happened to me once I was free. Of course, all hell broke loose when I left Evander’s quarters, but that was a pretty common occurrence in Luxoria, and a day that ended in Y in the Badlands.
Zelene gripped my hand as we stood outside the door. “If it’s too much, we can go.”
“No. I want to help them.”
“We all do.” She bit her lip before she turned to the door.
“But I know what they’re going through,” I protested as I followed her.
They didn’t have a private room like I did. The first few were sectioned off behind retractable curtains. Hooked up to cords and machines like I had been, and their eyes were closed.
Comatose.
A chill swept over me, and Zelene rubbed my arm. “These are the good ones.”
Then I heard the cries. I must’ve been too scared, too lost in my own experience to register them before. They rang through me, familiar.
“This is what it was like in the Keep,” I said. The memory was as clear as if I was there. “So many omegas crying out for juice. They weren’t animals, but they weren’t humans anymore. But the sound…”
“I know.” Zelene shook her head. “It’s so hard to listen to. But we can’t abandon them.”
Cautiously we stepped further into the facility. A medic curtsied when she saw us.
“Please let me know if you’d like an update on our patients,” she said.
I shook my head, putting my hands against the glass. These omegas, the ones that cried for juice were trapped in cells, like they were a danger to all that was around them. Had they already been altered, as Evander had called it? Were their brains capable of healing?
“Can I watch them for a while?”
“Of course,” the medic said.
I didn’t know what I was looking for. A sign they were like me, or maybe a glimmer of hope that they could improve. I knew some of the people behind the glass, but they didn’t recognize me.
I wondered if they still had dreams.
Evander came in, looking so handsome in his military leathers. I hadn’t moved from the spot I’d been in, observing, hoping to make some connections that would make this awful
mess go away.
He slipped his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head. “Some of them have gotten better. Some haven’t been so lucky,” he said softly. “And some have stayed like this the whole time. You were lucky, my Little Omega. You beat it.”
I turned to him, relishing the heat of his body now more than ever. “We can learn from them.”
He nodded.
“I realized that you were the only one who scented my heat,” I said. “Kathryn was totally clueless, and Ashla didn’t know until she touched me. Back in the Badlands, heat was like a chain reaction. Once one of us got it, the heat bunkers were at capacity. And Solen had his suspicions, but he didn’t lose control.”
Evander pressed his lips together as he considered that.
“My heat was totally bearable. Maybe because I was in a soft bed, and maybe because I had access to running hot water in the shower. But it could’ve been the juice, too.” I was getting excited. “I want to help these omegas. All omegas. Maybe a low dose of the juice could ward off omega heats, and make it less dangerous for unmated females.”
“It’s possible.” He stepped away from me to pick up a tablet. His gaze was fixed on the numbers. “I want you to work with me here, Little Omega. Everything you went through, it made you stronger. And now you have a chance to bring these patients something I couldn’t. Hope. And because you’ve been through their situation, you’ll have a unique perspective an entire army of doctors couldn’t have.”
“I’d love that.” It was an honor that he had enough faith in me to help save these omegas’ lives. “There are so many omegas that need our help.”
The possibilities went far beyond this infirmary. My mind raced with all the things we could do now that we had access to funding for research. Even just meeting basic needs would make a world of difference.
When I dreamed, I dreamed big. And I didn’t give up.
“I know there are.” He gave me another kiss. “And you’ll help me make their lives better.”
Chapter Nineteen
Evander
I watched Rielle as she stared through the glass with so much determination in her eyes. My omega was going to be okay. For the first time ever, I let myself believe it. Whatever remnants of the addiction that were left in her, I felt confident we could turn them into something good and useful.
I let myself remember the warrior boy who used to sit and talk to a little girl through a gap in the wall, but this time, I didn’t feel disdain for him. I didn’t feel like he’d failed. Didn’t feel like he was a liar.
I felt grateful.
To the man that boy became, the man who never gave up. To the Little Omega who grew strong and endured unspeakable things, and somehow found her way back to me.
And most of all, to the world for finally being a place where two people from either side of the wall could love each other without repercussions.
Our world was far from perfect. In fact, it was likely to get worse before it got better.
Adalai had informed me that the betas were gearing up for something big. The castle was being fortified for bio attacks. New weapons were being formed to fight the mutants, who no doubt had made allies of the beta resistance. The humans and their experiments still needed to be dealt with. Nothing was certain. Even some alpha soldiers wondered if the omega Ashla had betrayed the kingdom. With the king’s blessing, Solen had taken her into hiding at an undisclosed place until proof could be made on her behalf.
This was what change felt like. What growth felt like. What rooting out injustice felt like. It hurt as much as it healed, but being whole was fucking worth it.
Rielle’s hand slipped into mine, squeezing. “I’m ready to go.”
I brought it up to my mouth to kiss the back. “I have something to show you first.”
“Uh oh. What is it?” Her expression grew wary, but I was sure she’d like what I had up my sleeve.
I smiled as I led her back into the main hallway and toward the level of the castle dedicated to research. “It’s a surprise.”
Her dark eyebrows came up. “A surprise?”
I nodded. “You always liked surprises. I haven’t forgotten.”
“Of course not.” She grinned, bumping me with her elbow. “One little omega sure left quite an impression on you, huh?”
“She was memorable.” I smirked. “Never saw a girl so obsessed with buttons.”
Rielle sighed as we walked. “I’m still obsessed with buttons. For example, I want to undo all the ones on your jacket when we get home.”
I growled at her suggestive tone. Finding the first dark opening, I dragged her into it, pushing her up against the wall so I could kiss the sound from her lips. When we broke apart, she was breathless and I was hard not to impale her on the spot. I pressed my hips into hers, letting her feel my desire.
“Why, alpha,” she breathed, “I do believe you have a thing for buttons too.”
“Yes…” I buried my face in her neck and soaked up her scent. “I want to watch them scatter across the floor as I rip this dress off you.” I could take her now, here. No one would see. Not this far away from the main happenings of castle life. But what I wanted to show her was important.
I pulled back to find her pouting. It was adorable and reminded me of a young Rielle. I loved this side of her that no one got to experience except me.
“Surprise first,” I said roughly. It took all my self-control not to give in.
Taking her hand, I led her back into the corridor and down a set of stairs to the labs where most of my work for the king was done, and where we would work to help other addicted omegas. Passing various work stations, we ended up before a locked door. I tapped a code into the keypad and we entered a room lit with artificial sunlight. It wasn’t as good as the real thing, but it worked for my purposes.
In the center of the room was an array of rose bushes I’d spent years experimenting on. Any time I couldn’t sleep, when my omega was on my mind and memories assaulted me, this was what I worked on.
The bushes were in full bloom, colors ranging from deep reds to golden yellows. Rielle walked forward, her eyes taking in the beautiful flowers. Slowly, her fingers brushed the petals of one that was orange with pink tips.
Like the sunshine had kissed the earth.
“Do you remember our first fight?” I asked.
Rielle squinted, bending to sniff the bloom before answering. “If I recall correctly, I was very angry that you picked a rose to give me.”
“Yes. You weren’t grateful in the least… because it was going to die.”
“I thought you were a monster for hurting something so wonderful. Couldn’t believe my friend, my alpha, would do such an awful thing.”
I chuckled. “It was a proper shaming.”
“Until I went home and asked Tavia how long flowers could live if they weren’t plucked by awful alpha boys… well, I left the alpha boys part out, but you get the point. She told me flowers were meant to be picked. That it was the only way for them to be free.”
I nodded, walking forward to stand beside her. “She was right. But do you remember what you told me that day?”
Rielle shook her head.
“You said ‘everything matters, every living thing matters.’”
“I said that? Little Rielle was smart as hell, wasn’t she?”
I brushed my thumb over her silken cheek. “She was. And Little Evander never forgot her words.” I reached for a bloom and carefully pulled it from the bush. “I’ve been working on this for years. It was a bit of a hobby of mine.”
Rielle frowned. “Growing roses? I guess that explains the beautiful courtyard at the clinic.”
“Not just any roses, mate.” I turned, holding the rose out to her, unable to contain my smile. “These roses don’t die when they’re ripped from the mother plant.”
I watched her eyes grow big as she stared at the bloom. “What?”
“They don’t wilt and die with time. Instead, they thrive
. They grow stronger when subjected to harsher conditions and each separation actually allows the single bloom to grow its own roots and become its own plant.”
“You… you created a rose that doesn’t die?”
“It can die, but not because of something so trivial as picking it. And actually, it wouldn’t be easy.” I swallowed hard because the next part was going to tell her so much about me and the time we spent apart. This was my heart wide open. “This rose… can live in the desert.”
Rielle’s gaze jerked to me, her emerald eyes digging in ruthlessly. “You made a rose that could live in the Badlands.”
I nodded, my throat closing on any words.
“You… you did this for me? Even when you didn’t know if I was still out there?”
Curving my palm around her cheek, I pulled her close. “You changed me, Rielle. The wall, the gap. I was never coming out of that unscathed. It wasn’t easy, what we went through, but it was worth it to be here, now.”
She pressed her forehead to mine. “You changed me too,” she admitted. “You made me dream bigger than I ever could have if I’d never peeped through that hole. And you made me believe in kindness when it got you nothing in return. And…and in happily-ever-afters.” She sucked in a sob and I kissed her lips softly.
“I’ve named it,” I murmured.
Tears danced in her eyes as she smiled up at me. “What did you name it?”
“I call it… the Omega Rose.”
“The Omega Rose,” she whispered, staring at it in awe. “It’s amazing.”
“I want to take this one home. Will you help me plant it in our courtyard?”
“Yes!” Her smile was so big, I knew it would haunt me for days to come, taking the place of everything that came before.
“Let’s go home, Little Omega.”
“Home.” Her words were quiet, but so happy. She threw her arms around me, squeezing me in a hug. “I love the sound of that.”
My arms came around to rock her close. “I’m going to make you love everything about being mine.”
