What evidence? I asked.
Return to the castle and we will have a trial.
Bullshit. You know this is bullshit. Inside, I felt a deep betrayal. In all my years, Adalai had never done me wrong. But now? Was he using me and Ashla as pawns in a political move?
Bullshit or not, that’s an order, and I expect you to obey it. Come home.
I stood, launching my wrist com at the wall with all my strength, shattering it to pieces. My fists clenched as fury filled me to the brim. I wouldn’t obey my king this time. Not when he was asking me to hand over my mate.
I couldn’t. Not after promising her safety. If she couldn’t be safe with me, then… when would she ever be safe? It was the question every omega asked. When will we be safe?
We. An omega is taught to fight beside their mate.
I was choosing to fight beside mine now.
The beta resistance could use someone else to sway the king. It wouldn’t be me and Ashla.
I’d rather be an outlaw, with an outlaw mate, than a scapegoat in a plot to overthrow the king.
I wasn’t alpha. I wasn’t omega. I was somewhere in between.
And that’s where I planned to stay.
Ashla
Chapter Ten
As good as it felt to have Solen calm my heat, this shower was pretty amazing too. A shower in an omega heat bunker was on a dream-like luxury level to begin with, but this one went even beyond that, with sprays of water coming from multiple places in the walls and the ceiling.
I dragged the washcloth over the skin, loving the way my mate had left his mark on my body. I ached in all the right places. My nipples were sore from his mouth and his fingers, but it didn’t stop me from circling them with the cloth, bringing them to a peak one more time…
Where was he?
He said he had to deal with king stuff, and which shouldn’t have filled me with the amount of rage it did. As the main suspect in the castle security breach, it had never been more important to guard my emotions. But I wasn’t that perfect little omega anymore. The one who never said what she wanted in the event it might put her in danger.
I was greedy for my mate. If he’d gone to the shower first, I’d be in here on my knees making sure every inch of him was ready for whatever battle we faced next.
My leg muscles weakened at the visual.
The door opened and Solen emerged from the mist. He stalked toward me, those golden eyes feral and unseeing.
He needed to shift.
“Solen—” I couldn’t ask him what was wrong because in one swift movement, he had me pinned against the wall in the corner. His face was buried in my neck, his knee between my legs, and that glorious cock hard against my belly.
He moved his hands from my shoulders to my breasts, and the contact was nowhere near as gentle as I’d been with the washcloth. But it felt just as good. I writhed against him, play fighting with him, because I knew it would drive him wild, and make him assert his will over me.
He groaned against the crook of my neck, nipping my collarbone just before he drove his cock inside me. I was jelly under his touch, riding the waves of pleasure as the water rained down all around us. It didn’t take time for his knot to swell and for him to shoot his seed inside me.
There was nothing but the sound of our breath and the water falling as he pulled out, and kissed my head. So gentle in contrast to what he’d just done.
“I take it the king had good news?” I’d dropped the washcloth I’d been using on the floor, but there was another one ready for me, like Solen had known he’d have a guest here sometime soon. Like he’d been waiting for me. I wanted to wash him. This omega had seen much different brutality than I had in his life, and it was time someone showed him another way.
He shook his head. “I need to keep you safe.”
“Solen.” I grasped his massive biceps but he moved away from me, refusing to look me in the eye as he shut off the water. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re innocent. I know you’re innocent,” he growled and handed me a towel. It was soft and fluffy and so in contrast to my mate’s fury.
I wrapped myself in it and followed him to the bedroom. “You’re talking nonsense.” His thunderous expression snapped to me. I deserved that look, but it still took me aback. “I am innocent. I need to know why that’s suddenly a problem.”
His gaze met mine, and even the fluffy towel couldn’t erase the chill that swept over me. “King Adalai has proof you’re not.”
My chest constricted. Not possible. I’d been set up. “And you believe him.”
“No. I’ll defend my mate’s honor, even when the King has the audacity to bring it into question.” He ripped open his closet door. The same uniform shirt hung perfectly one in front of the other. He pulled one off its hanger, sending the rest into chaos. “We’ve been summoned back to the castle. Immediately.”
“Okay.” This was really happening. The king had not been gentle with his justice of the royal omegas. Charolet served time in the dungeons, and His Majesty did not give one damn she was in heat.
I was still in heat. Solen had calmed the worst of it, but a desperate wolf, one looking to make a statement, wouldn’t miss my scent.
Solen
