“That’s easy for you to say, because look at what you had.” I swept my arm out, madder every time I looked at the room. “What did you have to hide from? We rode out our heats in a dark bunker huddled together on filthy mattresses. The whole time we were there, male omegas in their wolf form pried at the opening, trying to get to us. Sometimes they succeeded.”
A rumble emitted from Solen’s throat. I wanted more than that from him. I wanted him to be pissed off. He needed to know what it really felt like to be an omega.
“Why would you think something like that was supposed to happen?” My tone was as feral as his.
“We can’t change the past.” The man was as impenetrable as the steel that kept us safe. If I had any control over my shift, I’d go full wolf one more time and we could settle this in our animal forms. But he’d best me and once again I’d be expected to submit.
I reminded myself I had the advantage over him. I knew his secret.
“What did you do to get to have this? Do you have some special information about King Adalai that you used to bribe him into giving you status and safety?” This wasn’t just a side agreement. General Solen was in charge of the east. He was in charge of alphas and betas who technically outranked him.
“Say what you mean, Ashla. Did I bribe him for my status?”
“I don’t know. Did you?”
“No.” His adam’s apple bobbed heavily. “Adalai is my cousin. As you know, his mother was also an omega queen. When it came time to divide the territories, my parents pleaded with his father to spare me. They believed I was destined for more, and Adalai agreed. I was raised by castle trainers just like the other generals, and when Adalai became king, he allowed me to prove myself. I worked for my position.”
“But he didn't just give you protection. He made you a general. Gave you your own territory. And it wasn’t even the Badlands.”
“I couldn’t be that close to omegas.” His gaze raked over me like flames. “I couldn’t smell your heat and be able to lead. But that’s not the reason Adalai assigned me the eastern territory. My weaknesses are not his problem. He knew if he gave me such a great responsibility, I would have more than enough motivation to never share my secret.”
“You could've influenced Dagger to advocate for us.”
He shook his head. “Only you and the king know my secret. I couldn’t trust anyone else with that kind of knowledge.”
“You don’t see what you did was wrong.”
He cocked an eyebrow. It was maddening that he didn’t say anything. If we’d had to build a wall around our feelings as omegas, Solen had been forced to rip his emotions away from himself and watch them burn.
No, I would not feel bad for him right now.
“I served my king and protected my territory,” he finally said.
“But you abandoned the Badlands. Your people were suffering—”
“They’re not my people, Ashla.” He was so perfectly frustrating, and it would be much easier to hate him if I didn’t want to rip his uniform away from his body and beg him to ravish me. My animal side was eager to undermine my human side. The calm, cool, and collected omega that everyone overlooked because she was quiet and polite.
They hadn’t given me a chance. But I couldn’t blame everyone else anymore. It was my time to stand up and make things right. I had nothing to lose, but if I made a wrong move, my friends could be driven out of the castle in the name of revolution. My mate’s reputation could be destroyed.
So I couldn’t be reckless.
“You could’ve done something about it.” I took a dangerous step closer to him.
“I am now.” The heat I felt wasn’t mine. It belonged to him. I could drown in his scent and die happy. There was no denying he was my mate. But it wouldn’t be so easy to get him to accept that. To accept what he was and embrace it as a strength and not a weakness. “I can’t change who I was in the past. But one thing I’ve never done is go back on my word. You know a thing or two about that. I said I’d keep you safe. Do you trust me, little spitfire?”
I couldn’t let the cute nickname sway me. If I said no, he might kick me out of the bunker to fend for myself in the desert. Not only was there a bounty on my head, but there were omegas who saw me like I saw Solen. As someone who’d betrayed their own kind when I was offered an opportunity to do better for myself. They’d turn me over to Solen’s army in exchange for whatever they could negotiate.
I knew what it felt like to sell myself short because getting anything was better than what I had. But I held Solen’s fate in my hands. I had to keep reminding myself.
“I’m not sure if I do or not. Why are you helping me now?”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
My heart sunk. I wanted him to embrace what the tension between us would no longer let us ignore. I was his mate. But I’d barely gotten him to admit he was an omega.
Baby steps.
“Do you have any idea who gave the betas the codes to the armory and the castle grounds?” There was a chance he was protecting them.
“I don’t.” A growl slipped out of him. “We have a traitor among us. Someone else knows my secret.”
“If there was
