Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
The whispering voice of doubt in my head lists so many questions, but the answer remains the same:
I. Don’t. Fucking. Know.
I wonder if I’ll ever be able to figure it out.
Bestian
Rose turns and tilts her head up to me. Is she trying to see my expression? Before I raced to intercept her, I wove a spell to mask my face, but it is incomplete. The curse that marred my features is resistant to magic.
My spell obscures the worst of the damage. The growing dusk and my hood do the rest.
“I know I'm not an Omega. So I don’t understand why I’m reacting the way I am. Some sort of psychosomatic response? Delayed trauma from waking up on an alien planet?” She’s half talking to herself, and I’m pleased. I never thought I’d possess an Omega, much less one who can match me intellectually. The whisps told me she was in training with a healer in the village. Perhaps Rose can develop healing powers, like my mother.
“I’m human. I can’t be an Omega.”
I guide her through a hedge exit. Her muscles tense under my touch, but she obeys. Her acquiescence pleases me, but her impending disobedience intrigues me even more. I’ve never met anyone so determined to counter my will.
It’s exciting.
“A few summers ago, I would have agreed with you,” I tell her. “But in recent past, there were instances of Ulfarri kings finding their Omegas. The Wanderer King and the Golden King, as well as the Hunter King have found their mates. In each case, the Omega was like you. Human.”
She stops walking and sucks in a breath. “That’s impossible.”
“Is it? How did you come to be on Ulfaria?”
“I don’t know.”
“In the other queens’ cases, they were brought through a portal and given a serum to turn them into Omegas.”
She leans forward, placing a hand on her stomach.
“Rose? Are you all right?”
“Are you telling me… not only was I abducted by aliens, but they also gave me a serum to turn me into an Omega?”
“That is my theory.”
She rubs her chest absently. “I still feel human.”
“You are. Your slight stature and features are similar to those of the other kings’ Omegas. But, like them, you also display Omega traits.” She’s still staring into the night like it holds all her answers. I brush my fingers over her gleaming curls. “It is a gift.”
“Not to me. I’m the one who got transformed.”
“Is it so unsettling?”
“Unsettling? That’s one word for it.” Her sweet scent carries a whiff of ash. Alarm surges in my chest, triggering my purr.
I stoop and swing her up into my arms. Her neck stiffens. The rest of her melts against me, molding to my chest until her entire body is vibrating with my rumbling purr. Her perfume turns sweeter and thickens to nectar on my tongue.
“What are you doing?” She sounds drowsy from my purr’s soporific effect.
“There is something I want to show you.” Holding her close, I set off, marveling at how perfect she feels in my arms. But then, I shouldn’t be surprised.
She belongs in my embrace.
She belongs to me.
Rose
My mind is at war with my body. I hate that the king is carrying me, that he presumed to pick me up without asking. I hate the thrill that prickled under my skin when he swung me into his massive arms. I hate how I’m pressing myself against him. I hate the rumbling purr and how it makes my entire body relax like I just had a two-hour massage.
I hate how the evening air is soft and perfumed with moonflower scent. I hate how Bestian is carrying me like I weigh nothing. I hate the gorgeous five moons and how that little voice in my head whispers, Isn’t this romantic? as we travel through the gardens together.
But most of all, I hate how much I’m loving this. All of it.
We go through a covered walkway, and when we emerge, we’re bathed in lilac moonlight. Even at night, this place is stunningly beautiful.
It’s annoying.
“Do the whisps do all the landscape maintenance too?” I ask.
“Of course.”
“How do they work?”
“Magic.”
I realize I’m absently stroking the emerald green markings on Bestian’s chest and snatch my hand back. “Magic isn’t real.”
“Isn’t it?” He sounds amused. “I’m devoted to learning. I’ve studied magic all my life.”
“Where does it come from?”
“Members of my family all have innate powers, but the bulk of the magic I use comes from the kings’ symbiosis with the land.”
“Ask a stupid question,” I mutter.
“There are no stupid questions, little Omega.”
“And now you sound like my seventh grade science teacher. Except for the Omega part.” I snuggle closer to him, not because I need to, but because he’s warm and the night has a chill that penetrates my wrap.
“Settle, little one. We’re almost there.”
Something’s glowing up ahead. Bestian carries me through a massive archway, towards the gurgling sound of running water. Smack bang in the middle of a square courtyard is a frothing fountain surrounded by rows upon rows of lights.