Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Nine jars of demon brew later, the orb on my desk flickers, and Khan’s face appears. “Demon,” he greets me.
“Wanderer.” I don’t bother to hide my contempt. “You are bold to contact me so soon after stealing from me.”
“I wish to speak with you.”
I could smash the orb but it would not harm him. And he would only appear in another one. “Return my Omega. That is all I have to say.”
Khan scowls. “Renee is free to come to you any time she chooses.”
Her name on another Alpha’s lips is like needles in my spine. I thump down my cup. “Here’s a question for you,” I snarl. “How would you like it if our places were reversed? If my Omega convinced yours that she was not happy with you, that she should leave you, and then we helped her escape?”
Khan’s expression is mutinous. “My queen—”
“Ah yes, your queen.” I scoff. Khan’s face turns an unhealthy shade of purple. “Does Emma always speak for you now? Do you no longer have a voice at all? Perhaps you should regain control of your own Hoo-man before you criticize how I’m handling mine.”
Khan leans forward until his face fills the entire surface of the orb. His canines flash when he speaks. “I do not control Emma,” he rasps. “I love her. I would die for her. I almost did. I would take your face off for daring to so much as say her name, but she has a kind heart. She wouldn’t want me to harm you—for Renee’s sake. But don’t mistake my restraint for weakness. I don’t have to put a collar and leash on my Omega as if she were some kind of animal and I feared she might run away. She is my queen. My mate. My equal. The mother of my children. When given the chance to return back to her planet, she chose to stay in Altrim with me even though she was afraid, confused, and homesick. Can you say your pet—” he spits the word with contempt, “—would do the same?”
I clench my fists, my claws shredding my palms.
“We already know the answer to that,” Khan continues. “You made her so unhappy that she’d rather stay here with us than be with you.”
Every word is like a poison-tipped dart piercing my chest. But the demon brew has made me slow. Sluggish. Unable to respond the way I want to.
“Our queens are the best things that ever happened to us,” Khan goes on. “They are precious gifts, but powerful in their own right. Emma tells me Renee wanted to stay with you. She tried to make it work. But you would not accept her as an equal. If she is your mate, if you share a soul-bond, you should love her as she loves you.”
I want to argue but I bite my tongue. I never told Renee how I felt about her because I didn’t know. All my life, it’s been drummed into me that demons are incapable of love. And whenever there were pangs of joy, belonging, or trust in my chest, I assumed they were her feelings, coming to me via the bond.
Only when she left me was I forced to face the truth: I do love her.
Khan is still staring at me. Shoving my sorrow aside, I summon back my anger. “Taking another’s Omega is an act of war.” I want to sound threatening, but the demon brew slurs my speech. “Beware, lest I make fire spill from Altrim’s sky like rain.”
“You can’t. Your powers are too weak to extend to my kingdom. Besides, you would not set Altrim alight while your Omega is here.”
He’s right. Damn him.
When Khan next speaks, to my astonishment, he sounds slightly bemused. “I would oblige you, and give you a fight. But battling me will not convince Renee to return to you. Why don’t you fight to prove your love for her instead?”
With a low growl, I reach out and slap the orb to wipe his smug grin off its surface. But when his image has faded, his words echo in my ears.
Fight to prove your love for her.
The question is: how? I gave her everything I could, and it wasn’t enough.
Ulf help me, I don’t know what else to do.
I just know I cannot go on without her.
Renee
There’s a baby in my lap, an adorably pudgy, roly-poly infant with lavender skin and sky-blue eyes. Emma and Khan’s new son Kharon hasn’t learned to crawl yet, but he’s already great at blowing bubbles.
I duck my head and coo at him. “It’s official,” I announce to Emma, who’s lounging on a nearby couch. “I’m in love. With you,” I croon to Kharon. “With this gorgeous baby.”
There’s a touch of sadness to Emma’s smile. She and I have discussed my rekindled desire to start family. At length, deep into the night. “You’re always welcome to babysit.”