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His fingers left my jaw and wrapped lightly around my throat. “Tonight, little dove, you and I, along with those two amorous fellows, are going to leave.”
I arched my back and wriggled in his hold in outrage. His hand covered my mouth, his arm an iron band, however, holding me tighter.
“Be still!” he hissed in my ear.
I obeyed, only for him to continue his dark words.
“The queen will be disappointed, of course, when she finds the bride and groom gone, the boat no longer at the Ongahri dock. But she’ll know that you’re safe. Lysander will leave a note, apologizing profusely, and no one will be the wiser.”
The words made me pause as I tried to catch up, but he kept talking.
“… he’ll never love you, claim you, Sierra. My offer is this: come to Ordelpho. You can live a free woman. Ander and Neil will be safe, I promise. And you can claim a mate from my people, anyone you desire. You will have the choice, the right.”
I noticed then that Lucius was no longer whispering. Lysander and Cornelius were gone. It was only me and Lucius here now.
“I’m going to let you speak. Behave.” He released his hand over my mouth but didn’t let me go.
“I’m listening,” I said, my voice raw. “Release me.”
“Promise not to run?”
“I promise,” I said.
I breathed deeply once he let me go, and I turned around to face him, stepping away just enough to create some space between us. He looked exactly like the wolf I’d seen that first night when I’d laid eyes on him. He was dangerous. Alluring. Alpha.
“There is no hope to be found in House Trajan, Princess.” He reached out and touched my cheek. His fingers were long, warm. I took a step back. His eyes roamed over my body, then up to my mouth.
“You want me to choose you, don’t you?” I dared.
He titled his head, his expression blank. “Tempting, but no. I would break you, little dove. No, as I said, you’d have the freedom of choice. I’m a man of my word.”
“What’s in it for you? Why should I trust you?”
“The answer to the latter is you should trust no one but yourself. What’s in it for me? Thwarting conformity. Neither of you were given a choice. His sister and a group of aged pompous asses took it upon themselves to destroy your choices.”
“So it’s revenge, you playing facilitator and instigator?” I said with as much bite as I could. His arrogance was irritating.
“It’s what’s right, Sierra,” he said harshly. “Convention strangles. With me, everyone gets what they want.”
I said nothing. My mind was running in circles, becoming exhausted.
“So, what’s it going to be, Omega? Stay here like a prized mare and fade away, be lonely, pray your claiming takes? Risk abandonment, or worse, watch as Lysander’s proclivities are found out?”
I blinked, feeling gutted at his summation.
“Or come home with me,” he said, “where you’ll be treated as an equal instead of a pawn?”
His silver eyes were penetrating, holding way too much power. I looked away.
What he offered… Was that a viable answer to my dilemma? If I left with him tonight, no one would get hurt. I remembered him saying how much House Dega differed among the Ongahri here, how his prize was freedom, for himself and his people. A new way of governing.
But would I just be switching masters, trading one for another? Could I trust him?
Lysander and Cornelius would be safe, he had said. I believed him when he said he’d known all along about their forbidden love. Cornelius was his trusted adviser, and he was still alive.
I thought of the Mor, how in my dreams I’d walked its halls and strolled through its gardens. I thought of Demos, sweet, sweet Demos, who’d been my heart yet couldn’t, wouldn’t have me.
Could I do this? Was this the answer to my prayers, the sign I had asked for?
