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My cheeks heated and a large smile burst through my previously glum expression. If this was the male version of me, I was starting to understand my appeal—he was too damn cute, like the kind of guy I would have had posters of covering my wall when I was in high school. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

Alaroth huffed, seeming a little peeved that Florian had outcharmed him, and shooed him away. “You’ll stay with the omegas until our engagement is announced. If you need anything, they can help you.”

Before the group could drag me off to the center of the room, the king held my face in his hand. “It would behoove you to offer your betrothed a goodbye kiss.”

I swallowed nervously and nodded my head. That’s right, he was requiring me to put out a little so he wouldn’t assault me.

What a gentleman.

Closing my eyes, I let him take what he wanted, which thankfully wasn’t much. After a final whiff of my neck, he left, locking the door behind him.

“Oh Moons, you are lucky!” squealed Dahlia. Her hair was black and shiny, with hints of blue that came forward in the light. It was a stark contrast to her pale skin and bright green eyes. “I wish the king would look at me like that. He is so dreamy, don’t you think?”

Iris pushed her thick blonde hair off her bronzed shoulder, her brown eyes rolling as she clicked her tongue. “Don’t be an idiot, don’t you see the bond marks on her neck?” She gestured towards the silvery, crescent-shaped scars on my skin. “She has a pack. What happened to them?”

Before I could respond, the white-haired girl with pale blue eyes named Dove began touching the marks. “Wow, so this is a bond? Did it hurt?”

I took her alabaster hand in mine and held it for a moment. Her skin was so soft, I almost wanted to pet her. “You don’t havepacks?” I asked.

Florian shook his head. “His Majesty doesn’t allow them. He doesn’t want our loyalties to be divided. Betas need to take orders from the guards at the havens, and alphas and omegas serve the kingdom in other ways. Having a pack would make it difficult for him to select his favorite omegas, for example, or for his alpha soldiers to…”

“Wait, hold on a moment,” I said, trying to process all of the information one bit at a time. “First of all, what are the havens?”

Briar’s light brown waves shone with strands of gold to match her eyes, her olive-toned skin tanned and smooth. “I suppose you don’t know anything about Vespera, right? Ezra was the same way when he came here.”

“Ezra,” they all sighed dreamily.

“Is he really your twin brother?” Dahlia asked.

Iris looked like she was about to smack her. “Moons, Dahlia, what has happened to your eyes? Obviously they’re related, they look so similar.”

River giggled. “Now Ezra, he’s definitely the type of alpha I’d love to bond with. Too bad he doesn’t have any interest in us.”

My head tilted a bit in confusion. I mean, it could have just been that these omegas were off limits from anyone aside from the king, since they were his little harem apparently, and that was why Ezra hadn’t made a move with any of them. And not that I wanted to think about my brother having relations with people, but now that he lived somewhere where his “alpha anatomy” was considered normal, why was he still holding back?

They all gave small, sad chuffs, and suddenly I was transported right back to fourth period chemistry, consoling Keira Brown after Ezra had told her he didn’t want to go with her to Homecoming.

“Anyway,” Briar continued, shaking out of her mild anguish. “You know about the prophecy, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, although I’m still not sure what it’s all about or if I even believe it.”

“Well, you should, because you’re definitely the omega it spoke of. I can tell from your scent alone,” Iris said, taking in a deep breath, her eyelashes fluttering. “And your brother is very powerful.”

Dove grabbed my hand and led me to the giant bed-nest. “I’m tired of standing, let’s cuddle!”

I was almost going to decline, but my wolf whined inside me, and suddenly the thought of lying around with these adorable, nice, soft omegas sounded like the best idea in the world. I decided to trustmy instincts and join them.

River pushed me down with a laugh, and everyone else jumped on the bed, crawling all over each other in one big puppy pile. After a few minutes of playful rolling around and tickling, we all settled in for a more relaxed snuggle. Dove rested her head on my stomach, while Briar held mine on her lap, slowly finger-combing my hair. River wrapped my legs around hers while she lay on the other side of me, and the rest similarly jumbled themselves on the other side.

“What were we talking about? Oh yeah!” Iris snuggled up next to Florian and continued. “After the prophecy, all the shifters were moved to havens, so each set of twins could be inspected closely upon their designation. Before the prophecy, the king had never had much interest in shifters, and we lived in secluded communities, far away from the castle. But once he started getting to know us, he discovered that… " she giggled, twirling her hair dreamily. “Hereallylikes omegas.”

My stomach churned. So shifters had completely lost their freedom and had been living in prisons, AKA “havens,” here for god-knows-how-long, and on top of that, the king had an omega fetish.

Fantastic.

“Okay, so if the king takes his favorites…” Just saying the words without gagging was a challenge. “What happens to the rest of you?”

“Once our omega designation is made, we’re all sent to special centers for our protection until we reach the age of maturity,” Florian answered. “Those who aren’t chosen by His Majesty go to the alpha camps. Omegas help keep alpha aggression in check, so they can concentrate on how to be better soldiers.”