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CHAPTER THIRTY

~Arcay~

THERE WAS NO sign of Ulgar in his quarters. This was delaying me an unacceptable amount and I was growing frustrated. I tried to calm myself. Clay was safe in my quarters, guarded by both Tarro and Lendel. Nothing could happen. And even if it did, I would know about it immediately.

I searched for a while longer, then headed towards the refectory. Perhaps he was eating. A thought occurred to me and I smiled to myself. Whilst I was there, I could collect something for Clay. There was a type of pudding he had not yet tried that he may like. Sweet things were more to his taste, although he had really enjoyed the sour Klava yesterday.

“Arcay? Are you well?”

“Hmm?” I looked up to see Silvun frowning in his usual way. “Yes, why?”

Silvun blinked slowly, confused. He was a straightforward alpha, and did not like things that he did not understand.

“You seem…different.”

“Different?”

“Yes, your face looks different.” He studied me, then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “You are smiling .”

“Oh, yes.” Was it really unusual for me to smile in public? I supposed it was. In fact, until I found Clay I rarely smiled at all, in public or private. Until recently, I did not have anything to be happy about.

Before Silvun could comment further, Lendel bustled past us with a covered food tray.

“Lendel? What are you doing here? I left you to watch Clay.”

“He asked me to get a special order, Arani .” He gestured with the tray. “Strange food, but I must say it smells appetizing. A ‘hammed-burg’ .”

“A what?”

“It is a human delicacy. He wanted some human food, and I believe he was eager for you to try it too.” He seemed unimpressed by the idea, but a warmth spread inside my chest and my smile widened, to Silvun’s growing discomfort.

“I have my own gift for Clay too. I will accompany you back to my quarters. Ulgar can wait.”

A light came on in Silvun’s eyes at Ulgar’s name. “Did Ulgar find you?” He asked.

“No, why?” I said. “I am also looking for him. Although I would much rather never see him again. Where is he?”

“I saw him heading in the direction of your quarters.”

Ulgar was going towards my quarters. Where Clay was. Alone.

The parcel of food split as it hit the floor. I ran.

***

IT FELT AS if I did not breathe once as I raced back to my quarters.

Clay will be fine, I thought . There is a guard protecting him. Ulgar will not enter my quarters without me there.

Clay will be fine.

He will be—

The guard was not there. The hall was empty. The door stood open.

No.

No no no no no no no.

I reached the door, and stared at the carnage of tipped furniture inside.

Ulgar had Clay against the wall. Pressed between his bare legs.

My vision darkened at the edges.

One moment I was standing in the doorway, then next I was wrenching Ulgar away from Clay.

I launched him across the room. He landed on a table, smashing it to pieces.

Clay sank to the floor, gasping in starving breaths of air. I paused just long enough to make sure he was alright, then I launched myself at Ulgar. My hands found his throat, my teeth bared, snarling and growling like a wild animal. Ulgar’s eyes bulged as I squeezed. He choked and struggled against me, clawing at my hands, but they were immovable, set in stone with my rage. He landed heavy blows on my body with his fists and feet, but I barely felt them. I held on, burning with a hatred I had never experienced before. I wanted to choke the life from him, to see the light fade from his eyes for what he dared to do to Clay.

Ulgar gave up trying to fight me off and grasped my wrists instead. His wide eyes met mine.

“You—cannot—kill me,” Ulgar rasped.

I snarled in his face and shook him until his teeth rattled in his head. I could kill him, and I would.

“The law—” he gasped. “Jursin...will…” His eyes began to roll back in his head, face graying as he started to fade.

Suddenly Tarro was beside me, peeling my hands back. I snapped my teeth at him.

“Arani. Stop,” he shouted.

He managed to loosen my grip enough for Ulgar to squirm free. He fell to the floor, retching and gasping, his hand at his throat rubbing the livid marks that already showed there.

I spun around Tarro and swung my fist at Ulgar with ferocious force. With a crack, Ulgar’s head snapped so far round it looked like his neck would snap.

Tarro stepped between us to prevent me from getting to Ulgar again, barring the way with his golden spear. Behind him, Ulgar staggered to his knees and crawled away.

Turning away from Tarro, I snatched my spear from its place on the wall. Its razor-sharp tip swung to point at Ulgar’s retreating back as he dragged himself away, Tarro still standing before me and blocking my path.

“Get out of my way,” I snarled.

“I cannot allow you to kill him, Arani ,” Tarro said in a pained voice, and I snarled at him again in my fury. At that moment, I did not care about any law. I did not care about what would happen afterwards, or if I would be punished. But Tarro stopped me at every turn.

I spat after Ulgar. “If you ever so much as look at him again, I will kill you, laws be damned,” I shouted after him.

Once he was gone, Tarro stood his ground for another few seconds, then warily backed away from me.

I hesitated. I wanted nothing more than to follow and tear Ulgar limb from limb, to hunt him down and end his miserable life. He did not deserve to continue drawing breath. But that would mean leaving Clay.

Clay leaned against the wall where he had fallen, panting. He looked pale, his eyes wide with shock.

I rushed to him and scooped him up into my arms. “Clay! Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”

His body trembled against my chest. I hurried to the couch and laid him down gently, careful not to jostle him too much.

“No,” he said.

I started to check him over with frantic hands. There were no obvious surface wounds, but that meant nothing. Humans were delicate, he could be dying for all I knew. I ran my hands over his limbs, his stomach, chest, head.

“I’m ok, I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me.”

His words were tight and pained, clearly a poor but brave attempt to conceal how he truly felt. My hands shook with barely restrained fury as they smoothed over his body.

“Arcay, I’m fine—”

My fingers skimmed the back of his neck, and he flinched. I stopped. Gently, but firmly, I pulled him up into a sitting position and leaned him forward to inspect the back of his neck. Five deep holes punctured his flesh, oozing blood between his shoulder blades. Their position matched exactly that of spread fingers—the punctures where Ulgar’s claws had penetrated him as he held Clay against the wall. I bared my teeth.

“I should have killed him,” I snarled.

He pushed my hand away and straightened. “It’s alright, it doesn’t hurt,” he said, but I could see the stiffness of pain in his movements, the tension in his shoulders. He could not hide it from me.

I stormed across the room, snatched a jar of salve and prised the lid off.

I kept my hands as gentle as possible as I rubbed it into the back of his neck, but they still shook with rage. He hissed quietly, and I drew my fingers back even more until they barely touched him. I continued to rub until the skin began to fuse, stopping the blood.

Satisfied that he wasn’t about to drop dead, I lowered my face until my eyes were level with his, and searched his face. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I told you—”

“I mean, are you ok inside?”

He swallowed with difficulty and pressed his lips together, then nodded.

I rose and paced the room, my hands forming fists.

He cleared his throat. “What now?” he was shaking more now, as the adrenaline from the attack left his body.

I pressed a hand to my eyes and let out a tense breath through my teeth. “I will kill him for this.”

“But then what will happen to you?”

“I do not care.”

“Well, I do!” he said. I met his shining blue eyes.

“Can’t you just…report him or something? Get him arrested?”

I paced again.

“This situation is unprecedented. I do not know if anything can be done about him.”

He stared at me, horror making his eyes round. I met his gaze and then looked away again, shaking my head. I felt ashamed for some reason.

“Omegas are claimed straight after the ceremony, so this has never happened before. Once an alpha has announced his intent for claiming an omega, another alpha can challenge him for it. As such a challenge is inevitable, we hold trials to prevent any unneeded fighting. The winner then has the sole right to claim the omega at the bonding ceremony, which happens immediately after victory. That is how it has always been done. Because I did not claim you, some could argue that you are now available again, that my right to you has expired. He has not broken any laws, because we have never had to create a law for this.”

Clay shook his head. “This is so fucked up. What’s wrong with you people? You treat omegas as if they’re objects to be grabbed by anyone strong enough. Couldn’t this all be avoided if you just let the omega choose?”

I fisted my hands. “It has always been done this way.”

“Well, maybe it’s time you changed it,” he snapped.

I turned to the window, hand over my mouth. If I had not returned when I did, Ulgar would have…

Nausea clenched my stomach and I pressed my fist to my lips. I could not even think it. He was right, I could see that now, but that was not the way Aldar did it. It could never be. And as long as Clay remained unclaimed, he was vulnerable. He would never be safe. I had no choice, I had to convince him.

I gritted my teeth. “I need to claim you, Clay. For your own safety. Please .”

He scrubbed his hands over his face and turned away. “I need to go wash.”