Page 31

MARLOWE

A plant-covered castle rose from the landscape, its towers crowned with crystalline spires that refracted the sunlight into cascades of shifting rainbows. The vines that clung to the walls shimmered faintly, the leaves punctuated by small, delicate flowers that blended into the smooth, pale stone of the walls.

Around the castle, the trees also began to change. Their translucent leaves cast opalescent shadows on the ground, and a small river of liquid starlight wound its way to the base of the structure, feeding a moat that surrounded the building.

Alaroth watched my face as I took in all of the details of his home, hoping to catch a glimpse of astonishment or wonder in my expression. Of course it was beautiful, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of my admiration.

I picked at my nails and shrugged. “I’ve seen bigger.”

He laughed, patting my hand. “You are a cruel, petty little thing.”

We walked towards an arched, intricately carved stone bridge lined with soldiers in gleaming armor. “But unfortunately for you, your wicked attempts to insult me have failed.”

The King lowered his mouth to my ear, his lips just brushing the outer shell and sending a shiver down my spine. “For I do not need a large building to compensate for any personal deficits.”

Given the size of the rest of him, he was probably right, but I couldn’t have been less interested.

Creaking metal sounded behind us, heads turning as we passed.

“Your perfume is stronger than you know,”

he whispered, giving the soldiers suspicious looks. “You are not to wander without myself, your brother, or one of the hand-picked guards I’ve chosen to protect you. This is for your safety.”

I nodded glumly. I should have assumed I’d be watched 24/7 here, but it still sucked to hear. Escape would definitely be harder without any kind of freedom.

The grand foyer of the castle was several stories tall and bathed in natural light from the twenty-foot high stained glass windows along the walls. Shadows danced along the marble floor and through the ornate details of the multiple chandeliers and railings that lined the stories and floors above us.

Between the two large staircases that framed the room was a massive set of double doors, covered in bronze vines. Laughter and music escaped into the air, but Alaroth led me upstairs. “You’re not quite ready to meet the court yet,”

he said apologetically, as though that was something I’d been interested in.

I was not.

On the third floor we left the stairs and walked down a long hallway, making several twists and turns until we came to another set of heavy doors. Two large guards stood outside, parting for their king as they let us inside.

My breath caught in my throat from the scent alone—it was like walking into a candy shop. Sweetness and sugar coated the air, while pillows, cushions, and blankets in rich fabrics and colorful jewel tones covered every square inch of the floor and furniture.

In the center of the room was a large, circular bed, and on top lay six shifters. Five female, one male.

Omegas.

“She’s here!”

they cried, running forward.

The females, dressed in silk slip dresses, were all around my size, while the male was about five inches taller and wore a silk wrap around his waist. They laughed as they touched and prodded me excitedly.

“Is it really her?”

one of them asked.

“Of course it is, can’t you smell her?”

“Mmm, you’re divine, I could just eat you up!”

“Omegas,”

Alaroth called. “Please, let’s give our future queen some space.”

They backed up, giggling and twirling in their spots. They curtsied as one female took it upon herself to speak for the group. She was beautiful, with dark skin and rich brown eyes. Black hair fell in tight ringlets down to her shoulders, bouncing as she talked.

“We’re so glad you’re finally here! I’m River, and this is Briar, Iris, Dove, Dahlia, and Florian.”

Florian’s mop of tousled, chestnut brown curls covered his eyes and he brushed them out of the way. Beautiful blue eyes crinkled as he smiled, his face delicate and ethereal. He took my hand and with a great flourish gave it a gentle kiss with his full lips. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

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 have packs?” 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 trust my 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. “He really likes 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.”

I took a deep breath, trying to put all the pieces together. It sounded like all shifters were born in these “havens,”

and then alphas and omegas were weeded out once they were designated, with alphas becoming soldiers and omegas becoming sex slaves.

It was kind of amazing they didn’t seem too upset by it, but I supposed this was their normal.

Something was strange about the timeline, though, since they spoke of the king as a singular person who masterminded this whole thing, but he barely looked older than my pack. There was no way he was the same male who’d first received the prophecy and started looking for Ezra and me. “So when you say ‘the king,’ you don’t mean it was Alaroth the whole time, right?”

“Of course we do, he’s a Starborne fae. They live a really long time. He’s almost a thousand years old, I think,”

River explained.

A thousand? Well, regardless of how creepy he was, I did need to remember to ask him about his skincare routine. “How many types of fae are there?”

“Just two—Starborne and Verdanshade. Shifters are Verdanshade, while the fae like the king are Starborne,”

River continued.

“Wait, what about…”

Dahlia groaned loudly. “I’m bored! I want to talk about your pack! Tell me, what does a knot feel like?”

The rest of the group voiced their interest loudly, and I bit back my frustration. I would need to get this information from them in bits and pieces, apparently. “Oh, um, it’s kind of hard to describe…”

“I wish Ezra would knot me,”

Dove pouted.

Gross.

“Now that the king has Marlowe, he probably won’t be calling on us anymore,”

she sighed.

I suppressed another gag. While I certainly didn’t want to subject any one else to the king’s advances, I also didn’t want to be the one in his bed at night, either. “And you all… like him?”

They vocalized in unison again. “He takes such good care of us,”

Iris explained. “Especially during our heats.”

“Our heats!”

cried Briar. “Oh Moons, what are we going to do, now?”

“Florian will take care of us, won’t you?”

River asked.

Florian laughed. “Of course. I might need to ask for some more ignisroot though, I know how insatiable you all are.”

He sat up and tickled River playfully, falling on top of her as his fingers moved up and down her sides. They rolled around a bit as she giggled and gasped for air, begging him to stop. He slowed, his hands now beginning to move along her body more deliberately. Her lips reached for his and they kissed, gently at first, and then with greater passion. She pushed him over, untying the wrap around his waist to reveal his large, hard cock. After gathering her skirt, she mounted him, sliding onto him with practiced ease.

“Oh!”

I gasped, trying to avert my gaze. “Is that… normal?”

Dove bit her lip as she watched, her eyes glazing over. “Hm? Oh, of course. What else are we going to do while we wait for the king to call on us?”

Iris nudged her with a toe. “She has a pack, remember? She doesn’t have to wait for someone to call on her.”

She then turned towards me. “How many alphas were you bonded to?”

A sharp pang in my chest brought me out of the surreal moment, and a pinprick of tears stung my eyes. How was I going to get out of this and find my way back to them? I couldn’t even leave my room without an escort, and I had no idea where the portal back to Earth was, or how to even go through it. And even if I managed to escape, Ezra was just going to find me again.

“Five,”

I answered quietly.

“FIVE?”

Briar yelled. “Five alphas? Moons, you must have had a knot in you all day long. I’m so jealous!”

River panted sweetly as she ground her hips along Florian. He licked his lips and surrendered to the pleasure, then gesturing for Briar to come closer. She crawled towards him and lifted her dress to sit over his face, the skirts covering what appeared to be a very skilled session of cunnilingus by the euphoric expression coloring her features.

“Florian’s amazing,”

Iris whispered. “But it’s a lot of work taking care of us all, and he doesn’t always have the energy. I wish the king would allow us a few more males, but he only tolerates Florian because he fancies him. ”

“Are there a lot of male omegas?”

I asked in a quiet voice, finding myself unable to look away.

Dove shook her head. “I’ve only met two aside from Florian, but the king wasn’t interested in them. Florian’s by far the prettiest.”

There was nothing else to do but enjoy the show, and I found a bowl of fruit behind me on a small table. I grabbed some grapes, at least they looked like grapes, and began popping them in my mouth while I observed the three omegas in action. It was hard not to get turned on, they were all so beautiful and looked like they were really enjoying themselves. But all it ultimately did was make me miss my pack even more.

The bonds between us were there, albeit quiet and stretched way too thin. I sent pulses of love and calm down them when I could, but received nothing back.

I wondered what kind of mess Ezra had left them in the aftermath of the Rite, what with the entire Conclave now dead. How were they all dealing with my absence? I hoped Cam wasn’t biting everyone’s heads off, and I really hoped they weren’t still blaming Nolan for everything. Even without the extra complication of the Rite, Ezra had been coming for me, anyway.

I hoped the pack was also listening to Archer, now. The diary he’d found that they’d originally dismissed could actually be the key in getting me back home.

I wanted to ask the omegas if they knew anything about the war, but River had just come, and now Iris was taking her place, licking Florian’s still hard cock, her tongue circling his head and laughing as his moans went straight into Briar’s clit.

I couldn’t take it anymore, watching them was too much. I asked Dove where the bathroom was and headed in there for a long overdue bath and to vigorously masturbate.

Florian pushed Briar back slightly and pulled the skirts off his face. “Marlowe, darling, I’m happy to service you as well if you’d like. In fact I’m dying to.”

I gave him a small smile and shook my head. “I appreciate the offer, but…”

Briar huffed, maneuvering herself back over him. “She’s in a bonded pack, silly. She misses them.”

“Just let me know!”

he called, his voice muffled as he resumed pleasuring Briar.

I closed the door to the bathroom behind me, sliding down until I hit the floor. I didn’t even need to get off anymore, I just wanted to cry and process everything that had happened.

Release, in one form or another, had found me.