Page 93 of Monsterland Mayhem

Our Omega frowns at the termbait.

But it’s an accurate one.

She’s a fucking beacon for mayhem.

“Someone has to stay behind to protect her,” Craze tells me. “Her realm is too connected to ours for us to just leave her there.”

He’s right. There’s a reason the Imposter King’s edict is so strongly obeyed across all the realms. We’re the heart of all magic, our monster influence having spread far and wide.

The Imposter King has informants everywhere.

Which is why we won’t be taking Ailsa back to her district or anywhere she’ll be noticed and discovered. Thanks to technology and media reporting, everyone in her realm will know she’s an Omega, as the results of her ceremony would have been broadcast worldwide.

She’ll be recognized everywhere she goes.

And that’s why the Imposter King would never expect us to take her back there.

However, like in Monsterland, we have homes in her world. Places we can tuck her away while we work through the issues here.

“You’ll go with her,” I tell Craze.

Not because he won’t be useful here, but he’s a master of disguise. If anyone can protect Ailsa while simultaneously moving around the realm, it’s him.

That’s why he was chosen to be her initial escort here.

And why he needs to be the one to go with her now.

He dips his chin. “All right.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Ailsa asks.

“You do,” Catum says before I can respond. “It’s always been your choice, Ailsa. It will alwaysbeyour choice. But that’s precisely what we’re trying to accomplish now. And since we can’t guarantee your ability to choose here, it makes sense to move on to plan Z, just like Krolic has said.”

“Or we could devise a whole new plan,” she offers. “One that involves me choosing you now and giving you the heir you need. Then you could just reclaim the throne, right? Do exactly what Crimson planned to do and say I chose not to indulge in the hunt?”

My heart pangs at the idea, my soul immediately declining the option.

Because it’s not who we are.

We don’t take by force.

And we’re not going to mate our Omega under false pretenses.

We will do this the right way.

Or we won’t do it at all.

“I’m not Crimson,” I tell her, my voice gruff. “I can’t…won’t… hide behind a technicality. If—when—we retake the throne, it will be the right way. Because I’m a king who respects Monsterland kind. Not a coward who hides behind mirages and outright lies.”

She stares at me for a long moment. Then she steps around Craze to reach me and goes up onto her toes to press a kiss against my lips.

“I understand.” She cups my jaw, only then making me realize I’ve clenched my teeth together at some point during my speech. “But my forgoing the hunt and choosing you would never be a mirage or a lie. Because I think I chose you and your wolf the first time we met.”

I lean into her touch, my eyes drifting closed. “As much as I wish I could do it this way, I can’t. For the sake of the kingdom, we must perform the ritual,” I tell her. “They need to be reminded of our ways.”

But it needs to be safe enough here for us to perform the hunt the way it is intended to be performed.

“Okay,” she whispers, going up onto her toes to kiss me again.