Page 16 of Sins of His Wrath (Myth of Omega: Wrath #2)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“ A koro.”
Oppo’s mouth was full when he looked up, eyes widening slightly at the sight of him standing at his door. He chewed slowly, swallowed, then pushed the door open wider. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
Akoro stepped inside. “You’re always inviting me to visit during lur ennen ,” he said flatly.
Oppo gave a slow nod, still chewing as he studied him. “Come in, then.”
Akoro walked in, his gaze drifting around his brother’s quarters. Unlike the rest of the palace, Oppo’s room lacked grandeur—no inlaid gold, no intricate carvings, no precious metals adorning the furniture of the dynasties. He never cared for it. The walls were bare, the rugs simple, the furniture sturdy. Functional and comfortable. In some ways, just like him. Akoro could see the appeal, but had never understood it. Their people had a history, a legacy reflected in the materials and metals they used. A heritage that was almost lost and shouldn’t be forgotten.
Oppo gestured to the table, where his meal—flatbread, spiced rice with dried fruits, steaming stew—sat half eaten. “Join me?”
“I’m not hungry.” The hollowness in Akoro’s stomach had nothing to do with food and everything to do with the Omega.
Oppo studied him as he took another bite, chewing methodically before speaking again. “This is a surprise.” His tone was casual, but his gaze was sharp. “Is everything all right?”
Akoro wandered to the nearest pillar and leaned against it, his gaze fixed on the city beyond the window. From here he could see the reconstruction efforts—workers repairing stone walls, streets being swept clean of sand and debris. “No.” The word came clipped, tight. He wasn’t sure where to start.
Oppo sighed as if he’d expected nothing less. “I heard the rescue efforts are going better than expected.” He took another bite, the normalcy of the action somehow grating against Akoro's raw nerves.
“They are. The city’s repairs are ahead of schedule.”
Oppo nodded, dabbing up stew with his flatbread. “What about the soges?”
“Otenyo will be a problem.”
Oppo sighed. “We don’t need that right now.” He glanced at Akoro. “I was surprised that you felt comfortable with that charade.”
“I didn’t. It’s the only time I’m lived to the people, and I hope the last.” Akoro turned his head slightly to look at him. “How did it go in the Archive?”
His brother straightened, eyes sharpening. “Good. A strong start.” He tilted his head. “She’s thorough.”
Akoro let out a low hum. “She is at her best with something like this. She enjoys investigation. Research.” His fingers drummed against the pillar. “I’m sure she loved the Archives.”
“Have you removed the nnol - ttaehh wound yet?”
“No.”
Oppo made a face. “It’s dangerous, Akoro I’d feel more comfortable if you’d--”
“I will,” Akoro said. “But you know the horrible scar it leaves.”
“Then you shouldn’t have cut her with it,” Oppo mumbled quietly into his plate.
Akoro ignored him. “She won’t be leaving my side anyway.”
“And if she finds the Solution?”
Akoro made a noise in the back of his throat. “She won’t find it.”
Oppo’s head snapped up from his plate. “I thought you would be happy. If she succeeds, then you don’t have to invade her land.”
Akoro frown at him, irritation jostling his chest. “There is no Solution, Oppo, you know this. Magic is part of the Sands. It cannot be done. And I won’t let her kill herself trying to tame the nnin-eellithi .”
Oppo eyed him, his mouth pressed thin. “Then why did you agree with her working on it? Why did you give her fifteen days?”
“Because I wanted her back here.” The words snapped from him like a lash, harsh and unrestrained. He pushed off the pillar, turning to face his brother fully. “You said she’d never come back here, but she was willing to for this.”
His brother's face slackened with realization. He sat back in his chair. “And what do you plan to do now? Interfere? Prevent her from succeeding so she stays forever?”
Akoro scowled. His brother always got too close to the truth when it came to his intentions with Naya, but that wasn't why he came here. “I need you to help me understand her.”
Oppo stiffened. “If you want me to manipulate her instincts, I won’t. It’s unethical?—”
“I said understand her, not trick her,” Akoro thundered. If he needed to manipulate her later, he would, but that wasn’t appealing right now. This wasn't about dominance. This was about something he rarely faced: uncertainty.
Oppo’s eyes narrowed slightly. “That’s not what you’ve said before.”
Akoro held his gaze, a strange feeling constricting his chest. “She smiled today.”
Surprised hit Oppo’s face. His brows shot up and stayed there. He didn’t speak for a few moments. Then he got up, a smile spreading on his face, and walked to stand next to his brother. “That’s good, Akoro.” He clapped Akoro on the shoulder. “That’s very good.”
Akoro let out a rough breath. “Not really.”
Oppo frowned but said nothing, seeming to sense Akoro hadn’t finished.
Akoro’s jaw tensed. He wasn’t sure how to say it, how to voice the tangled mess of irritation and possessiveness that had been gnawing at him since the trip with her this morning.
“In her land, Alphas and Omegas are encouraged to unite with their true mate,” Akoro said. “True mate couples are the envy of everyone across her Known Lands. They are seen as the height of love and devotion, their union believed to bring prosperity and balance not just to each other, but to the land itself. I couldn’t understand it when I first went there—these people have no religion, no Voice, no gods, no sacred rites, nothing that binds them as a people—except this. Finding their mate is akin to being blessed. It’s why the ruling couple are so beloved. So that should have made it easier for her to realize that she is supposed to be with me, but she rejects it. She gives me her body and nothing else.”
Oppo sighed, his voice heavy with quiet resignation. “What did you expect, Akoro? I told you many times?—”
“She did before,” Akoro said sharply, memories of their time together during her heat were burned into his mind—the way she had melted into him, trusted him. Her soft sighs, her tender touches, the way she'd looked at him as if he were her entire world. “In her heat she was incredible. She was affectionate, attentive, truly mine. Even afterward when she was withdrawn, it felt real.” His voice lowered, turned rough. “And now she pretends our connection is nothing, says that she’ll never be happy. That she’s whoring herself for her land.” The crude word felt so foul when applied to Naya, a desecration of the truth between them, but it captured the bitter sense of transaction that lingered their bed.
Oppo winced. “Does she know that you don’t bed whores? Or anyone much since your younger years? Did you explain?”
“She has no interest in that,” Akoro said. “She is happiest when she’s is pleasured and knotted. So that’s how I keep her.” That was a half-truth. There was more to her happiness, but he couldn’t give that to her until after he had done the thing she was most against—conquer her land. Maybe delaying it was making things worse.
Oppo got up and joined him at the window, watching him carefully. “You realize that’s not sustainable? Omegas need more than that to be truly happy. So do you.”
“That’s why you need to tell me how to understand her,” Akoro insisted. “You know Omegas best.”
Oppo shook his head. “That’s not the way it works, Akoro.”
Frustration clawed at Akoro’s patience. What was so hard? All he had to do was tell Akoro what to do. “Then how does it fucking work?” he said sharply.
Oppo fell silent.
His window overlooked a quiet part of the city where there had been less damage. They watched a group walking in the direction of the square. Toddlers ran around the adults’ legs, slowing them down. Their laughter rang out, among the destruction and death, his people always found reason to lift their spirits.
Finally, Oppo spoke. “The way we were raised was not normal.”
“We know that,” Akoro growled.
“You had to become a hardened Alpha too young, Akoro. You had to deal with something that most…” His voice petered out.
Akoro said nothing. They’d only ever talked about what had happened once, and he didn’t particularly want to talk about it again.
“It made you different from everyone else, and I don’t mean in the ways that you are king.”
Akoro frowned. “Then what do you mean?”
Oppo sighed. A thick silence stretched between them. Moving back to the table, he sat down. “I don’t know your Omega, I only know her nature. Everything you need to know is outside of that.”
Akoro dropped down onto the chair opposite him, his eyes narrowing. That didn’t align with anything he’d witnessed about his brother’s knowledge. He leaned forward and issued a demand, his voice low. “Oppo, tell me something useful.”
Oppo in a closed his eyes for a moment and drew in a breath. “When we were in the Archive earlier, she found out about the Nnn-kaa Sands.”
Akoro’s frown deepened.
“She’s going to ask you about it,” Oppo said, pushing off the table. "She is going to ask you a lot of things.” Oppo held his gaze. “Show her.”