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Rumi

A YEAR AGO, BEFORE THE DOORWAY INTO THE MAGICAL WORLD…

T here was something special in the air that day, as my brothers and I rode out through the fields and countryside beyond the king’s city.

I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

The weather was pleasant, but that was ordinary for that time of spring.

Father seemed to be in a particularly good mood, thanks to something Councilor Dormas had told him that morning, when he was holding court.

Or perhaps it was Councilor Dormas’s good mood, particularly the way he’d caught my youngest brother Obi’s eye during the court session and winked that made everything feel so full of potential.

Whatever it was, I wasn’t about to waste the rare moment of happiness and hope that filled me. It was like everything in the entire universe was about to prove to me that it could turn out for the good after all .

“Summer is definitely coming,” my brother Tovey said, sitting tall on his horse and tilting his face toward the sun. “I can feel warmth coming over me.”

“Are you certain that’s not just your heat approaching?” our brother Leo said, teasing him.

Tovey lost his smile and glared at Leo. For most omegas, or so I imagined, heat was something sensual and fun to look forward to.

For me and my five brothers, our heats were misery and torture.

Either our father would sell or reward our heats to any one of his horrible, sycophantic noblemen or we would be forced to endure an empty heat without an alpha.

I detested both nightmarish scenarios. Empty heats brought physical pain and desperation, but being thrown to a nasty, lascivious alpha and forced by nature to give the most intimate part of myself to them was emotional torture in the extreme.

“Let’s not talk about heats,” I told my brothers with a stern frown. “Not on a day as nice as this.”

“Sorry, Rumi,” Leo said, looking genuinely penitent.

I softened into a smile for him. Leo was the fiercest of us, but I was the oldest at nearly thirty, and I knew my brothers looked up to me.

Being a leader without any real power was another form of agony, though.

I wasn’t certain I wanted to be king, even if omegas were allowed to inherit the crown, but I had always hoped that I could find a way to free my brothers from the misery our father inflicted on us.

I knew it was only a matter of time before my father’s wickedness extended beyond trading our heats for loyalty or favors.

Indeed, I was surprised worse things hadn’t happened to us.

But my ability to protect my brothers only went so far.

“I just want to enjoy being away from the castle, out in the sunshine,” Misha, my gentlest brother, said with a sigh. “I just want to feel free for a while.”

I smiled at him. “I agree,” I said.

I wished there was more I could do for Misha in particular. Leo might have been able to stand strong through the persecution our father leveled at us, but Misha was barely holding it together. I dreaded the day when our father decided to give his heat away to some nasty old man.

That thought made me feel particularly awful.

“Enough of this,” I said, gripping my reins tighter. “I want to feel the wind on my face.”

Before my brothers knew what I had planned, I tapped my horse into a run, then into a gallop.

We were far enough away from the castle, near the edge of a forest and well out of sight of the lazy guards who had been sent to keep an eye on us.

In just a few minutes, I was able to fly out and away from anyone or anything that might have tried to stop me.

I laughed at the exhilaration of galloping, of escaping the misery of the life I’d been forced into, if only for a moment. The countryside zipped past, all green and blue and golden in the sunlight. The scent of fresh grass and wildflowers filled my nose.

It was glorious to be free. If it was the last thing I did, I would move heaven and earth to feel this way all the time and to make certain my brothers were safe and free as well.

Those thoughts stayed with me as I slowed my horse near a small stream that meandered through the far end of the meadow.

I was panting with exertion and needed a drink as much as my horse.

As I brought the faithful beast to a stop and dismounted, I turned to look back the way I’d come, searching for my brothers.

The countryside was quiet and empty around me. My brothers were nowhere to be seen. I’d outpaced them by so much that they might be worried about me.

That was cause for concern. I didn’t like being separated from my brothers. Somehow, when the six of us were together, everything felt better. Freedom and ultimate escape felt possible. The six of us together were far more powerful than our father realized.

Determined to stop only for a short time so my horse could drink, I turned back to the stream…and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw the most gorgeous alpha I’d ever laid eyes on standing on the other side of the narrow body of water, grinning at me.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, flustered far more than I usually was.

In fact, the burst of emotion and excitement that came over me as I stared at the handsome alpha was so far beyond the feelings I usually had when meeting strangers that it unsettled me. There was just something about the alpha that drew me in.

He was beyond beautiful. He was tall with broad shoulders and a powerful build.

Usually, I would have been nervous around someone who obviously had enough strength to snap me in two…

or to strip me naked and force me to mate.

The kindness in this strange alpha’s green eyes, the softness of his lips, and the way his dark hair was windblown and rakish made me want to drop my trousers and give myself to him freely, though.

I gasped as the realization hit me. I’d never seen this man before in my life, and immediately, I wanted to, needed to mate with him. I couldn’t decide if I was terrified by the prospect or excited by it.

“I’m sorry,” I said breathlessly, my insides trembling. “I don’t know who you are. ”

His smile broadened and he chuckled. “My name is Emmerich,” he said, radiating warmth and kindness.

“Emmerich,” I repeated, rolling the name around in my heart and soul. It felt like it belonged there.

“And you’re Prince Rumi,” he went on.

I blinked and lost the dazed and dreamy smile I’d been wearing without being aware of it. “How do you know my name?”

“I know more about you than you might realize,” Emmerich said, moving forward. He walked through the shallow stream to my side of the water. Once he was close, I could smell his alpha scent, like pine and summer grass and freedom. “I’ve been watching you for a while.”

“Watching me?” I asked, my voice trembling. I tensed, forcing myself to behave like the grown man I was and not to melt like a lovestruck adolescent.

Except I was absolutely and completely lovestruck, whether it made any sense or not.

Emmerich seemed to know what I was feeling. Inside and out. He moved right up to me and caressed the side of my face, not like a stranger, but like a longtime lover. I let him without a single reservation.

“I’m not sure how to explain it in a way your mind could accept,” he said, brushing his thumb over my cheek and close to my lips.

I wanted to draw that thumb into my mouth and suck on it. I could already feel the rush of slick building inside me, ready to gush everywhere.

“Try me,” I said, standing taller, although I was still a good foot shorter than him. I was average height for an omega, and Emmerich was tall, even for an alpha.

Emmerich grinned, warmth and affection radiating from him. “Alright, I think I will,” he said, good humor in his voice. “Let’s see if you believe me.”

I sucked in a breath, relishing the way his woodsy scent made me feel and wanting more.

“I’m not from this world. I’m from the magical world. I’m no mere alpha, I’m a dragon and a prince in my own right. And the moment I saw you, while peering into your world to make certain the rules of Nature and Order were being observed, I saw you and knew that you were my fated mate.”

I blinked. His explanation was completely outlandish…and yet, I believed him.

“Is this some sort of fairy tale?” I asked, my heart beating rapidly.

Emmerich laughed low and seductively. “Yes, my love, it is,” he said.

He slipped his free arm around my waist to tug me close. I went willingly into his embrace, circling my arms around him without question. When he tilted my head up so that he could slant his mouth over mine in a searing kiss, I let him without so much as a whisper of resistance.

It was uncanny. I’d never seen the man until minutes before, but as our mouths melded and our tongues played with each other, I knew he was my destiny.

Not just my destiny, but my key to freedom, for myself and my brothers.

Perhaps for the entire kingdom. It was the oddest thing, but I could feel in the warmth and strength of his body that we were absolutely meant to be and that he had the power to change my entire world.

I groaned deeply a moment later, when slick gushed out of me in such an alarming amount that I was certain it ruined my riding trousers. My body went hot all over, and a desperate pull and hunger swelled in my belly .

I knew what it was as soon as Emmerich ended our kiss and leaned back slightly to take in the sight of me.

“Oh, Goddess!” I gasped. “I’ve just gone into heat!”

“Of course you have,” Emmerich said with roguish a hint of arrogance. Usually I despised arrogance in alphas, but his practically made me salivate with need.

“Please,” I begged, writhing in his embrace, desperately needing to get rid of my clothing. “Please—” I stopped, my mouth open, not knowing how to ask for what I wanted. It seemed far too outlandish to want to mate with this stranger out of the blue, in the middle of a field.