Page 22 of The Forbidden Dragon King (Shadow Kings #1)

CHAPTER TEN

Freya’s Bedroom, Shadow Court

F reya

Finally cool again, I stretch out on the soft nest, scrunching my nose at the damp, soggy bedding, which is soaked in slick.

How long have I been in heat?

It feels like an eternity, but when I crack open my tired eyes, pale light is filtering over my bedroom through the screen from the window.

Has it only been a day?

My memories, once I was lost to the heat, are a blissed out blur centered around the pulsing pleasure between my thighs and the press of Daire’s ghost lips across our bond mark.

He promised that no matter how far apart we were, we would never truly be alone again.

He didn’t break his promise.

I smile, glancing down at the snowflake, which is covered in purple hickies, scratches, and bite marks.

I preen.

I’ll wear them with pride.

Daire will be wearing the same marks, and I can sense the same contentment and pride through the bond from him.

It’s better than pain and hunger.

When I look up, however, I startle.

Lucius is sprawled on the bottom of my bed, resting his chin on the palm of his hand and studying me with a bored expression.

Lucius’ silver silk tunic falls off his snowy shoulder. It looks like someone clawed it to pieces.

I swallow.

Whoops, that must have been me.

Also, that tunic looks like it cost more than my salary for the month, maybe for the year.

I edge myself to sit up, protectively pushing a cushion to block the view of the mattress that covers my silk purse.

An Omega can’t be held responsible for the crimes that they commit during heat .

Isn’t that a rule? Right?

Lucius smells of narcissus: sweet but underneath it, narcotic and bewitching.

“Good morning. I thought that you were going to sleep forever. You’re lazier than I am.

” Lucius snatches up my housekeeper uniform from the end of the bed and throws it at me — a simple linen tunic with a Golden Dragon brooch to show that I belong to the King’s personal household — and it lands on my head. “You can’t lie around all day.”

I splutter, dragging the uniform off my head. My hair is now standing at all angles.

I hug my tunic in front of me. “Why not? You do.”

“Oh, a fellow Omega with spark. I like it.”

I growl.

“Don’t be disrespectful.” Lucius tosses his honey curls, pushing himself to sit cross-legged across from me. “I stayed up all night helping you and now I want some breakfast.”

“Can’t you make it yourself?”

He opens his silver eyes wide in mock shock, staring down at his soft hands. “Do these hands look like they were born to work ? I may break a nail or, the horrors, burn myself. Elites are served; they don’t serve.”

“I don’t believe your spoiled act, you know.”

“That is like a blade to my poor heart.”

I snort.

Lucius wrinkles his nose. “You may want to change your bedding first. You were wilder last night than I am during a heat, and that’s saying something. So, come on. I want pancakes.”

Is he serious?

I feel like I’ve been exercising for twenty-four hours without a break. Muscles that I didn’t even know I had ache.

On the other hand, I feel the best that I have in my life. Something inside me has settled.

My inner Omega is purring.

Strange that it has taken being amongst enemies in a dangerous new kingdom to discover this joy.

It’s taken finding my Shadow Fae Alpha.

I smile.

How is Daire this morning? I hope that this rut calms his wildness and slows down some of his darker scheming.

Can we at least have one week, during which he doesn’t try to fake assassinate Aurelius?

“You’re smiling,” Lucius points out. “I assume that I wasn’t too disastrous as a heat mate?”

I think that is the first genuine thing that Lucius has said to me. He truly appears nervous to check whether he did a good job with me during my heat.

I coolly gaze at Lucius, who starts to fidget.

I don’t remember much about the last day and night. But I do remember what happened before that.

And this Omega’s Alpha suggested killing me.

“I’m alive, aren’t I?” I reply. “And on the moon, I’m grateful that you were here. It was frightening. ”

I don’t tell him that I wasn’t alone because Daire was also with me.

Lucius relaxes, leaning back on his hands.

“Sometimes, Alphas die in war. It’s agony for the Omega dragon riders who are left behind.

I am sure that you can imagine how much fun it is to lose your bond mate but have your body not accept it.

As soon as I left the Shadow Military Academy, I petitioned the Council to take on the role of seeing such Omegas safely through their heats.

I’m certain that they believed it would keep me busy and out of their way.

After all, it’s a role of no importance in their eyes, and how can an Omega like me be of danger to them then? ”

“Yet War and you still almost murdered me last night.” I meet Lucius’ gaze boldly. “Wait, did you think that I’d forget? Sucks for you.”

Lucius becomes ashen, looking like he’s about to hurl.

Then he scrambles across the bedding, not caring that his gorgeous clothing is becoming spoiled.

He clasps onto my arms. “Don’t tell Relius. Please. Don’t tell anyone. What do you want? Do anything to me. I deserve it, but leave War out of this. She was only trying to protect her King. She’s the loyalist Alpha alive. Just beat me or something . ”

Shocked, I notice the tears gleaming in his eyes.

I can’t stop myself stroking his slim arm.

He’s shaking.

Lucius normally appears so laid back that I didn’t expect this reaction. He’s a silver dragon, an elite. Why would my word count as higher than his? Surely, this is when we banter and come to a deal .

But he looks ruined.

“Please, Spark.” Lucius kneels in front of me, baring his neck. I give a shocked breath. No elite should kneel in a way that looks like it’s both familiar and hated. “ Punish me. We can keep this between us. Don’t tell Relius.”

I can’t stop myself.

I drag the shaking Omega out of his kneeling position and against my neck, while washing soothing pheromones through the room. I nuzzle his neck, as I’ve seen other Omegas do to comfort each other in Fang Kingdom.

He stiffens in shock. Then he nuzzles me back.

It’s a good feeling, more than I expected it would be.

I cup the back of Lucius’ head over his silky curls. “Don’t be a fool. I’m not going to punish my heat mate, am I? And why would I tell anyone on your Alpha, since you obviously love her. I know how powerful a bond is now. You’re never going to let someone threaten to hurt me again, huh?”

This is the test.

Lucius shakes his head, fervently. “Never.”

I smile, nuzzling him further.

The only thing better than getting rid of a threat is turning that threat into an ally.

I’ve been studying the dynamics of the Golden Family, and Lucius is Aurelius’ best friend. He’s also the only Omega in the group.

If he can become my friend, then I truly will be accepted into the inner court.

I’ll be a step closer to my mission .

I take a deep breath of Lucius’ heady, narcissus scent. It suits him. I imagine that his luxurious suite of rooms has a lot of mirrors in it.

Lucius pulls back from me. His eyes are red rimmed.

“So, I’ll give you this warning for free.

Be more careful stealing from dragons. We’re possessive of our treasures and notice when things go missing more than others would.

Don’t worry, our King has been covering for you.

” Then he casually takes my hand in his, playing with my fingers, despite my horror.

I think of the items that I’ve stolen from around the palace, ready in case Daire and I need them: a book on dragon lore, a silver knife, and glittering obsidian ring.

They’re stuffed under this mattress that we’re sitting on.

By the moon, it breaks a thief’s heart to have to put their haul back but I can’t take the risk right now.

“You not telling Relius about… It’s not that I fear dying, you know.” Lucius is lost in his own thoughts. “War certainly doesn’t. It’s that I fear letting down Relius. I couldn’t bear for him to think that he’d made a mistake in saving me.”

“Did he pick you up in his claws and carry you off into the night sky too?” I huff.

Lucius chuckles. “Would you believe that it was much more dramatic? He rather has a thing for Omegas in distress. He may believe himself to be wicked because so many have told him that he is but he’s truly not.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because I know him better than almost anyone in this court. My father, Propraetor Rustica Atticus, brought my brothers and me to visit the palace from our country villa, which borders Blood Kingdom. Father is a harsh man, governing the mountainous region with a strong military presence. He would never have allowed me to court, having traditional beliefs about Omegas.” Lucius’ lips pinch.

“I had never left the walls of our villa before. Barely left my rooms. Yet King Tarquin demanded that all the Atticus family attend court. When Tarquin spoke, you listened. I believe now that he was growing to fear Father’s strength in the borderlands. ”

I don’t like how pale Lucius has become as he talks about his past in that villa.

I squeeze his hands. “You enjoyed your visit.”

“Enjoyed it?” Lucius looks up through his curls.

“I could finally breathe for the first time in my life. Also, I did the unthinkable. I ran away and found this beautiful rose garden to play in. I never wanted to go home. Then I met a golden haired Alpha. I remember thinking, I’ve died and this is a Shadow God .

What other Alpha wouldn’t hit, mock, or shame me?

I was such an innocent. When he told me that he was actually Prince Aurelius, I made him a crown of roses and asked him to become my Alpha when he was older. ”

I wince, bracing myself for a rejection as painful as my own confession to Bard.