Cassiel
After successfully taking Eira, Imani's friend, to her, I turned and left.
Something was wrong with Imani.
She wasn't just shaken—she seemed confused and different. Her words didn't make sense. She kept saying strange things… about 'New York,', 'phones,', 'penthouse,' and swearing nonstop.
Which was so unlike her.
But I would attribute it to the aftershock of the near execution still, I couldn't help but notice, she looked at me like I was a stranger.
And the truth is… I was.
After all, I had lied to her about everything.
Imani had met me as a soldier, a low-ranking one at that. I had told her I was travelling with a Northern troop scouting for rogue activity. She never asked questions. She never cared about titles like other women, who would not give me an audience until I stated out my rank, and if it was not their expectation, they'd simply ignore you.
But Imani never cared about that. She made stew from scratch for me every time I passed by the inn and kissed me like I was the only man in the world.
I met her three months ago at the border near Shadowbrook Pack. We had stopped at a roadside night inn – nothing special, just a place to eat and rest before the next march.
She had been waiting tables and was attending to a customer, taking their orders while they chatted. She was the first person my eyes landed on when I entered the inn. She was laughing at what the customer was saying.
I remember the way she laughed—it was light and careless. She was wiping her hands on her apron and tossing her wild curls back like they had minds of their own. Then she turned and saw me.
And that was it.
My wolf, Caelum, went berserk instantly, howling loudly in my chest.
Mate!
I believed in things like love, mates, and the bond that holds them. After all, my parents had the best marriage and the best connection I've ever seen as mates, and I wanted that too. I didn't want an arranged marriage to some Alpha's daughter I barely knew.
I didn't want the daughter of an elder who was obviously marrying me for my rank and not because she cared, and neither did I want any daughter of our foreign emissaries getting joined with me because of the trade prosperity that would bring.
I wanted a mate, and I was determined to wait.
I'd heard stories about how the mate bond worked. My mum couldn't explain it; she had said, 'When you find your mate, your soul and your wolf will know and agree. ' But I wasn't prepared for mine.
Imani had stared right back, stunned. She had felt it, too.
We didn't talk much at first. A few incoherent words, a quiet smile. But a few minutes later, we were at the back of the inn, pressed against the stone wall, with greedy and desperate hands, ravaging each other's body.
Our bond burned hotter than anything I'd ever known.
I stayed the night. Then the next. And then the next after that.
She never asked who I was, why my skin had scars, or why the men with me deferred to me in silence.
She hadn't bothered with what pack I fought for or what level I was. She was good to me and would always pray for my safe return. Though I would always feel guilty about lying about who I truly was.
She wanted simple things. She told me she wanted a cottage—a small house at the edge of the pack lands far from everything, maybe by the riverside. A garden with lots of herbs, children playing in the dirt, stew always in the pot, and a mate who came home and stayed.
I wanted that too. I wanted to give her that, but I was the Alpha King.
I didn't belong in cottages. My place was on the frontlines and the throne, holding together a kingdom and four influential packs.
Except, would she take a palace for a small cottage instead?
She didn't know that. But she loved me anyway.
And I … was a coward.
Each time I swore I'd tell her the truth, I lost my nerve. I told myself I'd wait. One more day. One more moon cycle. I convinced myself it was for her protection.
Until she found out the hard way.
I had been gone for nearly two weeks. A group of rogue packs had formed a siege in the southern valley, and I rode with our strongest soldiers to crush it. I nearly died twice. I came back bloody and weary, and made up my mind to come clean, only to run into her at the Palace.
She was sweeping the damn corridor of my Palace, wearing a maid's uniform.
It had taken all the willpower and years of discipline for me not to have lashed out at that moment. My mate. The woman I would burn the world for. Reduced to scrubbing floors under my own roof.
She looked up and froze as the color drained from her face. Then she went back to her chore, acting like she didn't even recognize me.
And when I finally caught her—hours later, alone in the garden—I thought she would weep in relief.
But she slapped me instead.
"You lied," she had whispered. "You made me believe you were ordinary. You made me believe we could be ordinary."
I tried to explain that I had planned to tell her that I needed her to see me for who I was before she saw the crown.
But she didn't care.
"You're the Alpha King," she said bitterly. "And I'm a lowly Omega. There's no place for me in your world."
She asked me to reject her.
I couldn't. I had been so angry and had walked out on her, ignoring her cries despite how they pierced my heart. From then on, I joined the new garrison of soldiers going after another group of Rogues spotted in our territories.
A part of me hoped the distance would cool things down. That maybe she'd come to terms with it.
But now, seeing her like this—delirious, confused, talking about strange lands and things—I realized I'd made everything worse.
When I returned to the Palace this morning, Eira, her friend, had ran to me in tears. She said Imani had been caught on the eve of the Lunar Eclipse Rite. Her heat had triggered uncontrollably in the main hall, surrounded by nobles, Alphas, and our foreign emissaries.
She hadn't even known it was happening. She was sentenced to death on the spot.
Only the Dragon King and his Dragon had saved her. Of all the creatures the Moon Goddess had to send as a saviour, it had to be him. And that bastard had wasted no time to claim her.
I ground my teeth at the memory.
I should have challenged him right there and then, but he had his Dragon, who had just burned a soldier alive. It could melt everyone with a breath, so I had to tread carefully.
Imani was still in danger. The death sentence was still hanging over her.
And now, she didn't even recognize her own reflection.
What had happened to her?
"My King," a voice said beside me.
When I turned, it was Orrin. Orrin was the keeper of the Palace, practically overseeing its affairs.
"Your father and the Elders are waiting."
I nodded, staring at him absentmindedly. "Have a healer sent to the room, the one you cleaned a while ago."
Orrin stared at me for a few seconds, and then, in his usual uncharacteristic way of not accepting something, he came closer to me.
"I am not one to speak out of turn, Alpha, but I don't think you should care after an Omega like that. As much as Imani…"
"You know her?" I interrupted him.
"Of course, I do. She's one of the cleaning ladies here at the Palace and an Omega. Although I didn't know that she …"
"Then did something strange happen to her some days or hours ago?" I asked, staring at his face as if that would provide the answers I was seeking.
Orrin shook his head slowly. "Not that I know of. Is there any problem?"
I withdrew. It was pointless, or maybe she would eventually come around. "No problem. Just have a healer sent to her room, a few changes of clothes, and some food. I know you do not agree with me now, but that Omega is my prisoner, and I'd like her presence here in the Palace not to be known."
"Many people saw you leading her inside," Orrin argued.
"I trust you, Orrin." I thumped and slapped him heartily on his back. "And I'm counting on you. Did you see my Beta? Has he arrived yet?"
He muttered some expletives under his breath before nodding. "He's waiting for you in the hallway to the throne room."