"You're fucking insane." He wanted to claim her, and she stepped back now, hands on her nape. Fuck. But she was incapable of looking away, unable to not stare at the almost pink little glow of his flesh that only grew into a godly sunset. "I've got a—"
"Bomb in your teeth?" He raised a brow. "Poison on your tongue? Those excuses you've used on my mates won't work with me. You won't die if you can withstand my electricity. It'll take more than just a little snap of something in your molars. You're almost a God." He smiled then, tongue cradling her name, lush and soulful. "Rue, you're just like me."
"How can you be so sure—" But her words fell, fell into the wind all shaky, all lost.
"You love money? Want your debts paid?" Dante smiled sweetly, carnal gaze sliding over her. "You'll have access to the pack's account. It's worth the entire galaxy. When you've got dragons as possessive as Levi, there's no need to fear that you'll go without. He can show you so much more than just gold."
"No—" But Rue was choked, choked in the trap. It didn't matter what she wanted now. She was fucked and so she grew silent. Silent, because she knew he was right. She'd rejected Seraphim once, harping about freedom, about death. She'd refused him then because surrogacy had meant exposing her truth. It meant a life as an Alpha's lap dog. But now was freedom even in the cards for her? And if it weren't perhaps at the very least her mother should be free. But her mind swirled, pointed out the red flags, the classic signs of bullshit from an Alpha's sweet-talking mouth. "You can't cover for me. You're lying. They know."
"Hm?"
"If you know I had those drugs, if people told you that I was there are the scene… The imperial army won't let it go. They've got me in their records." Rue exhaled, sorrow flooding her veins. Gods, after all that hard work would it all come down to this? "So, you're lying, you're going to turn me in once you've had your fill. You won't even give me the money; you'll dine and fucking dash." He laughed, then laughed like she was fucking stupid.
"That was my army."
She blinked, eyes fluttering to his, brows pinched. "What?" And her eyes were wide, wide as her heart pounded in her chest, shuddered in her body as realisation dawned upon her. It struck her like an arrow and slapped her awake like ice to her cheeks. She could hardly breathe, a raspy inhale as she stared at him and realised. "You're the general of Planet 1?"
"Ruler."
That crippled her, a whoosh escaping her lips, lungs losing air. "B-but that's an old guy…" Her eyes were on him then, on him and sweeping over his features, his powers. Her lips parted, brain reminding her of how the emperor looked like, how Dante looked like. The dots connected.
"Our fathers," he answered lazily, waving a hand as if used to this talk, "are stepping down. It's been well-established that we're already ruling the universe. Our coronation will happen when our pack's better established and the situation at hand has been taken care of. They do say we struggle with guiding, but with you, that doesn't matter does it? We'll be crowned tomorrow with an SSS-ranked guide in our pack. You could be our very first and only consort.."
"But that makes you—"
An emperor.
Seirios were seven emperors and seven Alphas in a pack that would unite the universe. Seven espers that killed their guides on the battlefield.
Her words were lodged in her throat, eyes wide. A new ball was in the court, only she was immediately crushed. And her mind spun, spun to the articles, the names, the words. She was shaking now, shaking. Because there was no escaping the trap, no running from them now. It couldn't be worse. And Theo's fear was justified, and so were the reactions of the public. The way the boys boasted and talked about themselves. The fear in everyone's eyes.
Everyone had known, but not her because she was a stupid little frog in a well that only looked upwards into the sky like a blind idiot.
Her gaze swung to Kieran, and she regarded then the glint in his eyes. The knowing look on his face as if he'd known that she had been in the dark. The resignation was as if he knew that she'd react badly. That he'd been keeping those secrets on purpose. They wanted her in the dark, wanted her fumbling and destroying her own life.
And so this news was true.
How stupid was she?
There would be no freedom now, and that doom echoed in her head, was a heavy weight on her shoulders. She had been fraternizing with emperors, fucking with them like a goddamn scammer. There would be no fucking escape. No lifelong dream of climbing the ladder to become an Alpha CEO basking in AC and sipping on coffee. They'd learn that she was Omega and then what?
She was literally and figuratively, fucked.
"Dante!"
Her eyes swerved to Halcyon— he was bent over as if he'd run a marathon, body still stinking sweetly of her, still soaked, still dewy, and still dripping with her Heat, albeit soaked in scent blockers. It'd taken him too long to escape the net, and instead of a shower, he'd chosen to reveal her secrets. She found herself inching back to the door towards salvation, towards the exit, face ghostly pale.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Halcyon gasped, panting as if strangled. "H-How could you?" His finger was pointing shakily in her direction. "I felt it running through the bond, how could you hurt her?" Rue's horror only grew, a glare and he had his mouth open into a gasp, palm on his lip which he hastily removed as if merely a mistake. It was odd that Valentino and Altair were not trailing after him, that they remained in the cocoon of their room. But perhaps, they'd complied with her requests to hide her secrets. Not that it mattered any longer.
Kieran's brow was furrowed in his little corner of confusion. "Halcyon, are you alright?" Halcyon ignored him, choosing instead to frantically snarl at Dante, rushing over with his body ruffling from his beasts. His muscles rippled, sweat down his throat and there was horror in his eyes.
"Y-you can't do that!" Halcyon growled, and his skin fluttered, scales vibrating, tattoos shifting. The traces of horns blooming in his hair, forming steadily with his rage. "You can't fucking touch Rue like that. Rue's fragile. It might seem like he's strong, like he's fucking powerful but Rue's not like us."
"Baby," Dante purred, hands twisting to cup his cheeks. A strange look dancing in his eyes as he sniffed at the remains of her juices on his chin. The plaster of sweat on his brow. The dilation of Halcyon's eyes as if drunk, as if drugged. Dante's thumb brushed the sticky traces, pressed the remains to his lips. "You used it on him too?" He called to her as if recognising her flavour, and she remained quiet. Dante turned back to Halcyon then, stroked the cheek of his mate. "Don't we all want this little alien? I'll dish him out on a silver platter just for you, just need to put him in his place so that he won't play all of these mean little games. He'll be better trained and collared."
Rue gaped at him, breath catching in her throat, raspy as she exhaled. They would use her. Seraphim's premonitions would be right, her future was already set in stone. She'd be fuck all year long, grow pregnant with their children, birth thousands till her death. Rue would merely be cattle.
"Don't, I want to do this right," Halcyon begged, shaking her from her frightened state. "I want to be a good Alpha. I want this to go properly with extra security, with a plan. I need this, we need this."
"We have all the time in the world—"
"B-but it takes time to form a loving pack," Halcyon pleaded. "C-Courting, then marriage, before anything Rue wants—" Rue's heart was a raging beast in her chest, and when she turned to look into his eyes it was to a sea of sincerity, of devotion, of utter adoration. Perhaps, perhaps there was still hope somewhere in this unforgiving sea.
"Marriage?" Dante blinked. "That's an old Omega custom."
"Halcyon's right." And then Levi was climbing out of his den with a snarl, jaw clenched, cheeks pink. His lips were bitten all red, his body shaking like a leaf, desire shining in his eyes. He was trembling, and his scent was all spiced liquor, smooth chocolate and glorious whisky, malty smooth as it flooded the room. Rue inhaled, startled at his scent—at the traces of Rut on his body, so good, so fucking delicious it had her feeling almost insane.
She caught herself before she could whine, before her voice began begging for a knot. Rue pressed a hand to her nose and covered it like he stank. He regarded her once, a slow long look as if in apology, as if in preparation, as if he knew. Then he turned, a heavy long exhale squeezing from his lips in a long steady rush.
"You big dumb idiot, Rue's—Rue's an Omega, and that slick was hers."
And she bolted towards the door.
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