Page 47

He wore only his pelt, wrapped around his waist, and his hair was still wet from the sea. His scent was rich and fresh, salt and rosemary bringing tears to my eyes. I hadn’t known if I would ever have the chance to smell him again, or touch him.

“How long was I out?”

“An hour. Just long enough for the ladies to get to know me. You’re a bit chewed up, aren’t you?” His eyes moved over my bare arms, marking all the changes since we’d been together. He didn’t say anything about Edan’s mark, but his eyes darkened as he took it in along with the burned-off tattoos, and I felt his rage in our bond. Then his eyes landed on Kellin’s fresh claim on my shoulder before moving to his own older one on the opposite bicep, and he grinned.

I smiled back. “I’m collecting oceanic royalty.” I thought he might laugh. He didn’t.

Still silent, he lifted his hand to cover the spot where Lusca’s pendant had been. I hissed in pain, though his touch had been gentle. Next, he lifted the shirt up slightly to take in Skadi’s mark. I peeked at it as well, glad to see the small snowflake was still there, though the edges of it were reddened.

Lachlan cursed softly. “I should’ve never let you come without me.”

“I’m right where I need to be. And you’ve brought boats just in the nick of time. You did bring the canoes, yes?”

“Yes. We’ll load everyone up tonight and be gone before sunrise. There’s a small rocky island where we can stop on the way, but a larger boat with a dozen Alphas as crew is waiting at Menthera, a way station about a quarter of the way to Starlak. From there, they’ll take the Omegas back home, to safety.”

“Safety?” Adiah demanded. “Are they all eunuchs, then?”

Lachlan didn’t remark on her rudeness. “They’re all warriors who serve your friend and my mate. If you even whisper the word ‘Warqueen’ to one of them, they are honor-bound to serve you as they would her. You will be safe, my lady. You will all be safe.”

Her jaw worked, like she didn’t know what to say to that.

A few of the other Omegas had gathered around us as he spoke, forming a silent, slightly creepy circle as they stared. “It’s true?” one of them whispered. “I didn’t think it could all be true.”

I approved. Suspicion was a healthy trait in an Omega. “You’ve all met, then?” I asked Lachlan.

“We haven’t all exchanged names.” Mirrim sank down next to me, handing over a cup that smelled like cofi.

“Lachlan, this is Mirrim. She’s the leader of this group. She was also my mother’s best friend. Mirrim gave her arm to get us free of Pict when I was a baby. She’s the only reason I’m not already mated to the shitstain god who infests this island.”

Adiah added, “We all owe her our lives.”

He levered himself up on one knee and bowed until his head almost scraped the ground. “Omega, my lady. For your part in protecting not only my mate and Empress, but in caring for the daughters of the Goddess kept here, I make this vow as prince of my kind and in the name of my mother, Stellina, the Queen of the Eastern Seas. We will sing your name in the waters and on land until the moon falls, and teach our children and grandchildren of your bravery and fortitude. You will be named a queen in our realm, and you and yours will be welcome and protected by every selkie living… though there are few of us to honor you.”

“Oh my. A queen.” Flustered, Mirrim stood and reached down with her hand to lift him off his knee. She stared up into his face, a smile growing on hers. “All I need is to know you will care for the daughter of my best friend and help the rest of these Omegas and the children to be free of this place.”

“And guarded as our own pups, Queen Mirrim. I vow it.”

She sniffed a few times, then nodded once, and wandered back toward Rielle’s cot, murmuring, “Fancy me, a queen. Queen Mirrim.”

The other Omegas came out of hiding and gathered around, peppering me and Lachlan with questions about the plan that soon became rather personal questions about his kind.

I wasn’t sure if the women’s acceptance was because he was an Omega, a selkie, my mate, or because he had more charisma than ten normal males, but the same Omegas who hadn’t been willing to make a sound only a handful of days before now reached out daringly to touch him. Of course, they all waited for his consent before they stroked his hair, arms, and even feet.

“They become flippers,” breathed one of the Omegas who’d never even spoken to me. “I want to see.”

Another one whispered, “I want to see all of him.” Giggles broke out. A part of me wanted to bristle when Lachlan teased them in return, loosening his pelt before he wrapped it more tightly, but the hint of tears in his eyes held me back.

This was the first time he was seeing all of these women, and I remembered the shock of it. The haunted eyes, the wasted limbs, the desolation.

Seeing them now, with hope kindled in their eyes and laughing, had my own eyes stinging. When Lachlan’s gaze rose to mine, I mouthed, I love you.

I felt his response in our bond before he cleared his throat. “I’d love to share as much of myself as my mate would allow, but I have a task and a message to deliver. Rada, I came ashore early on behalf of another of your mates. The Emperor of Emperors.”

“Lusca?” My heart raced, and I pressed a hand to my chest. “His mark has felt…”

“Yes. He’s close. He and Skadi are a few miles out, in the company of a pod of orcas.” He grinned at the gasps all around.

“None of it was lies,” Adiah muttered, sounding almost angry about it. “You’re really mated to a kraken.”