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“Neill,” I say with a curt nod. “Please have a seat.” I point out to the chair across from the coffee table. He takes it, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair.
Darrell walks over to me, placing a kiss on my forehead. “Holler if you need us. We’ll be upstairs.”
I touch his hand as he walks by. “Thanks,” I say softly. Colson was pissed when I told them all that I wanted to be alone with Neill. He made me promise that I would scream at the top of my lungs, even if I just felt uncomfortable. I rolled my eyes, but he was dead fucking serious.
Both Neill and I watch as Darrell makes his way upstairs. When he disappears into his room, shutting the door behind him, I turn my attention back to Neill.
“So just us then?” he asks, still tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair, repeatedly. It’s still weird to see the same eyes looking at me without a mirror. To have another human to have the same eyes as me is odd. But I mean, it makes sense, right? I had to get them from someone. That someone wasn’t my mother, so logically it would have to be my father.
“Yup,” I say, taking a seat on the couch.
“Why am I here, Veronica?” Neill cocks his head, almost like he knows what I want to say. Like he’s reading me.
“You tell me? Why are you here, in this small town?” I want to lead him to answer the questions, not ask them.
“I like small towns, this town had a library hiring, so I moved here.” Neill reveals half truths already.
“It wasn’t because my mother ran, bringing her toddler child here to get away from the Royal Court?” I raise an eyebrow.
I watch as Neill shifts in his seat uncomfortably, clearing his throat. “Why would you ask that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I really don’t feel like doing this back and forth, who breaks who first. “You’ve been here for just over fifteen years. I’ve been here for just over fifteen years. I had a mother who died a year ago, running from the Royal Courts. After telling the courts that both her husband and child had died.”
“That sounds terrible, why would someone tell the Royal Courts that their family was dead, if they weren’t?” Neill pushes back.
“I don’t know, why would you swear Darrell to secrecy?” I cross my arms over my chest. This is getting us nowhere, real fucking fast.
“Just say what’s on your mind, child.” Neill's response is coy, like he’s baiting me. Waiting for me to make the first move in our relationship.
“I know who you are, Neill. I also know Neill isn’t your real name, but that’s what I’ll call you, just like I have since I was a little girl.”
“Who am I?”
“The Beta Prince,” I state firmly. “The one that the world died years ago.” I pause. “Who am I?” I ask, my heart beating in my throat.
“The Omega Princess,” he replies just as firmly as I did.
“Why did you leave?” I want to ask him a billion questions, ask why he left me, why I had to grow up without a father.
“Leave? I’ve been here the whole time.”
“No, you haven’t, but that’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking why did you leave the Royal Courts?”
“Political life wasn’t for me. I was a Beta, and I could never live up to the expectation my parents had. Their first born died before he took the throne, their Alpha son. When I turned eighteen, I didn’t feel any different. I couldn’t scent people like my parents said I should. When my mother forced me to do horrible things, I left.”
“What could be so bad that you’d leave though?”
“They forced me to be with your mother, to prove I was an Alpha. She was an Omega who was brought to my bed chambers by the Beta Guard. They stood outside for days, only allowing food to be brought in. I was told that if I didn’t take your mother’s virtue then I would be labeled a traitor of the crown and put to death. Your mother went into heat, and she couldn’t handle the pain. I helped her, but I didn’t do anything she didn’t want. A few days later, when the door was opened, my mother barged in claiming I wasn’t her son, and I needed to take my whore and leave.” He pauses, looking away from me. “I took your mother and left. A few weeks later, we learned that she was pregnant, and all of the sudden, my mother wanted us back in the castle, like I had opened the door to the heavens themselves.”
“And? How the hell did we end up on the run, both you and I supposedly dead?” I sit on the edge of my seat, waiting for his response.
He stands up and begins to pace, rubbing his face and letting out several deep breaths. “When we learned you were going to be a girl, my mother lost her shit, saying that female Alphas were rare, and there had never been one born to the Crown. Therefore, making you either another Beta or worse in her eyes, and Omega.” He turns, squatting down to look at me. “When we left again, your mother said they’d never stop looking for us, that we would always be running, trying to escape my mother and her clutches. She thought Alphas were the superior species, and that everyone else should always submit to the Alphas, especially the Royal Alphas.”
“So you faked your death and told everyone that I died at birth, giving Mom the chance to take off with me.” I press my lips together in anger. Why do Alphas think they are so much better than us?
“Yes, my sister was born a beta too, so she took over the Beta Guard. She was the only one I trusted with the information of the truth. When wedied,she helped us cover up the deaths. She was the one who ‘confirmed’ the deaths. Making it real for the world. She set up an account and funneled money into it. I used it for a while, and then when I was set up, I found your mother and followed her here. I kept my distance, making sure she never saw me. When you were like nine, you waltzed into the library like normal, only this time you had your mother with you. She recognized me immediately, that’s when I gave her the account. Told her it was from the courts and that she needed to keep it quiet, spend it carefully. When you came of age, she was supposed to deliver a message, saying that my parents set it up, and when you had a son, if he was an Alpha, then he would have the funds to take the throne back.”
“Don’t you want your throne? It’s technically yours, you’re the only male heir alive, and I don’t plan on having kids anytime soon.”
