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I laughed at him, noticing Rory’s eyes were wide as he followed our conversation, and he looked frightened and a little horrified at how easily we discussed killing. But we had all been soldiers together during the war and were likely to fight together again. I was glad in a way that he seemed a little afraid of us. It might even help me tame my little warlock prince. The gods knew he hadn’t been the least bit afraid of me up to now.
Not that he should be. I’d never touch a hair on his head—I just didn’t want him to be so confident of the fact. If I couldn’t get his powers bound before we went in front of my brother and his court magicians, I’d be fighting my way out of the king’s palace with him. And I really didn’t want to go on the run with Rory, like his grandfather had to do with Vesper.
I held out a hand to him and he snuggled closer to me so I could wrap an arm around him. I felt better having him close to me like this. It had only been two days since I’d first seen him on those ramparts. Ridiculous to feel so much for a person I barely knew. It wasn’t love—itwasn’t. But it was the strongest attachment I’d ever felt for anyone. He felt like a part of me—which was another excellent argument for Rory being my true mate, whether I “believed in them” or not.
I just wasn’t quite ready to admit it yet even to myself and certainly not to him. All I could do was hope this crazy possessiveness was all Alpha related and keep pretending I could easily walk away any time I wanted to. Even though a small part of me whispered that it was just a lie.
Chapter Ten
Rory
Sitting close to Lex while he was drinking his coffee and talking in a low voice to his pack made me feel safer than I had in a long time. Maybe ever.
Which was crazy, because I was sitting in a freezing shed in the middle of bumfuck Egypt for all I knew, and it was too dark and too cold, and I hated both those things. I’d just been torn out of my old life by these Alphas. They were gorgeous, but they were taking me to parts unknown to do the gods knew what with me—after they’d probably all fucked me and knotted me, that is. My stepmother had a signed contract from Lex saying that they’d kill me one day when the time came, and from the rapid decline I’d seen in my father lately, that time wasn’t so far off. My life was a complete disaster.
Then Lex stood up, dropping a kiss on the top of my head as he went and giving me a brief, fierce hug, and my stupid heart melted all over again. It wasn’t good for me to feel so much for him. I had to somehow get a grip and ignore my crazy omega hormones, which went wild every time I was near him.
Everyone was getting ready to leave, so I found my clothes—thankfully, Brandon had the presence of mind to drape my wet things over an old crate near the fire, so they were a little damp, but not soaked. I pulled them on anyway and found my cape and boots. By that time, the Alphas were all dressed themselves and putting the packs on the horses. There was a new horse for Lex too—one that Wyatt and Asher had “liberated” from the outlaw camp after they had dealt with the men there and run all the other horses off.
Anyway, I saw Lex putting his packs on that horse, and then he turned to look for me. He held out his hand impatiently for me to come to him, and despite the arrogance in the gesture (which came with the territory with him) my heart finished its slow melt into a complete puddle. I hurried over to him, and he boosted me up, then swung up behind me. I settled back against him, like a puzzle piece slipping into its rightful slot. I fit perfectly.
“Be still,” he chided me, hissing in a breath as I wiggled around on his groin, trying to get even closer. He lowered his head and put his mouth next to my ear. “I’m about to take you behind a tree somewhere if you don’t stop moving that little ass of yours. Or pull your trousers down and let you ride my cock all day.”
“Mm, yes, please,” I said, laughing up at him, and he glared down at me, trying to adjust himself in the saddle. He was acting all snarly, but I was beginning to realize some of that was him reacting to his own overwhelming attraction to me. He was feeling this just like I was, and the realization gave me a real feeling of power I’d never had before. I tried to be good after that and not move around so much. Most of the time. I have to admit I enjoyed those sharp intakes of breath a little too much.
We soon came back to another road crossing and Asher rode his horse up beside us to discuss something about it from the way they were gesturing. They were speaking in Morovian though, and I didn’t understand. They appeared to be thinking they were on the right road again, though, and we soon started down this wider, better maintained track, this time riding much harder than before, as if to make up for lost time.
Apparently, we were traveling in the daylight now, thank the gods, and I wondered if we were getting close to their own border.
“Turn around again and hold me around my waist. I may need my hands free, and I don’t want you to fall,” Lex said, and I gladly obliged. It was warmer and I could get closer to him and drench my senses in that sexy, sharp, gunpowder scent of his. I burrowed under his cape too, where it was darker. I fell asleep again, listening to his strong, steady heartbeat under my ear.
The next thing I knew, we were stopping. I came floating back to the surface and pulled my head out to look around. We were in the courtyard of an inn, and the place looked to be fairly busy, or at least there was a lot of activity outside. A coach was pulled up near another building which must have been stables, and some men were changing out horses. Farther on, a small group of riders were tying their horses to a post and stretching and laughing as they moved toward the door. A large, portly man with a full beard was standing under a sign with a picture of a huge ugly hog with tusks. He stepped up to Asher as he got off his horse.
“Welcome toThe Wild Boar, sir. Were you wanting to spend the night? I have two nice rooms that I can have ready in a short time. In the meantime, I can offer you some hot supper and some good ale.”
Asher glanced back at Lex, who nodded.
“Yes, we’ll take the rooms and the supper, with our thanks,” Asher told the man. “We’ll be at a table inside when you have the rooms ready for us.”
“Very good, sir,” he said, rubbing his not very clean hands together. His eyes raked over first Lex and then me. “You have an omega with you, sir?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“Oh no, sir. Mostly betas here tonight. No one will interfere with her here.”
“It’s him, and if anyone tries to “interfere” with him, we can soon disabuse them of the notion.”
“Yes, of course, of course. This way, sir.”
“Are you awake?” Lex murmured to me, and I nodded, amazed by the conversation I’d heard. I had led a sheltered life in the castle, even though it hadn’t been an easy one. I could only imagine what I’d be going through now if I’d succeeded in my plan to run away. I could see how foolish that thought had been. If I had been alone, I’d have been such easy prey. This beta had noticed me and scented me from fifteen feet away. I lowered my head, suddenly feeling shy and nuzzled my face nose first into Lex’s chest.
I heard the soft rumble of laughter in his chest, and he put a finger under my chin to tip it up to him. “Come on, and let’s go inside. Just stay close and keep your hood up at all times. Don’t speak to anyone, and don’t worry. We’ll take good care of you.” He gave me a quick, hard kiss then and though I felt like swooning, I let him pick me up around the waist and hand me down to Wyatt.
Lex jumped down beside us and gave the reins of his horse to one of the stable boys who had come out to greet us. He threw a proprietary arm around me, and we went to the door.
The host went quickly ahead of us and ushered us into a big room, with a fireplace big enough to stand up in if there hadn’t been a roaring fire in it. It warmed up the whole room and we took a seat at one of the round tables near it. I sat between Asher and Lex, and I kept my hood up and scrunched down inside my cape—at least I had plenty of experience with that.
A woman with an apron came over and offered us steaming bowls of beef stew and some warm bread, fresh out of the oven. Another young girl brought us tankards of ale. The stew was full of potatoes and carrots and some other vegetables thrown in for good measure. It even had a few pieces of beef. Anyway, it was delicious, and I spooned it in my mouth quickly, barely waiting for it to cool. I sipped at the ale, though I’d never developed a taste for it. It helped warm me up, and that was the most important thing.
