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Stesha grips his head in both hands, his fingers digging into his scalp. “I think I’m losing my mind.”
Zabriel watches him with narrowed eyes, clearly thinking little of Stesha’s performance.
The white-haired Alpha shakes his head. “Nothing. I couldn’t smell anything. It was a mistake. I apologize to you and your Omega.”
“You’re fucking right it was a mistake. Find yourself a Beta and get mated. Stop holding out for something that’s never going to happen. Above all, stay away from my Omega, or I will rip your knot off and shove it down your fucking throat.”
Zabriel sheathes his sword and strides toward me, a thunderous expression on his face. He pulls me into his embrace and his fingers find the nape of my neck, holding me tight and stoking me there. Reassuring himself that I’m unmarked. Unclaimed. Unhurt. There’s so much fury in his body that he’s shaking.
Everyone is staring at us, and the pressure of their eyes is too much, but my heart hurts for Zabriel, and I have to reassure him.
Taking his face between my hands, I whisper, “I’m all right. He barely touched me. You fought so bravely, Zabriel. Thank you for protecting me.”
The expression in his red eyes is bleak. “I couldn’t bear it if anyone hurt you,sha’len. I’d die if anything like what happened to Mirelle happened to you.”
I plant soft kisses on his face, hoping that everyone in the courtyard has turned around and is giving us some privacy.
The next words burst angrily from his lips. “It was my brother. My brother and my sister. The Alpha and Omega I told you about. My bloodline is tainted. Stesha threw it in my face, and I saw red.”
For a moment I don’t know what he’s talking about, and then my stomach twists in horror. The Alpha who raped his sister was Zabriel’s brother?
He closes his eyes and drops his head with a groan. “I knew you would be disgusted. I didn’t want you to know, but you’d hear about it eventually.”
I gently stroke his cheek. “I’m disgusted with your brother. I’m anguished for your sister. And I’m heartbroken for you.”
He leans into my touch. “You are too good to me,sha’len. I don’t feel like I deserve your sweetness.”
“You deserve all the sweetness in the world.”
“If I ever did anything to hurt you like that, I’d never forgive myself.”
I clasp his shoulders and say urgently, “You never, ever would. You could snap me like a twig with your little fingers, but from the moment you laid eyes on me, you have only wanted to keep me safe. I didn’t see that at first, but now I do.”
He relaxes a little beneath my touch. “Do you really trust me as much as that?”
“I do. You’re so kind, and you’re merciful as well. Stesha…maybe really did make a mistake.”
Instantly, Zabriel tenses again, and he growls, “I saw what he did and it wasn’t a mistake.”
“But I don’t think Stesha even likes me. He’s always so cold and critical whenever I talk to him.”
“It’s not about him liking you or not. Omegas can make some Alphas lose their grip on reality and do crazy, dangerous things.”
I nibble on my lip for a moment, remembering the frantic, lost look in Stesha’s eyes. “I had the feeling Stesha was looking for someone he already knew. Or used to know. Maybe she died, and she haunts him still.”
As I say the other Alpha’s name, Zabriel growls. He digs his fingers into my upper arms and looks sharply over at where Stesha lay sprawled on the ground a few minutes ago as if hoping he’s still there and he can charge over and finish him off.
Past Zabriel’s shoulder, Dusan widens his eyes in alarm and shakes his head. I’m only making Zabriel angrier by poking his wound.
I reach up and take Zabriel’s face between my hands, caressing his proud cheekbones with my thumbs. “Look at me. He doesn’t matter. Thank you for protecting me, Alpha.”
My words cause such a transformation in Zabriel that it’s as if night has turned into day. The storm clears from his brow and his jaw unclenches. The raging dragonfire in his eyes suddenly becomes molten red gold.
He wrenches open a nearby door, pulls me inside the castle, and slams it closed behind us. I open my mouth to ask what he’s doing, but before I can utter one syllable, he lifts me up in his arms and his mouth crashes into mine.
“Call me Alpha again,” Zabriel commands between hungry kisses.
Heat and desire flare to life in my body. Instinct takes over, and I know what he wants to hear. “I only want you, Alpha. I’m all yours.”
