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In a moment I’m through the castle gates and racing across the grounds until I reach the courtyard where the Veiled Virgins are sheltering.
Isavelle collapsed in their midst, sprawled on the ground with her long hair scattered on the flagstones.
“Isavelle!” I pull her into my lap and cradle her in my arms. “Sha’len, can you hear me?”
My mate’s eyes are closed, but she’s breathing. A dragon swoops overhead on the way to the dragongrounds. Some of the girls are crying as they watch Isavelle, and then they shriek and sob even harder as the dragon’s shadow passes over us.
The refugees really don’t like our dragons.
I give Isavelle a gentle shake, and finally, she rouses, her eyelashes fluttering. “Isavelle. Can you hear me?”
“Zabriel?” She looks around, seeming surprised to find herself on the ground gazing up at me. “What am I… Oh. I’m fine. I just didn’t eat breakfast yet.”
“Breakfast was two meals ago. You’re supposed to be taking care of yourself,” I growl and pick her up in my arms. I don’t want an Omega who will always quietly and obediently do exactly what she’s told, but it would be nice if she didsomethingI asked of her. “I told you that you could help the refugees as long as you didn’t exhaust yourself. If you won’t follow your Alpha’s orders, I’ll have to make you.”
I carry her into the keep and up to her room. She needs a proper rest, and I need to make more time to ensure that she eats well. I thought she looked too gaunt when she arrived at the castle, but now her cheeks are thinner and her complexion is a ghastly gray.
I tuck her beneath the blankets of her bed and press a kiss to her forehead. “Sleep,sha’len. You must stay here for now.”
She grasps my sleeve as I turn to go. “Please don’t lock me up. I can’t bear it. I’ve been in the dark for so long.”
I sit on the edge of the bed and take her face between my hands. “Isavelle. No one is locking you up. You’re not a prisoner here.”
“I feel like a prisoner.”
“Has anyone in the castle prevented you from going anywhere you wish?”
Isavelle gazes up at me with clear green eyes. “I think that’s only because I haven’t tried to go beyond the walls yet.”
Go beyond the walls? Absolutely not. I’m not going to keep Isavelle from her family, but the truth is, it’s too dangerous for her outside the castle. I can’t risk losing my mate when I’ve only just found her.
“Everything I’m doing is to keep you safe. Things will make sense to you soon.” By the gods, I hope so anyway. How long will it take to wake up a dormant Omega?
“You won’t explain why you’re keeping me here against my will?”
Because she’s not human, she’s a rare and precious Omega, and she and I are destined to rule this country together. She’s my ultimate weakness, and my enemies will prey on her if they find out who she is, and she has enough enemies of her own. Words aren’t enough to make her believe me. When her body starts changing, when she feels what she is for herself, when she catches her Alpha’s scent, everything will become clear.
“You’re more precious than you can know. Not just to me, but to everyone in Maledin.”
She frowns. “I don’t understand.”
I tuck the blankets in around her. “I know, and I’m sorry. We can talk more about it later. For now, you have to stay here.”
“Because you say so?”
I lean closer and glower at her, hoping my red eyes will convince her how serious I am. “Yes. Your Alpha says so. Now get some sleep.”
Isavelle’s lips part in surprise, but I can’t tell if she’s reacting to the wordAlphaor the flare in my eyes.
Outside her room, Godric is waiting for me.
“She’s all right. She just needs to rest and eat something,” I tell him.
He glances at her closed door. “I’m not sure that it’s safe for you to be alone with her.”
I growl and pass my hand over my brow. Godric is getting on my last nerve today. “I’ll pretend you didn’t just imply I’m an Alpha who can’t control himself.”
“That’s not what I mean,Ma’len. Maledin is crawling with enemy Brethren. This girl was their prisoner a long time. As the dead king’s bride, she—”
