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Tai’s eyes lock on mine, his jaw tight as he nods. “We’ve only got about fifteen before the ceremony begins. Don’t disappear.”
I wink at him in an attempt to ease his obvious tension. “Not without you, my dear earl. I’ll be right there.”
He rolls his eyes but then tightens his grip on his mother’s arm and leads her further into the hall while I head to my fathers and the king. I haven’t reached them yet when I see the annoyance flickering in their eyes. As soon as I join them, I realize why it’s there.
“Wolfgang!” King Edward slurs slightly as he smacks me on the shoulder. His ruddy cheeks rise on a wide grin. “Good of you to stop by, son.”
My face wants to frown, but I don’t let it. He might be drunk already, but he’s still the king.
I offer him a shallow bow. “Welcome home, Your Grace. How was Canada?”
He flashes me a salacious smirk before he glances around, obviously not so far gone yet that he’s completely forgotten where he is. “My dear wife may think sending me on all these trips abroad is a punishment, but—”
My father cuts him off by clearing his throat. “Wolf, are you ready for this?”
I move my gaze to his, instinctively standing up a little bit straighter when faced with the duke’s militaristic posture. “Of course, sir. I was born ready.”
My other father, Demetrius, blows out a quiet breath through his nostrils. “No, you weren’t,” he says on a laugh. “But here we are.”
“Here we are,” I agree. “Good of you both to come.”
I’d half expected only my titled father, the Duke of Bavaria, to attend this thing. My other Alpha father, Demetrius, loathes being at court. But he’s putting on a brave face for the sake of everyone else.
“Are Mum and the girls around?”
Demetrius shakes his head. “Regrettably,” he says in his ‘court’ voice, the single word dripping with enough sarcasm to earn him an elbow jab from my other father. “They had to stay in Munich. Ingrid has a dance recital coming up, Hannah couldn’t get away from work, and Emilia said she’d rather stab herself in the foot than watch you sniffing a bunch of Omegas.”
I snort, but of course, Duke Otto Von Damme doesn’t seem quite as amused by my youngest sister as I am and gives me a sharp look that has me schooling my features.
“Perhaps when this is over, we’ll all make time for a visit.”
The king laughs heartily as well, drawing my fathers’ attention back to him while a sudden zing of rage from one of my packmates sets me on edge. My head immediately turns toward Tai. When I see him and his mother greeting the queen, I know the source of his anger.
“Excuse me,” I say, but I’m already walking away to support Yua and Taiyo.
Queen Catherine is always snippy with them both, and it’s no different this time. She arches a brow at Yua, looking her over from head to toe before her lips purse. “I didn’t realizeyouwould be here. Although, I should’ve known William would’ve invited you.”
My eyelids slam shut.Dear God, would it kill her to stop using Tai’s middle fucking name?
Yua gives her a cool smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It’s not every day a proud mother gets to see her son when he first lays eyes on the love of his life.”
In just one sentence, she’s encapsulated the very foundation of the difference between her and the queen. To Yua, this is about love. Finding it, keeping it. Catherine doesn’t give a rat’s arse about love. All she cares about is keeping up appearances.
“Well, yes. I suppose I understand how a commoner might misunderstand the purpose of the Trials.”
I cut a glare at Kaz, wishing he’d step in to set his mother straight, but he doesn’t. Since I want to but I can’t, I simply grind my teeth and vow to put a bag of marbles under his sheets tonight to teach him a lesson in discomfort.
His obsession with decorum and duty regularly gives me a headache worse than any hangover ever has. Thankfully, the announcement is made for us to move into the ballroom for the ceremony to begin.
“She’s a bitch. Ignore her,” I mutter to Yua as she departs to take her place among the other dignitaries at court. She covers her mouth to conceal a surprised flush at my vulgarity, swatting my arse as I rush to catch up with my pack mates.
Tai, Kaz, and I take our place on the raised dais. The queen makes a short speech before the Omegas will be brought in, but I can’t focus on anything she says. The roil of emotions spinning and jostling through the pack bonds are enough to strike me both deaf and dumb and all I can think about is getting my knot wet as the first hints of Omega scent reach my nose.
Kaz tenses at my other side and hisses, “Not now, Wolf.”
I roll my eyes, but I keep my mouth shut since the door is already opening and the first Omega is shown in. As he walks toward us, I rake my gaze over his square face and crew-cut hairstyle.Nope. Not my type. Next.
The crier announces him by name and academy, and the Omega wipes sweaty palms on his tailored slacks as he walks the long channel of deep eggplant carpet up to the dais with his head bowed.
