Page 205 of Ruled By The Alpha

“No need for apologies. Your destiny and Magnus’ have always been violent.” She wiped away tears I hadn’t realized I’d shed. “But you have always brought forth new life, and that is what counts.”

I soon learnt that a siege was like waiting for a child to be born. The longer we waited, the more uncertain things became, and the more we debated in hushed whispers on how to break the deadlock. For the army of alphas had not arrived, and my dreams, our only link to Magnus, had ended.

My sleeps were dreamless, but not restful, and I took to wandering the halls in the dead of night. There was always someone awake—we had to keep a watchful eye on the betas, after all. And slowly, as the days and weeks passed, I learnt their names and faces.

War was a new beast to us omegas but if we could survive the attentions of betas, what was war when we had walls and weapons? Even hunger could be conquered when victory meant freedom.

*

On the six hundredth day, the morning dawned with thunder and lightning. The clouds were an otherworldly green, occasionally cracked by electricity like veins of quartz throughmarble, and the storm that had been approaching for hours now boomed overhead.

This natural, furious power drew me like a moth to a flame, and I secreted myself away and climbed to the roof. The rain came down in sheets at such an acute angle I was reminded of a painting that depicted sunshine cutting through the clouds.

I turned my attention to more manmade things. The drenched betas and their army were attempting to cross the narrow bridge and breach the doors, but nature had given us a protective measure. The dry moat surrounding the brothel was now full from the rain that had not stopped falling for the last week.

“Come inside, Tenora,” Quintus said from the doorway.

I backed away, for I didn’t want to turn my back on the enemy. When I was near enough, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside before slamming the door and shoving the bolt in place. My brother—I still struggled to call him that—handed me a towel and watched as I patted my hair dry.

“What did you see, general?” he asked.

I smiled. In front of our soldiers, he called me that to show respect. In private, he was a teasing brotherly figure and advisor. By the Mother and Father, a sense of sibling love flooded me, and I gave into the impulse and hugged him.

“Uh, Tenora?”

“Hush, governor. Let me be your sister for a moment.”

A warm, heavy hand landed on my back. “Of course.”

The hug did not last long, but it sealed our connection for good. At last, I released him and looped the towel around my neck. Looking into eyes that I now knew as well as my own, I watched as we returned to our formal roles. “They can outlast us. Our supplies are running low. Unless he comes…”

“He’ll come.” My brother-in-arms gave me a little shake. “He’d destroy the world to get to your side.”

It was easy to imagine Magnus destroying the world; harder to imagine it would be for my sake. “That does not give me the hope I am sure you intend.”

We turned to head back down the stairs when the world began to shake.

“Earthquake,” Quintus said, followed by something in a language I did not recognize. “Get everyone safe.”

“No!” I pushed him toward the stairs. “You take care of them. I need to see. Please.”

“Do you think it is him?”

I didn’t know, but if it was, and if the people in my charge died, no amount of godly power could stop my anger.

As I reached the parapet, a trumpet blared. Even through the howling storm, one could hear it. But it was no ordinary trumpet; the sound swept through the world in waves. Trees snapped in half, tides reversed, and the beta soldiers fell to their knees.

Everything but our brothel bowed before the alphas as they broke free and stepped into the world. I could see them. A single line of men and women, maybe two hundred strong, marched toward us. At the center was a giant of a man with flaming hair. In his hand was a sword whose blade flashed in time with the lightning.

An arm banded around my waist and lifted me, kicking and screaming, off my feet to carry me inside.

“What are you doing?” I kicked and hit at Quintus.

“Brining you in before some beta shoots an arrow into you that you can’t heal from. If Magnus is here, he needs you alive and whole so that his injuries will heal.”

“From this distance?”

“No. You are going to meditate and be with him as a wraith.”

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