Page 27 of The Omega Thief

Ohhh.

Yes. He was mated. Which is why he’d been given the large and furry. So what did that mean?

Apart from being held like this, which if Attiker was honest, was a nice change. A little awkward, though. He moved ever so slightly to experiment. Seven hells, he was naked. And…he moved a little more. Yes, so was the prince. Stark bollocks naked.

This wasn’t awkward at all.

He felt the prince sigh again and decided he really needed to take charge. “How about you assume I’ve forgotten everything, and you start from the beginning?”

He felt the rumble in Raz’s chest. It wasn’t laughter, more…he quieted when he realized what it was. That had been Raz’s wolf. He waited to see if his own returned the noise. Said actually anything. Maybe he was asleep?I mean, the poor thing had been through the wringer.The whole assaulted and kidnapped, plus he was stuck with Attiker, who didn’t know one end of a wolf from the other. Well, except teeth and tail, that was.

“You remember you’re my bonded?”

“Vaguely,” Attiker agreed. “I think you’re in for a disappointment, but I remember you saying that.”

“Do you remember the fire?”

Attiker inhaled sharply. “Yes, or yes, I do now.”

“Well, we returned to the palace, and you went to be fitted with clothes. I was told you’d retired, and when I went to find you, you had gone. My wolf found you by the docks, but I don’t know what happened in between. You were seen in the Bluebell briefly but nothing else.”

“I found a note in my new clothes.”

Raz jerked back. “But—”

“I think, well, I’m pretty sure it was the assistant, Azrael, that slipped it in while I was being measured. It was a note to say I had to meet him at the Bluebell at third bell, and not tell or bring anyone, or a lot of people might die.”

Raz stared at him, and Attiker met his gaze. He wasn’t lying. But then Raz shocked him. “I’m sorry I gave you no reason to trust me. If I had, you might have come to me, and I could’ve ensured your safety.”

Attiker had to look down and take a breath. “I met Draul Eryken.”

Raz stilled. “What did he want?”

“Did you know Abergenny has serious problems?”

“I hadn’t up to a few days ago,” Raz admitted. “Thakeray told me they’re in the middle of a famine.”

“Well, according to Eryken, the ruling family was the biggest exporter of fever white.”

Raz frowned. “And he thinks I would—”

“No,” Attiker interrupted. “He actually thinks the opposite. He says, and I quote, ‘the best thing for the people here, is you.’” He tried not to squirm. “And me.”

“Which makes a lot of sense,” Raz agreed. “What did he want you to do?”

“We didn’t get to that,” Attiker admitted. “The flags were hoisted, and there was a mad dash outside to see. He left.”

“Then what?”

Attiker rolled his eyes. “Then I was a fool. I got stuck with a blow dart, and before I knew it, I was in an alley being held up by Grape’s hired goons. I know they gave me two doses and argued if a third would make me addicted and agreeable to anything they wanted me to do to feed my habit, or it would kill me.”

He would have rather died.

“I heard shouting and running. I had an idea they’d left, but I was tied. I don’t remember anything else.”

Raz closed his eyes as if in defeat. Attiker’s heart sank. “Look I can get a long sail. I don’t even have to come back.”

Raz’s head shot up, and his now very open eyes blazed. “What do you mean?”

---