Page 61 of The Omega Thief

And he was utterly convinced that at the next trial, he was going to have to choose between them.

Chapter twenty-seven

Alastair,DukeofShemar,gazed at Aristella, the dowager queen and tried to hate her. He’d even settle for a strong dislike, but that wasn’t happening either. Unfortunately, he’d loved her for too damn long. His wife, Mirren, had known how he’d felt. She’d come to him as a betrothal for lands their mutual fathers wanted to join, knowing he’d given his heart away to another already. Mirren didn’t deserve that. She should have had someone who had his full heart to give her.

But his was already broken.

He’d confessed the night before their betrothal, and she’d been silent for so long he’d wondered if she’d heard him.“And does that mean you would either break our marriage vow or be unfaithful, should Her Highness become available?”

Blunt, but no.“Absolutely not. If I promise to you, then I would never break it,”Alastair vowed, meaning every word.

His wolf was a brown. An ordinary, referred to as its color, not its breed, because there wasn’t one. Similar to the stray dogs that ran wild by the docks. It was only his human connections that gave him the title of duke. His lack of a Fenrir was the reason he could never marry the queen. Marry the woman he’d loved since he was around fifteen and had attended court for the first time. She’d been breathtaking. An angel ready for her debut but betrothed that same day.

And he’d stayed faithful and loving in manner, if not in heart, until the night Mirren had died giving birth to their third stillborn baby.

He looked over at his queen. Because, yes, she would always be his in his heart.

“I have made so many mistakes,” Aristella said at last. “Loving my husband wasn’t one of them, as I’m sure you feel that way about Mirren, but my last…treachery was unforgivable.”

They had come so far. “I made a mistake,” he admitted. “And then I allowed you to make one.”

Aristella’s eyes widened. “I believe—” Alastair placed his hand across her mouth to silence her.

“The mistake wasn’t marrying Mirren, in case you thought I was going to say that. Mirren was treated to nothing but the best of me.” He removed his hand, knowing she could argue for his execution for such a bold move. “But I never loved her, and she knew.”

Aristella turned away, and his heart sank somewhere into his boots. It was too late. She might not execute him, but the blow to his heart would be the same. They had toyed with each other for years, settled into something that shamed him. Not that he was ashamed to be with her, but that he allowed their unofficial and secretive coupling. Or not so secretive, really.

“The mistake was thinking you are your title, and I am mine,” he admitted quietly.

She glanced back at him, and he saw the shame in her eyes. No, that was wrong. She shouldn’t be ashamed of anything. He, of all people, knew how hard she’d worked for Cadmeera. “What do you mean?”

“I have always thought you demanded subservience in our private life, and that was my biggest mistake. If our mutual sins were forgiven, then titles and designations would never enter our relationship, unless they were in a public setting. Bluntly, our titles should have been left at our bedroom door some years past.” He crossed the distance separating them, and took hold of her chin. “You are my queen in a royal setting only.” He lowered his lips to her throat. “The type of queen you are alone will only ever be shared between us.”

He could feel her heart rate increase.

“Please,” she gasped. “I am such an old fool.”

“Your mistakes are as old as time, as are mine, but we are not our ages. If we do this, I want marriage. I’m not a schoolboy for dark corners, and I will not be made to feel ashamed for those I choose to love.”

Her answer was swallowed by his lips. “On one final condition then,” Alastair murmured and trailed his lips down her throat.

“Anything.”

He kept his smile hidden. “And from now on, you only have female pages attending you.”

Razwasunsurprisedthethrone room was full. All thenestwas there, much to his guards’ consternation. Carter brought everyone to attention as the justices filed in and took their seats. “Sovereign Markell,” Carter said, breaking the seal on the parchment he had retrieved from the royal vaults. This just stipulated the rules. “As the winner of the first trial, you are allowed to set the second trial for His Highness’s omega.”

Carter unraveled the scroll and read.

By my hand, Uriel Kinsharae, ruler of Cadmeera in the year of the moon, seventeen and one, I hereby declare the second trial for the challenge to the throne of Cadmeera is as follows:

The winner of the first trial is allowed to send the loser on a quest to retrieve something vital to the thing he holds most important.

No person or wolf may be removed from the palace.

The winner of the first trial cannot shift into his wolf to physically challenge the loser, and likewise.

The winner of the first trial must remain in the palace and present themselves for inspection on every bell to the judiciaries or a witness agreed to by both parties until the trial is ended.

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