With a gurgle, Deimos sagged to the floor as if in slow motion.
Arius watched him go down. He’d expected to feel more emotion but instead he was numb. Perhaps it was the shock. Regardless, he couldn’t deny the wave of relief that washed over him at the thought that it was all over now.
“I was happy to wait my turn. I should have overthrown you a long time ago, but you were the king—and family—and I respected that. It’s a shame you didn’t extend me the same courtesy.”
Deimos didn’t react. He lay completely still, a pool of blood slowly spreading out beneath him. Arius leaned over him, no longer caring whether his uncle could hear his words.
“Saskia is mine,” he whispered, “and, king or not, family or not, you don’t ever threaten another Alpha’s mate. Especially not mine.”
Chapter Thirteen
Having soaked in a scalding bath until her skin resembled a walnut, Saskia had dried herself off and gotten into bed. There, she burrowed under the covers and inhaled the lingering traces of Arius’s scent, trying to process the events of the day.
She wasn’t sure whether she’d ever be able to.
So much had happened in such a short space of time. She had lost track of how long she’d even been on the Hill. It felt like months but was probably closer to just a week.
Closing her eyes and hugging herself, she tried to assimilate everything that had happened and all the questions she still had.
Where was Arius now? What would happen to Deimos? And Cerus?
Why hadn’t Deimos been able to get it up if he really was in rut, as he claimed?
Why hadn’t she produced any slick when she always did around Arius? Was her estrus cycle over? How would things be between them when they weren’t in heat?
Thank the gods she hadn’t been wet when Deimos had attacked her. He would have taken it as some kind of sign. The scent of it might even have helped him to—
“My little darling.” Arius’s deep, throaty voice settled over her like a comforting blanket and she breathed a sigh as he got into bed beside her and took her into his arms.
She could feel his massive heart pounding against her back.
“Are you all right?” she whispered when he remained quiet.
He gave a humorless chuckle. “Sweetness, it is I who should be asking you that question. Did the bath help?”
“Some. I assume you went to see… him.” For some reason she suddenly found it difficult to speak the king’s name out loud.
“I did.”
Gods, but Arius could be infuriatingly taciturn sometimes. She bit her lip. “And?”
He let out a deep sigh of resignation. “It’s over.”
Rolling over, she shifted far enough back that she could see his face. “What does that mean?”
Arius turned onto his back and rubbed a hand over his eyes. “It means I’m now the king of Sandor. Deimos is dead.”
Tingles of dread began deep in her belly and spread up and out until every square inch of her skin was prickling. Dead. And it was all her fault. If she hadn’t gone to the gardens…
“Gods,” she whispered. “Arius, I’m so sorry…”
“He attacked me.” Her mate’s voice was flat, curiously devoid of emotion. He was probably in shock, she reasoned. “It was self-defense. I had no choice. There was a confrontation, he went for me, I raised the gun… In any case, it’s over. You’re safe now.”
Saskia was reeling, trying to absorb the implications of it all. “Are you… will you be all right?” she whispered. It seemed such an inadequate thing to say, yet she had no clue how else to respond. This man had essentially murdered his uncle. For her.
He gave her a bitter smile. “I guess so. Don’t really have a choice. It had to be done, it was past time. We would never have been safe.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said again. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t—”
“Hush.” He tugged her toward him until her face was resting on his chest. Stroking her hair with infinite tenderness, he went on, “I need to be absolutely clear on this: none of it was your fault, pet. He attacked you. Twice. I should have shot him the first time. And I didn’t do it just to protect you. I did it for the kingdom. Yes, he was my uncle, but his insanity was getting beyond my ability to handle. Now that I’m officially in charge, I can change things. Make life better for the people.”
“Maybe I can help you?”
His hand slid down her back, rubbing in gentle circles, soothing her. “I don’t doubt that you can. You know what life is like down in Sandor far better than I. Your insights would be invaluable.”
A warmth spread through her chest at his words. Who would have thought that by following her destiny and becoming an Alpha’s mate, she would have far more opportunity to help people than if she’d simply remained in hiding?
Leaning up on one elbow, she gazed at Arius, absorbing every detail of his striking features. Then she bent her head and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Thank you,” she whispered.
His glittering steel eyes were fixed on hers. “What for?”
“Protecting me. Keeping me safe.”
A smile curved the corners of his mouth. “You did a pretty good job of that yourself, sweetness. You really are amazing, you know that?”
She felt her face heat. “Well, I don’t know about that. I just—”
“Just take the damn compliment,” he interrupted her and pulled her head down to capture her lips in a passionate, breath-stealing kiss. Eventually, he broke away and went on, “I’m proud that I’ll be the one to claim you. My queen.”
Her mouth fell open. Queen? She hadn’t even considered that. But he was right, of course. Now that he was effectively king, her status would be elevated as well.
Arius let out a chuckle. “Judging by your expression, the thought hadn’t even occurred to you, had it?”
She shook her head.
“And that’s precisely why you’re so special.” He pulled her against him once more and wrapped his arms around her. “My little Omega. As much as I’d love to lie here with you forever, I have matters to attend to. And so do you. You have a claiming ceremony to prepare for… if you’re up to it.”
Suddenly, Saskia wanted more than anything else for it to happen now, right here, in bed—public spectacle be damned. “Do we still have to have the ceremony? Can’t we just do it now? Here?”
She could hear the amusement in his voice when he replied, “You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear how eager you are to be mine. And I would like nothing more than to do just that. But while I no longer need to claim you officially for your protection, we should still give the people something to celebrate. Besides, now that I’m ruler, there are even more protocols we need to observe.” He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear, “Just know this, little Omega: I cannot wait to sink my teeth into your soft skin and proclaim to the world that you belong to me, body and soul. Forever.”
A short time ago, Saskia would have wanted to run away at hearing those words. Now, instead, they filled her heart with warmth and made her feel breathless in a good way. “I can’t wait, either,” she whispered.
His hand slid down to cup her behind and he groaned. “Gods, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of you. But I need to go now. Will you be all right?”
She nodded.
“Now that you can move about freely, I’ll have to introduce you to some people. See if you can’t make some friends. I hate the thought of you being alone so much.”
“I’d like that. Where are you going?”
His mouth settled in a grim line. “An official statement needs to be drawn up, letting everyone know that Deimos…”
When he trailed off, she realized how difficult it all must be for him and wished she could do something to help.
“Also, Cerus has gone missing. He needs to be found and dealt with.”
Gods, Cerus. She had completely forgotten about him. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m
not sure yet. I’ve known the man since forever. He’s served my family since I was a child. But he betrayed us and put you in danger. I cannot let that slide.”
Suddenly she felt desperate. She already had one man on her conscience. “Please, Arius, I don’t think I could bear it if he were to be executed. It would be all my fault.”
He met her eyes and her heart skipped a beat at the expression in his gaze. “You’re too kind for your own good, little one. Being king doesn’t just mean expensive clothing and nice food. It also means making difficult decisions sometimes. The fact is, none of this is your fault. And he delivered you to my uncle on a silver platter.”
The memory of Cerus’s strong arms pinning her own behind her back as he presented her to Deimos reared its head and Saskia closed her eyes, fighting back a sudden wave of nausea. “He did,” she admitted quietly.
“The fact that Deimos wasn’t able to take full advantage of the opportunity is moot. Cerus wouldn’t have known that. He put you in danger.” There was a sudden edge of ice in his voice as he went on. “And for that, he will pay.”
Cerus hadn’t been hard to find. He’d been cowering in a vacant apartment and Arius’s men had located him without difficulty. He’d been brought down and confined to a cell in the basement level of the Hill, where Deimos had built a prison of sorts for his real—and perceived—enemies.
After drawing up the official statement announcing Deimos’s demise and setting funeral arrangements in motion, Arius could put it off no longer and went down to see his formerly loyal servant.
Cerus looked haggard and suddenly much older, his icy blond hair sticking out in tufts. He’d been hunched on the ground in a corner of his cell, hugging his knees, but got slowly to his feet when Arius approached.
“Sire,” he muttered, bowing his head in deference.
“You didn’t even try to escape,” Arius said. “You could have taken a car, gone anywhere, yet instead you chose to hide right here. You had to have known we’d find you.”
Cerus said nothing, staring at the floor.
Arius watched him carefully, filled with equal parts fury and pity. “Why did you betray me?” he said at length.
For the first time, Cerus met his gaze, and Arius was astonished to see tears in the older man’s eyes. “You’ll be a good king,” he said. “Better than your uncle.”
“All the more reason to remain loyal to me and not to him.”
“I know. I should have. But…” He trailed off and once again stared at his feet.
“But what?” Arius wanted to reach through the bars and throttle him.
“I served you loyally for decades,” Cerus suddenly blurted out. “Your parents before you. I was there long before Tavos. And yet you put him first, you preferred him. He was your confidant, your right-hand man. While I was…” He let out a deep, shuddering sigh. “I got the dirty work. Don’t you see? All my years of loyalty, they meant nothing to you!”
Arius shoved a hand through his hair, trying to process the man’s outburst. “That’s why you did it?” he said incredulously. “Because you thought I liked Tavos more?”
Cerus’s eyes were blazing, now, his resentment almost palpable. “I have no family, no life outside of serving you. I’m on call for you every hour of every day. So to see him promoted, to have to stand by and watch you confide in him, talk to him, entrust him with the more important things… can’t you imagine how that made me feel?”
“You could have come to me and told me,” Arius said icily. “Instead, knowing what Deimos was like, knowing what he would do, you delivered Saskia—my mate, the new queen—to him. You betrayed us. You betrayed me. Was all that really just because you felt jealous of Tavos?”
Cerus shook his head almost imperceptibly. “Deimos promised me that, if I served him as loyally as I’d served you, he’d make me his chief adviser. Treat me almost as his equal.”
Arius let out a bark of bitter laughter. “He was a fool to consider you loyal, knowing you could be bought. And you were a fool to think he’d ever consider you, a Beta, a servant, as anything more than that.”
Cerus closed his eyes and Arius saw the flash of pain cross the man’s face at his words.
“You should have come to me, Cerus,” he said sadly. “I had no idea you felt that way. Gods, you barely ever speak! You’re the most laconic person I’ve ever met! You expected me to confide in you when you never extended me the same courtesy.”
“I-I’m sorry. Truly. I deserve whatever punishment you see fit. Please tell… the queen… please give her my sincerest apologies. I never wanted her to get hurt.”
“You should have thought of that before,” Arius snarled, the mere mention of Saskia igniting a fresh blaze of fury within him.
“The suppressants worked,” Cerus went on. “I had hoped they would.”
“You hoped? Did you stop to consider that maybe my uncle was just imagining that he was in rut? That maybe they wouldn’t have worked, and he…” Arius found himself unable to finish the sentence.
A tear slid down Cerus’s ashen cheek.
“I cannot even express my disappointment, Cerus,” Arius went on. “Right now, I can’t even stand to look at you, let alone think about a suitable punishment. You know I’d be well within my rights to have you executed.”
A second tear slid down the servant’s other cheek. “I deserve it,” he whispered.
Clenching his fists, Arius took a step back and closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe deeply.
“Luckily for you,” he said at length, “you have two things going in your favor. For one, Saskia was able to defend herself and get away before any lasting damage was done—although I’m sure it will take her a long time to get over being attacked by my uncle twice.”
Cerus was trembling now but Arius pressed on.
“Secondly, despite popular opinion to the contrary, I am not my uncle. Which is why I will not take the law into my own hands in this matter, regardless of how much I want to. There will be a trial, during which you will be judged and sentenced.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” It came out as more of a croak.
“Don’t thank me yet. The sentence for treason is still death,” Arius snarled. Unable to stand spending one more moment down in that dark place, facing the poor, broken man who had betrayed him, he spun on his heel and stalked toward the door. There, he paused without turning around. “You should really thank Saskia,” he said quietly. “After everything you’ve put her through, she still asked me to show you mercy.”
Arius closed the door behind him with Cerus’s howl of anguish echoing through his skull.
Chapter Fourteen
“Oh, Saskia, you look so beautiful,” her mother said, embracing her daughter.
“You too,” Saskia said, and meant it. Her mother looked radiant in a new, lavender blue suit, which brought out the color of her eyes. “So do you, Nat.”
Natalia smiled shyly. “Thanks.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” her father said, his voice thick with emotion. “It’s not too late. We could—”
“Believe me, I’m as amazed about my feelings as you are,” Saskia interrupted him, “but yes, I am absolutely sure.”
“Why wouldn’t she want to be queen?” Nat interjected.
“Actually, that’s not why I’m sure I want to do this,” Saskia said firmly. “True, in my new position I’ll have a great chance to make some changes, but the real reason I’m so certain this is the right thing is because I want to spend the rest of my life with Arius.”
Her father snorted. “How could you possibly know that after so short a time? When most—if not all—of that time was clouded by your hormones? Rumor has it he’s not so different to his mad uncle. What if he’s been putting on an act, pretending to be different in order to trap you?”
Saskia sighed. How could she possibly explain everything that had happened? “Please trust me, Dad,” she said. “I know I haven’t known him for long but we
’ve spent a great deal of time together. Talking,” she added hastily. “And I know in my heart that he’s a good man. He would do anything for me.”
“Like kill his own uncle.”
Already tense because she was nervous about the ceremony, Saskia rounded on her father. “Deimos attacked him! Arius was acting in self-defense. Besides, you should be glad Deimos is no longer around to make everyone’s life a misery.” At the expression of hurt on her father’s face, she softened. “I’m sorry, but we’ve been over this a million times. I know you love me and want to protect me, and you did a wonderful job of it while I was growing up. You risked everything to give me extra freedom I wasn’t entitled to, and I will forever be grateful to you. Please know that. But now I’m grown, and I have to make my own decisions.”
Her mother went to her father and placed a comforting hand on his arm. “She’s right, Markus.” Then, to Saskia, “We raised you well, my love. I have no doubt you’re doing the right thing.”
“Thank you, Mama.” Saskia wiped away the tears that had already formed and threatened to spill, careful not to smudge the eyeliner Natalia had so expertly applied. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the door. “Shall we get this show on the road?”
A short while later, her heart pounding, Saskia moved slowly along the path formed by the crowd. She was trying not to think about how many people were there to witness the claiming, instead she focused all her attention on the huge, powerful man standing in the stone circle, waiting to receive her.
Dressed in a charcoal grey suit which emphasized his impossibly broad shoulders, his inky dark hair tied back in a ponytail, he turned to face her and her heart almost burst out of her chest at the hungry, proud look in his liquid iron gaze.
This man was her mate, her Alpha, and she couldn’t wait to belong to him in all ways.
“Gods, you look beautiful, little Omega,” he murmured as soon as she reached his side. “Silver suits you.” He indicated the long, elegant, shimmering gown she was wearing.
Primal Possession: A dark Omegaverse Romance (Alphas of Sandor Book 1) Page 13