Choose Me

by Hart, Delmire

  “Salantra is the home to Rokere’s most powerful and influential, so anyone who wants money or political power all flock to the court there. As such, it’s a cesspit of power hungry fools. I avoid spending any time there if I can help it. Such things do not interest me. All you need to do is serve me and look attractive and everything will be fine. You will be with me at all times, so I do not see a problem. If I need to go anywhere without you, I will leave you with one of my siblings for safety. I’m sure Kiyomi would love to play dress up with you for a few hours.”

  Toru scowled at the other man indignantly but it was quickly overcome with curiosity. “Kiyomi, is that one of your family?” It sounded like a girl’s name but he couldn’t be certain as Rokerean names were a little different to Tysealean.

  “My youngest sister, the omega I told you about. It would also make more sense for me to leave an omega with another omega so people will not wonder why I’m safeguarding you so much. Once we are there, say nothing about your powers. My siblings will all know as soon as they see you, as might a few others, but they will not say anything.

  “Even once we are back in my rooms, it will not be fully safe. I no longer have a permanent residence here, as I come so infrequently so we will stay in Kiyomi’s wing of the palace. Other than my two older brothers, she is the only Kessler to live in the capital city permanently. Remember that if you are not sure if you can say something, do not say anything at all unless it involves the immediate threat of danger. I do not want anyone to realise what you are to me while we are there.”

  Toru lost himself in thought after that as they lapsed into silence. Trying to remember all the names, rules, and warnings set his mind whirling. But one thing had caught his attention and distracted him no end.

  “I do not want anyone to realise what you are to me while we are there.”

  “What you are to me.”

  It made the breath catch in his throat and his head spin.

  In an effort to clear his murky thoughts, Toru kicked Cinnamon into another race and laughed as he left Kessler in his dust in sheer surprise. But Masquerade quickly caught up and even seemed to thrive on the competition. So, with unrestrained laughter Toru raced Kessler around for the rest of the afternoon.

  He was exhausted when they finally made camp for the evening. Even the two horses were noticeably wilting after their adventures through the stunning Rokerean countryside. Toru felt like he would drop any minute but Kessler still insisted on practicing his fighting skills.

  “A clever opponent will wait until they have the advantage to strike, when you're tired or distracted. These moves need to be so ingrained that you can move without thought. It could be the difference between life and death.”

  Toru went to retort but was stopped short by the intensity in his alpha’s eyes. He recalled the warnings of danger about the capital. He might not think these skills are needed just yet but they might be the only thing that keeps him alive if they are attacked in Salantra. He still grumbled as he tiredly walked through some exercises while they waited on food but was pleased when they didn’t spar. The omega didn’t feel like being knocked on his ass time and again tonight.

  Their dinner that night was simple fare but hot and filling. Toru desperately tried to stay awake but couldn’t help leaning into his alpha as he dozed off. Someone removed his empty bowl from his hands and large arms scooped him up. He clutched Kessler as the alpha walked them to their tent and took a deep breath of his scent. They were both sweaty from the day with no place to stop and clean off. He smelt amazing to his omega instincts.

  All alpha.

  He leant in to bury his nose in the other man’s neck. A small rumble of approval met his ears as he let himself be stripped and manhandled into bed like a child. He was so tired that he didn’t even care. But as he curled up to sleep on his alpha’s thick chest, the words from earlier flashed through his mind.

  “What you are to me.”

  He had been trying to ignore the implications of the words all day but now, as he drifted on the edge of sleep, he found himself pleased. The alpha wasn’t one for fancy words; when he spoke, he spoke his mind plainly. It’s just that sometimes he didn’t speak at all. But these words spoke of feelings deeper than want, deeper than instinct, and he filed away the little titbit in his heart to treasure.

  ***

  Finally, they entered Salantra’s city proper. Twelve days of travel and here they were. Thankfully Toru’s heat had yet to arrive but he was aware of the alpha watching him more than usual, no doubt looking for signs of it. He estimated that he had one to two weeks left at most before he hit three months since he had been given to Kessler.

  That was roughly when he had healed enough to be functional, so prior that his heat must have been pushed aside due to his injuries. He was cutting it fine to tell Kessler his choice but he refused to be pushed into it, the man could damn well wait until Toru was ready.

  The omega had been eager to see the city he had heard so much about, so he had gone to sit at the front of the carriage with the driver but Kessler had pulled him onto his horse and sat him in front of him, large arms wrapped around his waist to reach the reins. It was a little uncomfortable back in his skirt and corset, and he was miffed about being bodily picked up again, but he did get a good view of the city. It was huge.

  Massive stone walls surrounded the city with slums around outside of that and large paved roads rang with the sound of horse hooves and wagon wheels. The houses inside the walls were tall and mostly well-kept with large banners and signs brightly indicating shops and inns. The mix of people was staggering. Much like in Cosa there were several different skin colours and a variety of dress.

  Everything from ankle length dresses to skirts rivalling Toru’s in length on men and women alike. Slaves clearly marked by their different colour leather collars moved about in varying states of dress but Toru saw no one wearing a white collar like his own until they passed by what could only be a brothel with scantily clad men and women lounging on the upper story railings and calling seductively down to those traversing below.

  As they moved closer into the city, Toru finally noticed what loomed above them.

  “Is that…?”

  “Welcome to Salantra, the seat of Rokerean power and my childhood home.”

  The palace was a breathtaking feat of architecture with many spiralling towers and sweeping archways. Even from a distance the stonework looked elaborate and the space it occupied must be immense. Its looming presence only intensified as they got closer and Toru had never felt like more of a country bumpkin as he did at that moment.

  They slowly entered the palace grounds after passing through another stone gateway set in a large wall that encircled the palace. It was almost as busy here as it was in the city itself. Kessler walked his horse right up to the steps at the entrance of the palace where a young girl waited. As she walked down to greet them, Toru realised that he was sorely mistaken about her age. She was small in stature, her entire countenance screaming fragility, but something about her eyes belied her weak appearance.

  Large golden eyes caught his own and he gasped. They were Kessler’s eyes set in a different face. He took a moment to scan over her form and noticed the matching dark hair pinned elaborately on top of her head before spilling down in loose curls past her shoulders and the quiet aura of confidence with a hint of command.

  This had to be Kessler’s omegan sister.

  The alpha swung down from Masquerade before pulling Toru down as well. He had just straightened when the woman approached with a small smile.

  “Welcome home, brother.”

  Kessler snorted but moved to embrace her. “Home is back in the other direction, this is just a reluctant vacation,” he said as he pulled away.

  “Well, I can see why you were hiding yourself away for so long. How exquisite.” She watched Toru with eyes bright and full of intelligence. Remembering what Kessler had said about people underestimating her, Toru had to wonde
r how they missed the sharp cunning in those liquid gold eyes. “And unbonded. I’m surprised, Renato, surely that should have been taken care of before your visit?”

  “His heat has yet to arrive.”

  “Heats are not required for such things. Never mind,” she waved her hand at him and giggled. “I much prefer to find out on my own, anyway. Far more interesting that way. Now, are you not going to introduce him to his new family?”

  Kessler sighed and wrapped his arm around Toru’s waist possessively, pulling him right up against his hard body and wringing a flush from his checks in response.

  “Toru, this is my youngest sister Kiyomi. Kiyomi, this is Toru,” Kessler—no, Ren, Toru reminded himself—said with a bored drawl.

  “Welcome to the family, Toru.” With a grin, she bounded forward and grabbed his free arm, tugging him from the alpha’s grip, earning a growl of warning from her brother. “Oh, shush, Ren. You’ve picked him as your mate so I’m sure we will get along just fine. Now you need to go and organise your staff and greet the others, so I will take care of your precious. I’m sure we will have much fun getting him all prettied up for your evening’s pleasure.”

  With one last wicked grin, she tugged Toru fully from his alpha’s grip and pulled him up the stairs towards the large entrance doors. He shot an alarmed look over his shoulder but Renato’s expression was blank as he watched them leave.

  “So pretty, I’m surprised my brother managed to keep his hands off you for so long.” She giggled as she led him past servants and visitors alike. “I hope he hasn’t been completely neglecting you, however. The last thing you want is to be stuck with a bull-headed alpha trying to be ‘nice’ while you waste away in sheer sexual frustration. You do smell faintly of him, so hopefully he has been taking care of his duties somewhat.”

  Toru gaped at the other omega as his cheeks flushed a darker red than before.

  “The blush looks good on you. Now, while we are walking at such a pace through the halls is the safest way to talk, it’s hard to catch more than a few words while we pass by as long as our voices are low. I’m sure Ren gave you a warning about this place.”

  Toru nodded mutely.

  “Good. With the coronation of our new queen coming up, everyone is vying for political power more than usual, hoping to get in her favour or the favour of the royal line, seeing as our entire family is here, which is highly unusual. The last time we were all in one place was for our dearest father’s funeral two years back near the start of the war. However, right now is a rather dangerous time to be close to someone important. So we must keep up appearances of you being a cute little omegan pleasure slave nearing their long-awaited heat.”

  “How did you…?”

  She flashed him a knowing glance. “Observation. It’s why Ren growled at me before. Don’t worry, as your family, I will take good care of you.”

  “Family? That’s not how he implied it...” Toru trailed off, realising that he had said too much.

  “Ah. Did my dear big brother do the stupid alpha ‘you are mine’ thing? Honestly, all the aristocratic alphas are horrendous when it comes to feelings. They always act like their mates are property and get so very confused when their partners rebel. I like you, though. So easy to read, which is a breath of fresh air where smiles hide poison. Because you are so easy to read, you will actually throw people off, they won’t know whether to trust you or not.”

  They strode through a maze of corridors that had Toru hopelessly lost. He barely even registered the opulence of the building or the many people they passed by.

  “But we’ll pretty you up, make you the perfect ornament and before you know it, the next few weeks will be over. You’ll be happily fucked and bonded and be on your way back home to Ren’s comfy little coastal paradise to have many little babies.” Kiyomi burst into laughter at the horrified look on Toru’s face. “No? Somehow it makes me happy that I’m not the only omega to not be fond of that particular fate. You’ll have more freedom than that suggests, don’t worry. But are you truly horrified by the idea of children that much?”

  “I’ve never really given it that much thought. Only briefly…”

  “You are a funny one. Well, male omegas have difficulty falling pregnant anyway, so you won’t have to worry about it for a while yet.”

  “Or ever,” he pointed out. “I don’t know if I’m a bearer or not.”

  “You are,” Kiyomi said with absolute certainty. She elaborated when he shot her a sceptical look. “Alpha’s have a sense for it, not consciously, but they do. There’s something different in the pheromones between a bearer and non-bearer omega. So, if my normally restrained and logical brother, who has denied courting numerous times by many omegas, suddenly went all ‘mine’ on you, then you are most likely a bearer. And something else must have caught his attention as well, something that sets you apart from the rest of this dreadfully dull lot of omegas.”

  He got no more time to question or even think more on that topic as they finally reached their intended destination and Kiyomi turned to him with a decidedly evil light in her eyes.

  “Now, let’s have some fun, shall we?”

  ***

  “Well, I can see why you like this one, Ren. So fiery.”

  Kiyomi swept into a large entertaining room in front of Toru. The women had bullied him into the bath with her, dosed him with scented oils, and dressed him up in a frilly short skirt that was puffed up with multiple layers underneath. Only sparkling silver chains decorated the rest of his body. There were even two tiny silver bells attached to his ankles so he tinkled as he walked.

  It was super embarrassing.

  Worse still, she had put something oily through his hair and painted around his eyes with a dark, almost charcoal-like stick. He was feeling ridiculously self-conscious when the crazy woman had dragged him from her quarters and through the palace. That had changed a little upon catching sight of a very naked white collared slave. Then another, and another.

  So they really weren’t joking about the whole ‘pleasure slaves go naked’ threat.

  And no one except Toru even noticed them. Not a single person cared that there were naked people walking amongst them. Instead Toru with his bright red cheeks and perpetual gape of surprise caught people’s attention. He felt a little less underdressed after that revelation.

  That didn’t last long. He felt underdressed once again when being led into a room where three others already resided. Golden eyes and dark hair pronounced the other two occupants in the room as Kessler’s siblings. Ren’s siblings. There were now four Kesslers in the room so he needed to properly distinguish them better. It was such a change to get used to, however.

  The atmosphere in the room was relaxed, yet the aura of casual power around each of the Kessler siblings was daunting. Renato sat slouched in an armchair and Toru approached when the man put his arm out to beckon him closer. If Toru didn’t know any better, he would have said the man was sulking. As it was, it was the first time seeing him acting in such a way. It was like a child being denied a treat, almost a glimpse into the human emotions behind his mask again.

  Toru yelped as he was pulled into Renato’s lap and steel arms wrapped around him, pulling him close while the man’s chin rested on his shoulder so he could look at his siblings.

  “So, this is why you’ve been fidgeting all evening. I’m surprised you brought him with you.” A man spoke as he leaned forward, eyes lingering on his snowstorm tattoo. He was very similar to Renato, an alpha as well, but slimmer in build and dressed flamboyantly.

  “Careful,” Kiyomi took a seat next to another woman with the Kessler eyes. “Don’t get too close or Ren might growl at you.”

  “His heat’s soon?” He leaned back in his seat, eyes still on Toru. “Terrible timing with everything that’s going on.”

  Toru felt the rumblings of an aborted growl against his back. “And leave him for well over a month back at Cosa? His heat is due long before that.”

  “I
t’s not like I haven’t dealt with my heat on my own before.” Toru muttered, not intending for anyone to hear, but he must have spoken louder than intended as Kiyomi laughed and the other’s eyebrows jumped.

  “I do like him,” Kiyomi said. “Such spirit and a bit of a temper. I don’t think he appreciated being my playmate, but I certainly enjoyed playing with him. But now he’s all prettied up for your attentions. Aren’t I such a nice little sister?”

  She sported such a devilish grin that Toru shuddered in memory of the oils and face paints. Kiyomi was so pretty with her large, liquid eyes and small frail stature but it hid a monstrous bully. Renato’s arms tightened around him slightly and his nose buried in his neck. It was like he had suddenly reverted to being a horny teenager, unable to keep his hands to himself and instead tried to impress himself on Toru even more.

  He wondered if that was the effect of being more relaxed around his family or because they had been parted for the entire afternoon. Now that he thought about it, even at Cosa he would usually see Renato every few hours, even if just to drop off some food from the kitchens or to run an errand.

  It was nice seeing the usually restrained man being a little needy with him, though. It made Toru feel surprisingly wanted.

  Chapter 13: Wait for Me

  Toru grumbled as his alpha carried him through the halls. Renato was determined to not put him down and no amount of wiggling or grumbling could change his mind. The alpha didn’t even seem to care that the way he held the omega meant that everyone was treated to an eyeful.

  After a while he stopped struggling and instead leant against Renato. Toru had a feeling he knew what this was about. The alpha had held him tight the entire time he spent with his siblings. The only Kessler sibling that seemed to like Toru was Kiyomi, the other two kept frowning at him as though his very presence was detestable.