"Fate doesn't always hand you what you expect. Sometimes it throws an Omega in your path who curses at you, steals your composure, and makes you realize that power doesn't lie in titles, it lies in the fire of the one who dares to stand against you."
"You what?" Rivan gasped, hand shooting to his chest as though he were about to collapse. "An Omega? But—that's—that's—"
"A miracle?" Gavriel cut in, grin stretching wider. "Or the punchline to the greatest joke our kings ever told?"
"I'm serious." I allowed a wicked grin. "My mate is an Omega."
Thorne, the captain, blinked once, twice. "Majesty forgives my bluntness, but are you concussed?"
"Oh, I wish," Marcus muttered under his breath.
Rivan fumbled at the table. "But—but—but Omegas are fragile! Weak! They faint if you look at them too harshly! Surely, Majesty, you—"
"Surely, Majesty," Gavriel interrupted, "you like them feisty. An Omega, huh? Who is the poor soul doomed to put up with you?"
I sat back, savoring the collective mix of disbelief, horror, and amusement swirling in the chamber. "His name," I said slowly, savoring their reactions, "is Elias Blackthorne, the CEO of Blackthorne Securities."
Now the explosion was immediate. "The CEO?" Marcus groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as though he had just developed a headache large enough to fell a bull.
"The Blackthorne?" Rivan yelped, voice cracking. "Of the Blackthorne Security firm? The mercenary wolves who could topple kingdoms?"
"Yes, that one," I said cheerfully.
Thorne blinked so hard I worried his eyeballs might pop out. "Majesty, with respect, are you trying to give your council collective heart failure?"
Marcus groaned louder. "I knew when you asked me to dig into Blackthorne's past, you were up to trouble. I should have locked you in your chambers."
Gavriel slapped the table, laughing. "An Omega who runs one of the deadliest outfits in the Outskirts? That is bloody brilliant. Tell me everything. And do not you dare leave out the dirty details."
"Oh, there are no dirty details," I said innocently.
"Yet," Vayne chuckled in my head.
I ignored him and instead, I launched into the tale, because if I had to suffer the whiplash of fate, my council damn well had to suffer hearing it in full detail.
"It started with a dream," I began dramatically.
Marcus groaned into his hands. "Oh, gods, he's monologuing."
"I saw him in the dream first," I pressed on, undeterred. "A man with fire in his eyes and defiance in his stance. He was standing at the edge of Roanridge, the Appalachian Outskirts, looking right at me. And when I woke…" I paused for effect, leaning forward. "…I knew I had to go."
"You're telling me you dragged yourself across kingdoms because of a dream?" Rivan squeaked, scandalized.
"Yes," I said smoothly, "and it was worth every damn mile."
"Your Majesty," Thorne said in that tight, choking voice of his, "that is not how one makes diplomatic decisions."
"Maybe not," I said with a grin, "but it is how one finds their mate."
Marcus threw his hands up. "Out of all the things that could bring our kingdom to its knees, wars, famine, Luna Seraphine, it's a dream that does it."
"I'd argue it's Elias who brings kingdoms to their knees," Gavriel quipped. "Man's got a reputation. Did you know he once outbid three Alphas for a military contract and walked out with their pack heirs shaking his hand?"
"Oh, I know," I said with relish. "Because when I walked into his office, he looked me dead in the eye and demanded to know what the fuck I was doing there. Everyone else nearly died of shock, but me? I have never been more charmed in my life."
That earned me a solid round of groans from Marcus, Thorne, and Rivan, and a belly laugh from Gavriel.
"Wait," Rivan sputtered, "you mean to tell me that he cursed at you? At you? The Alpha King?"
"Yes," I said smugly. "With great flair."
"Your Majesty, with all due respect," Thorne muttered, "you're insane."
"And you're just jealous my mate's got more backbone than most Alphas I've met," I shot back.
Gavriel slapped the table again. "I like him already."
"I knew you would," I said, pointing at him. "See? Gavriel gets it. Elias is no ordinary Omega. He is something else entirely. Sharp tongue, sharper wit, and—"
"Trouble," Marcus interrupted flatly. "Say it. He is damn trouble."
"Trouble is attractive," I countered, smirking.
"No, trouble is a migraine," Marcus said. "And you collect migraines like other kings collect jewels."
The room dissolved into laughter and groans again, the perfect mix that fueled me to keep going.
"Anyway," I said, waving a hand, "he may be an Omega, but he is more dangerous than most Alphas. "
"You flirted?" Rivan squeaked again, looking ready to faint.
"Oh, openly," I said, smirking. "It was a public service. I was testing his composure."
"And?" Gavriel leaned in.
"And," I said with a chuckle, "he glared at me like he was plotting ten different ways to bury me alive. It was glorious."
Marcus banged his head softly on the table. "You can imagine how my life has been since his discovery. Babysitting a king who is in love with a homicidal Omega."
I smirked. "Correction: in love with my homicidal Omega."
That shut them all up for a solid moment, and the weight of my words hung heavy, the humor dimming slightly under the gravity of the truth. Because I was not joking about the mate bond, not about the dream, not about Elias Blackthorne being mine, and fate had carved this path, and I was already too deep in to turn back.
But I was not about to let the room get too serious. "So yes," I said, leaning back in my chair with a grin, "my mate is Elias Blackthorne. And Niko the seer saw him coming. We had a conversation this morning, she said it would not be easy, but who cares? I informed you all so that you can support me. It is time that your loyalty to me stands out. "
Gavriel howled with laughter, Rivan collapsed into quiet panic, muttering about politics, Thorne looked like he wanted to resign, and Marcus… Marcus just looked at me with that long-suffering face that promised I would never hear the end of this. It was, in short, perfect, and Vayne purred in my head, smug as ever. He is ours. Whether they like it or not.