The court hall was a place that Elara could hear of only by whispers. There were carved crystal chandeliers up above her, shining with a thousand trapped stars. Her feet moved upon the marble floor, and each spark of the torchlight fancied itself dancing in it, but in all the light of the hall yet Elara felt her heart in darkness.
She was looked at by eyes in every direction--advisors, guards, courtiers. She was just but another Omega, who was dragged out of obscurity, and offered to their king as a gift. To her, this was a gilded cage.
On the other end of the hallway there was Kael, the Alpha King. He crouched against the throne, and his dark cloak fell in folds round his broad shoulders. His presence in the room was felt whether he was seated or not. Even the air became heavy, it was full of his aura.
Elara's throat dried out. She had previously had to deal with Alphas, and Kael was not one. His eyes were not sharp, they were burning. He wanted to take her clothes away, shred her and strip her of all the barriers she had so carefully built.
"Step forward," he barked.
The voice was deep, solid. It rolled along the hall like thunder, and her knees almost gave way. But she could thrust herself forward, straight and with head up. She would not hide.
He rose when she went in front of him. It was a gradual, calculated motion, such as that of a man-hunter following game. Down the steps of his throne he came, and cleared the air between them, until the scent of his magic--spice, smoke, something dangerously alluring--filled her.
You contradict me with your eyes," Kael said and tilted his head to observe her. The voice was low such that he could hear only her. "Most Omegas avert their gaze."
Maybe I am not like most Omegas, Elara said, under her breath, and her voice was untrue.
In the shortest possible moment the lips of Kael curved--was it amusement? Or was it approval? She couldn't tell.
You shall know what it is like to stand by an Alpha King," he said finally, in an indescribable voice. Then, looking about the assembly, his voice bellowed the second time:
"This Omega belongs to me. Now no one is allowed to touch her, without my permission.
There appeared to be gasps running through the hall. Under the protection of the Alpha king himself? It was as much as stating her,--but not quite. It was property devoid of the attachment.
Elara's heart pounded. Protection or shackles? She was no longer able to distinguish the difference.
And when her fingers brushed Kael in the mastery which neither of them ever explicitly acknowledged, she understood one thing with startling brightness--hate him as she might, she could not get rid of him.