CHAPTER 4: THE MAN WHO SAVED ME

CELLA'S POV

Omega.

The word echoed in my skull like a death knell.

I stared at the stranger, my mate, as he bowed and scraped before the armored guards, his voice taking on a pathetic, stumbling quality that made my stomach turn.

"A simpleton?" one of the guards sneered, circling him like a predator sizing up wounded prey. "Not allowed to own a business."

Aeden, I didn't even know his name yet, kept his head lowered, his shoulders hunched in a posture of submission that looked nothing like the man who had pulled me from the edge of death.

"I didn't know," he mumbled, wringing his hands. "Please, I meant no disrespect. I'll close up right away. Right away, sirs."

What is he doing? Sable's voice was sharp with confusion.

I couldn't answer. I could barely breathe.

This was my mate. The bond pulled at my chest, warm and insistent, whispering that this man was mine, mine, in a way that defied logic or reason. Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to go to him, to stand at his side, to bare my throat and submit.

But he was an omega.

The lowest rank. Below beta. Below everyone.

"You dare drag our Alpha into your lies, Omega?" The third guard drew his sword, the metal glinting in the dim pub light.

My hands clenched into fists beneath the table. Sable's claws scraped against my ribs, restless and agitated.

"Please!" Aeden fell to his knees, and I felt something crack inside my chest. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll leave Silverroot tonight. Just, just don't hurt me."

The guards exchanged glances. Then they laughed.

It was ugly, cruel sound that bounced off the wooden walls and made the few patrons shrink further into their seats.

"Get out," the first guard said, sheathing his sword. "And if we see your face again, you won't walk away next time."

Aeden nodded frantically, scrambling to his feet. He didn't look at me as he gathered his bag, didn't acknowledge me at all. He simply shuffled toward the back door, every line of his body screaming broken and defeated.

I sat frozen, my nails digging into the rough wood of the table.

Go after him, Sable urged.

No.

Cella…

He's an omega. The thought tasted like ash. Our mate is an omega.

The guards left, their laughter fading into the street. The pub's patrons slowly resumed their conversations, though their eyes kept drifting to me, curious, suspicious, hungry.

I couldn't stay here.

I pushed up from the table and walked out the front door, my legs carrying me blindly through the market. The crowd parted around me, and I didn't know if it was because they sensed something feral in my expression or because I simply didn't matter enough to notice.

Where are you going? Sable asked.

Away.

He saved us.

He's an omega. I said it again, as if repetition might make it hurt less. He knelt. He begged. He let them humiliate him without lifting a finger.

He was protecting us.

I stopped walking.

The market swirled around me, merchants shouting, children laughing, the smell of roasting meat and fresh bread filling the air. None of it touched me.

Protecting us? I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling the phantom pull of the bond. By acting like prey?

By staying alive, Sable said quietly. There were three of them, Cella. Armed. Angry. What was he supposed to do? Fight? Die? Leave us alone in a city where we know no one?

I opened my mouth to argue, but no words came.

Because she was right.

And I hated her for it.

I found him at the edge of the city, where the cobblestone streets gave way to mud and the buildings thinned into scattered huts. He sat on an overturned barrel, his back against a crumbling wall, his head in his hands.

He didn't look up when I approached.

I stopped a few feet away, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from him, far enough to pretend I had any control over my own body.

"You followed me," he said. His voice was different now—low, steady, nothing like the whining simpleton from the pub.

"Who are you?"

He lifted his head, and those amber eyes pinned me in place. Without the act, without the submission, he looked entirely different. Dangerous, even. His jaw was sharp, his cheekbones high, and something ancient lurked in the depths of his gaze.

"My name is Aeden," he said. "Aeden Virell."

The name meant nothing to me. I filed it away anyway.

"You're an omega."

It wasn't a question, but he answered it like one.

"I am."

The confirmation hit me harder than I expected. My chest constricted, and I had to look away, had to focus on the jagged line of the horizon where the sun was beginning to bleed orange and pink across the sky.

"The bond," I whispered. "You felt it too."

Silence.

Then: "Yes."

I laughed. It came out bitter and broken, nothing like the sound I'd intended. "Of course. Of course my mate would be an omega. Because why would the Moon Goddess give me anything else? Why would I deserve…" I cut myself off, pressing my fist against my mouth.

"Cella."

The sound of my name on his lips sent a shiver down my spine. I hadn't told him my name. He must have heard the guards in the forest, must have pieced it together.

"You're from Shadowfen," he said. "The Alpha's daughter. The one they kept hidden."

My head snapped toward him. "How do you know that?"

"Everyone knows." He stood, and I realized how tall he was, taller than I'd noticed in the chaos of the cliff, in the rush through the city. "The rumors have traveled. An Alpha's daughter, locked away like a shameful secret. Whispers say you're mad. Or cursed. Or both."

I flinched.

He noticed.

"I don't believe rumors," he added quietly.

"Why not?"

"Because I've been the subject of enough of them to know they're usually wrong."

I studied him then, really studied him. The worn clothes that hung loose on his frame. The calluses on his hands. The way he held himself now, straight and still, like a blade waiting to be drawn.

None of it made sense.

"You're not what you pretended to be in there," I said.

"No," he agreed. "I'm not."

"Then what are you?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "We need to keep moving. Silverroot isn't safe for either of us now."

"Answer my question."