Chapter 32

Elouera

I never hit the marble floor.

The silence in the Grand Conservatory suddenly broke into chaos.

Up on the balcony, the orchestra leader seemed to think the Empress was angry. In a panic, he slammed his baton against the music stand.

A loud, fast waltz suddenly filled the room, drowning out the terrifying silence.

Before my knees could hit the cold marble, someone grabbed my upper arm.

The grip was strong and painful.

I was pulled back onto my feet so hard that I almost cried out. A broad chest covered in dark green velvet pressed against my shoulder, while a large hand wrapped around my lower back and held me tightly.

Stirling Vance.

He didn’t ask if I was okay.

He didn’t call for a doctor.

Instead, he acted on instinct and pulled me toward the center of the ballroom. He made it look like I had simply stumbled because I had drunk too much wine.

“Stand up, Elian,” Stirling whispered harshly. His deep voice vibrated against my collarbone. “You’re embarrassing yourself in front of everyone. Walk.”

He didn’t give me time to argue.

He forced me into the first steps of the Equinox waltz, dragging my shaking body along with his long strides.

“I can’t,” I gasped.

My voice was barely more than a broken whisper.

The heat inside my body was becoming unbearable. It felt like my bones themselves were burning.

Pale smoke was still drifting down from the ceiling, carrying Uncle Holden’s poison straight into my lungs. Every time I took a breath, the burning inside me became worse. I could feel my ability to think clearly slipping away.

“Don’t be pathetic,” Stirling sneered.

His fingers pressed harder into my lower back as he forced me into a sharp turn. My boots scraped awkwardly across the marble floor.

“Your mother is watching. The Crown Prince is watching. At least show some strength, little prince, or I’ll have to drag you through this dance myself.”

He thought I was just a weak Beta.

He thought he was showing everyone that he was stronger than the fragile Second Prince of the Empire.

But when he pulled me closer, our bodies pressed against each other, something inside me reacted violently.

The heavy coats between us rubbed together, sending a painful shock through my entire body.

My back suddenly arched.

A small, helpless sound escaped my throat.

Stirling froze for a moment, missing one step of the dance.

Being this close to a powerful Alpha made the strange reaction inside my body even worse.

His scent filled my senses. It smelled like crushed cedar, dark earth, and cold winter air.

I should have moved away.

Instead, my body leaned closer to him.

God help me.

My head was heavy with sweat and exhaustion. I let it fall forward until my cheek rested against the warm, solid part of his collarbone.

“What is wrong with you?” Stirling whispered.

For the first time, the cruel edge in his voice was gone.

His hand moved slightly on my waist. Even through my thick wool cloak and tunic, he could feel how hot my body had become.

“Elian,” he said, his voice suddenly serious. “You’re burning up.”

I couldn’t answer.

The room was spinning around me. The hundreds of candles above us blurred into long lines of gold and yellow light.

The only things keeping me steady were his strong hand against my back and the hard warmth of his chest beneath my cheek.

I struggled to breathe, taking short, shaky breaths.

With every breath I let out, the sweet smell of wild honey and rain escaped from me. My Omega scent was getting stronger by the second.

Stirling suddenly went completely still.

I felt his whole body tense.

The hand holding mine during the dance tightened so hard around my fingers that I gasped in pain. The music around us seemed to fade into the background as Stirling stopped moving in the middle of the ballroom.

He didn’t care that hundreds of nobles were staring at us.

He didn’t care that the Empress was watching from the dais.

Slowly, almost as if he was afraid of what he might discover, Stirling lowered his head.

His nose came close to my ear, just above the damp skin of my neck. The medicine that had been hiding my scent was completely gone.

He breathed in.

A deep, rough growl came from his chest.

The sound was so strong that I felt it through my body.

“By the gods,” Stirling whispered.

His voice sounded completely different now. Rough and shaken.

He pulled back slightly and looked at my face.

The cold, controlled expression he always wore was gone.

His amber eyes were wide, and his pupils had grown so large that almost none of the gold remained.

His jaw was clenched tightly, and the muscles in his face twitched as he fought to control whatever was happening inside him.

He looked at my red, sweaty face.

Then he looked at my jaw, which was no longer hidden by my hood.

Finally, his eyes dropped to the linen bindings under my tunic. They had already torn open, revealing the truth I had worked so hard to hide.

His eyes widened.

“You’re not a Beta,” he whispered.

The realization hit him all at once.

His hand slowly moved from my lower back and traveled up my spine until his fingers reached the back of my neck. He held my damp hair tightly.

He leaned closer and breathed in the scent coming from my neck.

“You’re a girl,” Stirling whispered against my burning skin. “You’re an Omega.”

A part of me screamed at me to push him away and run before the other Alphas in the room noticed my scent.

But my body wouldn’t listen.

The poison had taken away most of my control. My hands moved up his dark velvet coat, and my fingers grabbed his lapels.

“Stirling… please,” I cried.

My voice broke.

“It hurts. Make it stop.”

His head suddenly lifted.

When Stirling looked at me again, the confusion was gone.

His amber eyes had turned a dark, glowing red.

He looked like an Alpha who had just discovered his mate in a room full of other Alphas.

Before I could even breathe, a cold voice came from behind us.

“Step away from my brother, Lord Vance.”

Stirling didn’t let me go.

Instead, he pulled me closer against his chest and held my head under his chin as if he was protecting me.

Then he turned toward the voice.

Crown Prince Callan stood only a few steps away, blocking the path to the grand doors.

His sword was partly drawn from its sheath.

Callan looked at me.

Really looked at me.

Then he breathed in the strong scent of honey and rain filling the air between us.

Slowly, his icy blue eyes began to change.

The blue disappeared.

His eyes turned the same dangerous, glowing crimson as Stirling’s.