2. Unexpected Heat

Silas POV

One moment I was walking home in the rain, mourning a life lived in shadows, and the next, I was a traitor to the crown. It was a joke, it had to be. I was a nobody, like a ghost. How the hell could I ever be a spy?

I leaned my head against the damp wall, trying to make sense of the nightmare.

Then I remembered the moment when we touched. My stomach did an involuntary violent flip at the memory of his touch. The sparks, the feeling of finally belonging to someone after living all my life miserably. I had spent years telling myself a mate was a luxury I couldn't afford, a danger that would expose my secret. Only to find one now, except, he was the Lycan king, a man who probably wanted me dead.

A bitter, quiet laugh bubbled up in my throat. Oh, the irony. I remembered the look in his eyes when he touched me, he doesn't want me.

‘A King doesn’t want a lowly, criminal Omega.’ I thought bitterly. Especially not one like me.

I still didn't know what I did and why I was arrested. But one thing's for sure, I didn't do it. What ever the crime was, it wasn't me.

My thoughts were cut short when a sudden, sharp cramp spiked in my abdomen, followed by a wave of heat so intense it made my vision blur. I gasped, my knees buckling as I slid down the wall to the floor, curling into myself.

No, this can't be.

Without the suppressants to hold everything back, everything was flooding back with vengeance. My skin felt too tight and too hot, I could already feel the slickness beginning to pool between my thighs, a shameful heat blooming in my core.

I whimpered loudly as the pain began to consume me whole. I could feel my system begin to spiral out of control, I've been on suppressants too long.

I whimpered again, clutching my stomach as more slick gushed out and pooled in between my legs.

Outside the heavy iron bars, I heard the sudden scuff of boots approaching. Then a voice.

“Do you smell that?” A guard muttered, his voice thick with confusion and I could hear the sharp edge of Alpha instinct in his voice.

“It’s….. it’s him," the other replied, his voice strained. “The prisoner. But he's a male Omega right? He shouldn't be having…”

“Heats.” I heard the first guard complete the other's sentence.

But I barely paid mind to them, because the air in the cramped cell was rapidly filling with the scent I had spent a decade hiding. It was an invitation and a warning all at once, fear pooled at my chest at what could possibly happen to me after all these.

“It’s too strong,” the first guard hissed, his breathing becoming heavier. “If he goes into full heat in there, the whole wing will lose their minds.”

“....Do you think we should open the door?” The second guard suggested.

“I'm not opening that door,” the first one snapped, his voice trembling.

“Have you forgotten what the King said? While looked like he wanted to tear the world apart? Stay here. I’m going to inform him. He needs to know what’s happening before this place turns into a bloodbath.”

I heard his footsteps receding and I collapsed onto my side as my consciousness began to fray at the edges. The world was dissolving into a haze of heat and blurry memories, and for the first time in my life, I was truly, terrifyingly vulnerable.

°°°°°

Zenith's Pov:

“What? You found your mate and you're just telling me this? When did this even happen?” Elara, my cousin, demanded, glaring at me.

“Yesterday,” I replied curtly, slushing the drink in my cup.

I kept my eyes on the table, refusing to look at her. Simply because I couldn't keep the thoughts out of my head, my hand still felt like it was buzzing, the ghost of those sparks refusing to leave my skin. I clenched my jaw tightly in anger, I hated it, I hated it all.

“Yesterday? Zenith, the moon literally gifted you a soulmate and you waited twenty-four hours to mention it? Where is she? Is she a Noble? Where did you meet?”

“He,” I corrected, my voice dropping an octave. The word felt like it clawed its way out of my throat.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Elara froze, and the silence stretched between us, thick and heavy.

“He…..right. Where is he, then?” She asked slowly.

“He's in the cells.” I already said the words before realizing my mistake.

“The cells?” Elara’s voice went from a whisper to a shriek in half a second. “Zenith! You found your fated mate and your first instinct was to throw him in a dungeon? Are you a King or a barbarian? What is wrong with your head?”

“He’s an Omega, Elara,” I snapped, finally standing to face her. “A male Omega, and a fucking criminal at that.”

Elara’s fury faltered for a fraction of a second, replaced by genuine bewilderment. It was unheard of for a High King of the Lycans, to be mated with one of the most weakest, useless sub-genders of our kind, a male Omega.

I believed that was enough to set her back but I was wrong. Because her expression softened, she stepped closer to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “An Omega…..Well, it’s unconventional, but we’ll figure it out together. We can find a way to make the Council accept him.”

“There is nothing to figure out,” I growled and shrugged her hand off my shoulder.

“I am the King. I have a lineage to maintain. I’m not….I don't do this. I’m not gay, Elara.”

Elara let out a dry scoff. “Oh, please. Zenith, honey, the Moon Mother just handed you a man and tied your souls together with a permanent ribbon. If you’re waiting for a woman to walk through that door and spark your interest now, you’ll be waiting until the earth rotates into oblivion. You’re definitely not straight anymore. Deal with it.”

“I am straight!” I roared out in anger and the windows rattled in their frames. “The bond is just a stupid biological glitch! The boy is a criminal, I will not get mated to a-”

The heavy doors to the study suddenly slammed back against the stone walls and my blood boiled at the intrusion. I turned, my claws beginning to lengthen, ready to tear whoever had the audacity to interrupt me.

“This had better be worth your life.” I hissed.

The guard was pale, his eyes wide with a mix of terror and something else, the look on his face alone set my own wolf on edge. He didn't even bow, he was shaking too hard.

“Sire….. the prisoner.” he panted, his voice cracking. “He's going into heat. The scent... it’s filling the entire lower block.”

The world went still. The air in the room suddenly felt too thin to breathe. My inner wolf let out a low, possessive snarl that vibrated through my bones, clawing at the surface.

He was in heat, in a cold cell, surrounded by my guards.

My brain didn't even process the fact that I was the one who put him there.

I didn't wait for Elara to say another word, I was out the door before the guard could even finish his next breath.