Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Aurus presses his lips together. I prefer his silence to his prying. I would cut the connection between us, but I need to cultivate his good will.
I’m saved from the awkward pause in the conversation by a female voice calling, “Honey, I’m home!” I tense, and swivel to check on my sleeping Rose. The new voice at Aurus’s back sounds so much like my own mate. That can only mean—
Aurus’s whole face softens. In the distance, outside of the orb’s displayed image, a door slams. And then—
The Golden King’s eyes widen. There’s a shrieking whistle. Aurus roars and throws up his arms before his entire person—and ridiculously gaudy throne—disappear in a burst of smoke.
Off-screen, someone is cackling. The newcomer strides into view. A tiny, pale-skinned human with spiky yellow hair, she saunters through a cloud of gray smoke with a large black gun cocked on one shoulder. Ulfarri troops call the guns Chitin-Killers. This one looks modified somehow, but is still almost bigger than the petite Omega.
“Kim!” Aurus shouts from somewhere off-screen. “What have I told you about shooting rocket launchers in the throne room?”
“You said it was outlawed by the king’s royal decree. But you shoot off in the throne room all the time. Fair’s fair. Besides,” she pats the gun, “this isn’t a rocket launcher. It’s a Chitin-Killer. Terral and his engi-nerd buddies designed it for me, for the next time I go into battle.”
“We have discussed this.” Aurus sounds exasperated. “You will absolutely not be going into battle—”
“Ah, ah!” Kim tips the gun to point it in the direction of his voice. “You say no but I say yes, and I’m holding the modified Chitin-Killer. It won’t kill you—we replaced the rockets with smoke bombs—but it’ll hurt.” The little human stalks to the throne, which has tipped onto its side, and leans against it. “Besides, you promised not to talk to anyone about humans or Omegas without me.”
“How did you know I was speaking about Hoo-mans?” Aurus says.
“I programmed an alarm to warn me if you say the word Hoo-man to any of your video-phone magic orb thingies.”
“For the love of Ulf…” Aurus grumbles something about it being a mistake to let an Omega talk to a magician. I have never heard the Golden King sound so flustered. It is wonderful, and I am relishing every second.
Kim swings around and squints at me through the orb. “Hello. I’m Kim, from Earth. Who are you, and why were you talking about human Omegas? Do you have one?”
It would be in my best interest not to answer but once again I can't help myself. “Greetings, Kim. I am the King of Medela, and yes, I have procured an Omega.”
Kim glares at me. The amount of fury emanating out of such a tiny body is impressive. “I’m sure she loves how you make it sound like you picked her out of a SkyMall magazine. How did you procure her? In a space station? At an auction?”
“Neither. She kicked down the door to my castle, broke a decades’ old spell, and brought me to life.”
Kim’s head jerks back a beat. “Damn, that’s pretty badass. Kinda like a reverse Sleeping Beauty.”
All this time, Aurus has been creeping up behind the toppled throne, attempting a sneak attack on his tiny queen. Without looking back, Kim adjusts the gun to point over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t, Gold-Daddy.”
Aurus halts mid-step. “You will cease referring to me as your father.”
“You don't like that? A little kink and role-play can increase sperm count. I read that in a magazine in my dentist’s waiting room, and magazines in dentists’ waiting rooms never lie.” She winks at him and turns back to me.
“Listen, Mr. Masked Singer, if you’ve really got your hands on a human, I need to talk to her ASAP. Me, and possibly Emma and Haley. She’ll be feeling like she's all alone in the world, and needs someone to talk to. Did she have a family back on Earth?”
“She says she did not.” She also told me she considered the one she calls Ma, the healer she was living with, to be her new family. Her new home. And I am refusing to let her return. Since when have I become so heartless?
“Well, that doesn’t mean she’s not homesick. Talking to us will help.”
Aurus’s little Omega is wise as well as fearless. “I will consider it.”
“Do that.” Kim fixes me with a dead-eye stare, and points the gun in my direction. “But don’t take too long. Otherwise, I’ll come find her myself, and—oof!”
With Kim’s gun pointed at me through the orb, Aurus is able to pounce. He grabs her and they both tumble out of sight. The gun goes flying. There’s more chuckling and growling off-screen.
“You will pay for that, Omega.” Aurus’s husky threat drifts up to me. He sounds so content, I could retch. I can almost smell his Alpha pheromones through the orb.