Three Alpha Princes for an Unwanted Omega

That was strange, Lucius thought.

He glanced back at the door he had just come out of. He had expected screaming and not a pliant Ayla.

What was her play?

He turned to the guards he had assigned to guard her door.

”How has her behaviour been of late?” He asked them.

”She shouted and wept for two days but nothing after that, my lord.”

”Is that so?”

”Yes, my lord”

”Find a maid and have her bring the dressmaker here. I want the lady to be properly prepared for tonight.” He said pointedly to one of the guards.

It could only mean she had either seen the futility of her actions as she claimed or she was just stringing him along. Even if she was pretending or plotting, it would not matter after tonight.

Soren, on the other hand was a different situation. The thought of the man soured something in Lucius’s stomach.

He turned away from the door frame and began walking.

As much as he tried to tell himself he had the man under his control, he knew it was false. Soren was a wild card and one he had no idea what to do with yet. He had men watching him but so far there had been nothing of particular concern.

Sending his own daughter, Lucius scoffed.

That had been a gutter strategy, a clumsy see-through one. The kind only desperate men made which could only mean he was getting antsy. He wanted to be in the loop so bad that he would send his own daughter to act as a seductress for information.

No doubt leaving his such a place of power beside Kieran must have dealt him a strong hand. He wanted something else to hold onto, something else that puts him in a position of power.

Lucius considered this carefully.

If that is the case then Soren could still be used and so could his daughter.

She was a spoiled brat who wanted nothing more than to be seen by someone powerful, because she believed she deserved it and no one else had ever given it to her. First it had been her brother, Ares and now it was him.

He could use that.

It would not be a hard feat to turn her against her father, he had done that before, he could do it again. And with him sending her off like a common whore, she must harbor some resentment towards him, one that he could harness to his own advantage.

It would mean Soren would get his information but the only the things he wanted him to know through Willow. All he had to do was be kind to her, patient, love her like she wanted and let them both think they had him under their control.

He was nearly to the hall when a guard came running up the corridor, straight for him.

”My lord.” The guard skidded to a stop and held out something wrapped in oilcloth. ”You have a letter.”

Lucius took it. ”From whom?”

”Some of our people still stationed at the border near the camp found a rider there looking to deliver that to you.” the guard answered.

Lucius broke the seal, read the letter, his eyes widening at its content. When he had finished, he threw his head back and laughter.

”So Kieran wants to sit down with me,” Lucius said to no one in particular. He was grinning now. ”Who would have thought I would live to see this day.”

The letter was short but the meaning was pretty clear, Alpha Kieran of the nothern region wanted a meeting... to discuss peace.

Peace? Lucius scoffed.

He was still oblivious to what his father had done to his family. That is the only reason he would send this.

Lucius read it a second time, savoring it the way a man savored a fine wine.

He, of course wanted nothing from Kieran that he did not already have but there was no harm in playing a little game with him after all, wrecking some havoc especially to those little bastards Ayla called her mates.

”Is the rider still being held by our people?” He asked the guard.

”Yes, my lord. They are awaiting your orders on what to do with him.”

”Then follow me,” he said, turning on his heels and heading to his study.

He swung the door open and crossed to his desk, where he sat, pulling a fresh sheet of parchment. He dipped the quill in ink, held it a moment over the page, and then he wrote.

He expressed his surprise at receiving the letter then he agreed to the meeting, suggesting a place and a time that suited him, and he signed it with a flourish and pressed his seal into the wax with the heel of his hand.

He held the finished letter up to the firelight, watching the seal catch the glow.

”Send a rider to the border,” he said, handing it to the guard. ”Inform the rider there to get this message to their Alpha immediately. Do not delay.”

”Yes, my lord.” The guard took the letter, bowed, and was gone.

The door closed.

Lucius reclined in his chair, the leather creaking under him, and let the firelight play across his face. The room was very still.

The only sound was the crackle of the flames and the distant, muffled noise of the palace preparing for the night.

Everything was going according to plan.

Amara was almost done with the potion, the announcement would happen tonight and Ayla would be his.

He thought of her hand on his arm and the smile she had given him. He did not care if it was real because he would make it real.

He could not wait to see Kieran, sit across him and watch the light drain from his eyes when he realizes what was what.

Lucius reached for the decanter on his desk, poured himself a glass of wine.