The Alpha King (Kingdom of Askara #1)(9)
Gareth laughed in derision. “You can’t possibly mean the human servant.”
For a second Luca considered losing his temper just to see Gareth on his knees, but he found the whole thing suddenly amusing. Gareth and the other Alphas were assuming Tara must be the pure omega. Although, Luca had only just been told that a pure omega could be a human.
“I will see you both at eight.” He turned to Danni. “I would be pleased if you stayed as a guest tonight of—” Before he could say Tara’s name, Gareth lost his temper.
“You bastard. That’s what this has been all about. You want to bed the omega, to take what is mine.” But just as Gareth drew his knife and lunged for Luca, Sam stepped in front of Luca with his own. Gareth blinked, his head lowered in confusion, staring at the knife that stuck out from his rib cage.
“No,” screamed his father, catching him as Gareth’s eyes closed and he collapsed backwards. “My son.” Alpha Jace clutched at his son in complete panic.
Luca froze. If Sam hadn’t have acted so quickly, Luca may well have been dead.
“Shift!” the Alpha begged, shaking his son. But Gareth was unconscious and no one else could heal... Without thinking, Luca bent down and put his hand on Gareth’s chest. Before anyone could take a breath, a brindle-colored wolf lay panting across Alpha Jace’s legs. He let go, stepped back, and Gareth returned immediately to human.
“Sire,” Sam breathed in awe. Not one person spoke. Alpha Jace raised astonished eyes. No one except a true Alpha King could ever summon another wolf, and Gareth, unconscious and unable to do it himself, had been as good as dead.
Alpha Jace left his son sitting on the ground and stood shakily. He lowered himself to one knee and clasped his arm across his chest in the same manner Sam had earlier. “My house is yours. All that I have and all that I am.”
Luca could barely swallow. He hadn’t heard the old-fashioned vow of fealty since his grandfather had told him the stories of the Alpha Kings. He remembered the proper response, though, and would not disrespect Alpha Jace by saying any other. “I accept your house, your love, and your loyalty.” He placed a hand on Jace’s right shoulder. “Stand,” he commanded softly.
The older man stood and inclined his head respectfully. “It will be my honor to be present in the morning.” He bent and dragged his older son to his feet. Luca watched, bemused, as they hurried away.
“Still any doubt?” Sam asked, fixing his brown eyes on Luca. “Only Alpha Kings can do what you just did.”
Luca blew out a long breath. He was hungry and he was tired. He wanted to see how Kit was, and tomorrow would come too soon. “Can you manage?” Sam looked affronted. Luca grinned.
“I offer my assistance,” Gabriel said firmly after watching Danni being comforted and led away by the she-wolves. Luca saw another ten gammas all take a decisive step closer.
He smiled and clapped Sam on the back. “Don’t forget to eat. I think tomorrow will be just as long a day.”
“Longer,” Gabriel and Sam answered simultaneously. Luca chuckled, turned, and went to find his omega. He would worry about being King tomorrow.
Chapter Three
Kit was warm and before he marveled at the unusual occurrence, he snuggled further into heat...and arms that tightened automatically when he moved. He instantly knew. Luca. My mate. The Alpha King destined to heal a fractured Askara, and me, Kit, a guttersnipe bastard orphan destined to help him.
Human children were illegal in Askara without a license, and that would only be given to valued guards or those who had a trade. The Alphas remained terrified that because humans bred so easily, humans would become unmanageable in number and therefore a threat to the smaller wolf population, she-wolves only went into heat once every three years, and even then, pups were no guarantee to any except a breeder.
Kit’s mother had always told him he should never have been born. Pleasure-slaves were barred from procreating because their very profession meant that there was no guarantee the father’s identity would be known, and, what was even worse, the father might be a wolf. Any attempt to breed hybrids was a sentence of death for the mother and child.
Pleasure slaves were so careful not to become pregnant. Herbs were mixed and potions were regularly drunk, and then if those methods ever failed, the birth would be induced quickly so the baby would never survive. Kit never knew how his mother had managed to hide her pregnancy. If any of the gammas had seen her, she would have been forced into labor, and if the child survived then its throat would have been slit.
His earliest memories were of being told to be quiet. Silent. Never to cry. Never to complain of being cold or being hungry, and never ever to make a noise when he was locked away in the cupboard. He could even beg silently, fix his mother with pleading eyes as she locked him away night after night so when the men came no one would ever know she kept an illegal child.
Kit shivered and Luca’s arms tightened again. Light was just creeping into the room and he knew he had slept a long time, been helped when his own hands shook too much to hold a cup of water, been carried to the bathroom when he needed to empty his bladder; been soothed when the night terrors had woken him. Kit never slept deeply. He didn’t dare. He would stay awake as much as he could until exhaustion claimed him and he was too tired to stop the dreams and the memories.