“It’s such a shame,” The Princess sighed, her hand coming up to touch him, perhaps to rest her palm against his cheek.
Scott took a step back, nauseous at the mere thought of her hands being on him again. It was a relief, in some ways, that once she was safely tucked away in her own castle again, they would be considered enemies. There would be no use for such niceties then, not when their citizens would be fighting a war that she ultimately caused.
She wouldn’t be able to touch him ever again.
Annoyance flashed across her face, a crack in her mask, but then her polite, neutral expression was back on her face. “I would have been a good mate to you, King Scott.”
Scott smiled, “Fortunately that’s not something you’ll have to ponder over anymore, Princess. We’ll never know if those words are true or not.” Undoubtedly they weren’t, and Scott felt sorry for whichever poor Omega she forced into mating. He was just glad it wasn’t him.
Scott reached into his suit jacket then, pulling out a thick, creamy envelope that had been safely tucked into the inner pocket. It was addressed to, “The Sovereign Ruler of the Kingdom of Lockmere” in his own careful penmanship. He held it out to the Princess, feeling satisfaction as she stared at it with disdain. “Please make sure your father receives this letter. Safe travels, Princess.”
He should have bowed then, as was customary when seeing off an esteemed guest, but instead he just headed inside without so much as a glance behind himself.
══════✮❁•°♛°•❁✮ ══════
“There’s a maid here wanting to see you.” Samuel startled Scott out of his thoughts, the Alpha didn’t even have his entire body in the room, just his head and his eyes were trained on the floor. Scott wondered just why the guard was acting strange, but then remembered what he’d walked into last time.
“Samuel,” He sighed, sitting back in his chair, back popping as he’d been hunched over paperwork for the past hour. “Colin is clearly lacking as head guard if this is how you’re acting. Shut the door and knock like a respectable Alpha.”
He wasn’t actually angry, per say, but no matter how many times they went through this, Samuel never once learned how to knock.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guard shut the door, three knocks following shortly after.
Scott called for him to come in, and Samuel stepped into the room, red faced and flustered as he bowed. “There’s a maid that has just requested to see you, my King. Should I send her away?”
“Who? There has to be a hundred maids in the Palace.”
“Her name is Katherine, Lady Robbie’s head maid.”
Scott pursed his lips, “Please send her in, then.”
Robbie’s head maid was an older Omega, her hair pulled into a neat bun and skirts pristine, Scott knew that the woman worked for the Palace for a number of years. He’d never spoken to her before that he could recall, but she always had a polite, professional smile on her face. Something must have been wrong, if the concerned expression and distracted curtsey were anything to go by. “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Your Majesty.”
Scott nodded, dismissing the statement with a wave of his hand. “Of course. I assume this has to do with Ms. Quarrels?”
“Yes, sir.” She nodded, “He went into preheat some hours ago. You would have been notified later tonight, of course, but his preheat symptoms are more severe than what we were expecting. He won’t leave his nest and has become rather territorial. He won’t let me or his other maids near him, and he keeps… asking for Mr. Perez.”
“I see.” Scott stood up, sending the clearly worried maid a short smile, “I will handle this. You and his other maids may have the day off.”
This was not what he wanted to be dealing with today. It was rather inconvenient timing, Robbie beginning his heat, what with everything going on. Scott should be worrying about Lockmere’s response and finalizing his decision on a mate, not dealing with a potentially hostile Omega. He supposed he could do that from Robbie’s nest, but it wasn’t exactly the most opportune place.
It took him twenty minutes to find Allen. The Alpha always seemed to be alone, and now was no different. Scott couldn’t remember the last time he had stepped into the sprawling gym that the Palace had, but it hadn’t changed much. It still smelled of sweat and pheromones, and the fluorescent lights and equipment gave the place an overall unpleasant atmosphere.
The sight of the Alpha made up for it though.
Allen was at a weightlifting bench, on his back as he pumped a heavy looking bar up and down. He was wearing a fitted shirt, tight over the expanse of his defined chest and tanned skin glistening with sweat. Scott caught of whiff of his scent then, a sharp peppermint and Alpha musk that made him feel weak in the knees. He could easily climb onto his lap and sit on his-
Scott shook his head to rid himself of the thought. Robbie was nearing his first heat and he was scared and alone. That was priority right now.
“Mr. Perez.” He called, and the Alpha glanced at him before putting the bar back on it’s perch. He sat up then, dyed red hair falling into his eyes and Scott had to take a moment to compose himself.
“King Scott,” He greeted, bringing the bottom of his shirt up to wipe the sweat off his face. Scott got an eyeful of abs before the fabric fell into place again, “You don’t look like you’re here for a workout.”
“You would be right about that. I’m here because Ms. Quarrels is in preheat.”
“Yeah, I smelled it on him the other day.”
Well, that was news to Scott. “You didn’t think it important to tell anyone?”
“Why would I? Omegas go into heat all the time.” Allen shrugged, picking up the water bottle by his feet and bringing it up to his lips.
“It’s his first heat.”
Allen choked on his water. “What? How old is he?” He asked between coughs, looking up at him disbelievingly.
“Eighteen. You don’t seem to know much about him.” Scott observed, turning to head out of the gym. “Come on, we can talk on our way to your room.”
“He’s so young.” Allen followed without question, seemingly troubled now, “Shouldn’t he be like, in high school? Or graduating? Why is he here?”
He shrugged, not really concerned about Robbie’s lack of schooling at the moment, “He comes from a particularly conservative town with a high demographic of Betas. It’s more of a surprise he isn’t already mated at his age.”
The Alpha made a pained noise in the back of his throat, as though the mere idea of Robbie being mated bothered him. “Why are we going to my room?”
“Things for his nest. You two seem close, so hopefully your scent will bring him some comfort.”
It was when he was standing in Allen’s room, watching the Alpha carefully pick out his softest shirts and mark them with his scent that Scott thought that he would be a good mate. It was a surprising thought, considering his first true conversation with the man, but the more he contemplated it the better it seemed. He was protective, and his morals were somewhat decent (if the ordeal with Princess Emeline was anything to go by) and he genuinely seemed to care about Robbie. Besides that, he wanted nothing to do with the crown, which made him perfect. Scott didn’t want anyone but himself in make decisions of the kingdom, but he needed an Alpha to act as a figurehead while he really pulled the strings. As much as it frustrated him that he needed to have an Alpha mate to be taken seriously, there was nothing to be done about it.
Scott made his decision right there, as Allen handed him a folded stack of shirts that reeked of peppermint.
“I’m going to ask Robbie to mate with me.” Scott stated, and the Alpha froze.
They stared at each other, and Allen’s face went from surprised to stony in a matter of seconds. “During his heat?” He questioned.
“Afterward. I want him to be coherent when he agrees.”
He nodded, brows furrowing as his amber eyes bored into him. “Right. I’ll begin packing up my things then.”
“We’ll need an Alpha.”
A humorless chuckle left his lips, “Is this your way of trying to rope me into mating you? I don’t want to know your reasons for doing so, but the answer is no.”
Scott shrugged, “I was just giving you an option, considering how attached you seem to him. That’s okay though, there are plenty of other Alphas. I’m sure that by Robbie’s next heat I’ll have one picked out. He’ll look so sweet in his nest, don’t you think? On his hands and knees as he presents for his Alpha, begging to be f-“
Allen’s responding growl cut him off, and Scott smiled. The Alpha looked conflicted, likely debating if he could get away with telling the King to go fuck himself. “My answer is no, Your Majesty.” He said shortly, but he could see the way that his eyes darkened.
“Just think about it.” He finally said, patting Allen’s arm, “I’ll ask you again once Robbie’s heat breaks. If the answer is still no, then you can go home and continue on with your life. If it’s a yes, we’ll discuss details. I think you’ll find that I’m a rather lenient man, Mr. Perez.”
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