His hand rose to cover his nose and mouth with his sleeve, trying to block out the overwhelming stench of pheromones. It was suffocating, clinging to the air like an invisible fog. He could feel the edges of his composure fraying, but he forced himself to focus.

  Candles. The candles needed replacing. Then he would go home for the night.

  Celestio clung to that thought like a lifeline, his mind latching onto the familiar rhythm of duty. He quickly assessed the room, noting the depleted state of the candles and the dwindling number of guests. Most of the attendees had likely taken their cue from the prince – Edess had a well-known habit of going to bed early, and a well-known temperament that did not take well to disturbances in his routines.

  With measured steps, Celestio moved toward the side door that led to the storage rooms. The corridor was still quiet, and the air still cool, but the oppressive air had drifted since his earlier visit for a moment of relaxation. Celestio allowed himself a small, steadying breath as he approached the door to the room where he believed the spare candles were kept. He reached for the handle, his mind already cataloging the tasks ahead: replace the candles, ensure the hall was presentable, and then –

  He opened the door and the thoughts died in his mind.

  The room was not storage as he had thought, but a private dining room filled with furniture. The scene the room now contained was a tableau of raw, unrestrained indulgence. The room, dimly lit by a few scattered lanterns, was a tangle of bodies – nobles and servants alike. The Alpha and Omega pheromones hit him like a brick wall, saturating the air to a dizzying degree.

  Celestio’s breath caught in his throat, his hand tightening on the doorknob as he fought the instinct to flee. His sharp eyes took in the scene with a mix of shock and dismay.

  The scene was, to say the least, a stark contrast Celestio’s carefully orchestrated elegance of the banquet hall.

  Celestio’s stomach flipped, but he needed to replace the candles. He… the candles were….

  And then his gaze landed on Prince Edess.

  The world seemed to tilt on its axis, his vision swimming around the figure at the center of the room. The prince – his prince, the man Celestio had sworn to serve and protect – was in the middle of the decadent scene.

  Bile rose in Celestio’s throat as the image seared itself into his mind. He tried to look away, but his body refused to obey. He had seen the prince in countless situations since the day Edess was born, but never something like this. Never so….

  He stepped back to the corridor, the door lazily swinging shut in front of him.

  He wasn’t sure what shocked him more: the fact that the prince was participating in the debauchery or the way it made Celestio feel. There was a hollow, gnawing sensation in his stomach that he couldn’t quite name. Betrayal? No, it wasn’t that. Edess had done nothing wrong; not really. He was a man, a prince, and an Alpha. And yet…

  “Enjoying the view, Sir Celestio?”

  The voice shattered his trance, rough and smug, and Celestio felt a heavy hand clap down on his shoulder. The scent hit him next, sharp and saccharine, the unmistakable signature of an Alpha in full dominance. His knees nearly buckled under the weight of it, his breath hitching as the pheromones washed over him like a tidal wave.

  Lord Darion.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  His grip on Celestio’s shoulder was firm, and his smirk was as predatory as ever as he leaned over the Omega. “I told you,” Darion murmured, leaning in close enough that his breath brushed against Celestio’s ear. “You need to relax. A banquet like this is more than politics. It’s about the pleasures of adulthood – the ones that your dear prince is learning to enjoy.”

  Celestio tried to step away but Darion’s grip tightened, his fingers digging into Celestio’s shoulder. The Alpha’s scent was overwhelming, clouding Celestio’s thoughts and making it even more difficult to focus. His body felt sluggish, his limbs heavy as though the air had turned to syrup. He could feel his own pheromones beginning to spike, betraying his carefully maintained composure.

  “I-I need to…” Celestio’s voice was weak and hoarse. His mind raced, grasping at the fragile threads of sanity, but they slipped through his fingers like sand. “The candles… I need…”

  Why didn’t he carry any of the suppressant with him? He had some in his office, and Edess even kept an emergency bottle in his chambers. Why didn’t he think to even take a sip when he had the chance?

  Darion chuckled softly. “You don’t need candles, Celestio. You need me. Come; your prince doesn’t need you – I do.”

  Before Celestio could respond, Darion’s hand slid down to his arm, his grip still firm as he began to pull the Omega toward the far side of the corridor. Celestio stumbled after him, his movements unsteady as though his body were no longer his own. Darion’s other arm wrapped around his slender waist, practically lifting his feet from the floor. His mind screamed at him to resist – to try to pull away – but the overwhelming pressure of Darion’s pheromones made it difficult to even think of escaping the Alpha’s grasp.

  All he could think about was the prince. The image of Edess with the unknown Omega was burned into his mind; already a vivid, inescapable memory. It wasn’t jealousy – that was impossible. But there was something about the scene that made his heart ache and his stomach churn. He should feel relief that the prince was safely indulging in the pleasures that came with his adulthood.

  “You’re thinking too much,” Darion murmured, his voice cutting through Celestio’s spiraling thoughts. “Let go, Sir Celestio. You’re only an Omega, after all.”

  The words were sharp and cutting, but the edges were so dulled that they didn’t hurt. Celestio couldn’t bring himself to respond. His mind was a haze of conflicting emotions, his body betraying him as it followed Darion’s lead.

  He should have brought his suppressant.

  The thought echoed in his mind as a bitter refrain. He had always been so meticulous in his preparations, and yet he had forgotten the one thing that could have protected him from this.

  Darion led him through a side door, the noise and pheromones from the storeroom fading behind them. Celestio’s heart pounded, his instincts screaming at him to run, to fight, to do something. The Alpha’s grip was unyielding, his pheromones suffocating, as he pulled Celestio into a hall that led to the guest rooms.

  “See?” Darion said soothingly. “This is better. Just you and me. Relax, my Omega. I’ll take better care of you than your prince ever could.”

  Celestio’s pulse thundered in his ears, his breaths coming shallow and quick. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. Edess’s words from earlier echoed in his mind: “You’re too valuable to me to risk losing you to an inferior Alpha like one of these.”

  He couldn’t let it end like this. Not to this sorry excuse of an Alpha.

  Celestio’s memories scattered like glass shards, glinting in the dim light of his mind. The overwhelming scent of Darion’s pheromones lingered in his senses, even as his consciousness ebbed and flowed. He remembered the tight grip on his wrist, the pressure around his waist, and the low, coaxing murmurs of the Alpha’s voice. His body betrayed him, moving against his will, surrendering himself to Darion. He felt the man’s tongue on his neck, dangerously close to his pheromone glands, then the teeth grazing his skin. If Darion bit him, permanently marking Celestio’s Omega glands with his Alpha pheromones….

  Why hadn’t he brought his suppressant?

  The thought repeated over and over. He had been careless and now he was paying the price. His instincts – those damn Omega instincts – had risen to the surface, and he simply wasn’t strong enough to fight them. The shame burned hot and heavy in his body, even as the world around him dissolved into darkness.