Prince Edess slammed the heavy door to his chambers shut, the sound reverberating through the room. The lush furnishings and piles of birthday gifts did little to soothe the rage inside him. The prince stomped to the hearth, his posture stiff and his fists clenched at his sides. His usual air of charm and composure was nowhere to be seen; instead, his expression was tight with barely restrained anger. He still held the Alpha’s bejeweled dowry ring and he wanted to throw it into the flames.

  Celestio stood near the center of the room, his hands at his sides instead of clasped. He felt the weight of Edess’s anger like a suffocating blanket. His heart pounded in his chest but he forced himself to remain still, wanting to face Edess with the same calmness he always maintained.

  Except, this wasn’t like any other time. This wasn’t a courtly matter, a political game, or an argument between a child and his carer.

  “So,” Edess began, his voice slow and dangerous. “Are you going to tell me what the hell just happened in my throne room?”

  Celestio flinched. “Edy –”

  “Don’t ‘Edy’ me,” the prince snapped, cutting him off. He turned around and took a step toward his advisor. “I want the truth, Celestio. Why did you and that Alpha just make me look like a fool in front of the entire court?”

  “It’s not like that!” Celestio said, sharper than he intended. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm. “I would never do anything to undermine you. You know that!”

  The prince stared at him for a long moment, his face growing red. “Then what is it?” he demanded. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you kept something important from me, and now it’s gossip for the entire court.”

  Celestio had prepared himself for this conversation as much as he could during the walk from the throne room to Edess’s chambers, but now the words felt tangled and heavy in his mouth.

  “There was… an incident,” he began carefully, his voice quieter now. “At the banquet.”

  Edess’s eyes narrowed further. “What kind of incident?”

  Celestio swallowed hard, his hands clenching at his sides. “One of the visiting Alphas tried to force himself on me.”

  Edess froze, his entire body going rigid. For a moment, he said nothing, the weight of Celestio’s words sinking in. Then his hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. “Who?” he growled. “Who was it?”

  Celestio shook his head. “That doesn’t matter,” he said. “What’s important is that Sabas intervened before anything could happen. He stopped the Alpha and took me out to the courtyard to get away from him, to clear my head from the pheromones.”

  The prince let out a sharp breath, his fury threatening to overflow. “And you didn’t think to tell me about this?” he hissed. “You didn’t think I would want to know that one of my guests attacked you?”

  “You were occupied,” Celestio replied, his own voice tightening. “You and the other nobles; after dinner. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

  The prince’s eyes flashed with something dark, his jaw clenching. “Preoccupied,” he repeated, his tone dripping with disbelief.

  Celestio’s face flushed. “Yes. I didn’t think it was my place to –”

  “Your place?” Edess interrupted, his voice rising. “Your place is by my side, Celestio! If something like that happens, you come to me. I don’t care if the world is ending – you come to me. How could you not understand that?”

  Celestio flinched again. He tore his gaze from his prince’s face, now focusing on his boots. “I… didn’t want to bother you,” he murmured. “And… it wasn’t just that.”

  Edess frowned, his anger giving way to confusion. “What else happened? What did that Alpha do to you?”

  “Sabas? Nothing!” he said quickly, then continued with a voice barely above a whisper. “He… he was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t do anything remotely improper. But… I could smell his pheromones, and I – he could smell mine, too; despite the suppressant I drink that prevents even you from detecting my scent.”

  His face burned even hotter. He couldn’t bring himself to say it, to admit everything that had happened. But the prince’s sharp gaze didn’t waver, and after a long moment, Celestio forced himself to continue.

  “I’ve never been tempted before, not by any Alpha who has passed through His Majesty’s court, but his…” He trailed off, his hands clenching into fists. “I believe I understand now. What people mean when they speak of ‘fated mates.’”

  The silence that followed was deafening.

  Edess stared at him in horrified disbelief, the tension in his jaw betraying the storm of emotions swirling beneath the surface. “So that’s it, then? You smelled some Alpha’s pheromones, and you just… forgot everything? Your duties? Your loyalty? Me?”

  “No!” Celestio said, his voice rising in desperation. “It wasn’t like that. I didn’t forget anything. I – I didn’t intend for it to happen.”

  The prince cut him off with a sharp, humorless laugh. “And you didn’t think to tell me,” he muttered. “You didn’t think I would want to know what was going on under my own roof. With you.”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “You wouldn’t have wanted me to interrupt,” Celestio repeated, a spark of anger rising in his own voice. “You clearly had other things on your mind.”

  Edess’s eyes flashed with anger. “You think I wouldn’t have stopped? That I wouldn’t have dropped everything for you?”

  The prince took a step closer, his voice softening. “You know you’re more than just my advisor. You’re my only friend – my most trusted ally. If someone hurts you – if someone tries to take advantage of you – you come to me. Always. I’ll make sure the Alpha never makes that mistake again.”

  Celestio’s chest ached, his lungs and heart refusing to calm. He nodded slowly, his voice barely audible. “I’m sorry.”

  Edess ran a hand through his hair while he glanced back at the fire. “It’s done now,” he said, his voice weary. “But you need to tell me one thing, Celestio. Do you genuinely trust him? Sabas?”

  Celestio hesitated, then voiced his true thoughts. “Yes.”

  Edess held his hands behind his back as he turned his glare toward the fire. “I hope you’re right,” he said quietly. “Because if he hurts you, Celestio, he will never set foot outside the castle again.”

  Celestio swallowed hard, his chest tightening at the weight of the prince’s words. “I understand.”

  The room fell silent again, the tension lingering in the air like smoke. For the first time, Celestio felt the full weight of the path he had chosen. He had accepted an Alpha’s marriage proposal, something that was absolutely unthinkable. But that Alpha had promised that he wouldn’t interfere in his career and relationship with the prince – the one and only thing he wanted most.

  Sabas was… perfect.

  The tension in the room shifted, thickening as if the walls themselves were closing in. The prince tapped his foot as he stared into the fireplace, torn between anger and irritation. He turned back to Celestio, his expression a storm of conflicting emotions. Celestio stayed rooted where he stood, his hands clenched tightly at his sides, his face pale but composed.

  “Explain the meaning of his words,” Edess said. “Supporting you? By joining your family and ‘permitting’ you to remain at my side?” The prince sneered at the idea of Celestio needing someone’s permission to remain with him.

  “Sabas has little political ambition,” Celestio explained. “His greatest desire is to enjoy domestic life. He has promised that he will not ask me to leave or reduce my duties here, nor to interfere with my loyalty to you. He will maintain our home and take care of all tasks related to our household.”

  The thick silence floated between them, and Celestio waited for his prince’s response.

  “You’re telling me,” Edess began, his voice low and incredulous, “that this Alpha – Sir Sabas Kamaria – simply wants… to settle down? Start a family?” He let out a sharp laugh, the sound laced with derision. “He wants to be a domestic husband? Cooking your dinner and rocking babies to sleep? With you? Children? Do you even hear yourself, Celestio?”

  Celestio’s cheeks flushed again but he held his ground. “That is indeed what he wants,” he replied, hoping that Edess couldn’t hear the faint tremor in his voice. “He told me that he wants something different. Something… meaningful. A family with his fated Omega; that is his ultimate ambition.”

  The prince stopped pacing. “And you truly believe that?” he asked. “He’s an Alpha, Celestio. They all say what they think you want to hear. But when the novelty wears off, he will move on to his next target and tell them the same thing.”

  “It’s not like that,” Celestio said firmly. “Sabas isn’t like that.”

  The prince barked out another laugh. “And what about you?” he demanded. “Do you actually think you want to share in his idea of a ‘family’? You? The idea of falling pregnant horrifies you! You’ll be entirely vulnerable and irreparably tied to him for the rest of your life, no matter how he treats you!”

  The words hit harder than Celestio expected, and a mix of shame and frustration rose in his chest. But before he could respond, the prince’s laughter faded, his expression darkening. A shadow passed over his face, and his voice dropped to a quieter, unhappier tone.

  “The thought of you with someone else, with… him…” Edess muttered, almost to himself. “Do you even think you and Sabas are romantically compatible? Or are you just swept up in the thrill of his pheromones? Will he accept you after experiencing more of you than just your scent? Who you really are?”

  The heat on Celestio’s face spread up his neck and into his ears. He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out, his throat tightening under the weight of the question. The prince’s eyes widened slightly, his bafflement clear, then his jaw clenched.

  The prince growled through gritted teeth. “Have you already slept with him?”

  Celestio’s blush grew to cover his entire body. That was all the answer the prince needed.

  Edess’s anger flared anew. He closed the distance between them in two quick strides. Before Celestio could react, the prince’s hand shot out, grabbing him firmly by the neck – not hard enough to hurt, but enough to hold him in place. Celestio’s breath hitched, his hands instinctively coming up to grasp the prince’s wrist.

  Edess yanked down the collar of Celestio’s shirt, exposing the pale skin of his neck and the deep red remnants of Sabas’s kisses scattered across it.

  His touch lingered on the spots for a moment, then his grip on Celestio’s neck loosened.

  “He didn’t mark you,” he said in relief and disgust. “At least you had the sense to not let the Alpha claim you. So what was it, then? Just meaningless sex based on primal instinct?”

  The words stung, even though Celestio knew they weren’t true. He opened his mouth to protest, but the prince cut him off with a sudden, sharp slap to his cheek. The sound echoed through the room and Celestio stumbled backwards, his hand flying to his face as he stared at Edess in shock.

  “You damn idiot,” the prince snapped, his voice trembling with rage. “I have spent my life protecting you! Even when I was a child, I kept every damn Alpha in this court from even thinking of laying a finger on you. And this is how you repay me? By giving yourself up to some random Alpha you just met? Taking him to your home and begging him to have his way with you like a desperate whore?”

  Celestio’s chest ached, his face burning from the slap and the weight of Edess’s words. “It’s not like that,” he quietly repeated, his voice shaking but firm. “Sabas isn’t some random Alpha. He’s different.”

  “How?” the prince shouted at him. “What makes him so special? What are you going to do when he gets tired of you, Celestio?”

  “He won’t!” Celestio held back the tears threatening to well in his eyes from his stinging cheek. “His pheromones aren’t like anyone else’s. They smell like – like how people describe their soulmate. I couldn’t resist them. His scent is… beautiful.”

  Edess stared at him, his expression unreadable, though his hands were still trembling at his sides, his palm stinging from striking his advisor. “‘Soulmate,’” he spat out. “You truly believe you’ve found your fated Alpha?”

  Celestio nodded, his gaze unwavering despite the heat of his blush. “I’m sure of it. He is mine.”

  Edess let out a sharp, humorless laugh, his anger giving way to something raw and vulnerable. “If you decided that you were finally ready to have an Alpha take you,” he said, his voice low and trembling, “why didn’t you allow it to be me?”

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