Omega’s Gamble by Claire Cullen

Chapter Twenty-Five

Darien wasn’t surprisedthat Raine didn’t join him for breakfast in the morning room after avoiding him the night before. Still, he didn’t like the way they’d left things and wanted to clear the air between them. He was halfway to the north wing when he got the call that pirates had been spotted only half a mile from the castle. He dashed to the armory, sent word to his brothers to gather the guards, and went on ahead to see what they were dealing with.

The morning mist had started to disperse but it was still tough to see much out to sea. In the distance, he spotted a pirate ship near the shore. Running along the cliffs to get a better look, he saw something else. There was a person on the beach, close to the oncoming pirate ship. A person wearing an unmistakable white cloak. Raine.

He shouted the omega’s name, but his words were lost on the wind. He ran faster, racing across the top of the cliffs as he watched the pirates seize Raine and toss him into their boat. The cliffs weren’t easy to scale here, but it would take too long to find an easier way down. He climbed as quickly as he dared, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to keep the pirate ship in sight. When it pulled away from the shore, he let out a roar of anger and climbed faster. If they got Raine back to their mothership, he’d never see him again. Even if they ransomed him, it would be to Ludinia, not Stormshield. And who knew what he’d go through at the pirate’s hands in that time?

The pirate ship was disappearing into the mists when he jumped the last few feet to land on the sand. There was only one way for him to rescue Raine. He had to shift. And there was no question as to which shifter form he should choose. Racing down the beach, he shifted as he ran, moving seamlessly from two legs to four huge paws. The cold shock of the water hit him as he struck out, diving under the surface as he chased after the boat. It was moving fast, but he was faster. Only the closer he got to it, the slower it seemed to get. Something was wrong. There were people in the water and the boat was lower than it should have been. It was sinking. Where was Raine?

Something fell over the edge of the boat and into the water, sinking fast. At first, he thought it was cargo, but a flash of white had him taking a closer look. Raine. He dived after the omega, swimming smoothly through the water as Raine sank lower. Swooping under him, he tossed the omega onto his back and made for the surface.

As he broke the surface of the water, he spotted the royal guard’s vessel rounding the coastline. With any luck, they’d round up the pirates making a dash for their mothership. He turned his attention to bringing Raine safely to shore, swimming fast as the omega clung to his back, the icy waves crashing over them.

It was a relief to feel solid ground beneath his paws, and he carried on up the beach, crouching on the damp sand well away from the lapping waves to allow Raine to dismount. It took the omega a long minute to unclench his hands and slide off him, with Darien listing to the side to help him while making sure there wasn’t far for him to fall. Once Raine was safely on the sand, he moved some distance away and shifted back. A glance out to sea confirmed that the guards had everything in hand, leaving Darien free to give Raine his full attention. The omega crouched on the sand, his chest heaving, his eyes glued to Darien.

Darien hurried over to him, not liking the look in his eyes.

“You’re a shapeshifter,” Raine breathed.

He didn’t reply to that. It wasn’t the time for that discussion. Instead, he knelt in front of the omega as he looked him over.

“Are you hurt?”

Raine just stared blankly back at him. Darien had smelled blood as he’d carried the omega to shore, and he could see patches of it staining Raine’s sodden cloak and a few thin red lines trailing down his arms. It looked like more than it was, the water spreading it further. Still, he had to be sure.

“Let’s get these ropes off, okay?”

The prince didn’t resist as Darien carefully untied the ropes binding his wrists. Underneath the rough material, he found skin rubbed raw and purple bruising, one wrist worse than the other. He couldn’t find the source of the blood until he took Raine’s hands in his, turning them slowly. Raine was wearing some sort of band on his wrist, attached to three rings on his fingers by thin chains. The chains held a flat, disklike pendant against Raine’s palm, and that was where the blood was coming from. The disk had been pushed into the skin, cutting deep, with blood still seeping out around it.

Darien worked quickly and carefully to remove the odd jewelry, reaching under his cloak to tear a piece of cloth from his undershirt so he could bind Raine’s hand. The bracelet and rings he shoved into a pocket, more interested in caring for the omega than his finery. Raine watched all this with dazed eyes before a shiver wracked him. It was followed by another, then another, before the full-body shakes started and Raine’s teeth chattered.

“You saved me.”

There was awe and disbelief in Raine’s voice. Darien wasn’t sure whether to be chagrined or grateful.

“Of course. Here, come closer.” There was no point offering Raine his own soaked cloak, but he could at least provide some body heat. He eased the omega into his arms and drew the edges of his cloak forward to cover them both, casting his eyes around for help to arrive from the castle. Any minute now.

Raine shuddered hard and pressed his face into Darien’s neck. Darien wasn’t sure, but he thought he felt tears against his skin.

“Shh. You’re safe now.”

“They were right on top of me before I even noticed them.”

“Aye. They used the mist to cover their movements. It’s not the first time.”

“What did they want with me?”

Darien didn’t answer, knowing that hearing the truth would do no one any good right then. People taken by the pirates universally met bad ends, though someone like Raine might have been luckier than most—eventually ransomed back to his father’s kingdom. The pirates might have been backed by the alliance, but they wouldn’t pass up an opportunity like that.

“None of that matters now. I’ve got you. You’re okay.”

A group of guards ran down the beach toward them, calling loudly. Darien eased away from Raine, caught the omega’s chin gently, and tugged his head up. Raine stared back at him, his tearstained face pale.

“The guards are going to bring you back to the castle and see that you’re taken care of.”

Raine shook his head, reaching for him.

“You need to get warm and dry,” Darien insisted. “You’ll catch your death in these wet things. I’ll come as soon as I’m able.”

He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to promise that, since he had responsibilities elsewhere. But he’d underestimated his own feelings on the matter, relieved beyond belief to have Raine safe in his arms. Raine seemed equally as reluctant to let him go, which was more understandable given the ordeal he’d just been through.

He helped Raine to his feet and then turned to greet the guards.

“I need two of you to escort Prince Raine back to the castle. He’s in shock. Get him straight to his rooms, get the servants to look after him, and fetch the doctor to see to his hand. The pirates tried to abduct him, and he nearly drowned.”

Darien had to be sure they understood the gravity of what had happened.

“At once, Prince Darien,” one of them said, stepping forward and offering his cloak to the omega.

Darien helped Raine out of his own sodden cloak and into the dry one, then saw them off. He couldn’t quite tear his gaze away until they were out of sight, on their way back to the castle. Only then did he turn his attention to the royal guards and their pursuit of the pirates.

He was surprised to find one of the royal boats towing the damaged pirate boat to shore. They usually weighted them down and left them where they sank. They were rarely sturdily built enough to bother repairing.

“What is it?” he called, jogging down to meet them as Thorne and three of the guards waded through the water, dragging the scuttled boat to shore.

“Something sunk it,” Thorne said.

“I can see that. It was going down just as I went into the water. Probably hit a rock on the way in.”

“A rock in the shape of a perfect circle?” Thorne asked with a raised eyebrow as he and the guards lifted the boat almost vertical. Everyone stared in silence.

“It’s spelled,” one of the guards said, his voice hushed.

It was spelled, runes carved deep into the wood. A rock wouldn’t have taken it out. Nor would most of their weapons. Now and then, Darien got lucky in his shifter form and managed to damage a boat enough to sink one, but more often than not, the damage he did wasn’t sufficient to stop them.

“What did that?” Thorne wondered aloud as they surveyed the hole neatly burned through the wood, the edges smooth.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Darien admitted.

As he spoke, he slipped a hand into his pocket, and his fingers contacted the strange jewelry Raine had been wearing with its small, perfectly round disk in the center.

Raine had been in that boat, bound and terrified. And somehow, despite the magic protecting it, the boat had sunk. Either Raine was the luckiest omega in the world, or there was something more going on here.

“Bring it back to the castle, have the smiths take a look at it,” he ordered. “Thorne, can you handle the rest? I need to go check on Raine.”

Without waiting for an answer, he took off back to the castle.

* * *

As much ashe knew he shouldn’t have stormed straight into Raine’s rooms, he couldn’t hold himself back. He needed to see for himself that Raine was okay, and he needed answers.

He charged into the room to find the doctor treating the omega prince’s hand. Raine stared at him wide-eyed, and the doctor threw an irritated glance over his shoulder.

“I’ll be finished in just a minute, Prince Darien.”

“How is he?”

“Nothing a hot cup of tea and a good rest won’t fix.”

“And his hand?”

“The cut was deep. I cleaned and stitched it. He’ll be good as new in a week or two.”

The doctor returned to his work, and Darien paced back and forth on the other side of the room. A servant came in with tea, pouring them both a cup before making himself scarce.

“There.” The doctor straightened with a groan. “I’ll come back and check on you later, Prince Raine.”

He threw another disapproving glance Darien’s way as he made his exit, leaving the two of them alone.

Now that they had the room to themselves, Darien hesitated for a moment. A lot had happened in what felt like mere minutes. Raine’s near-abduction. His revealing to the omega that he was a shifter. The scuttling of the pirate ship. And Raine was in shock. He should rest. But Darien needed answers. He had to understand what was going on. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the jewelry, holding it out so Raine could see it.

“Tell me what this is.”

He’d expected confusion, bewilderment, even anger from the shaken omega. What he got was something very different—terror.