Omega’s Gamble by Claire Cullen
Chapter Thirty-Three
Raine didn’t likethe plan Darien had come up with, but it wasn’t like they had a lot of choices if they wanted to figure out what Fian was really up to. The idea was simple—Raine would play along with escaping the kingdom with Fian’s help. He’d try to get the other omega to talk before it came to the whole ‘getting onto the airship’ side of things. It meant he and Darien had to keep up the pretense that they were effectively broken up, which was hard when all Raine wanted to do was cling to the alpha and never let go. Keeping up pretenses also meant he wasn’t able to do any work on the shield. Though he still felt some misgivings about it, he was itching to get stuck in.
They had four days until the airship arrived, and they had to make the rift between them look convincing. Raine didn’t go out of his way to seek out Fian, afraid that the wily omega would catch him out somehow. He was having lunch in the great hall so, after a morning in his workshop, he made sure Ferno was comfortable and changed into a clean tunic before heading out. At the entrance to the north wing, he met a face he’d hoped to avoid for at least a few more days. Fian.
“Prince Raine, I’m so sorry to intrude.”
Raine was tempted just to turn and walk away.
“Hello, Fian. Is there something I can help you with?” It wouldn’t do to seem too friendly, but neither could he seem too cold. Polite indifference was something he was well-practiced at.
“I need to speak with you. Privately. It’s urgent.”
He pretended to hesitate, looking around as if afraid someone might overhear. “Can it wait? I’m supposed to be having lunch with Etta.”
“No, Prince Raine. I wouldn’t ask this if it wasn’t a matter of life and death.”
Raine gestured toward his parlor. “After you, then.”
Fian leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Could we talk outside? The walls have ears.”
“There’s no one else here except my cat.”
“You and I both know there are ways and means.”
“Has there been a change in the plan?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Fian said cryptically. “I’ll explain outside.”
With a sigh of frustration, Raine acquiesced, grabbing his cloak and following Fian out. They left the castle by a side entrance, walking in the direction of the landing strip where an airship idled. People went back and forth to landed ships all the time. No one would take notice of their presence.
“Say what you have to say,” he called, raising his voice to be heard over the wind.
“It’s something you need to see with your own eyes,” Fian shouted back. “It’s just over here.” He gestured to a selection of cargo crates that had been unloaded from the airship.
Raine didn’t know what the omega could possibly have to show him. It was so strange. A sense of unease rolled over him, and he glanced back toward the castle, wishing he hadn’t agreed to come out there alone. He touched the bear’s paw amulet at his neck, feeling a zing of power flow through it. Then did it twice more. To Fian, it would look like nothing more than a nervous gesture.
He stopped at the edge of the cargo, grabbing Fian by the arm. “I’m not going any further until you tell me what you want.”
Fian’s whole attitude changed just like that.
“What I want?” he asked with a smirk. “Do you think I want anything from you? Do you think I want your husband? Ignorant oaf of an alpha. I have higher aspirations than to be married into some failing kingdom. You should wise up, Prince Raine. I don’t know why you set foot off that airship, but it was the worst mistake of your life. Your father agrees. Thankfully, it’s a mistake easily rectified.”
Raine didn’t understand and could only stare at the omega in confusion. He let go of Fian’s arm, took a step back, and was grabbed from behind by strong arms. He fought the hold, terror seizing him as he tried to break free. When he opened his mouth to scream, a hand clamped down over his face, silencing him. He was dragged unwillingly toward the airship as Fian ran on board ahead of him. When he felt the ramp beneath his feet, he struggled harder. He had no doubt they’d take off the moment he was safely onboard. Once they were in the air, that would be it. He’d be done for.
A roar shook the air around him, and Raine took advantage of the distraction to slam a foot down onto his abductor’s toes. The man yelped in pain, his grip loosening, and Raine fought his way free, diving away from the ramp. A second man stopped him, shoving him back onto it, and he fell to his knees.
“Let me go!” he shouted.
“We’re rescuing you, Prince Raine,” the man said, stealing a look over his shoulder as another roar was carried on the wind. “Stop fighting us.”
“Never! I don’t need rescuing.”
He barreled forward again, trying to shove past the man, knowing that the airship couldn’t take off as long as the ramp was still extended. He just had to delay them until Darien reached them. As if on cue, the alpha’s polar bear landed on top of the crate next to them. And he wasn’t alone. Rex’s leopard appeared on the crate to his right, with a fierce Thorne to his left, in all his tiger glory. The three shifters roared, the sound making even the airship shake.
The men holding Raine panicked. He was shoved off the ramp as they dived inside the ship. Rex and Thorne took off after them as Darien rushed to his side. The alpha nudged him as he climbed to his feet. He managed to give Darien a watery smile, shaky after his near-abduction.
“I’m okay, Darien. It was Fian. He lured me out here…”
He glanced around to see that there was no sign of the omega. The airship doors had closed and the ramp was retracting. There was no way to prevent them from taking off. That didn’t stop Rex and Thorne from doing as much damage as they could in those few seconds with their teeth and claws. The airship stuttered and lifted off, listing as it gained altitude. Something trailed out from the back of it, painting the air.
Darien shifted back, pulling Raine into his arms and looking him up and down.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay, Darien. My father sent them for me, they said they were rescuing me, taking me home.”
Darien hugged him tightly and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You’re safe, I promise. We won’t let anyone take you.”
Rex and Thorne joined them, both human again. “They won’t get far, not leaking fuel like that. I hope they have a boat nearby for when they ditch in the water. We could send one, but they’ll probably be out in the open sea by then.”
“They’re not who we need to worry about,” Darien said, his tone serious and foreboding. “King Uldar sent them and used Fian to lure Raine out here. I think it’s happening.”
“What’s happening?” Raine asked, looking between their three grim faces.
“They’re coming,” Darien said. “The royal alliance. They’ve finally grown tired of waiting. Of sending ship after ship and getting nowhere. They’re not playing around anymore. They’ll come in force this time. It’ll be war.”
* * *
Darien had been halfwayto the great hall when he felt the amulet on his neck pulse. It happened again seconds later. And then a third time. Once might have meant that Raine was simply thinking of him. But three times?
Darien ran to the hall and confirmed Raine wasn’t there. He met Thorne and Rex on his way to Raine’s rooms.
“Have you seen Raine? I think something’s wrong.”
“Not since breakfast,” Rex said.
“Can you follow his scent?” Thorne suggested.
Darien shifted to his wolf form without a word and took off toward the north wing. Raine would have gone there after breakfast to spend time in his workshop.
Raine’s scent was strong near the entrance, but there was another scent equally as strong—Fian. He followed both scents through the corridors, breaking into a run as the trail led outside, his brothers on his heels. The guard saw them coming and pulled open the door.
“Did Prince Raine pass this way?” he heard Thorne ask.
“Yes, Prince Thorne. He was with Lord Gentry’s son.”
“Fian was here?” Rex asked.
Darien dived outside, searching for Raine with his eyes since the fierce wind was blowing the scents everywhere. The airship caught his eye, and he looked over just in time to see Raine being dragged behind a crate and toward the airship’s ramp.
He shifted from wolf to bear on instinct, letting out a roar of anger as he charged toward the ship with Rex and Thorne right behind him. He leaped onto the biggest crate, roaring again as he took in the men dragging Raine up the ramp toward the ship. The men panicked, shoving Raine away and running. Darien jumped off the crate and rushed to Raine’s side, letting Rex and Thorne take care of the abductors.
As soon as Raine mentioned his father, Darien put it all together. He knew what was coming. Fian’s prior behavior made far more sense as well. He had no doubt that the omega, and indeed Lord Gentry and his whole family, were on board that airship, fleeing to Ludinia who they must have been passing information to. Their last act would have been to take Raine with them. Going to such desperate lengths to get both themselves and Raine out of the kingdom could only be for one reason—a full-scale attack was coming, far bigger than anything they’d faced before.