DECEPTIONS
I WALKED into the queen’s receiving hall. My steps were light, my face a stony mask of indifference.
Xerxes walked beside me. He was slightly taller than me, almost as tall as Jax, but built leaner like Cobra.
The scent of cinnamon wafted off him, but it wasn’t subtle and sweet like the first time I’d met him.
It was a powerful punch of cloves that choked my throat and raised my hackles.
He looked calm, but looks could be deceiving.
His purple eyes were clear, breath even, and long blond hair curled down his back in soft waves. The hair should have made him look feminine.
It didn’t.
His broad shoulders, harsh features, and lean muscles were entirely masculine.
Together, our steps made no sounds as we walked.
We were both spies, trained soldiers who completed missions on behalf of our leaders.
The only difference—I worked for my father and the syndicate, and Xerxes worked for the fae queen.
My body was tight, back straight, eyes hooded, as I took measured steps toward the dais where the queen sat.
She lounged on her golden skull throne and talked to an adviser.
We both said nothing, just stood and waited.
Around us, the golden hall sparkled with opulence and riches. Massive bay windows, arched ceilings, and golden gables came together in a breathtaking architectural feat.
Its perfection angered me.
I wanted to punch out the perfect fucking windows and scream with rage, take a shard and slit the queen’s head off her shoulders.
I would have tried if I hadn’t known the extent of her abilities. She’d have me up in flames before I sneezed in her direction.
I’d carefully crafted my spy persona for too long to throw it all away.
Outside, I was as calm and indifferent as a block of granite. Inside, my soul burned alive with flames.
I’d been sitting in a bedroom when the painting on the wall had transformed into a television.
At first, I had been confused why Cobra’s naked body was on display. The queen had promised she would send the alphas back to the beast realm.
My confusion had turned to blinding rage when Sadie had joined Cobra.
I’d swallowed the urge to kill for so many reasons: the guard had dared touch her naked flesh, she’d been broadcast to the entire realm, and her perfect little body was covered in horrible scars.
Scars she’d kept hidden from me.
Part of me wanted to fall to my knees and beg her for forgiveness. I wanted to puke thinking about every fucking time I’d taunted her for being a prude.
However, I also wanted to wrap my hands around Sadie’s neck and scold her for keeping such an awful secret. I wanted to punish my princess until she never kept a secret again.
Instead of bashing my head through a window like I wanted to, I pushed all my rage back into the burning flame
of my soul.
Xerxes stood silently beside me.
I didn’t know why, but he hadn’t removed the heel that the princess had stabbed into his bicep. His skin had healed around the pike, yet it stuck out from his muscle.
I breathed slowly and tried not to think about Sadie.
With massive effort, I calmed the fire burning my soul.
My muscles relaxed.
I was in full control of myself and my environment.
The fae queen whispered furiously to her adviser, who jotted down notes on a golden scroll.
We didn’t interrupt.
The queen’s throne was a warning. It was a towering seat constructed entirely of skulls coated in gold foil and decorated with priceless jewels.
It towered hundreds of feet into the air behind the queen and was called the seat of death.
Every person who had ever sat on it was a power- hungry, bloodthirsty, monstrous fae that had proven themselves stronger and more ruthless than the last leader.
Fae were immortal and notoriously difficult to kill.
As a result, in the realm, there was no inheritance of power. Leaders were born through violence. Whoever could rip the heart out of the monarch and eat it became the next ruler of the realm.
For the last five centuries, the fae queen had sat on the seat of death.
Before her reign, no one could remember a time when the monarch wasn’t a full-blooded fire fae. And all the leaders with fire abilities had specialized in one area— torture.
There were four elite-fae abilities, and everyone’s power manifested differently.
Of course, there were some trends: fire was usually associated with pain, water with ice weapons, earth with the creation of boulders, and air with the ability to fly.
But besides these generic trends, plenty of fae had unique abilities.
Some water fae could only create ice swords, while others made spears; some air fae could fly fast, while others could spin in circles and create cyclones; some fire fae made flames that hurt like daggers, while others could read the future; some earth fae could create massive boulders and throw them, while others could grow dangerous vines.
Besides the four categories of elite abilities, fae powers were not an exact science.
Nevertheless, the fae monarch remained a fire fae.
No earth, air, or water fae had ever been strong enough to breach a fire fae’s defenses. Now the queen’s power was unmatched, her reign unthreatened.
I knew this because the syndicate smuggled weapons between the two realms, and the queen was the largest buyer.
As syndicate leader, my father was involved with the fae queen and privy to top secret information about more than just the shifter realm. As my father’s heir, so was I.
For as long as I could remember, I’d been taught the intricacies of the fae world and the court and tested on the knowledge like my life depended on it.
Since I was heir to the syndicate, the fae queen was my future business partner.
I didn’t know how my father had gained a connection with the queen, and frankly, I didn’t want to know. You didn’t question my father’s choices; you bowed your head and obeyed.
Even though I didn’t care for my father, I’d never despised him or worried about his business proclivities.
Now I did.
My mission had been to return kidnapped alphas to the beast realm.
When I’d first learned about the smuggling of alpha children, I’d hoped I was also kidnapped. That I had a caring family waiting for me in a faraway realm.
My father had assured me he’d fucked an omega, and I was his seed. I was just another weapon in his arsenal.
When he’d told me about the mission, my father had explained that the shifter oligarchy thought they were paying a fae crime lord to kidnap the children. They didn’t know they paid the queen herself.
But that was just one side of the story because the queen was a two-timing fucking bitch.
That was where my mission came in.
The beast realm didn’t know who was kidnapping their children, and recently the queen had agreed to help them get their alphas back.
They’d paid her an exorbitant amount to bring back their lost alphas. At first, she’d sent spider fae through the portal to retrieve them.
Once the beast realm had started paying her more money to return the alphas than the shifter realm had paid to kidnap them, she’d switched sides.
My father said she was a businesswoman. I preferred royal cunt.
Her problem—the spider fae were only able to kidnap the weakest alphas. The strongest remained.
Desperate to earn the exorbitant reward for their return, the queen paid the syndicate to help her capture the last alphas.
That was where I came in. Of course, my father got a generous cut for every alpha brought back.
And I’d agreed because I didn’t have a choice, and the alphas were being returned to their families.
That was the mission.
At least, it was what I had been fucking told.
I’d completed the mission, and Sadie, Jax, and Cobra should have been immediately brought back to the beast
realm and reunited with their families.
Rage burned in my gut.
They weren’t supposed to be paraded naked in front of the entire realm.
My stomach hurt with shame, and I swallowed down the urge to scream as I remembered how betrayed the princess had looked when she’d realized I was working for the queen.
She hadn’t expected it. No one ever did.
Since I was five years old, my father had raised me to be the perfect spy. The key was to craft new personas.
That was what I had done the last year with the alphas. I was an angry person, but I wasn’t an annoying hothead. That was my fake persona.
In reality, my anger didn’t manifest in annoying outbursts.
It manifested in the need to control my body, control my posture, control my facial expressions, and control my environment.
My body was a weapon.
Every tattoo that covered my flesh was a testament to my ability to kill.
Every time I’d sparred with Jax or Cobra, I’d held back from using my true abilities. It had been infuriating, but necessary.
When Sadie had arrived, the mission had almost fallen apart because I didn’t want to yell and scream at her like my hotheaded persona would.
No, I wanted to wrap my fingers around her delicate throat and order her to kneel beneath me.
Everything about the delicate, feisty alpha triggered my beast. She triggered my urge to control and brought it to new heights.
Every time I was around my princess, my horns lengthened and the scent of sweet cranberries burned my nose.
I wanted to bathe in cranberries. I needed to pin her beneath me and feast upon her. I dreamed about her pretty neck bowing low in submission. I wanted to own her soul.
In the syndicate, they called me the devil for a reason.
I’d been the devil before the large onyx horns had sprouted from my skull, before I’d first shifted into the monstrous ram.
The reason for my nickname—I killed mercilessly with precision and control.
The problem was my calm facade shattered around the princess. My usual exactness disappeared, my muscles spasmed, and my soul burned bright with passion.
I had no way of controlling myself around her, so the solution was simple—I needed to control her.
With a deep breath, I swallowed the urge to scream at the injustice of what the queen had done to the princess. She’d displayed her naked form for the entire realm to see. Bile burned my throat, but I didn’t act on my impulses.
Instead, I held myself completely still and waited.
After a long time, the fae queen shooed her adviser away. The queen jumped when she realized we were standing in front of her.
We held ourselves so still she didn’t notice our presence.
She fluttered her eyelashes dramatically and leaned forward to show off her ample cleavage. “Ascher, Xerxes, what can I do for the two of you?”
It wasn’t a secret that the queen wanted to fuck us. She acted flirtatiously every chance she could. I hadn’t touched her, and as far as I could tell, neither had Xerxes.
She did nothing for me.
Most women wanted to fuck me. Women were sluts, and every experience I’d had with them had reinforced my beliefs. At least, most of my experiences had.
I couldn’t help but compare the queen to a certain white-haired alpha with ruby eyes.
I spoke softly with no inflection in my voice, “You told me you wouldn’t hurt the alphas.”
“They are fine. Don’t worry about it.” The fae queen waved her hand dismissively.
I responded coolly, “The mission was to return them to the beast realm.”
She licked her lips. “You’re such a perfect soldier. I’m quite intrigued how your father created you to be so… dedicated to your job.”
I said nothing as I stared at her. My face gave nothing away.
After a long pause, the queen rolled her eyes. “Relax, Ascher, your cut has already been paid. You’re now the richest man in the shifter realm.”
Still, I said nothing.
She huffed dramatically. “Fine, if you must know, they will be returned to the beast realm, but first, they are going to compete in the Fae Games. I might as well make a little more money off them while they’re here. The beast realm will never know, and then they will be sent back. Your mission is completed. You’re free to go.”
The flames in my soul exploded into a bonfire as my subconscious screamed for violence, for bloodshed.
The Fae Games were violent and dangerous. Usually, women weren’t allowed to compete. There was no fucking way my princess would survive.
I swallowed down the urge to vomit. My face didn’t twitch an inch.
“Most competitors die in the Fae Games,” I said slowly.
The queen shrugged. “Well, that’s not my problem, is it?
If they want to survive, they will.”
“My mission was to return them to the beast realm.” A long moment passed.
A sneer contorted her face. She was done playing coy. The heinous power she possessed and the murders she’d committed to claim the seat of death were reflected in her
dark eyes. “Go home to your father, Ascher. Take your riches and leave.”
“I must complete the mission.” My tone was bored, body language impassive, face devoid of expression.
The only thing the queen could see me as was the perfect soldier.
That was the persona I wore for the queen, and if I was anything else, she would destroy me.
“Oh my sun god, slit my throat.” She banged her head back against the gold skulls of her throne. “You won’t leave, will you?”
I said nothing.
She sneered, “If it weren’t for how extremely advantageous my relationship with your father is, I would murder you right now.”
I believed her. Alphas were immortal, but we could still be killed if all the blood was drained from our bodies and then we were decapitated before we could shift into our beast forms.
It was extremely hard to actually drain all our blood, but she’d banned alphas from shifting in the fae realm. Plus, the easiest way to drain our blood was to use a monstrous fae vampyre. Rumor had it the queen had an extremely powerful one under her heel.
Still, I said nothing. Just stared at her, an emotionless soldier who couldn’t abandon his orders.
She waved at me dismissively. “Fine, you’ll be the guard for those useless alphas. You can help them fight and stay alive so you can complete your mission.”
I nodded. She was sending me to my death, thinking she would just get rid of me, but it was the perfect solution.
I would fight and protect them, then I would return all the alphas to the beast realm. Afterward, I would make the princess mine.
The queen turned toward the blond omega beside me. “Xerxes, what can I do for you?”
It still shocked me that the queen had an omega working for her. They were extinct in the shifter realm, and the oligarchy would do anything to have one. Without an omega, you couldn’t birth alphas.
From what I knew of the beast realm, those like Xerxes were highly coveted there too.
Xerxes was rare and in great demand. He had told me he was from the beast realm and had voluntarily joined the fae queen’s army. I couldn’t imagine why.
“I wish to oversee the alphas. I don’t trust them,” Xerxes said, his lyrical accent smooth as butter.
When he said “alphas,” his cinnamon omega scent spiked, becoming spicier and less sweet.
His face was impassive, but like me, he wasn’t what he seemed.
“Yes, that would probably be good.” The queen nodded, distracted by a scroll handed to her by another servant. “Ascher will fight with them to ensure they live, and Xerxes, you will guard them to make sure they don’t cause trouble.”
She waved her hand, dismissing us.
Without another word, we turned in unison and walked out of the atrium.
In the hall, I turned to Xerxes. “Why the hell did you request that?” I asked him.
The image of the princess’s naked body on the screen flashed before my eyes, and I fought the urge to roar in his face. Xerxes had seen her nude body, and I didn’t trust him. He was a male omega, and she was a female alpha. Both rare, and biologically compatible. The fire in my gut burned brighter.
Xerxes’s violet eyes flashed with disgust. “Because I don’t trust any of them, including you. I know all about alphas, and I understand how you bastards work.”
I took a deep breath and stalked down the hall, away from him. He understood nothing.
He had no clue about the depths of my, Jax’s, or Cobra’s depravity.
We weren’t alphas from the civilized beast realm; we were alphas from the cold, desolate shifter realm.
He had no idea what he was up against. But then again, neither did I.
