(Thane)
His delicate little firefly was certainly not so delicate as she appeared, the claws of a wolf were right under the surface, and Thane loved it. The amount of spirit she had shown on the auction block and even now as she was being led into the wolfs den, she held her head high. It put his mind at ease some what to know that she had a fighter's spirit, she was going to need it where she was being taken, the harem was full of beautiful poisonous women. Thane had done her no favors by showing her favoritism right away, if anything it would have probably put an even bigger target on her back. Celeste was gorgeous, brave, a virgin, and an omega. Those things alone would be enough to threaten the other women, partnered with the fact that he had yet to even visit the harem since his father's departure. The women were already going to be on edge, and this might push them over it, he would need to double the guards on duty.
"Jubal, gather everything we have on Omega's and bring it to the study."
"Thane Rysling actually cracking open a book, this is a first." Jubal laughed a little.
Thane shook his head at the man but gave a rewarding smile, "I have some things to brush up on, it is not every day we have an omega in our home." He frowned slightly, "In all seriousness though, I want to make sure that I take care of her." This was probably the most effort he had put into a woman in many years, it was kind of exhilarating.
"You know that you are going to have to…see…other women also. If you don't, you know that Miss Celeste will not last long in the harem, the women grow bored and worried. They can not even flirt with the idea of becoming the favorite, the fortunate, or least of all your wife if they are not given the chance."
Thane sighed walking into the Palace, "What if I can't go through with it?"
"Then fake it my friend." Jubal said patting his shoulder in sympathy.
Thane thought about what his friend had said as he made his way to the library. He wanted to get to know Celeste more, wanted to court her, find out the things she liked, and make her feel that Vlallas could be her home too. How would he accomplish that, if he also had to separate his time between other women? The thought of touching another female, besides Celeste, put a rock in his gut. The feeling was strange, never had he felt so attached to a woman before, his wolf wanted to pounce on her and ravage her skin with its fangs. Jubal came up to the desk and put down a leather clad journal. "Is this it?" Thane asked picking up the bound papers.
"Unfortunately, sir, this is all the remains from the history of the Omega's, it was saved from the burning temple of Dela when your father was in his prime."
Ah, yes, the Temple of Dela, it had been raided by the out-landing Rovers many years ago. All but one of the priestesses were brutally raped, then slaughtered, before the guards had been able to get to them. "Is the Priestess that had survived the attack still alive?" Thane asked Jubal who was studying him closely.
"I believe so sir, would you like me to summon her to the palace?"
Thane let out a weary sigh, "Yes, send for her and have her seen here, she might have more information for me. The Priestess were around these records for years, studying them, it could not hurt to find out what she does or does not know."
"Very well." Jubal gave a formal bow and took his leave.
Thane opened the journal and took in its content, the writing was old, written in ancient Vlallasrian. Shaking his head Thane sent up a silent pray to his father, thanking him for making Thane learn the old word. There had been so many times where he had questioned why he had to learn a language that had long since been dead and gone but his father had insisted, saying that, "Even though their ancestors were dead, that did not mean that there voice had to be forgotten." Thane had mumbled some adolescent nonsense but learned it anyway.
"Omega's are the future of Vlallas, with their younglings the region will soar to new heights, there is a condition that must be met in order to achieve this. The Omega must be mated in order to be bred. Once the female omega is marked, it triggers her heat, in doing this it sets in motion an Alpha's rut."
An Alpha's rut, what in the hell did that mean? Thane sat back in his chair pinching the bridge of his nose. Celeste would have to be mated, before she could breed, which meant that in order to have her, she would have to be his one and only. In the long line of Emperor's before him none had actually mated their women, it is why their harems were so large. Mating was a serious commitment, one a mark was put on a woman it bound their souls and minds, it was said that if one died than the other died shortly after. The mating bond was a tricky slope to go sliding down, if the two that preformed the mating ritual were not true mates, than the results could backfire, and kill them in the process. It was one of the many reasons that couples so rarely tried it, for fear of their own lives, and that of their lovers. Could Thane be so selfish as to subject Celeste to that kind of fate?
A knock on the door signaled Jubal's return, he led the Priestess into the room, "Emperor Rysling, this is High Priestess Galilea, survivor of Temple Dela."
Thane stood from his chair bowing respectfully, "Please take a seat Priestess, I just need a moment of your time."
"Yes, I figured you would call on me sooner or later." She stated coolly, taking a seat across from him. "I heard you have found an Omega after all this time."
Thane nodded, sitting back down he starred at the woman in front of him, time had done nothing to diminish her beauty. The woman was striking, her black hair streaked with silver, her wide opal grey eyes, she did not look a day over thirty otherwise. The robe she wore was a plain white, trimmed in gold, hanging loosely against her body. "yes, she is here. I was hoping that you might shed a little light on the history of the Omega."
The woman sat forward, seriousness etched into every line of her face, "I will tell you all I know but afterwards, I want you to promise me something in return."
Thane pondered the woman's terms but finally nodded, "Alright." He stated and took a deep breath in preparation of the Priestess story.