Rue
Their spat had her feeling a strange sort of shame. It crept up her spine, ugly and raw. A fucked up feeling that had her trembling. It was as if he'd got far too close to her heart as if she'd been wrung out dry and replaced with shuddering embarrassment. This would be the third time that they had broken down her walls, had seen her at her worst—angry, frightened Rue in despair.
Pathetic.
Guilt flavoured her tongue and ached below her breastbone. Halcyon had spooked her. A toe out of line, and her mind had jumped far ahead into an unforeseen future. She'd clawed him so deeply she'd been like the wildest of animals, and that had her conscience disturbed. Her knuckles ached, and with it, the pulse of guilt.
She shouldn't have done it. But overreaction was an essential part of survival as an Omega, and brute force was an Alpha's best method of communication. She did nothing wrong, that was what she'd say to another in her position. And yet, the look in his eyes was seared into her mind, and the terror continued roaring through her veins. Her lips pursed, a tremble in her fingers.
Rue had let her guard down, allowed him to step too fucking close, close enough for her to show her claws. How had she forgotten that in the hierarchy, Rue was now prostrated upon the lowest rung, no longer shielded by a falsified identity? How could she have forgotten that she was just an Omega, and all he had to do was bite her?
Rue cursed.
She'd fucked up from the day they'd learnt of her truth, the day she'd got her Heat. The day she had realised that at least one of them was her soulmate. But soulmates shouldn't fucking matter. Not when she was an Omega, not when she wasn't the Alpha they wanted, not when they needed a harem of girls for heirs and Rue was just another one of their numbers, their conquests, their flings.
Rue was just an Omega.
Her chest burned then, a piercing sort of awful, pinched tight in her throat, forming lumps flavoured with bile. Her mind was dripping into a section of her heart that she'd never once allowed herself to feel. The naïve hope that lingered behind her walls. Her fingers dug into her flesh, teeth snagging on her lower lip. Mama was right, soulmates were bullshit. And yet, it still hurt. It still burned.
It still fucking destroyed her that there was no such thing as miracles. That there wasn't a good man in her life. One who was determined to please her. One whom she could truly depend on, one with a heart of gold. A soulmate that made falling in love so easy she would know nothing but happiness.
All she had were overpowered assholes.
The seven emperors were dangerous, throwing the word 'love' out into the air like the most poisonous sort of delusion for a gullible mind. Rue couldn't fucking tell if they were lying, if they were merely pulling her tail and trying to get what they want with theatrics. Her mind swam, drifting towards Seraphim. Oddly her heart skipped, and something anchored in her chest pulled, mind flashing through to the others. Levi, Kieran, Halcyon, Altair, Valentino, Dante— She caught herself then, a hot flush rushing up her spine.
Pathetic Omega.
Gullible Omega.
She had to be stronger.
Rue raised her hands and felt the tremble of her fingers, the muscles twitching from a fight. So weak. She had not truly won, Halcyon had merely submitted because he wanted more. They all did. And as much as they tried to act as if she were strong, they had only been weakened by her touch, by her guiding, by her ability to stand tall despite their poison. Their surprise gave her the upper hand.
When they fought, they weren't even fucking trying.
Her self-defence wasn't real strength, it wasn't a real battle with the monsters swarming the planets and blood in the air. She did not truly defeat them with her feet planted upon the ground and the Alphas on their asses. If they truly wanted to win, with weapons and armour, with teeth and claws, things would be different. And if taking their eyes would be a key to her victory, she'd wield it like a weapon.
But first Rue had to learn.
She needed far more than her morning runs, her fists to a hanging bag at the gym, and the burn of her muscles. Rue needed more than the occasional gym bot that taught her the basics of breaking out of a hold, the use of her legs to kick an Alpha out of the way, and the shove of her body weight to best a stronger attacker. Her methods were short fast sprints that could not defeat a group.
Rue needed to have an upper hand.
She was determined then, and the tremble ceased as she made her way to the door. A table was pushed against the threshold, a trap snagged between its legs. If she were strong enough, flimsy attempts to protect herself wouldn't be necessary. Her frown deepened. There was a class she could take, a class that she had not dreamt of ever signing up for. But with the seven so invested in her privacy, in her secrets, it would now be possible to push the limits of her masquerade.
Rue's lips lifted into a smile.
*
Halcyon
He slept by their door, curled on the ground like an animal, a tiger of amber fur, dark stripes, and golden eyes. She'd locked the door and pressed something large and heavy against the frame. Rue's actions spoke volumes. She didn't want him there; she didn't feel safe with him there. And it had him hyperventilating, pacing at the threshold, spinning circles, pawing at the ground.
The moment they'd discovered her true nature, her Omega status, he'd given her the space. He had understood that she needed the illusion of safety. And he'd made it a point to guard her room, preventing the others from entering, never truly sleeping in his bed. And perhaps he had entered once or twice to look at her sleeping form, to sniff at her scent, allowing it to coat the back of his throat. But he would protect her, he was supposed to protect her.
She'd been pleased, had regarded him fondly because of his actions. Halcyon swore that he'd be careful, that he would sneak into her heart quietly and settle within her soul. He wanted her to depend on him, he wanted her to need him. He wanted her to love him. Rue had always locked their door, but she had never ever blocked it off with something heavy.
He'd fucked up.
Rue was afraid of him.
Her punches had been flurried, messy and wrong. Deep down, he knew that something was off. But he had allowed himself to sink into her touch, had accepted it gleefully because that was how Alphas claimed one another on his territory, with knuckles to their cheeks and a cock pressed hard against his belly, throbbing, potent and growing. He accepted the battle and had fallen to her challenge.
In the chaos of his pre-Rut he had forgotten the circumstances.
Rue had merely been proving herself to be an excellent mate, one strong enough to keep him grounded, to control his beasts, to silence his rage. All Artemis needed a mate that could collar them, and when her eyes had flashed like a dragon's, he'd been purring with delight, vibrating with his excitement. What did it mean when Rue was mirroring his nature, his strongest monster? What could it mean for their bond? What did it mean for his dragon if she had a dragon too? She wasn't ares so there was no way she could transform. But what was that in her eyes? Was she a copy? A mirror? The excitement choked in his throat.
A true mate.