Robin tried not to retch with nervousness as he got ready for his initiation. Initiation, the word sent a chill down his body, and not the good kind. Every royal member of Marcella Dynasty had gone through this ceremony when they had come of age. All his siblings have gone through it but he didn't remember them to be this nervous. If anything they had been excited. Perhaps because they weren't as hopelessly introverted as him. Unlike his siblings, he never took advantage of his royal blood. He never sneaked out of the palace or experimented with another person. He was, as his siblings called him, dull. When his friends were reading salacious material under the table he was reading history books dreaming about becoming a King one day. A dream that would never be fruitful. Omegas in the Marcella Dynasty or any kingdom that he had heard of become Kings. Omegas were considered too fragile, too precious to become soldiers. Or merchants. Or anything except a breeding stock. The thought sent a ping of ache through his heart.
His stomach was full of knots sitting before the full-length mirror as his maids dressed him for the occasion. He bet his maids knew more about initiation than him. But he wasn't brave enough to ask them what went on behind the doors during the initiation ceremony.
His maids kept their eyes downcast as they laced his gown into place. It wasn't a gown per se. It was a sheer loincloth with plates perfectly folded into it to give it thickness, hiding his nether region. He could sense the look of horror in their eyes as they dressed him up. They had never seen him in an outrageous outfit. He usually wore long sleeve robes that covered him top to bottom, not showing an inch of skin. This left very little to the imagination. The sheer material that made his loincloth came up in two strips to hide some of his upper body and some strips of frills trailed down his lower body. That was all there was to the grown. Strips of sheer clothing.
Robin didn't want to lose his virginity to a stranger even though it was the fate of nearly all aristocratic Marcella members. You need to be ready for the Alpha you would wed.
Robin looked at his knobby knees and cringed. He wished to gain more muscles now that he was eighteen but most omegas remained petite even after full maturity. Robin never wished to be an Alpha but he would have loved thick thighs like some of them. He wondered if his initiator would find his body attractive. Not that it mattered. No matter how ugly, the initiator Alphas can't refuse the ceremony once chosen. A trickle of cold sweat slid down his naked back. It was essentially rape. Robin couldn't refuse either. The imposter, who was also his own uncle, would stand before the initiation chamber if needed to ensure that the initiation had taken place. It was a sick custom. Robin knew other kingdoms followed the same custom with their own variations. Robin was thankful to his mother for refusing to let her kids go through the humiliation of letting their uncle witness their first sexual acts.
Initiation was considered one of the greatest milestones of an omega's life. It meant he had reached sexual maturity and was available for copulation. Now all that was left for him was to be chosen by an Alpha for marriage and produce his heirs.
Robin's goals didn't involve being his Alpha lawful Omega wife. He wanted to take his father's throne but that was only possible for an Alpha male. His younger brother who was only a year younger was to become the next king. Even a child could tell Marco was the most incompetent of all Marcella siblings. But who was to question their father's decision? Marco was the only Alpha born to the King.
Robin sighed as he looked at his reflection once again and saw a young boy who just turned eighteen a week ago but looked much younger than that. On the flip side Robin should be happy he was privileged to have his virginity taken in a controlled environment. Omegas outside the bounds of his palace weren't so lucky. He had heard the horror stories from his schoolmates. Omegas got raped on their heat after they reached maturity by unsuspecting Alpha. And that's how young omegas lost their virginity outside the palace walls. It was horrible to think. At least Robin had a say on who he would choose for his first time. Once his omega hymn was breached he didn't have to take a lover during his first heat, he could take care of it himself.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit curious even though he was nervous. He had seen some of the Alphas slaves at the last initiation ceremony conducted for one of his sisters. They were beautiful. Specially chosen for the initiation.
Some of those Alphas had been captured, some bought, some won in wars but all of them tamed to satisfy the desires of the royalty. Besides initiation ceremonies, they were also used as personal sex slaves for royalty women and omegas. His unmated sister, Joyce, often called one of the males in her bed chamber. He envied her freedom, not to mention the man was spectacular to look at. The Alpha was willing as far as he could tell, which was a good thing.
After his initiation, Robin would be allowed to take lovers from the selected Alphas until he was betrothed.
"Robin," Lily, one of his older sisters called from the doorway. "Mother wants to see you. Come out already."
Robin sighed and stood up. He looked ridiculous with sparkly makeup, rouged cheeks and red lips. The only parts covered on his entire body were his junk and his ass crack. He looked like an expensive omega whore. He remembered his sisters being much more subtle on their initiation day.
"Hurry up," Lily shrieked.
"Coming," he said, walking to the door to find his mother with his two other siblings standing outside.
"Oh dear, you look beautiful," his mom said, kissing him on the cheek.
Robin rolled his eyes. "I look like a whore."
"Robbie!" her mom yelled. "Don't say things like that."
"You do look like a whore," Gloria whispered teasingly. Three of his older sisters Joyce, Lily and Gloria were still unmated while Tim and Billy, two of his older omega brothers, were living with their Alpha mates in a different kingdom.
Women had a ten percent chance of birthing an Alpha while Omegas birthed them ninety percent of the time. Omegas made mate pairs while women were either arraigned into marriage or fell in love. It was why women often married later in life and got time to explore themselves. Omegas had no such luck. Their only goal in life is to find a compatible mate and marry him whether they like him or not.
His mother and siblings walked to the courtyard through the long gravel pathway past the bubbling fountain with a naked omega sculpted in the middle. Roses of every color and hue draped along the edges, their smell permeating the air like a thick fog. Apple tree blossoms covered the land beyond creating carpet or pink around them, with some of green peeking through from the grass underneath. Robin had spent so many hours reading History and politics under those Apple trees while the blossoms fell on his pages.
They entered through the great wooden door and were hit by the strong Alpha smell so starkly different from the roses. He wasn't sure if he liked it.
"Don't you dare choose Jaden," Joyce whispered as they got up on the podium. Jaden was the Alpha his sister kept requesting every other night in her bedroom. Robin had no wish to sleep with him.
No Alphas other than the slaves were present at the ceremony, it was exclusively an all-female, all omegas occasion. His mother along with the rest of his sisters sat on both sides of him as he took the middle throne. For a second he felt like a king. He had seen his father occupy the throne and he had always wondered how it would feel to be that position of power.
"Slaves come forward and stand in a row," his mom announced. All Alphas did as she asked. Robin had never seen so many Alphas together. He had seen a few Alpha soldiers around his father but never so many like this. He was overwhelmed.
"Choose the one who will initiate you, Robbie," his mother said.
Robin gulped down a knot in his throat, looking at the men. All of their heads were bowed down in submission. Which was unusual. It wasn't the protocol to keep their faces down. He knew how Alphas liked to gawk. Even when Robin was fully veiled, Soldier Alphas had looked at him with curiosity as if imagining vile things. Maybe his mother didn't want these Alphas to look at his half naked son.
Robin's heart sped up as each minute passed and he was unable to choose a man. All of them looked the same. Muscular, tanned, shirtless. It didn't help that he couldn't see them. How did his siblings do it?
Just when Robin would have chosen a man at random his eyes fell on one of the Alphas who was looking directly at him with his intense green eyes.
"I volunteer," the man said. Robin gasped at the man's audacity. Looking down might not be in the protocol but expressing interest definitely was. Alphas weren't allowed to talk during the initiation ceremony, during old times their mouths were gagged shut. It was feared some Alphas could command an Omega into submission to make them do things he didn't want to. The claim had been debunked and the custom stopped.
One of the female guards hit the Alpha with a spiked rod to shut him up. Robin couldn't help but look at the scene unfolding in front of him. The man fell to the ground when the collar on his neck lit up. Two female guards picked him up and removed him from the courtyard.
"Why did they include him in the pleasure slaves?" Robin heard Lily whisper.
"He is too handsome to be used in the fighting arena. The women didn't want his beauty to go to waste," Joyce answered.
"But he is a brute. I heard he is rough with his lovers," Lily whispered back.
"Some people like it that way," Joyce said in a teasing tone.
"Shh!" Gloria shushed them, bringing their conversation to a halt.
Robin looked through the slaves once again but his mind was stuck on that man. The man with green eyes, a rebellious nature, and body carved from stone. Robin had never seen him before. None of the women or omegas had ever called for him.
Robin leaned to the side, cupped a hand over his mom's ear and whispered. "Can I have the man who was just taken away?"
His mom reeled back and looked at him in horror. "Are you crazy? Do you know who he is?"
Robin shook his head.
"It is the first time we have heard him speak. He was captured in a war after he killed half of our army. Your dad would have executed him if it wasn't for your Aunt. She wanted him to be a pleasure slave. And you know your father can't say no to your aunt. I don't trust that man. I don't know who included him in the initiation heard?"
His mother's words scared him effectively but he couldn't make himself choose someone else. Also, he didn't want to force his initiation on someone who might not want it.
"He has the collar. He would die if he tried to hurt me," Robin said.
"Let him, Mom," Gloria said. "It's the first time I have seen him take a risk."
"Gloria, don't!" his mother hissed. "Robin, I can't let you do this."
"It's already difficult for me as is. Please don't make me choose someone I don't want to."
His mother looked disappointed in him. "Is that your final decision?"
Robin nodded. "Yes."