MADDOC
Maddoc held still as he leaned against the wall in a tiny closed-off corridor between the kitchens and the storerooms in the palace.
The pain in his shoulder had been getting worse, aching so badly he couldn’t sleep. The previous day the pain started thudding through his body, and that was a bad sign. He had no choice but to continue on; his healer wasn’t available and he couldn’t risk anyone reporting where he was to the royal assembly.
It had been much easier to navigate the kingdom when no one knew what he looked like. Since his appearance in court to claim the Royal Promise, and his subsequent public visits to the castle, he was too easily identifiable. He couldn’t risk traveling for too long out in the open or going to any of the healers who might have helped him when his healer was unavailable—just in case they reported him. Luckily, all the secret passages and spaces of the palace were still available to him and that was what he needed right now, even at the expense of cutting all communication with his highcloaks.
He had spent the last few days locating all the remaining members of his guild who hid in plain sight and helped him around Allandis. Some of them had already suffered, and a few had died, but that just drove him to push harder to get them all out.
The days he spent showing Ana who the houses truly were, other members of his guild worked to protect the ones suspected of being sympathetic to him and his cause. That was where the real danger was, because the royal assembly were doing whatever they could to force people to talk.
And it wasn’t people like his highcloaks, who had the training to withstand interrogation. The people who helped him were just normal commoners, trying to live their lives peacefully and avoid being targeted by the assembly. They were usually grateful for Maddoc’s interference with the royal houses’ actions, having seen or experienced their devastation firsthand. Some of them were people he’d helped get back into society, some felt compelled to to join after seeing him step in. Others just didn’t like the power the houses had and how they used it.
Regardless of their reasons, all of them had been loyal to him over the years and now they were dying, or having to watch their families and friends die if they didn’t give up their knowledge about Maddoc and his highcloaks. He couldn’t blame them. Allandis had a delicate balance, and his attack on the king had upset it. Some of those targeted weren’t even his supporters, but got punished anyway—applying intense pressure to everyone was how the assembly finally managed to find out where Moonvale was. They were closing in.
Since the families had moved home, it had been quiet at the base. Memories lingered of the people he’d met, the families who’d grown and expanded, and everything that growth signified. It was the end of a long period of time in his life, and now he could move on. With Analisa.
Footsteps clunked past, only pausing when two sharp raps sounded against the wall. That was his signal. The last family he’d been looking for were in the palace prison, like he suspected.
Maddoc shuffled along the corridor, trying to determine the best way to get to the prisons without alerting the king's guard. In his current condition, he could possibly handle two or three of them, but with his injury, any combat was a risk. It was a struggle to even use a bow and arrow.
When he reached the end of the corridor, he pulled himself up into the overhead panel in the ceiling and crawled along the space to get to the other end of the palace.
His size and weight slowed him down. He couldn’t risk alerting anyone to his presence, realizing there was someone above who could see and hear what they said and did.
It was when he was crawling over the entrance hall that he heard a voice that made him go cold.
“I want to see Duke Ryden immediately.”
Analisa. Maddoc froze. What the fuck was she doing in the palace? She shouldn’t even be back on Allandis mainland! Shifting himself so he could look through the panel, Maddoc’s annoyance spiraled. Maybe what he’d said to her hadn’t sunk in. Maybe she thought it would be easier to challenge the crown from the inside? But either way it meant that she had left the protection of their home. Fury gripped him hard, but he couldn’t do or say anything from where he was. If Ana was back in the clutches of the palace and the Royal Court, it would be hell trying to get her out again.
But he would do it. He didn’t care how often he had to try or how long it took; Analisa would be with him. And this time, he would take the opportunity to kill that fucking Duke.
Overhead, he followed Ana as she went to the throne room where Ryden sat. Maddoc navigated to his normal space behind the lattice wall at the very top of the room, watching from his obscured view as Ana approached. As usual, she looked stunning. He grit his teeth hard, annoyed that she was wearing one of the dresses he had provided, and she’d styled her hair in the typical elaborate way of the court. The last few nights had been almost impossible without her, but he’d been looking forward to going home to her.
“Ana.” Ryden had the decency to at least sound relieved. “We have been so worried about you, being captured by that savage, yet again. I’m so sorry I didn’t take your warning seriously. But no one could have guessed what he was going to do at the wedding, nor what he did to your father.”
“Where is he?”
“Who? Your father? He is in his chambers.”
“I mean Maddoc.”
“I don’t know.”
“Ryden,” Ana snapped. “Where is Maddoc.”
Ryden was silent for a moment. “We have spoken before about your tone with me, Ana.”
Maddoc tensed. He couldn’t wait to kill this bastard.
“Those rules are not for me,” Ana said. “They are for your Omega.”
Ryden shifted in his chair. “You are my Omega or have you forgotten that? Has he fucked you so hard that you’ve lost sight of who you are?”
“Actually, yes,” Ana said, a smirk in her voice. “But that is not my point.”
Maddoc’s brow rose. Did Ana just admit enjoying fucking him to the duke?
“We have been lied to, Ryden. We are not fated mates.”
Maddoc gripped the wall, his muscle tensing as pleasure, satisfaction, and relief bounded through him. She knew. She finally knew.
“What do you mean?” Ryden asked evenly. “We have been betrothed for years.”
“But we do not have the attraction that fated mates should have.”
Ryden was still in his chair for a moment and then leaned forward. “You are not exactly the most experienced woman, Ana. How do you know?”
“Because nothing and no one else should feel more powerful or as intense,” Ana said. “I may not be very experienced, but you are. When you were with me, when you kissed me, did it feel that way to you?”
“I’m not sure how I see that that matters at this current time,” Ryden said curtly.
Ana peered at him. “What?”
“What difference does it make?” Ryden stressed. “I enjoy sex, you clearly enjoy sex, it makes no difference if we are fated or not. That’s just an added bonus to help couples rule equally.”
“So you don’t care about it?” she asked, puzzled amazement in her voice.
Ryden leaned forward. “I don’t care about ruling equally, Ana. I never have. Your parents did a good job. They raised you to be gullible and ignorant and reliant on myths and legends about Alphas and Omegas so you would be bendable to my will—they made it easy for me.”
“Easy for you to do what?” The edge of Ana’s hardness returned.
“To rule alongside an Omega who won’t want to assert her will, or interfere with things she knows nothing about.”
Ana’s shocked silence lasted only a moment. “So you know what’s been going on out in the kingdom.” Her eyes flashed. “You knew what was going on, yet you did nothing to stop it! Don’t you care about the people? What is the point in being king if you’re not going to do something about the people’s suffering, Ryden?”
“I had an idea what was going on, but not everything,” Ryden said. “I avoided looking too deeply into it until I could actually do something about it.”
“So becoming king… that was your goal? So you could stop the atrocities?”
“Partly,” Ryden said. “I cannot deny that I relish the idea of setting laws and ruling the kingdom. But yes, I do want to stop what is happening with the houses. But it cannot be done the way the outlaw is doing it. Violence against violence is not the answer.”
“Then what is your plan?” Ana said sharply. “To sit here and make policy and law without ensuring it is used correctly?”
“I told you that your father was unfit,” Ryden said sharply, pointing at her. “You refused to see it.”
“You didn’t tell me exactly why he was unfit. You gave Maddoc as the reason.”
Ryden inclined his head. “Yes, because once you knew, it would be a never-ending series of questions and nagging about doing something about it. I will do things in my own way. You do not understand the powers the houses have. They will only put someone on the throne who will agree with them. Changes have to be small and made bit by bit.”
Ana shook her head. “And in the meantime many suffer.”
Ryden exhaled and leaned back in his chair. “Listen, Ana. Your idyllic view of life is not reality. I’m sorry that it’s turned out that way for you, but it is the reality for everyone else. You have to take your place in it and deal with your new responsibilities and what is to come.”
“My responsibilities?”
“Yes. You are still betrothed to me. You are still my fated mate in the eyes of Allandis, and we are still to be married.”
Maddoc almost growled out loud. Why couldn’t this Alpha get it through his fucking head?
“You can either choose to do so willingly, or you can be forced.”
Ana frowned, taking a step back, and at that Maddoc did growl.
“What do you mean?” she said.
Ryden rose from his chair. “You are the rightful heir to the throne, Ana. Whoever marries you is king. It is not so much a choice as it is your duty to choose someone who will stop what the houses are doing the right way. And if you don’t, then you will be forced to by law.”
“So, you’ll create some random law that says that I have to marry you?” Ana snapped.
“You have already been betrothed to me for five years. Redcrest is owed something for that commitment and devotion, and they know it. So it’s better that you are willing.”
Ana was silent for a long moment as she stared at him in horror. “You just care about the crown and the throne.”
Ryden didn’t bother to respond to confirm her words.
Ana shook her head, rubbing her fingertips against her forehead as she thought. “Why did you really go to Sterling?” she asked. “Why did you see Leoma.”
Ryden grinned. “I see you are starting to think like a real human being,” he remarked. “And not a doll.”
“Fuck you,” Ana shot at him.
“You will. You will many times, Ana.”
Maddoc held in the roar that rumbled in his chest as he maneuvered himself across the space. He didn’t need to hear any more. He needed to get down there and take his Omega.
“You went to House Sterling to see if you could marry Leoma, didn’t you?” Ana asked, evenly. “If you don’t believe in fated mates, it doesn’t matter which Omega you have—especially when I was potentially going to be sullied by the outlaw and you were thinking about your options.”
“Correct. But that doesn’t have any bearing on my preference for you, Ana,” he said, smiling. “You are prettier, and your training makes you much more suitable for royal events. But, if your reputation was going to be ruined by the outlaw, I was considering other options. Unfortunately, Sterling wanted too much control of the crown in return for her.”
Maddoc slid out of earshot as he entered the corridor. Peeking through another panel, he waited for the approaching footsteps to pass, but they stopped outside the door. Then he noticed their black cloaks.
He jumped down from the panel.
Raine’s sword snapped up, and Griff was already lunging with his dagger. Maddoc dodged them both, grabbing Griff’s wrist just before he was stabbed. The other three highcloaks already had their arrows notched.
“Maddoc!” Raine’s face lit up.
“What the fuck is Ana doing here?” he said, trying to keep his voice low.
Griff frowned. “Ana is at home, Maddoc.”
“She’s in that fucking room, Griff,” Maddoc said, jabbing a finger at the door. “Didn’t you keep someone on her? Just because the kingdom is safe doesn’t mean she wouldn’t leave.”
Raina groaned. “I should have known she would,” she murmured, shaking her head. “She was worried about you. She wanted to come and we said no.”
Maddoc ignored the satisfaction and pride that bloomed at his Omega’s independence. So she came for him. But it didn’t help that she was now in immediate danger. “They going to arrest her so they can force her to marry,” he growled. “We need to go in and disable Ryden and collect Ana. We need to get Elizabeth and her family too. That’s why I came here.”
“Elizabeth?” Raine asked. “From the house on the duke’s mansion grounds?”
“Yes. They are in the prison.”
Raine’s nostril’s flared. “I’ll help here and then I’ll get them.”
“We will too,” Griff said.
“Elizabeth is the last of our people,” Maddoc said. “So as soon as you have her, go straight home.”
Everyone nodded, and they all faced the door.
Maddoc braced himself, ignoring the increasing ache in his shoulder. This was it. Everything that was worth fighting for was in that room, and he would either take her back home with him, or he would die.