Absolute silence descended in the dining room. Even the servants bustling about with the trays of food froze.
Nikolai cleared his throat. “Omega.”
Her head popped up, those gorgeous eyes—clearer and more vivid than an Abzalian arctic lake—bore into him with wariness and surprise. “Yes?”
Ah, hells. Now he actually needed to say something. “Do you like the main dish? It’s a local favorite.”
Her eyes widened. “It’s very good.” Though she hadn’t actually put more than a few tiny bites into her mouth.
“Excellent.” His stare remained locked with hers, but he could still sense the way his siblings’ gazes skipped from one end of the table to the other like they were watching a damn sport’s match.
“Alexi hired the chef who made it.” He turned toward his brother. “I wonder if he knows how to make any dishes native to the Lundin planet?” There was usually a strict nothing Lundin-related policy in their family, but his omega was from there and there was nothing that tasted sweeter than her.
“Who the fuck cares who made it?” Damien shot to his feet, dishes crashing to the ground as servants scurried out of the way. “You’ve never given two fucks about the food as long as it tasted good, and now you’re suggesting we import something from the Lundin homeworld?” He snarled across the table, his blood-red eyes boring into the omega as if she were prey. “I don’t know why she’s at the table. She’s not some fucking guest. She’s a prisoner. A pawn. Meant to be used and abused and then put out of her fucking misery. Like her bastard of a father did to our mother.”
“Enough.” Nikolai’s voice cracked through the room ushering in tense, ugly silence, made all the thicker as Damien’s comments hung heavy in the air.
Nikolai pushed back from the table, his chair making a loud crash as it skittered into the buffet table behind him. More dishes crashed to the ground. This time, no one moved.
He rose slowly, his fists curled on the table.
Maxheim looked concerned and Alexi watchful. Damien was defiant, Anya terrified, while his omega just appeared crushed.
His fury grew.
“I don’t know where Damien got the idea that he had a say in how I choose to handle my affairs.” Each word was low, deadly, and precise. “But let me make a few things perfectly clear to everyone here. First, I am the Alpha and head of this family. I make the rules. You don’t like it. Challenge me.” His voice devolved to a low, feral growl. “Or shut the fuck up and fall in line.”
He waited.
Damien’s shoulders tensed, but he looked away, and then down. No one else breathed.
“That’s what I fucking thought.” His fingertips pressed deeper into the cloth as he leaned forward to ensure he had their full attention. “Second, the omega is neither a guest nor my prisoner. She is my prime omega and my fated mate, and she is a fucking Skolov now. She’s not going anywhere. Ever. You don’t like it. Challenge me,” he repeated. “Or shut the fuck up, fall in line, and treat her with respect.”
He pinned each member of his family with his gaze, waiting until he received a nod of acceptance before he moved on.
Then, he shifted to look at his omega and finally gauge her reaction.
She was looking at him wide-eyed, shock writ large across her beautiful blue eyes.
It wasn’t exactly the warmth from earlier, but it was better than the recent hurt and despair.
He’d take it.
“Good. Glad that’s settled.” Nodding to the closest servant, he waited until his chair was back behind him and then sat. “Let’s eat.”
For another moment, no one moved.
Then, one single low, warning growl from him, and his brothers and sister sprang into action.
“I, ah, I can definitely ask the chef about some Lundin dishes.” Alexi, always the easiest at rolling with things, was the first to recover.
A swell of affection swept through Nikolai. Skolovs were a passionate, pain-in-the-ass bunch. Keeping the lot of them in line was a lot of work, but it was worth it.
“Would you like me to ask?” Alexi spoke to Dahlia for the first time as the servants surreptitiously cleaned up the broken plates and spilled food.
“Thank you.” His omega gripped her fork tighter. “But there’s no need to trouble yourself on my account.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Alexi shot her his trademark smile.
She didn’t return the smile, but her hold on the fork loosened.
Then, Alexi went off on some tangent about some recent delicacies he’d ordered for the clubs that were all the rage, and the omega actually nodded and responded with a half-smile.
Nikolai’s gums throbbed, his fangs itching to release.
Did his omega think Alexi was handsome? A better match? Stronger? Out of all of them, Alexi and his piercing blue eyes had omegas and betas sighing the most. And Alexi’s charm was legendary.
Nikolai’s claws pushed against his fingertips, begging for release.
She was his.
Maxheim coughed and caught his gaze.
Nikolai reeled himself in.
For hells’ sake, the omega was his, Alexi was his brother, and they were just talking—as he’d engineered.
He really needed to speak with the doc and see if his moods were going to even out soon.
As an Alpha, he was always aggressive, but he didn’t usually contemplate ripping out his brother’s throat. He might say it, but he’d never do it. Alexi might be all grown up and a royal pain in the ass, but he’d always be the little brother who Nikolai had found broken and beaten, chained to a bathroom pipe after he’d been taken by a rival gang who didn’t like the Skolov’s growing power. His brother had survived five rotations while Nikolai searched for him. He’d never spoken about what had been done to him, but he’d never been the same since. Because of that, Nikolai gave the male a lot of leeway. Maybe too much.
This life had taken a toll on them all.
Alexi laughed, his omega almost smiled—and Nikolai reminded himself that it could all still work out.
“There’s a good wine that pairs well with that dish.” Anya joined the conversation. “It’s nearly impossible to get, but if anyone can, it’s Alexi.”
Despite the gnawing guilt in his gut, a competing sense of satisfaction washed over Nikolai. His family and his omega. Together. Safe and secure in his compound, surrounded by his guards, well-fed, warm, safe from every bastard predator out there who wanted to bring them to their knees.
This was what he’d always wanted.
This is what he’d gotten down on his knees for and let himself be some beta pervert’s whipping boy.
He’d do it again in a heartbeat.
And he was going to do whatever it took to ensure this domestic scene repeated itself over and over, forever.
Maxheim’s comms buzzed. He looked down and sighed. “I know you don’t want to talk business, but I got a request from the casino. A couple of high roller guests asked if you’d join them tonight for some play and fun.”
You didn’t have to know Maxheim-speak to suspect that was code for gambling, drink, and sex.
Across the table, Nikolai’s omega had gone still once more.
“Not now. Not ever.” Nikolai waved the invitation away. “I’ve got my hands full as it is.”
“Got it.” Maxheim started typing. “I’ll offer up your excuses and—”
“No, don’t make excuses for me.” Nikolai cut him off. “Truth is, sometimes I can be an ass.”
Her gaze flew to his.
Finally.
“I tend to prefer anger over anything else. Especially weakness.”
Her delicate eyebrows winged upward. A rush of warmth flooded his chest, traveling from her along the invisible fated-mate tie between them.
“Okay.” Maxheim, still staring at his screen, froze in mid type. “I’m not quite sure—”
“And sometimes,” Nikolai continued, encouraged by the tantalizing sensation reaching him through their bond that felt a lot like forgiveness, “I think I’m better at keeping control than I am.”
A small smile played at her lips—and miracle of miracles, she took a bite of food before saying, “I am sure your guests will understand.”
“Will they?” He growled. “Because I had such big fucking plans for after this dinner.”
“I don’t know how she’d know.” Maxheim finally looked up. “And I don’t know what any of this has to do with dinner.”
Nikolai growled low.
His omega’s eyelids sunk to half-mast.
The fork in his hand bent. He barely resisted the urge to command her to get on the table and crawl the length to come to him.
“For fuck’s sake, could you two make this any harder?” Alexi’s voice had dropped, responding no doubt to the increased pheromones in the air. “Unless this is going to end in an orgy—”
“Get out.”
Everyone froze.
“I’m not finished eating.” Alexi sounded amused.
“All of you,” Nikolai roared. “Except for my omega. You stay right where you are.”
Legs scraped the floor as chairs were pushed back. Alexi grabbed his plate. Maxheim, his precious comms. Damien didn’t bother with anything but ushering Anya out.
His omega’s gaze never wavered from his, even as the last beta servant hurried out the door and closed it quietly behind him.
“Now,” he pushed back his chair and stood. “I think it’s time you and I make another deal.”