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“It’s okay if you don’t. I’m…I…”

Ryx squeezed him tighter, stuffing his nose into Saren’s thick red hair. He breathed him in deeply, savoring it all. One of his best-kept secrets was the fact that Ryx knew Saren’s scent. His true scent. The one the Telex tried to cut away. It called to the ancient part of him, the animal side that had been restless and yearning for too long. His alpha growled inside, urging him to just say it.

“I do. I…yeah, Saren. I do, too.” Saren pulled back first, anguish written all over his face. Concern pierced through Ryx. “Are you scared I wouldn’t?”

He nodded.

Slowly, they untangled their limbs so Ryx could hold his hands. “I could never not love you.”

Ugly sobs wracked his best friend. “I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry.”

“What? Why?” Was he doing something wrong? Ryx had no idea how to handle this. All he wanted was to show Saren just how much he cared—loved.

A loud bang ricocheted through the house, making the floor rumble beneath their feet. His first thought was to protect—to throw himself between the door and what was his. But he didn’t get the chance. Saren grabbed the front of Ryx’s shirt, pulled them back together, and pressed his lips to Ryx’s mouth. Panic struck Ryx’s chest like lightning as salty tears coated their first kiss.

For all the times he’d imagined kissing Saren, he never pictured it sullied with fear. He desperately wanted to take control, change their realities, and make this kiss everything it should be for two boys who loved each other. Sharp talons shredded at his heart when he realized that would never be true for them.

Ryx tore his mouth away. “What’s going on?” he demanded, pushing back.

“I’m so sorry,” Saren repeated it over and over, shaking from head to toe. When Saren reached for him again, Ryx doubled back.

“What happened?”

More bangs and the sound of doors slamming open. Footsteps climbing the stairs. “Saren!” he yelled, grabbing his omega’s shoulders. “What happened? What did you do?”

The bedroom door shot off the hinges and cracked into the opposite wall, narrowly missing them. Soldiers flooded the bedroom, accompanied by Avis, their general. Ryx had no time to react before an unseen force threw him to the ground, and Saren wailed. Hands grabbed at his arms, legs, and chunks of his hair. He fought, roaring in shock and anger. Then they beat him. Screamed at him. Avis grabbed Saren by the arm and led him away.

“Saren!” Ryx roared, flailing and kicking. Why wasn’t he fighting back? Why was Saren letting this happen? “Get the fuck off me!”

A wild fist landed on his jaw, dislodging a tooth and splitting his lip. Someone grabbed his hair and the lobe of his ear, nearly ripping it off. “He’s an Other!”

“Saren!” he begged for his friend to help him. For the person he loved to make it stop. But Saren wasn’t there. He wasn’t calling out for Ryx, wasn’t ordering the soldiers to cease. They continued to beat him until he went still, and only then did they shackle him.

Ryx realized with sudden clarity.

It had all been a lie.

His heart broke.

11

Saren

“Where is Patryn?!” Saren screamed at the top of his lungs.

His mastery coiled around his fingertips, and he was this close to using it on the entire council. Avis still had him by the arm, and two soldiers flanked them, guns trained on his head. He could kill them all. He knew it. They knew it. But they also knew he wouldn’t, not while they held Ryx prisoner. Matthias spat at his feet, face already healed from the injuries Patryn gave him just hours ago.

“Bring in his guardian,” he sneered.

Horris, Eran, Viktor, and Lilah watched, emotionless, as the side door to the council room opened. The overhead lights were deliberately dim, casting horrific shadows in every corner. Two more soldiers dragged in a limp, bloodied body, complete with a sack over its head. Saren recognized Patryn’s scent instantly, but it was wrong—so wrong. He fought against Avis’s hold, bared his teeth, and bellowed out his fury.

“What did you do to him?!”

“This is the price paid when you commit treason, boy,” Horris said simply.

“We should kill them and be done with it. I was busy,” Eran sighed.

“It was a mistake letting any of this go on for as long as it has,” Viktor agreed, looking equally as bored.