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Ten years ago now, Prince Auguste had fought against Damen’s brother. Swords in hands, blood on their faces, and an insatiable hunger for victory forcing their bodies to move despite the minutes going by.

Damen had been a child back then, yet he still remembers every single moment, every move that the two men took, and most importantly, he remembers the sound of impact when Kastor fell on the ground, wounded. 

Prince Auguste, true to his reputation, did not kill him, for death was not necessary for his victory. Damen had only known then what it meant to look up to someone. Prince Auguste was nothing like his dad, who had started the war so long ago, or Kastor–who, right in front of Damen, and despite Auguste’s fairness, had tried to attack him once more when Auguste offered him his hand.

Auguste had been saved in extremis when someone screamed his name before launching themselves at Kastor, forcing him to drop his sword. 

The silence had been heavy after that, as if the world had stopped spinning, not a soul breathing anymore. Damen’s own heart had stopped beating, struck by the beauty before him. He had been ten back then, had known nothing about love or physical attraction apart from the stories the soldiers often talked about around the firecamp, and yet he had known, right there, right then, that he had fallen in love. 

“Laurent!” Auguste had screamed, breaking the curse that had been put upon them. 

“Omegas are not allowed on the battlefield!” Theomedes had screamed back, humiliation written all over his face. Not only was his bastard son a traitor, but he had been defeated by an omega. 

Things happened quickly after that: the omega prince had been lifted up by his brother, who dragged him somewhere safe. Kastor had been slapped by their dad in front of all the soldiers, and Damen – Damen had stood there, his eyes never leaving the omega prince. 

If Auguste was angry, his actions barely showed it. Laurent had been twenty, an omega, and anyone else would have scolded him. Beaten him, even, for his actions were unworthy of an omega. Auguste did not do such things. He dragged his brother back to their tent and closed it before anyone else could get inside, and Damen had run closer to it, ready to defend his omega, even if he was barely able to lift a sword back then, only to stop when he heard no shouting. Standing just a few feet away from the tent, Damen watched as the sun illuminated the thin tissue, allowing him to see what was truly happening on the inside. 

There, he saw the two brothers hugging, and he felt himself longing for something he never experienced. Love and affection were a foreign concept to him, but he could recognize them nonetheless. 

Vere had won that day, and eager to forget about the humiliation, Theomedes agreed on forgiving Laurent, even after the omega refused to properly apologize. Laurent was not like most omegas. He didn’t lower his head when he talked to Theomedes, didn’t try to appear smaller than he was and even flexed his chest when he talked to him. He stood with the pride of a King and acted like one, too. Their dad had been sick, and it was only a matter of time before Prince Auguste took the crown, but one look at them, and it was clear that as long as his brother was in charge, Laurent would never have to submit to anyone, alphas and betas alike. 

While the adults talked about the future of their kingdoms, Damen had slipped away and had gone deep in the forest, near the lake where they would bathe each night. There, he had seen the most exquisite flowers in the previous days, not knowing that they would come to serve him in the near future.

His hands had been red with blood from picking them, the thorns grazing his skin despite his best efforts, but he gathered them all, the pink and yellow flowers forming what looked like an enormous bouquet in his young hands. 

Afterwards, he returned to the camp, ignored his physician’s interrogations, and went straight to the omega prince, interrupting the conversation that was taking place in Theomede’s tent. 

Laurent was even more beautiful from up close, his gaze softer when it landed on Damen and realized he was a child, and when Damen had handed him the flowers without a word, Laurent accepted them, carefully so that their hands never touched. 

“I’m Prince Damen, heir to the throne,” he had said, pushing the words out of his mouth as best as he could. 

It couldn’t be said that Laurent had smiled then, but his tight lips seemed to turn up just a bit, and Damen had felt his heart booming in his chest. 

“I know who you are, young Prince.” 

“When I’m older,” Damen said, “I’ll take you as my omega.” 

He didn’t fully understand what he did wrong. 

He had always been told that any omega would be honored to be his mate, but apparently, Prince Laurent did not fall into that category. The softness in his eyes was gone, and Prince Auguste abruptly stood up, anger flashing on his face. 

“We should leave before another war begins,” he had said. “Theomedes, I would advise you to raise that second boy better than the first one. I might have values, but I’m no fool, especially when it comes to my brother.” 

Laurent had stood up, dropping the flowers on the ground in front of Damen, and if he truly stepped on them on purpose, Damen would never know. What he knew was that he felt the pain as if the prince had put his foot on him. 

Damen got whipped by his dad that night, and so did Kastor, insults flying through the campfire over the humiliation the two have brought to their families. His bottom had been painful for days after that, and yet the tears on his face had nothing to do with it. 

Ten years passed before he met Prince Laurent again. 

During those ten years, he saw King Auguste seven times, and each time he asked about the omega prince, he was always met with short answers. Despite their initial encounters and their age gap, Auguste grew to like him, and the two even became friends. The King quickly understood that Damen had meant no wrong back then, and that his admiration for both Auguste and Laurent had gotten the best of him. When Damen was only eighteen, his father passed away, and Auguste was among the first ones to visit him. 

“I know what it’s like to lose a father,” Auguste had said. 

“I am not sad,” he had said. “I wish I were, but I’m not.”  

He hadn’t admitted it before, not even to Nikandros, the thought alone making him too ashamed. Sons are supposed to cry for their father, but Damen had barely felt sadness when his dad had taken his last breath. 

Auguste had nodded before he put his hand on Damen’s shoulder, a rare display of affection between two alphas and Kings. 

“Not every man deserves to be cried over, Damen. Your father and mine were very much alike. We are better Kings than they were.” 

“Will I be better than him? I do not have anyone I can trust by my side. Nikandros is my only friend, but he has yet to understand all the courtly scheming. How do you do it?”

“I have a secret weapon," Auguste had said. “Laurent is my closest advisor. He is smarter than anyone. Even than me.” 

Damen’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of the subject of his longtime affection. Even after ten years, the love he had for Laurent never went away. Worse, even, it grew deeper every time someone told him stories about the omega prince, no matter how bad they were. 

It was a well-known fact that Laurent was spoiled, moody and hot-tempered, a living nightmare for anyone who was not his brother. Laurent had never taken any alphas. Not even during his heat, if the rumors were true, and it was said he was incapable of love. Damen refused to believe the last part, and for the rest, he decided that it was no trouble. He would offer his kingdom to the omega if he only asked him to. 

“Could I see him? It’s been ten years since our last encounter. I would like to apologize for my actions back then.” 

Auguste laughed and slapped Damen on the back, both amicably and as a threat. He served two glasses of wine and emptied his own in one go. 

“You sent him multiple letters to apologize, didn’t you?” 

Damen, despite being twenty and a king, still felt his cheeks reddening over being caught. He had never told Auguste about the letters. 

Another part of him realized that if Auguste knew, then it meant Laurent had read the letters despite never answering them, and he felt the tiniest bit of hope booming in his chest. 

“I’ll tell you what,” Auguste said after drinking yet another glass. “My child is to be born in only a few weeks. We will hold a celebration if all goes well. Why don’t you come, then?”

“Laurent will be there?”

“Of course he will. But promise me, my friend, that you will not insult him by asking him to be your omega as you did when you were a child.” 

Damen could not promise such things, and so he drank his wine instead. 

Auguste’s daughter was born at the beginning of spring. 

Damen received the news one week later. He was on the road the following hour, having deflected his duties to poor Nikandros, who would rather hold every meeting in the world rather than go to Vere. 

Kastor came with him, and by his side was Jokaste, one of the mistresses that Damen had been given, but whom he never touched and with whom he chose to enjoy a friendship instead. 

“I heard that the omega prince is still unmated,” Kastor said. “He must be old by now.” 

“He is younger than you, Kastor.” 

“But I’m an alpha. An omega who still hasn't birthed pups by thirty is good for nothing.” 

Damen held onto the ship’s railing harder and tried to slow down his breathing. Kastor wasn’t the first one to insult Laurent like this in Damen’s presence. It was unusual for omegas to remain single for so long, yet it didn’t matter to Damen, nor did he make him think less of Laurent. Anyone else who would have said something like that would have ended up thrown overboard the ship. 

But Kastor was his older brother, something that theoretically meant nothing hierarchy-wise since Damen was his king. Still, Damen intended to respect him as an elder. 

“I was thinking of marrying him,” Kastor continued, unaware of the anger rising in Damen’s chest. “It could make our alliance stronger with Vere.” 

“My alliance,” Damen said. “I am the king, Kastor. Not you. Our alliance with Vere is perfect as it is.” 

“I will talk with King Auguste.” 

“You will not. You’re a fool for even thinking he would say yes. I forbid you from marrying Laurent. Do you understand me?” 

Kastor regarded him from head to toes, and Damen could not remember the last time his brother had even laid his eyes on him. They did not talk, most days. The admiration Damen once held for Kastor died the day he witnessed his brother trying to savagely kill Auguste. 

“You’ll forbid me? You’re twenty. Barely a man. Who are you to forbid me anything?” 

“I am your king,” Damen said, never once looking down. They were out on the ship, a few men working around them, but no one close enough to intervene if Kastor tried to betray him. Damen would be faster if he was lucky. “I advise you to know your position, brother. There will be no more words about the omega prince coming out of your mouth. Am I being clear?” 

He saw the way Kastor’s jaw tightened, smoke coming out of his ears, and his eyes turning black, but Damen held still, ready for the attack. 

It did not come. 

“Of course, brother.” 

The word was an insult, but Damen said nothing. For twenty years, Kastor had been the heir to the throne, until Damen came along. He could not blame his brother for being angry at his crown being taken away by a baby, yet he could blame him for the actions that led him to be disowned by their father. Damen did not know the severity of what Kastor had done to receive such a hard punishment. 

The rest of the journey was long and tumultuous, both physically and mentally. Damen had never been so close to seeing Laurent again, and every minute felt like an eternity. When they saw the land again, Vere appearing in front of their eyes, Damen was among his men, ready to stop their boat with his bare hands if it meant being able to see Laurent quicker. 

Of course, Laurent was not there to welcome them, but Auguste was. 

“Brother,” he said, opening his arms for Damen. “How was the trip?” 

“Long and exhausting. How is your wife? Was the labour alright?”

“It was long and exhausting,” Auguste said, repeating his words. “But she’s a warrior. Our daughter is as beautiful as her mother and already as stubborn as her uncle. Go wash yourself, the celebration starts in one hour or so, it should leave you plenty of time to get rid of the salty smell.” 

Damen was shown to his apartment, in the same wing of the castle as Auguste, while Kastor and Jokaste were put far away in another wing, next to the servants. 

It was only once he was in his bath that it occurred to Damen that Kastor and Auguste did not even greet each other. He supposed it wasn’t that shocking. Vere’s hate for bastards was well known, especially for the one who attempted to kill their King. Adding to that, Kastor had been disowned by their dad long ago and did not even hold the title of prince anymore. The only reason he was still by Damen’s side was that Damen didn’t have the heart to banish his own brother. 

He took the longest bath of his life, scrubbing every centimetre of his skin until it was red and burning, before he put on his best chiton. The spring there had nothing to do with the spring back home, but he still felt more comfortable in his own clothes rather than the ones Auguste had nicely offered him. 

Once he deemed himself ready, he waited a few more minutes before leaving his room, not wanting to be among the first ones there. A King should never arrive first, even when it isn’t his own celebration, but tonight, the wait was torture, and he was barely able to hold back for more than one hour before he finally left his bedroom. 

In only a couple of minutes, he would see Laurent again. 

He had dreamt of this moment for ten long years, and it was finally happening. 

He couldn’t rush, of course, and so he took the time to greet people and to congratulate Auguste and his wife on their newborn. 

Auguste’s daughter was not at the celebration, of course. 

It was too risky having his newborn where anyone could have hurt or kidnapped her, so she was safely hidden away from everyone's eyes instead. 

The princess was not the only one missing. Damen had scanned the room over and over again, and yet, there was no trace of that beautiful blond head he had been longing for for so long. 

“He decided to guard the princess’s room,” Auguste explained. It was clear he was holding back a laugh, the wine probably having gone to his head immediately. “I’ve never seen an alpha so deep in love with an omega, you know. You truly are something.”

“Your brother is quite something, too.” 

“So I’ve been told,” Auguste said. “Although never in a positive way. I disagree with all of it, of course. Laurent is my treasure. I would fight anyone who would even think of hurting him.” 

It was a threat, and Damen knew it. Still, he nodded, agreeing with Auguste. He, too, would fight anyone who would be stupid enough to try to fight Laurent. 

Auguste got up and put his mouth next to Damen’s ear. 

“Left wing of the castle. Third chamber to the right. That is where you will find Laurent. The password is Caramel and Speedy.”

“Auguste,” Damen said with a frown, both honored and horrified at knowing such sensitive information. 

“If I trust you with my brother, then I trust you with my daughter as well,” Auguste said. “Please, do not prove me wrong.”

“I would never,” Damen promised. 

For a reason he couldn’t quite explain, he asked one of his guards to keep an eye on Kastor and Jokaste, and to prevent them from following him. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but he could not understand why they had insisted on coming along with him, and he did not want to risk any scandal. 

He took the longest path to the chamber, not because he got lost, but because he wanted to make sure that no one was following him. 

It was dark inside the castle, and he could see light coming from under the doors of multiple chambers. He imagined that this was an elaborate plan of Laurent’s meant to confuse anyone who was not supposed to be there.

But Damen had been trusted with the information, and so he easily found the room Laurent was in. 

He didn’t knock right away, too overwhelmed with the knowledge that right there, behind that wounded door, stood the love of his life. He had been dreaming about Laurent for ten long years, and here he was ready to see him once more. It felt like a dream. 

He took a deep breath, then finally and carefully knocked on the door and whispered the password. 

The door opened, and suddenly, Damen was ten again, faced with a beauty that he had thought to be but only a dream. 

“Laurent,” he said when he finally saw the omega, his breath shortened by the sight in front of him. 

Laurent was even prettier than in his memories. Thirty now, he carried himself with even more pride than he did before. His hair was tightly braided on his head, not a single strand flying free, and he wore clothes so tight that Damen wondered how he could even breathe in them, and how long it would take him to undress him. 

“Alpha,” Laurent said. “Why are you there?” 

“Damen.” 

Laurent looked at him with a cold expression, as if Damen were speaking another language. He might as well have been, but he had spent the past ten years learning Laurent’s language to avoid this exact situation. 

“You can call me Damen,” he offered as an explanation. “You are as pretty as I recall.” 

It would have been difficult to explain the expression on Laurent’s face. It was a mix of disgust, anger and disappointment, every feeling that Damen never wished for Laurent to feel toward him. 

“Why are you there?”

“I - Auguste said I could come and see you.”

“What for?” 

“To express my greetings.” 

There was a cry in the background, a sound close to the one a kitten would make, and Laurent made a “tsk” with his tongue in annoyance. 

“You woke the princess.”

“I heard she has your temper.” 

Laurent’s head snapped so hard that Damen feared it would break. 

“Who said that? This is an insult to the crown. I’ll have them arrested.” 

Right. Laurent’s temper was not a rumor, and it made Damen smile even more, although it did scare him a bit. 

“Having your temper is no insult. They didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

“Who said that, Alpha?” 

“Auguste. Auguste said that.” 

The mention of his brother’s name softened Laurent’s features. He nodded and got ready to close the door again, but Damen stopped it with his foot. 

“When will I see you again, Laurent?” 

“Never.” 

“Tomorrow?”

“I said never,” Laurent repeated. “Enjoy your time in Vere, Alpha.” 

With that, Laurent forced the door closed, ignoring Damen’s foot and leaving him standing alone in the dark, his heart once again broken. 

He did not give up. 

They were to stay one month in Vere, and one month they stayed. 

Every day, he would go and find Laurent, playing a game of mouse and cat, and he would offer him all the gifts he brought him: books, as it was a well-known fact that Laurent was fond of them. Sweets that he brought in Vere after noticing that Laurent had a soft spot for them, and a wooden horse he made himself after watching Laurent kiss his horse one morning. 

Each attempt was met with a cold stare from Laurent and a laugh from Auguste, who seemed to particularly enjoy his friend’s humiliation. 

“I do not understand what I’m doing wrong,” he told Auguste. “He refused to speak to me.” 

“Maybe you could try not to start every conversation by reminding him of how beautiful he is.”

“But he is beautiful,” Damen complains. “Every time I look at him, that’s all I can think about. He was blessed by the gods.”

“One’s blessing is another’s curse,” Auguste said. “Laurent is not one of your mistresses or even your typical omega. Compliments and gifts will not work on him.” 

Damen wasn’t in love with Laurent only because of his beauty, and several days in Vere proved it to him. If Laurent didn’t speak with him, he would still talk to his brother in front of him, and Damen witnessed firsthand how smart Laurent was. His intelligence was so bright that he even began to wonder if Auguste was truly the one ruling Vere or if every single one of his decisions was taken by Laurent. 

Laurent was smart, too, much to the distress of everyone, and even soft when he held his niece in his arms.  

His tongue was sharp and hurtful when he spoke to anyone who wasn’t his brother, but never as bad as the few times he spoke to Damen. For some reason, it seemed that Damen had angered him more than anyone else. 

“I do not hang out with fifteen-year-old alphas,” Laurent said to him when Damen offered to go riding with him. 

“I’m twenty. Twenty-one in just a few weeks.” 

“And I celebrated my thirty-one birthday two months ago.”

“I know. I sent you a letter. Did you receive it?” 

Laurent rolled his eyes before mounting his horse. Damen did the same and followed him without another word. 

“Are you scared of your reputation?” Damen asked after a while. “I don’t want to cause you any trouble.” 

“Oh, don’t you?” Laurent said while shaking his head. “I do not care for my reputation. They can call me a whore or a prude, if that amuses them. I have long stopped caring about anyone insulting me.” 

“I would never insult you,” Damen said. “And I would never let anyone insult you either. I will fight anyone who says something bad about you.” 

This, of course, annoyed Laurent once more, and he made his horse go faster, leaving Damen behind. 

They rode until the middle of the day, when they finally stopped to eat. Laurent had taken some food with him, enough for just one person, and he refused to share with Damen, even after the alpha told him that he had bought his own food as well. 

“And some pie. You love pie, don’t you? I took one more for you.” 

“I hate pie,” Laurent said. 

He ate it nonetheless. 

They stayed up the hill a bit longer, sitting on the grass with not a word being exchanged between them. He wondered what was going on in Laurent’s mind, and if it was truly a torture for him to have Damen by his side. 

He supposed not. If it had been, Damen would have long been stabbed in the stomach or ended up at the bottom of the sea. His scent, although barely perceptible with how much perfume he wore and with the way his clothes covered his glands, didn’t hold any kind of fear either. 

It was hard, being so close to Laurent and yet unable to touch him. It was like his body was drawn to him, a physical power that could not be seen, but could be felt in the very depths of Damen’s soul. He wondered if Laurent could feel it too. 

“Can I ask you something?” Damen asked suddenly. 

“I won’t marry you.” 

“That’s not what I was going to ask,” Damen said, although the words hurt him deep in his soul. “It’s about Akielos.” 

That got Laurent’s attention. 

“You do know we are enemies?” 

“We are not. Auguste is my friend, and so are you.”

“I’m not your friend,” Laurent corrected him. 

“But you are your brother’s best friend, and so I trust you.” 

“You’re stupid.” 

Damen shrugged. It wasn’t the first time he had been called stupid, although he disagreed. He was very smart, but too trusting at times. 

“I fear something will be happening soon,” Damen explained. There was no trace of fun in his voice anymore. This was a serious matter, and he wasn’t trying to flirt with Laurent anymore. 

He had confessed his fear to Auguste, a few nights ago, and the alpha had advised him to talk with Laurent. It was hard to explain what exactly Damen thought was going to happen: he hadn’t heard anything, hadn’t noticed anything, but he could feel that something was off. 

He explained so to Laurent, who stayed quiet for far too long. 

“Maybe I’m just stupid,” Damen said. 

“Do you love your bastard brother?” Laurent asked. 

“Kastor?” 

Laurent nodded. 

Damen frowned, not truly sure of how to answer that question. He did love Kastor, in a way, but he certainly didn’t like him. He supposed that was how families worked: a bunch of people you are forced to love, even when you dislike them. 

“You can refer to him as my brother only. We have a complicated relationship, but we care for each other.”

Laurent made a sound with his throat that Damen did not understand. He thought back about Auguste and every story he heard about Laurent’s intelligence and cleverness, and he understood that Laurent knew something about Kastor. For the first time, Damen was not sure if he wanted Laurent to speak to him or not. 

“Your brother said you were his best advisor,” he said. 

“And? Does that bother you?” 

Damen frowns. 

“Why would it?”

“I’m just a pretty omega, am I not? Thinking should only be an alpha’s duty.” 

Oh, Damen thought, realizing the mistake he had made during their encounters a few days ago. Of course an omega like Laurent didn’t want to be complimented on his beauty. He knew he was beautiful, the same way they knew that the sun kept them warm and the water kept them hydrated. 

Omegas like Laurent don’t want to be reduced to their beauty, and they shouldn’t be. It isn’t Laurent’s beauty that first caught Damen’s heart: it was his bravery when he threw himself at Kastor to save his brother’s life. 

“I don’t think so, no,” he said carefully. “I think Auguste is very lucky to have you by his side. I remember the day we first met. I had never seen someone, alpha or omega, as brave as you were that day. Ten years later, I can tell you that I still have never seen anyone close to it.” 

Laurent looked at him for a very long time, an expression on his face that Damen couldn’t quite place. His scent seemed a bit different. Stronger than before, and Damen had to force himself not to try and sniff the air. 

“The omega with him, is she your mistress?” 

“Yes and no. I never… We never shared a bed, but that is her job, yes. We’re friends.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” 

“Why isn’t she your lover? She looks -” Like me, Laurent left unsaid. And it was true. Jokaste did look like Laurent, and yet she had nothing to do with him at the same time. 

“I never took any lovers.” 

For the first time, Laurent looked shocked over something Damen said. This reaction was not unheard of. Anytime the subject would come up, and Damen was forced to mention his virginity, alphas, betas, and omegas alike would look like they were on the verge of passing out. 

It wasn’t that Damen didn’t want to have sex. Far from that, if he was being honest, and more than once he almost crossed the line with a pretty woman or boy, but he always held strong. His body and soul, he had long decided, belonged to Laurent. 

“I heard,” he said, tentatively. “That you never took any lover as well.”

“Why do you care? Would you look down on me if I did? I’m ten years older than you, Alpha.”

“No,” Damen answered honestly. “It wouldn’t change a thing. Forgive me for asking.” 

He had angered Laurent once again. 

They got back on their horses and drove back to the castle without exchanging another word. 

It was late in the night when Damen heard someone knock on his door. Before he could open it, the person slipped inside. 

He froze when he realized that it was Laurent who was standing in front of him, in nothing but a transparent nightgown.

Laurent looked down at him, his eyes fixed between his legs, and it took Damen an extra time to remember he slept naked. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled before covering himself. 

“No, it’s - I - I should have waited,” Laurent said before clearing his throat. “I just - Be careful of Jokaste and Kastor.” 

Damen didn’t care about his nakedness anymore. 

“What? Why?” 

“I can’t tell you. Not now. But when you go back to Akielos, you’ll need to be careful. Do you trust your friend Nikandros?”

“I do, yes.”

“Good. I’ll send him a letter before you arrive. You and your brother will take two different ships, but you won’t tell Kastor before it happens. Do you understand me?” 

“Yes.” 

Laurent nodded and opened the door again to slip away. 

“Thank you!” Damen yelled, which got him an annoyed look from Laurent. 

Suddenly, having Laurent as his mate was not the only thing keeping Damen up during the night. Instead, all he could think about was the brother he once loved and the woman he called his friend, plotting against him. 

“We’re leaving soon,” Damen complained to Auguste. “I loved being in Vere.”

“Did you love being in Vere or did you love being near Laurent?”

“Both,” Damen lied. 

Auguste laughed and got up to hand his daughter back to her wet nurse. 

He sat down next to Damen and crossed his arms over his chest in a serious manner. They were not two friends having breakfast together anymore, but two Kings having a meeting. 

“What are your intentions towards my brother?”

“I want to marry him and for him to become my mate.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s smart, kind and funny. Very beautiful, too, but I wouldn’t mention that to him anymore.” 

“You should mention it to him,” Auguste says. “But when the timing is right. You do know my brother is ten years older than you?” 

“I do, yes.”

“It’s not conventional. Omegas are supposed to be younger.”

Damen swallowed hard, his fists pressed tight together. He had thought Auguste agreed with his love, had hoped he did, as the alternative was far too sinister. If he could somehow convince Laurent to give him a chance, he would need Auguste’s approval before marrying him, and if he didn’t, then their friendship would have to end, and war would start again, as Damen would refuse to let go of the omega. 

That scenario implied that Laurent would be willing to marry him in the first place, which so far hasn’t been the case. 

“Laurent isn’t a typical omega, and I’m not a typical alpha. I don’t care about what is conventional or not. I love him. I’ll give him anything he wants.”

“He’s spoiled. My mistake, of course. It will be even worse for you. He will hold more power over you than he does over me.” 

“He refuses to use my name,” Damen said, not sure why. “I asked him. Several times.” 

Auguste laughed. 

“See? That’s just one percent of what Laurent is capable of. You think his refusing to say your name is a problem? He will deny you to sleep in your own bed. How will you react to that?”

“I’ll sleep on the floor, then.” 

It never occurred to Damen how alike Auguste and Laurent were before today. Yet now, his friend bared the same expression as Laurent often did, and there was no denying who raised the omega. 

“I could never refuse anything to Laurent,” Auguste said, his voice too soft. Suddenly, they were back on the battlefield, and Auguste was thirty again, a young prince hugging his brother in the quietness of their tent. “And I could never dream of a better man than you to be his husband and mate.” 

“Does that mean…” 

“Laurent needs to agree, of course. I would never sell him away, and I know you wouldn’t accept it anyway. Right?” 

“No. I wouldn’t. I only want his happiness.”

“Good,” Auguste said. “Then go and see him. I’m sure he will be eager to talk to you.” 

Damen felt caught in a plan that had already been decided for him, but he did not dare to complain. Instead, he followed Auguste’s advice and went to find Laurent. 

The omega wasn’t with the horses, like Damen first thought, nor was he in the library or even in the kitchen, where he often stole food when no one was around. 

It took Damen one hour of running around before someone mentioned having seen Laurent in the throne’s chamber, and forty more minutes before he was able to find said room, after a young boy named Nicaise purposely gave him the wrong directions. Twice. 

When he entered the room, he was surprised to see Laurent sitting on Auguste’s throne, a book in his hands. 

In any other country, if the King’s mate had been seen sitting on the King’s throne, he would have been flogged to death in front of the whole kingdom. Laurent was not even Auguste’s mate; he was his brother, and that made the matter even more scandalous. 

“Are you going to put me in jail?” Laurent asked with a laziness that was ordinary for him. 

“My throne is far more comfortable,” Damen said instead. “I’ll let you sit on it, if you want.” 

“Where will you sit, then?” 

“I’ll ask for a second throne to be made. Smaller, of course. You deserve to have the biggest one.” 

Laurent looked at him for a long time before closing his book and carefully putting it on the floor. He didn’t stand up, and so Damen kneeled in front of him. 

“Ask me again,” Laurent said. 

“Ask you what?” 

Laurent made a “tsk” with his tongue and sat on Auguste’s throne, his arm on the armrest, lazily supporting his head. 

Damen wondered what anyone would say if they were to walk on them right now: an Alpha King on his knees in front of an omega sitting on a throne. He supposed that would be a scandal. He knew he wouldn’t care. 

“I need you to think, Alpha.” 

“I’m trying.” 

“You asked me something, once. Ask me again, now.” 

Damen felt his body freezing and his brain doing the same. 

Ten years. He had waited ten years for this moment. 

He prayed he did not misunderstand Laurent. 

“I’ll take you -” Damen stopped. Not like this. Laurent frowned, and for a split second, Damen thought he saw disappointment and sadness on his face. He cleared his throat and spoke again. “Will you do me the honour of taking me as your alpha?”

He wasn’t ordering. He wasn’t taking ownership of Laurent, for Laurent was never to be tamed, not now, not ever. 

“Stand up,” Laurent asked him. Damen followed the order and watched as Laurent got up, too, until they were standing face to face, toes to toes. Their height difference was more noticeable now, and instinctively, Damen bent his knees, while Laurent got on his toes. “We will be equal. Promise me this.”

“I promise you.” 

“I will have a place next to you during the meetings, and a voice as strong as yours.”

“Yes.”

“Even if - Even if I bear your children.” 

Little pups running around them, with Laurent’s temper and Damen’s figure. 

“We’re going to raise the most powerful princes and princesses ever,” Damen said. 

“Answer the question.”

“Yes. A million times yes. For each child you give me, I’ll give you a new horse, a new land. Anything you want.”

Laurent shook his head, but this time, for the first time, there was a smile on his face. 

“I’m older than you,” he said. “I’ll become old before you do. You’ll have younger omegas running around you all your life.”

“I’ll look at no one but you. And when you die of old age, I’ll follow you, just one second after you take your last breath.” 

“That’s not - “ Laurent laughed, then, and held onto Damen’s bicep. Their first touch, and Damen felt electricity running through his body in a way he never felt before. It took everything in him not to pull Laurent against his chest and kiss him. “You’re so intense. Always so damn intense.”

“Do you not like it?”

“Oh, I like it. I like it too much, even,” Laurent confessed. 

“I like you too much,” Damen said. “But it isn’t a bad thing. I’ve loved you for ten years. Ever since I was a child.” 

“So I’ve been told. Will you kiss me, then?” 

“Now?” 

“Now, Alpha.” 

Damen had dreamt of that for so long. In one movement, he lifted Laurent from the floor, making the omega scream from surprise in the process, but his yell was quickly quieted by Damen’s lips on his. 

It felt like the kiss would never end. Laurent’s lips were on his, his body was pressed against his, and for the first time in his life, Damen felt complete. He had been right all along. He never belonged to anyone else but Laurent, and never will. 

“Be my mate,” he begged once their kiss had ended. “Please, Laurent, be mine, and let me be yours.”

“Yes,” Laurent said, his face hiding in the crook of Damen’s neck, right where his scenting glands were. “I’ll be your mate, Damen.” 

The night after, Damen left at midnight on a different ship than the one on which he came, with no brother nor mistress by his side, but with the strongest omega he could ever dream of calling his mate next to him. 

He didn’t know what the future held for him, and they were yet to be properly mated and married, but Auguste had agreed on letting them go together, and as long as Damen had Laurent with him, there was no battle he wouldn’t win, and no mountain he wouldn’t (reach) clamber. 

From a distance, he could swear he saw Auguste looking at them from his bedroom window, and he made a silent promise to his friend to take care of his brother for him.