Unnatural - Alessandra Hazard Page 0,26

just glared at him and stalked out.

Royce exhaled, his face grim. “Belinda, make sure Lucien is never alone with Aksel.”

“Aksel would never hurt Lucien,” Belinda said, frowning. “He always worshiped him as a boy!”

Royce gave her a pinched look. “He’s not a boy anymore,” he said flatly.

“Royce is right,” Vagrippa said. “Now that Aksel is back home, I’ll find him a suitable match. A young omega from a nice, respectable family—”

“I can’t believe you!” Belinda snapped and stormed out of the room, leaving an awkward silence in her wake.

Haydn looked at Royce, unsure what that was about.

Royce sighed and steered him out of the room. “Let’s go, I’ll tell you over breakfast.”

Haydn allowed it, trying to ignore the warmth of Royce’s hand on his lower back.

“Aksel presented late,” Royce said as they entered the breakfast room. “He was always enamored with Lucien as a boy. I should have probably expected that it would shift into a fixation when he presented as an alpha.”

Haydn did the math in his head. Lucien was what, thirty-five? “Lucien is just ten years older than him. That kind of age difference is unusual, but it’s not a lot. Lucien is still young and will be at childbearing age for over a decade. I don’t really get why you would be opposed to a match?” Unless… unless you’re actually interested in Lucien yourself, came a thought that made something in Haydn’s stomach twist. “Or is this about Lucien technically being his father’s widower?”

Royce grimaced. “Among other things. I already told you what happened to Lucien during his first heat. Since then, he doesn’t like being around alphas. When Aksel presented… his presentation coincided with Lucien’s heat.” Royce poured himself a glass of juice and sipped it. “By the time I interrupted them, Aksel was already between his legs. You’ve seen the ugly scar on my left arm? Aksel gave it to me when I dragged him off Lucien. I was lucky Aksel wasn’t as big back then as he is now. I shipped him off to the army the next day.”

Haydn hummed thoughtfully. He could see why Royce would want to protect Lucien, but… “Did you ask Lucien’s opinion? Was he traumatized by what happened with Aksel?”

Royce snorted. “Lucien was in heat. He was hardly in any state to remember much. He later told me it wasn’t Aksel’s fault and that he wasn’t traumatized at all, but I don’t trust his word when it comes to Aksel. He’s always had a soft spot for the kid. If Aksel weren’t a Xeus, I could have trusted him more, but he thinks with his cock instead of his brain. A Xeus is the worst possible choice for an omega scared of alphas. Mother is right: Aksel needs an omega his own age, without any psychological trauma he might inadvertently trigger.”

“I got the impression your mother is more concerned that the omega should come from a nice, respectable family,” Haydn said dryly. He really liked Vagrippa, but the woman certainly wasn’t perfect.

Royce sighed. “She’s fond of Lucien, but…”

“Not fond enough to want him as her son’s mate,” Haydn finished, his voice carefully neutral.

A shadow crossed Royce’s face. “I know it isn’t fair. Lucien doesn’t deserve to be shamed for being a victim of a crime, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We can’t force people to accept him.”

Haydn stabbed his fork into his salad and scowled at it, his appetite gone. “It’s kind of funny that we’ve reached the technological level of interstellar travel, but our society is still so uncivilized.”

“Stop that,” Royce said gruffly.

Confused, Haydn looked up. “What?”

Royce’s expression was a little tight. “Stop smelling upset. It’s—distracting.”

“Distracting?” Haydn repeated slowly.

Royce shot him an annoyed look. “I’m fresh out of a rut,” he said, as if that explained everything.

Right. The rut.

He thought they were pretending that it never happened.

Haydn stared at his plate with great interest. He opened his mouth. Put something into it. Chewed. He couldn’t taste anything, all his senses focused on the man across from him.

The silence stretched, becoming awkward.

“Thank you,” Royce said in a slightly stilted voice. “I can’t thank you enough for… being so accommodating during my rut.”

Accommodating. Right.

Haydn’s face was burning. “Don’t mention it,” he said in his most casual voice.

He glanced up and their gazes locked.

Royce’s eyes were so very dark.

Haydn swallowed.

Before either of them could say anything, the door opened, and Devlin strode into the room. “Great, I was afraid I’d be late for breakfast,” he said, flopping into