Unnatural - Alessandra Hazard Page 0,2

with forever hadn’t been his idea of a marriage.

At least they would be a beta.

That was something.

***

Senator Royce Cleghorn knocked on the door and entered without waiting for a response.

“Ah, you are just in time, my boy!” Prime Minister Taube said, smiling widely.

Royce suppressed a surge of irritation. He was thirty-six years old; hardly a boy.

“Your Excellency,” he said evenly.

“None of that, son! Call me Caius, as all my friends do. Take a seat.”

Royce sat down and looked at the prime minister expectantly, displaying patience he didn’t feel.

“You’re probably wondering why I’ve asked you to come,” Taube said.

Royce just nodded. The prime minister could talk all day if he was given the smallest encouragement. Sometimes Royce couldn’t help but think the man was a babbling fool, except a fool wouldn’t remain the head of the Kadarian government for two decades. Caius Taube had a sharp mind and equally sharp instincts, contrary to his friendly, harmless demeanor.

“How long have we known each other, my boy?”

“Over a decade, Your Excellency.”

Taube hummed thoughtfully. “Indeed. Time flies, doesn’t it? I suppose that’s life. It seems only yesterday you became the youngest senator in history.”

At times like this, Royce almost thought Taube suspected him and that was why he annoyed him on purpose, testing his patience and waiting for Royce to give himself away. Despite Taube’s seemingly warm attitude, there was no love lost between them. He knew Taube was wary of his growing influence and power in the Senate; he would have to have been a fool not to be, especially considering the upcoming elections next year.

Royce breathed through his nose, carefully. The prime minister was an alpha, and his scent never failed to aggravate Royce a little, which was a normal enough reaction, but that day the man’s scent was stronger than usual. Taube was worried about something. Or excited. It was hard to tell. Royce’s scent-blocker messed with his own senses, too, making them duller—something he usually didn’t mind at all, but now he would have liked to be able to determine Taube’s intentions through his scent.

But that would have been too easy. He hadn’t gotten as far as he had by relying on his instincts.

So he remained calm and waited. Taube would get to the point eventually.

And eventually, he did.

“You were there when I told the Senate about the ultimatum the Galactic Council had given us,” Taube said, looking at him intently. His gaze was serious now. “So I will not bore you with the particulars again. You’re one of the few senators who actually understand the seriousness of the situation.”

Royce said nothing.

Taube sighed. “I know most of the Senate doesn’t trust the Pelugians to actually maintain the peace. That’s why I suggested a diplomatic marriage between a prominent member of the Senate and someone from Pelugia’s nobility. To my surprise, the Galactic Council representative supported my idea, and he already secured King Stefan’s agreement.”

“That’s good,” Royce said. As someone whose estate was close to the border between Pelugia and Kadar, he had always been an outspoken supporter of peace.

Taube nodded. “Indeed. King Stefan’s only condition was that I must choose a beta to represent Kadar.”

Royce’s blood pressure spiked. “Your Excellency?”

The prime minister looked him in the eyes. “I’m asking you to do it for your country, son. You know better than anyone how ravaged Kadar is by this never-ending war.”

Royce’s first instinct was to refuse.

Of course he wanted to refuse.

But then he thought of his mother’s red-rimmed, fearful eyes every time Royce’s younger brother failed to message her from the front line. He thought of his pretty omega sister, living in the house so close to the border that it could be overrun by the Pelugian army any day. Royce’s lands were heavily guarded, but security guards would be nothing against an army. And one day the army would come. They had just been lucky that the Pelugia-Kadar border was very long and all the major battles happened away from Cleghorn—so far. One day, their luck would run out.

But peace, if it actually held this time, could put an end to it once and for all.

He’d made bigger sacrifices for his family. What was one more?

Royce’s lips twisted into a bitter smile. “I will do it, Your Excellency.”

Taube grinned widely. “I knew I could count on you, Royce. Truth be told, you were the only candidate I could think of who is a beta and is high-profile enough to marry a prince. Everyone in the Senate respects you, and the