The Warrior King (Inferno Rising #3) - Abigail Owen Page 0,102

introduced his queen to the general assemblage. Now he and Meira walked from group to group as the king personally introduced her to each person. The soft murmur of her voice and occasional rumble of the king’s were the only sounds in the room as the clan looked on in judgmental quiet.

Meira glanced up, directly at him, though he knew for damn sure he hadn’t made a sound or movement to attract her attention. Eyes dark-blue pools of apprehension implored him from across the room in a way no mate could have ignored. Samael sped his steps toward her, unable to stop himself. Because, while her forced smile probably appeared pleasant to those watching, her rigid body telegraphed her alarm to him.

Because of what he’d done, because he’d claimed her, she had to be hating this deception. Gorgon was introducing her as his queen when she wasn’t. Not to mention the raw emotions no doubt beating at her from every person in the room, even if she was shielding herself from them.

With each step he took toward her, Meira didn’t look away.

Don’t focus on me, he willed her. Others would notice.

At the same time, however, he couldn’t force himself to stop moving or look away himself. Mere feet away, her jasmine scent hit him with the force of a wrecking ball. Sam lifted a hand to reach for her…to do what, he wasn’t sure. Tuck her into his side? Place a hand at her back in a show of support? Lean down and kiss her until she relaxed into him and lost that tension?

Except he didn’t get a chance, because Gorgon stepped directly into his path.

“Ah, Samael,” his king boomed, overjovial. “I was just telling the clan of the service you provided in protecting our queen when I was taken.”

Forced to halt his headlong rush to Meira’s side, Samael blinked, absorbing Gorgon’s words. “I only did what I promised you, my lord. You said to keep her safe if something ever happened to you.”

He could have sworn Meira gasped. Except, visible over Gorgon’s shoulder, she didn’t make a move or a sound. At the same instant, pain cracked through his heart because the words were only a tiny part of the truth. The real truth was he would give his life for Meira Amon. Hell, he’d sell his soul for her.

“Yes, I did give you that order,” Gorgon confirmed, his voice filling the room to the domed rafters. “Because this phoenix and her sisters will be the saviors of our people.”

A murmur passed through the massive hall.

Gorgon continued as though no sound had been uttered. “I made you the Viceroy of Defense for similar reasons, my most loyal of guards and advisers.”

Another soft murmur. Samael’s face, meanwhile, was doing a damn good impression of a stone gargoyle as he tried not to let the guilt visibly show.

Gorgon turned, raising his voice even louder to address the entire room. “Those qualities, the same reason why I now name Samael Veles my beta.”

The king might as well have beaten him over the head with the spiked end of a dragon’s tail. Shock was an electric current rooting his feet to the floor, buzzing in his ears.

Gorgon did not just do that. How was he supposed to do what he intended to do with the title of beta hanging over him?

The murmur turned into more of a low rumble. One of protest. Damn if he’d allow that to pass, though Gorgon made no move to put a stop to it. Pure instinct drove the growl that spilled from Samael, and silence scattered through the room.

They might not approve of him, but he would not allow them to question their king. Stepping forward, shoulders drawn back, he raised his voice. “You may not like a commoner for your beta, but you will respect the king who put me in it.”

Another beat of silence that turned into more of a stretch. And no wonder. Samael rarely spoke when on duty and was rarely seen outside his rooms when off duty. In his opinion, his role was to stand behind the king and protect. The clan didn’t need to hear from him. Perhaps a mistake on his part.

“Spoken like a true alpha, Veles.” Jorsha Sachmis, Gorgon’s Viceroy of the Reserve, in charge of the wealth of the clan and the biggest kiss-ass on the Curia Regis, clapped Samael on the back. No doubt, Samael would receive an invitation to dine with the man. Networking—a facet of