What the Lightning Gave Us - Chapter 2

Kara had been at the castle for a fortnight, and the summer storms arrived behind her, drenching the earth in rain and breaking the clouds with thunder.

The kitchen maids whispered of omens, and called it a sign that Lena would be as fertile as the earth and Kara like the thunder in battle.

Lena had never believed in superstitions, or the magic that the common folk trusted to forecast the future, but their tidings were a consolation when the lightning came and fear gripped her heart. On the eve before a feast celebrating Kara’s return, Lena startled awake to the noise of it striking down trees in the forest.

She ran down the corridor to Kara’s chamber and pulled at the heavy furs so she could slip into bed at her alpha’s side.


It was just as calming as always to lie next to Kara, but they had added a new habit to their old ritual.

Lena lifted the night dress off over her head, and most of the time, Kara removed all of the layered undergarments beneath it.

They did this without discussion, and then Lena was naked in Kara’s bed. She knew there would be trouble if they were ever found in such a position, but when Kara’s hand wandered to her breast or cunt, she had little worry about the consequences they might suffer.
 

Kara’s hand remained over her cunt throughout the night, with a finger occasionally straying and rubbing at her innocence, or just above it in the precious spot between her lips. The improper behavior filled Lena with so many good feelings that she whimpered and begged Kara to continue.


The night before the feast was a special one, because Kara’s candle still flickered.

They kissed while Kara admired her breasts and awakened each nipple the same way the sun awakens the flower buds. The mere hot glance of Kara’s stare was enough to rouse them, and then the alpha’s warm mouth reddened each one.


“Whenever you do this to me, I feel such an urge to mate with you,” Lena admitted with a shameful blush brightening her face. “I know we must wait, but my heat must be coming upon me, because mating is all I can think about—“


Kara propped herself up on an elbow and shook with a quiet laugh. “I have to be honest and say that delights me.”

Lena would have smacked the alpha on the arm if Kara hadn’t risen from the bed at the same time.

Kara walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a tray with a row of bottles on it. She brought it over to the bedside table and then opened the ties on her trousers. The trousers fell to the floor and Kara sat at the edge of the bed.


“Come, sit in my lap,” Kara whispered and picked one of the bottles off the tray.


“What is that?” Lena asked with a crinkle of suspicion between her brows. “Oil?”


She shifted up from the bed and stood next to Kara, but she became utterly distracted by the sight of the alpha’s cock. In the partial darkness, it looked as sturdy as a branch, thick enough to sit upon, and it did strange things to Lena’s stomach when she stared at the rounded head. She wanted it to push inside her and for Kara’s seed to take in her womb.


“These oils were a gift from a friend, and I see no reason to wait to use them,” Kara remarked as she placed one in front of the candle so that Lena could glimpse the shifting essence within the bottle.


While Lena stood dumbly fixated on the alpha’s cock, Kara spread the oil across her thigh and stroked some of it along and underneath her shaft with a low groan of enjoyment.


Lena never bothered to ask whether they were truly going to mate. The moment Kara held out her arms, Lena went into them and let the alpha position her. She drew a breath as she pressed down upon Kara’s thigh and moaned as she slid on the slick mating oil.


Instinct took over, and Lena rubbed her cunt, rocking her pelvis back and forth until she glistened and Kara guided her hips.


“This is the best feeling I’ve experienced in my life,” Lena breathed out in wonder and continued the pleasurable motions as Kara nodded and controlled her sensual glide.


“We will always have mating oils on hand,” Kara promised and ran both hands down her back, encouraging Lena to keep up the momentum.


They had pretended to mate like this several times in the last few days, but the introduction of the oil made it feel better. Kara subtly moved her cock in between Lena’s thighs, and on every upward stroke, the tip was inside of her entrance.

Lena gasped with every subtle push against her chastity and moved ardently into Kara with faster undulations. It was wrong of her to feel so enraptured by the prospect of Kara pushing deeper and she knew better than to spoil herself, but she wanted to experience the alpha in the most carnal of ways.

She sensed Kara was thinking the very same, and temptation shrouded around her when Kara’s strong hands moved to her backside. Lena whimpered at the increased friction and how, with every quick pass along Kara’s length, the tip rubbed into her clitoris.

“Promise me you’ll still have me like this, even once we are married,” Lena rasped, her gentle hands fisting into Kara’s shirt as she tried to hold onto the alpha’s shoulders. The sound of their bodies fanned Lena’s passion and her cunt grew even slicker.

“I can think of no sweeter promise to make,” Kara exhaled against her lips and then silenced her whines with a kiss.

Their fingers intertwined, and they were both much noisier as their shared pleasures came to fruition. Lena gasped into Kara’s lips and moaned as her thighs pressed inward with the sudden and instinctual desperation to tighten around Kara’s cock.

Kara’s seed glazed over her slick opening, and then bottom of the alpha’s shaft thickened into the most engorged knot.

This had never happened before during the times they had been alone together and they both stared at it in wonder.

Lena pushed the bulge in between her legs and continued to slide against it with a whimper that told of her eagerness to mate. She could no longer tame her omega and gave vocalization to her grievances.

“You ought to take me south to court, so we can be wed before summer’s end,” Lena complained, her skin damp with the sweat of her efforts.

It appeared that Kara scarcely had her wits about her, because she was so transfixed on Lena’s cunt, but she eventually found her senses and muttered out, “I am certain we shouldn’t wait another fortnight.”

That brought a smile to Lena’s lips, which gave way to the smallest quiver as she rocked all the more against Kara’s knot.

She had thought oftentimes of asking her maids more about mating with alphas, but really she was learning quite enough on her own. A spectacular tremor went through Kara whenever the lips of her cunt embraced the sides of her knot. Lena strived to keep the intense warmth of it nestled intimately against her, though she found it difficult when her pelvis moved of its own accord. Her omega hungered for more than simple gyrations, and so she began a bounce of sorts that stole Kara’s breath away.

“Lena, my sweet Lena,” Kara groaned in drunkenness from pleasure. Her heavy eyelids barely remained open, and if not for the way her hips bucked upward, Lena might have thought she was near sleep.

The knot she coveted throbbed hard between her thighs.

Lena whined in surprise when hot jets of seed flowed like a fountain from Kara’s swollen tip, and she admired the sight of it pooling along the crease of her cunt, opalescent and intriguing, like liquid moonlight.

Lena would have lingered much longer in Kara’s lap, but she fell backwards when she heard the soft creaks of the floorboards and the sound of a servant entering to begin a morning fire.

She hid herself beneath the bed while Kara rushed to lie down and to spread more pheromones in the air so that the chamber smelled much more of an alpha than an omega.

“Ah, now, there’s no need for those overpowering scents,” commented the servant, and shuffled towards the hearth with heavy firewood that she placed in a stack.

“I apologize, Eliza, it’s just that I didn’t expect to be awakened so early,” Kara blurted in her own defense, and the smell of her humiliation carried within it notes of guilt.

Kara’s fragrance was protecting them from being discovered, though Lena felt the smallest tickle in her throat as she breathed in the dust below the bed.

“I haven’t changed the time I come around to make your fire,” Eliza whispered with a stern fondness, and it was clear the matron had no suspicions about what Kara did just before her arrival.

“I am far more exhausted than usual. It must be from the excitement of my return.” Kara spoke with exaggerated loudness, but otherwise sounded her usual self – just as kind and spirited as always, but Lena knew she was disconcerted from the way Kara shifted the blanket to drape it further off the bed. It would keep Lena cloaked in shadows when Eliza set light to the kindling in the fireplace, though the movement also sent the dust fluttering.

Lena inhaled it before she could manage to slap a hand over her mouth. She coughed into her palm as quietly as possible, and Kara covered by coughing along with her, far longer than necessary.

“Shall I fetch you a drink?” Eliza asked curiously, and Kara almost bolted up in bed as she stuttered, “No, no, I—um—I—just need to rest another moment or two before the day begins.”

The slow and steady lick of flames brought a soft glow to the room and Eliza’s lips twitched into a private smile as she stoked the fire higher. “You can sleep a while longer when I’m gone.” The suggestion was offered up with a critical glance to Kara, and then Eliza motioned to the bucket of water and sponge by the window. “Be sure to wash before you dress so you look your best for breakfast.”

Kara was still nodding when Eliza walked out of her room, and when the door shut, she leapt out of bed to help Lena up. “We are fortunate we did not get caught. Can you believe we haven’t slept all night?”

“Perhaps if I come to your bed tonight, I should keep my underthings on,” Lena softly chided, though she did it so a coquettish smirk and a gentle caress of Kara’s arm. “What would everyone in this castle think if they knew I was the kind to give myself to you before our marriage?”

“Are you that kind?” Kara thoughtlessly asked and then bungled her attempts to make up for her rude question. “You have yet to — What I meant by that is—“

“Hush,” Lena whispered and placed a finger over Kara’s lips to prevent the apologetic drivel that would surely come. “We both know that I should conduct myself as a lady if I am to rule by your side.”

Lena started to wash herself up, lifting clean cloth to soak, and use, and rinse out.

It was a rarity that her maids left her without a bath in the morning, and ever since Kara’s arrival, they had been all the more fastidious about Lena’s clothes and presentation—but she knew first she must tidy herself before she returned to her own bedchamber.

“There are some ladies who have even instructed me that I should be a bit cold to you on your return, so that you desire me,” Lena admitted with a crinkle between her brows, which appeared whenever she was the slightest bit troubled. “They make rather absurd recommendations about what omegas should do to make an alpha love them more.”

“What do they say that bothers you so?” Kara wondered and took the cloth from Lena’s hands to dip it into the basin of water. She directed Lena closer to the fire to keep the chill of the morning at bay, and began to intimately run the cloth over the warm apex between Lena’s thighs.

Lena blushed and watched quite eagerly when Kara parted her lips to soothe between her pink folds and wash the oil away.

“It’s hardly worth repeating. I imagine it’s of no interest to you.” Lena uttered, though she was acutely aware that Kara’s knot had yet to cease its prominent display.

“On the contrary, I’m deeply interested.” Kara emphasized her desire to know more by rubbing into Lena’s clitoris under the guise of cleaning her cunt of seed.

The gentle massage excited them both and Kara nuzzled into her neck to huff at the natural perfume on her skin. “Won’t you tell me, Lena? I would much prefer to know what to expect if you suddenly take their advice.”

“I have no need of doing that, because you can’t keep your hands off me,” Lena chuckled and pushed a hand against Kara’s chest, not to prevent her from stepping closer, but just to tease. She resisted the smile that was going to break across her face and took the cloth from Kara’s hand before turning away.

“Your aunt’s friends are the ones who advised me,” Lena remarked as she dropped another clean strip of fabric into the water and wrung it out for Kara to use. “They told me that I ought to keep you at arm’s length, but that I should also spend all day complimenting your great strength and fine looks. As if you don’t already know that everyone thinks of you as walking perfection.”

Kara laughed at the remark, though Lena could see the bashfulness play across the alpha’s cheeks as she rolled her eyes in amusement.

“It is you that turns heads in this castle, especially mine,” Kara muttered, and the suggestive lilt to her voice might have been due to arousal. She washed herself with haste and pulled on her pants all the while stealing glances at Lena.

“What plans do you have today?” The alpha inquired with a hopeful smile that told Lena she wished to whisk her away for their own diversions. “Perhaps we could take a stroll through the gardens together when the sun is still high this afternoon—”

“Before the important feast that your Uncle and Aunt have arranged tonight in your honor?” Lena asked with a pointed jut of her chin that was still affectionate, despite the tone that she took. “If my maids don’t assail with me with dresses and talk of dancing with you, then I will find you in the garden.”

Slipping back into her night gown was an ordeal, because Kara’s hands had a way of delaying her, but after a few more stolen kisses, Lena at last dressed herself, and hurried off to her bedroom before any of her maids discovered that she was missing.

She sat down at her vanity the moment she entered her bedroom and tried to comb the tangles from her long curls. Her maid came in straight at the back of her, and Lena glanced towards the door in apprehension when she saw that Eve was staring.

“You look like you were fighting in your sleep,” Eve stated in lieu of a greeting, and her eyes flicked to the bed, where the sheets were perfectly tucked in.

Lena could practically taste the suspicion in the air and murmured, “You know how storms disrupt my sleep. I awoke with the birds and made myself busy with the tidying up.”

Eve appeared to be amused by that, for as she wandered over, there was a mischievous smile on her lips. “I think your restlessness is less to do with lightning and more to do with a certain alpha that you hope to see.”

“Hold your tongue,” Lena playfully chastised, her hand coming to rest on her neck where her pulse thumped quicker in guilty admission.

“We all have fevered dreams, m’lady, now stay still while I try to tame this beast.” Eve gathered the beast in question into her hand, and took the brush from Lena with a quiet laugh.

With patience, Eve tended to her hair and summoned Lena’s other maids to fetch water for a bath.

After cleaning herself for a second time, Lena dressed in an emerald green gown with a gold sash and cords, and then her ladies brought necklaces to drape around her throat and rings for every finger.

She took her morning meal at the table in her bedroom, thick porridge and fresh apples, which she nibbled in between all of her primping.

The servants spoke joyfully about the feast ahead—what Lena would wear, the guests who would attend, and the food that would be served.

Around the middle of the day, Eve brought gifts to her bedroom, which she whispered must be seen as early wedding presents.

Lena waved that notion aside, but the candlesticks, and the jewels and the bed linens were all fitting of a bride. She spied a large book among the items and flipped through it with a smile on her face.

The leather bound parchment was thick and crinkled beneath her fingers as she turned the pages. Etchings of runes and fantastical pictures captured her attention and she was drawn to the calligraphy letters that were scrawled beautifully throughout the book.

She only read bits and pieces, a word here and there, but the deeper she went to the heart of the tome, the stranger she felt — enthralled to the point that she barely heard Eve return, and she only stirred when the girl placed a hand on her arm.

“Goodness, have you been reading all morning?” Eve frowned down at her, and then coaxed Lena up to shake out her dress before the material held creases. “I have word that Kara has been waiting in the gardens for you. Why don’t you step out for some fresh air with her?”

“Typically I am to be accompanied,” Lena muttered as she blinked owlishly at Eve, and then huffed when the girl laughed.

“Right you are, and today I’ve been tasked with keeping an eye on you since you outrun the older maids.” Eve smirked at the flustered way Lena dipped her chin to fend off her blush before it colored her neck and blossomed on her cheeks.

“Don’t you think it’s the slightest bit silly that Kara and I suddenly need to have chaperones, when we’ve been friends our entire lives?” Lena whispered as she started out into the hall and down the staircase that would take them to the gardens.

“Someone needs to make sure you keep to the customs, and don’t you even dare lie and say that you haven’t thought at least once of breaking them.” Eve laughed and then gave her a pat on the arm that brought no comfort to Lena when she stepped outside into the sunlight.

Kara stood awaiting her by the flowering roses, and Lena held her breath for a moment when their eyes met. She walked in a rigid posture as her pheromones sweetened the air much more than all that grew within the walls of the garden. Her own desire was like a garden of its own, with vines of longing and pink wisteria that clings.

Lena dropped a small curtsy as she came up to Kara’s side and then she glanced back at Eve, who wandered close by to pick flowers.

Kara extended her arm and Lena faltered before slipping her hand through it.

“It’s peculiar to have you court me like this,” Lena uttered without speaking too loudly, lest they be overheard. “Properly.”

Kara’s lips curled in mirth while she glanced at Eve, and how the servant lingered just a few steps behind them. “Would you rather I kick off my boots and climb one of the trees to pluck you the sweetest apples like I used to?”

The sharp angle of Lena’s chin was more pronounced when she fought a smile and treated Kara to a haughty raised brow instead.

“I suspect you’d prefer that to any of this,” Lena expressed wryly, and tightened her hand around Kara’s arm to anchor the impulsive alpha to her side.

Lena very well might prefer it herself, if she was honest. Though she imagined if she so much as whispered that truth, Kara would throw tradition to the wind and whisk her off on some foolish adventure. Heaven knew she would follow Kara in a heartbeat.

“Do you remember the time I plucked so many apples that the gardener thought the tree was cursed?” Kara reminisced with a grin, unbothered by the fact that Eve listened in as she continued, “He was convinced it was only growing fruit on one side.”

“Little did he know a sneaky thief had stashed it in the hay barn,” Lena teased with a mischievous glance up at Kara through her thick eyelashes. She gasped when Kara’s fingers caught her chin and then gazed with bated breath into the alpha’s eyes. Her lips parted in anticipation, and for a dizzying moment Lena thought she might be kissed.

“And I’d do it again just to see the way you smiled when I presented them to you,” Kara murmured, the pride in her voice far more intimate when her thumb dared to brush Lena’s lower lip.

The alpha mindfully dropped her hand, and led them further into the garden as if nothing had transpired, but the damage was done, and the air between them was charged with the heavy scent of Kara’s pheromones.

Lena would have swooned if not for the way Kara held her steady, and Eve made sure to clear her throat once or twice whenever she leaned too earnestly into the alpha.

It troubled Lena that she would become so besotted that she would embarrass herself and her guardians.

“You don’t have to pick apples just to please me,” Lena whispered as they strolled under the boughs of a willow tree and into its curtaining shade. “You don’t have to fight with pretend dragons that you make from sticks, or complete a thousand tests of strength—”

“I know,” Kara intoned with the smallest smile that grew with her exuberance when she pulled Lena along. “But I would do whatever it takes to make you happy, Lena.”

From a few paces behind them, Lena heard Eve breathe out a wistful sigh.

Lena rolled her eyes to give the impression that she was unaffected by Kara’s charm, though her gentle scent carried adoration for the alpha in the summer breeze. She wished to play coy Kara if only to save face, despite how enchanted they were with each other.

For all of Kara’s desire to make gestures, Lena wanted only one. She could see its very existence in the blue shards of Kara’s eyes whenever the alpha gazed upon her, and she wanted to hear Kara breathe it to life.

“I have no doubt,” Lena finally murmured, and coquettishly unlinked their arms to see if some distance would indeed fan the flames of Kara’s attraction.

She wandered over to some of the sweet violets and pressed her lips together to stop a smile when Kara hurried over to pluck one with the intent to offer it up.

“These are lovely, but nothing in this garden can compare to your beauty, Lena,” Kara exhaled in a rush, and then blushed when she noticed there was an audience watching as she tried to woo Lena into taking her arm once again. “You put these flowers to shame.”

Lena lifted the flower to her nose and moved on to the foxgloves, all while conscious of the fact that at any second Kara might ask for her hand.

She had trusted for weeks that Kara would make their engagement formal, and what better time to do it than on the eve of such a grand feast?

When a young boy shouted to Kara and came skidding over the garden rocks to tell her that King Zor and Queen Alura had arrived by carriage, Lena became all the more convinced that Kara was going to act soon.

“Did you write to the King and Queen and ask them to come to the feast?” Lena asked, in both awe and gratitude for Kara, who must have sent word on the day of her arrival to have summoned her parents so expediently. She tried to keep her voice calm, though she sounded excited, even to her own ear.

Kara wasn’t faring any better, and her prideful pheromones held notes of love and expectation when she breathlessly whispered, “What kind of celebration would it be if I didn’t make my intentions clear to all?”

Lena noticed Kara’s anxious fingers push into her pocket to retrieve a small leather pouch with pretty embroidery sewn into it. She gasped when Kara turned towards her with shining eyes and reached for her hand.

“Lena, I wished for you to walk with me in these gardens so that flowers will always remind you of this moment.” Kara rambled in an emotional rush, her fingers curling around Lena’s as though to draw strength. “May I have your ha—”

“Ahh, there you are,” King Zor bellowed, his interruption startling Kara, who continued to clasp Lena’s fingers. “We have important matters to discuss.”

“None more important than this,” Kara asserted with joy, her eyes straying to Lena, as though she meant to continue her proposal.

“Kara,” Zor rumbled, his dominant stench reaching them all the way across the gardens. “We must talk.”

Lena sensed that Kara would not release her hand, not even by the King’s command, and she was the one forced to let go in the end.

She wondered if Zor had terrible news to deliver, because he came forward with a grim expression on his face. He glanced her over with a frown as she bowed her head, and Lena shrank back towards her maid after he chose not to greet her.

“Come, Kara, this is a private discussion,” Zor commanded and walked off to leave his conflicted daughter in his wake.

Lena experienced so many emotions in fast succession that when she opened her mouth, it merely trembled, and then she found herself unable to speak.

She stayed beside Eve while Kara followed her father, and upon glancing down at her feet, Lena saw that she had dropped the violet she had been holding.

The petals had somehow gotten trampled, and she picked up the broken stem to cradle it against her chest. Before Eve could put out a hand to stop her, she ran after Kara.

Lena entered a quieter reception room where Non often received guests, and then she halted to eavesdrop. She pulled a heavy window drape around her and covered her mouth with her hand as she listened to Zor.

“—she is not your betrothed. She is your uncle’s ward, and the reason we have sent you here each summer was to socialize her. There is war in the north, and that is your destiny, Kara. You are to defend our realm, and when you return, then it will be time for talk of mates.”

“No,” Kara uttered, soft and shaken. “No, you’re lying. How could you do this?”

“Your mother predicted you would act like this. I thought you stronger than that,” Zor grumbled in disappointment, his scent overpowering in judgment. “We leave in the morning, and you will lead our forces north. Our kingdom relies on us for protection, whether your heart is in it or not.”

“You know nothing of my heart, and I fear I no longer know anything of yours,” Kara snarled in response, her anger pungent. “My destiny is my own to make and I choose it with Lena.”

“Loyalty is more valuable than love, Kara,” Zor chided with a withering sigh. “We do not win battles with feelings. We win them with armies.”

“You’ve known all these years,” Kara accused and her scents turned sharper and all the more painful to Lena. “You used us. You used me. Are Non and Astra aware of this?”

“You’re too smart to be this naïve,” Zor responded, firm and on the verge of raising his voice.

Kara let out an anguished cry of frustration that brought tears to Lena’s eyes as demanded fiercely, “Answer me! Do they know that you never intended Lena to be my mate?”

“They should know. That was an assumption they reached on their own with no aid from me,” Zor admitted with a gruff clearing of his throat. “It seems they’ve grown soft over the years.”

The tap of footsteps interrupted Kara’s argument with her father, and Astra burst into the hall with Non at her back.

“What is the meaning of all this?” Non questioned, and added his unique scent of aggravation to the clashing of scents that was almost suffocating.

“It seems that you don’t follow my orders, and I should have come sooner, rather than to trust that you understood me when we met at court,” Zor spat, and Lena peeked from behind the curtain to see him glaring at Non in disgust. “There is a reason that Lena resides in this castle. Kara was to become close to her, but not because I think she would be a suitable mate—”

It startled the air from Lena’s lungs to listen to such awful talk, and she put her fingers into her ears and pressed herself into the corner for a few moments as she blocked it all out. Her lower lip quivered and she crouched on the floor before she dared to listen again.

“I asked you to take her as your ward, because she is the daughter of our enemy,” Zor admitted in a grave and secretive tone, and Lena hunched forward with her arms wrapped tight to her knees and her head down. Her dress would be covered in filth and cobwebs, but she braced herself for Zor’s final word.

“I chose to keep that knowledge close to my breast, because there are members of our court who would see her dead. Lena is not worthy of Kara, though I had hoped to raise her to be loyal to our cause,” Zor concluded with so strong an odor that it could have subdued any opponent. “Kara will leave tomorrow. That will ease any sadness Lena might feel.”

Zor’s statement brought a ringing silence to the hall before Kara croaked out,  “N-no—no, you are wrong.”

“I may be your father, but I am King first, and you will obey me,” Zor demanded, his patience thin from the confrontation.

Despair and anguish cut sharply through the reek of pheromones, and then the sound of Kara’s boots echoed down the hall as she fled the room in haste.

“Wait, Kara,” Zor called after her, then exhaled a heavy sigh.

“Lena was but a babe when we brought her to this castle. She is no enemy, she is ours,” Astra sputtered vehemently, her protective scents a balm to Lena’s frayed nerves.

“She’s the only one worthy of Kara, and you would know that if you ever bothered yourself to spend any time in her presence,” Non bit out with such disdain it surely curled his lips back from his teeth.

“I should have known raising the girl would meddle with your minds,” Zor snapped, and then his footfalls marched off with the sound of Non stomping after him, leaving a trail of rage behind.

Lena let out a shuddering breath that culminated in a pained whine she was unable to stop. The drape was whisked away a moment later, and Lena scarcely had time to see Astra’s devastated face when she found herself wrapped up in her arms. She pressed her cheek into the crook of Astra’s neck to smother the sob of her heart breaking and barely registered the soft words whispered in her ear.

“—just give me time — I will fix it, love — please, let us go and clean you up – the feast—"

Astra coaxed the hair out of her eyes, and held her until the small tremor in her throat stopped.

Lena accepted the older omega’s hand when getting to her feet, and Astra led her from the reception hall and off to her bedroom.

Her maids flocked around her, and to her surprise Astra sent them away, and laced Lena into the pristine gown she was to wear for Kara.

It made Lena feel delicate and ethereal to be dressed in the white gossamer with silver and gold threads of embroidery — like a cloud chased across the sky.

She blinked her eyes shut, and as they stuck for an instant, she could see herself running. It brought a sweatiness to her palms, and she choked on sudden, strange pheromones in her nostrils until she forced her eyes open and noticed Astra had been speaking to her.

“You will attend the feast tonight, and behave as though nothing has happened,” Astra instructed, even as Lena gripped the handle of her gold looking glass to peer down at her pasty face.

“I smell of disappointment and I look sickly,” Lena commented and threw the mirror onto her bed before she dwelled too long on her appearances.

“Nonsense. When you are as much a natural beauty as you are, not even a touch of sadness can make you look any less lovely.”

Astra’s reassurances were well intentioned, but failed to grasp the depths of Lena’s sorrow.

All the pretty laces in the kingdom wouldn’t be able to hold her together for long, let alone the ones of her dress. Lena forced herself to stand perfectly still while Astra applied scented oils to her neck and the top of her breasts.

The sweet scents masked most of her melancholy, though nothing would calm her emotions. Still, she bottled them up within her chest, and allowed Astra to coach her into smiling.

“I ought to remain in my chambers,” Lena numbly insisted, despite the bright smile she flashed for Astra’s sake. “If Zor is displeased by my presence—”

“He may settle his grievances with Non and I. You needn’t worry yourself about that,” Astra asserted with such sharpness that Lena experienced an even heavier sadness. They were not blood, that was never a secret, yet Astra raised her and loved her all the same. Lena’s heart was not the only one breaking, and she stilled Astra’s hand as she fussed with her dress.

“You must follow Zor’s wishes. Anything less will be considered treason,” Lena needlessly explained, and the pain in Astra’s eyes was a reflection of her own.

“Zor’s wishes may yet change,” Astra whispered and put a hand upon Lena’s shoulder to usher her along.

Astra was first when entering the banquet hall, and Lena thought of fleeing and hiding within her bedroom until all of the festivities were at an end. She would have turned back at the door, though when she breathed in Kara’s scent, she worried they would bump into one another.

Lena hurried into a seat that had been left open for her use, between Astra and Non, and she avoided glancing around too much.

Her eyes were shimmery already, and if she so much as saw Kara, she knew that she would be unable to keep her composure. Zor sat at the head of the long table with Alura, the queen.

Around them, all of the people who lived within Non’s lands were talking of mating rites and weddings, and Lena’s stomach lurched when Kara strode in with the same smile on her face as earlier. No doubt someone had instructed Kara to pretend to be happy, too, though in Kara’s case, her cheer seemed genuine.

It was not that Lena wanted to see Kara miserable, but the alpha appeared just as joyful and brimming with hope as she had been earlier in the morning. Lena’s chin wobbled a few times before she pushed it outward, and then she experienced a painful and prickling sensation in her fingertips.

Suddenly a porcupine sat on Zor’s plate where his bread loaf had been, and when he attempted to lift it up, the small creature stabbed him and ran off.

“Sire.” Zor’s attendant offered up a cloth for the king’s bleeding fingertips, and then there was a great commotion with all of the guests confused as to what they had witnessed.

“Who served me a porcupine?“  Zor questioned in outrage and glanced around at the serving alphas who had come with him on the journey north.

“It was magic!” came a voice from down the table, and Lena pressed herself into the straight back of her chair and stared down at her hand.

She knew at once she was responsible for Zor’s yowling, and that she held no feelings of regret over it.

While everyone searched for the porcupine who was hiding safely under her chair, Lena picked up a vine of grapes and began to eat. She rolled a red grape between her fingers and then popped it between her lips as the others at the table either hurried about to search, or otherwise settled back down.

“Perhaps the beast just came in from outside. There has been enough people in and out of these halls today,” Non reasoned.

It did not escape Lena how her guardians sat by her side the entire time without troubling themselves to look for the porcupine.

Lena fed the little creature some grapes inconspicuously and kept it snug under the length of her dress. She stole a glance at Kara then, and watched the alpha tuck into her evening meal with the same appetites as usual.

Kara must have known a great many other omegas, and perhaps had already discussed an acceptable match with Zor.

Lena pondered all of those nights that she had crept into Kara’s bed, and how she would never experience the comfort of Kara’s arms again. She fed the porcupine the rest of her grapes, and fed her anger, too.

She took a plum next, and just as she bit into it and juice ran down her wrist, she noticed that Kara was no longer sitting across from her.

With a crane of her neck, she could see Kara was walking around the table, speaking to others who had traveled up from court — young alphas and omegas alike.

Kara’s handsome coat of mail was well fitted to her, and Lena watched it gleam in the torchlight, like silver scales in dark water.

After some wandering, Kara came towards her, and Lena panicked so much that she hissed at Astra, “Why would she try to speak to me now?”

“She is in love with you, Lena. Much has changed, but not that,” Astra whispered, and left Lena to flounder as Kara took her vacant chair.

Lena expected to share some quiet talk about what had occurred, but Kara didn’t speak to her. She raised a mug of ale and addressed the whole room. “As you all know, I have been friends with Lady Lena since we were children, and our companionship and bond has always been special - if not extraordinary.”

Boisterous cheering went up around them, with some alphas raising their ales to toast their friendship.

Trepidation kept Lena in place, though her eyes flicked from Kara to Zor. The thunderous look on his face went unnoticed while everyone’s attention remained fixed on Kara, and Lena tried her damnedest to appear unaware of the tension that resonated from the King.

“The summers that I spent here are what kept me going through the long winter months, and I knew even then that the warmth in my chest came from one source only,” Kara announced, her pride unmatched as she tugged the small leather satchel from her pocket.

The breath in Lena’s lungs froze when Kara turned towards her with a smile so filled with adoration that other omegas sighed in envy. Kara sank down on her knee to meet her eyes, but spoke loud enough for all to hear.

“I never wish to be parted from you again, Lena.” There was no awkward fumbling or bashful glances when Kara opened the pouch.

The ring inside was slim and made of precious metal, with diamonds, rubies and sapphires all set perfectly within the band, and Kara offered it to her with a look of such hopeful longing that Lena could only gasp.

“Your radiance guides me even in the darkest of days and my love for you is the strongest thing about me,” Kara insisted, the conviction of her voice like the ringing of steel as she defied her father. “You are my match in every way, Lena, and I have wanted you more with each summer that passed. You have always been my companion, but now I ask for your hand, so you may be my mate in marriage.”

Lena slipped her hand into Kara’s, and as the alpha pushed the ring onto her finger, another flash of images came into her head – Kara in the same pose, but kneeling in the dirt to find tatters of fabric.

It was all gone in an instant, and then Lena slid from her chair and into Kara’s arms.

Kara lifted her into an embrace, and took her from the banquet hall as the hoots and claps of celebration followed them.

“Promise me that we will be together always,” Lena pleaded against Kara’s neck, and held onto her for fear that they would still be separated.

“There is nothing in all the lands that can keep me from being by your side.” Kara vowed, and though the alpha never spoke a word of what her father said, Lena knew Kara was thinking of him as she tightened her grip and released fiercely protective pheromones in their wake.