Three Alpha Princes for an Unwanted Omega

24 HOURS EARLIER

AYLA

"Ayla. Ayla, can you hear me?"

I opened my eyes and the face of a man swam into focus. His gray eyes had concern etched in them.

"Ayla." He breathed. "Oh, thank the goddess. You are awake. You scared me there for a bit."

I stared at him.

His face was familiar the way a word is when you cannot remember what it means... you know you have said it a hundred times, and yet it sits on the tip of your tongue, out of reach. I knew I should know him. I could feel the shape of that knowledge in my chest but I cannot remember.

"Are you all right, my love?"

My love.

Was this man mine? Was I his?

I searched his face for the memory of him and found nothing but a hollow, muddled feeling as if someone had taken my brain and stirred it with a spoon until it became a gooey mess.

"I..." I shook my head, and the ache flared behind my eyes. "I don’t... I don’t remember you."

His face went pale.

I watched the color drain out of it.

"Fetch the healer," he said to someone I could not see. "Now."

Then he turned back to me, and he took both of my hands in his.

"You had a terrible fall, Ayla," he said. "You have been unconscious for two days. I was beginning to worry that I had lost you."

A fall. I touched my head and my fingers found the edge of a bandage wrapped around my temple.

"Two days?"

"Yes." He lifted my hand and pressed it to his mouth, his eyes never leaving mine. "I am your mate, Ayla. My name is Lucius. And I would have given anything to trade places with you in that moment."

Mate.

The word did something to me. There was a warmth behind my ribs, a pull toward him, and when he said the word, my heart answered. I could feel our bond and I did not have to remember it to know that he was my mate.

I smiled at him.

"I am sorry," I said. "I should remember you."

"You will." He said it with a certainty. "The healer will sort you out. You are going to be fine, Ayla. I promise you that."

The healer was an old man with a leather satchel and kind eyes. He examined me, tilting my head this way and asking me questions I could not answer.

"What is the last thing you remember, my lady?"

"The bed. This room. Waking up."

"And before that?"

"Nothing at all"

The healer exchanged a look with Lucius

"Your mind is whole, my lady. The injury was to the head, and these things are unpredictable. It may be a temporary lapse. Your memories may return in a day, or a week, or a month."

"And if they do not?" Lucius asked.

The healer hesitated. "They should return with enough rest."

I shook my head. "I have been resting for two days. If I lie on my back for one more moment, I will go mad." I reached out and took Lucius’ hand. "I would like to take a walk. If that is all right with you."

He looked at my hand on his, and something in his face softened. "I will take that walk with you."

"That is even better," I said, and I smiled, and I meant it.

He helped me out of the bed with careful hands. The bond hummed between us the whole time. I might not remember him, I thought but my heart did. My heart knew him. It was beating for him already, the way it must have been beating for him all along.

As we walked, I saw a woman standing in a doorway with her hands folded across her chest.

Lucius did not seem to see her but it was hard not to notice her when she was staring at me with such a look of hatred in her eyes.

I did not know why she would look at me like that.

"Who is that?" I asked quietly.

Lucius did not even glance at her. "No one, my love. Do not bother yourself with the help." he said.

He took me to the gardens where he helped me sit on a stone bench before taking a seat close to me.

"This used to be your favorite place," he said. "You would come here every morning before the sun was fully up."

The words tugged at something in me but I could not remember anything.

"I can see why," I said softly. "It is beautiful."

There was a moment of silence between us I heard footsteps heading in my direction.

"My lord." the guard bowed low then he turned to me. "Luna."

I cast him a smile.

"A moment, my lord?"

Lucius’ hand found mine and squeezed it. "Speak. Whatever message you bring, my Luna can hear it too."

The messenger hesitated before he nodded. "A letter has arrived from Alpha Kieran of the northern territory, my lord. He would like to meet with you and is extending an invitation to his court."

Something moved across Lucius’ face.

"You may go" he said to the messenger who bowed and hurried away.

I watched Lucius’ face and I saw the grief in his eyes, the way his shoulders dropped.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

He looked at me. "Nothing, my love."

"It is something." I touched his arm. "You look sad. This message from this Alpha has done that. So what is it?"

He was quiet for a long moment.

"He murdered my family," Lucius said.

I gasped.

"Alpha Kieran took everything from me." he looked down at his hands. "It is funny he would seek peace now considering how many times I have sent riders to beg him to listen to reason. It is either a trap or a miracle."

My hand closed over his arm. "You cannot meet him, then. You cannot."

"I have to." He turned to me, his eyes were wet. "Discussing peace is the best way forward for our people, after all his attacks against us. I am surprised he even wants to meet. But if there is even a chance to stop the massacre then I have to take it."

I felt a fierce tenderness for him. He wanted only what was best for his people not even considering the harm it could do to him.

"I will go with you." I said.

"No." He shook his head. "It is a dangerous trip. I do not know Alpha Kieran’s plans for me, and I will not put you in that position."

"It only makes sense for us to go together." I held his gaze. "Show a united front. Make it harder for him to get rid of both the Alpha and the Luna of an entire pack, doesn’t it?"

He nodded in consideration.

"You are right, my darling." He reached up and touched the side of my face, his thumb brushing my cheek. "But you need to rest."

I shook my head. "Not when it concerns our pack. I may not remember much, Lucius. But I can feel my love for you. Isn’t that what matters?."

For a long moment, he just looked at me. The bond between us seemed to swell, filling my ribs with warmth.

He leaned closer and for a brief moment, something flashes between my eyes.

Three faces... green eyes, my name.

I gasped, pulling back.

"What is it?" Lucius asked.

I stared at him.

"Nothing." I said.

He smiled. "Good."

Then he kissed me.

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