Chapter 125

Evelyn

I had rehearsed the words all morning, pacing the corridors with my clammy palms pressed over my stomach. I had to tell him, after all. There would be no hiding these developments shortly, especially from him.

Father, I’ve sealed the bond with Logan. Father, I’m carrying his child. Your grandchild.

My heart fluttered even at the thought of these words. I knew their severity. Telling the Alpha King would change everything; it would make it all more official.

My hand stroked my stomach, which had yet to show signs of the child growing beneath. To an unsuspecting eye, no one would even know. Still, it was a comforting motion I had already adopted.

I knew that I could not wait on this information forever. I had to tell him soon, before I began to show or he suspected I was hiding my bond from him. With a heavy, conclusive sigh, I threw open the doors to my room before I could even second-guess myself.

But when I finally gathered enough courage to seek him out, it wasn’t Father I found first.

“Evelyn.”

I turned and nearly stumbled into Alex. He had been coming down the perpendicular corridor, seemingly in a hurry, when he stumbled and pulled to an abrupt stop.

When I looked at him directly, I saw that his expression was taut, caught somewhere between excitement and deep dread. His eyes softened when they met mine, and for a moment, I was certain he saw right through me. That without even telling him, he could somehow sense the bond glowing between Logan and me, or the secret stirring in my womb.

“I was just going to see Father,” I said, breathless.

“And I was just coming from seeing him. Are you alright?”

My features must have easily reflected my mounting concern. With some effort, I cleared them as best as I could.

“I’m fine just… I have much to tell him.”

“He might not be in the best mood to hear anything new,” he said with a grimace.

My heart skipped. “What do you mean?”

Alex shuffled his weight between his feet. My brother was many things, but shy or bashful was not one of those. I could not remember the last time he had avoided meeting my eyes as he spoke to me.

All the things I’d wanted to share with him tumbled back down my throat. I couldn’t wait any longer to hear what was concerning him so much.. “Alex. Tell me.”

He drew in a slow breath, as though he were preparing for an argument. “I’ve fallen in love.”

I blinked. That was not what I’d expected. I exhaled the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. So why did he still look so distraught?

“You what?” I asked. Surely I was missing something still.

“It happened on the night of the ball,” he said, eyes flicking past me as though replaying it in his mind. “I know that there was a lot going on, and maybe it wasn’t the appropriate time, but… Well, you don’t really plan these things, do you? It happened right before Father was poisoned. I met her and her friend, but she was just… wow. And then everything happened, and I thought… I thought I’d lost everything. But there was someone there. Someone who stayed with me that whole evening to comfort me.”

I still did not understand the distressed look on his face. “That’s great, Alex.”

His voice softened. “She’s an omega, Evelyn. A peasant girl.”

The weight of his words settled between us. Oh, so this was the reason he looked like he was admitting to something devastating in the same breath he confessed his love with.

“An omega?” I repeated carefully.

“Yes.” He gave a strained laugh, one hand raking through his hair. “I know what you’re thinking. It’s probably the same thing Father thinks, too, to be fair. But I love her. Not as a fleeting comfort, not as a mistake. She is—” His throat tightened, and he lowered his voice, fierce and unyielding. “I’ve never felt like this before.”

“It’s only been a few days,” I offered, not sure what to say to soften it all.

Alex shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. This is different. I’ve been with so many lovers that I’ve lost count. As the prince, I have met too many people to name. But she’s different. I’ve never felt like this before, Evelyn. She’s… She is the one I want to marry.”

I felt my breath hitch. Love was such a fickle, foolish thing, but I knew its draw well. “And you told Father this?”

His jaw clenched. “He knows. And he forbids it. He says a prince cannot tie himself to a commoner, let alone an omega. That it would shame the crown to have her ruling at my side as the Alpha Queen.” His eyes searched mine, vulnerable in a way I hadn’t seen in so long, perhaps even ever. “But Evelyn, I don’t care about crowns or shame. I care about her.”

For a heartbeat, my carefully guarded secret pulsed inside me, begging to be spoken aloud and to meet his developments as well. Alex was right: perhaps now wasn’t the best time for me to come clean about my own recent developments.

But where mine were likely to be met with encouragement, I could see now why Alex appeared so outwardly ashamed. As the prince and the Alpha King’s heir, he was discouraged from making marriages that weren’t politically motivated. It had never been likely that he would marry for long.

But if there was one thing about my brother, it was that he was stubborn. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he resisted Father’s disapproval simply on principle.

So while I had my own concerns and developments, I pushed them back, because right now, my brother’s world was crumbling the same way mine had once felt like it was falling apart.

Because I knew what it was like to love intensely to the point of being nearly blinded by it.

I reached for his hand. “Alex… love isn’t something to be dismissed because of rank. You deserve happiness, just as much as anyone else.”

He reached out and grabbed my hand. We were not touchy siblings, and so this gesture made something inside me swell at the sincerity of it. His fingers tightened around mine, and I saw the sheen of brimming in his eyes. He averted his eyes as though it would prevent me from seeing it.

“Then you’ll stand with me?” he asked. “Even if Father won’t?”

“Yes,” I said firmly. “Of course I will. I’ll talk to him when I go and see him now. We’ll speak of this and about… other things, too. Things he needs to hear from me.”

His brow furrowed. “What things?”

I hesitated, my hand drifting instinctively toward my abdomen. But I stopped myself before my fingertips could graze the fabric of my dress there. Now was not the time. There would be plenty of opportunities later for us to discuss this with a celebratory air, but that moment was not now. Right now, Alex needed to concentrate on his own worries.

“Later,” I said. “First, let’s handle this situation with your lover together.”

“I appreciate it, Evelyn,” he said. “Seriously. I know it’s not easy to speak back to him or even to… accept what Annalise and I have, but your support means everything. It really does.”

Annalise. So that was the name of the omega who had changed everything for my brother. The way he said her name… There was no hiding how genuine his feelings were.

I gave his hand one more squeeze. “I’m happy for you,” I told him. “I really am.”

Because love seemed to be in the air, for better or worse. And as I watched Alex’s smile grow at the statement, I knew that he understood the same thing I did: that this love we were both experiencing had been planted in a field of blood and destruction, and we were fortunate to finally watch it grow.