Unnatural (The Wrong Alpha 1)

Haydn would’ve liked to say that he was shocked—and he was—but the strongest emotion he felt was relief. Now everything finally made a little more sense. His strange reaction to this man was a little more understandable now. The way his skin crawled with awareness and alertness, the way he bristled from having Royce in his personal space: it all made sense.

Royce was eyeing him warily, as if he was expecting him to be angry. Haydn wasn’t sure why he wasn’t. Mostly, he was disturbed.

“Why did your prime minister pick you? I specifically requested a beta.” Did Taube not want this peace to last?

“He doesn’t know,” Royce said. “No one outside my family does.”

Haydn frowned. “I don’t really understand why you would pretend to be a beta. There are more alpha politicians than there are betas.” He sniffed carefully. “You smell like a beta.” Though now he was wondering if the smell of ozone and wet soil that appeared in Royce’s scent when he was angry was his true alpha scent.

Sighing, Royce loosened his tie and stepped out onto the balcony.

Haydn followed him.

They watched the scenery for a while.

It was pretty here, Haydn had to admit. The estate was beautifully situated on green hills sloping quite gently down to the sea. There was a tall forest in the distance, its green and red trees visually spectacular, especially in the reddish rays of the setting sun. The four moons of Eila were visible on the darkening sky.

“Are you aware that during wartime, all Kadarian alphas under the age of thirty-five have to serve ten years in our army regardless of whether they want it or not?”

Haydn turned his head and looked at Royce’s profile. It was a handsome profile: strong, stubbled jaw, straight nose, sensual mouth. It was a pity he was an alpha.

“I’m aware,” he said. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Royce’s gaze was fixed on the setting sun. “I used to have an older sister. She was an alpha, and she was drafted when she turned seventeen. She died a few months later.” He pursed his lips. “My mother was inconsolable. I was eleven at the time. When I presented as an alpha a few years later, my mother was scared she would lose another child to this war. She somehow managed to get an illegal beta implant and had me implanted with it. It masks my true scent and somewhat hinders my senses, but now I have to live with it if I don’t want her to get in trouble for falsifying my presentation documents.”

Haydn furrowed his eyebrows. “You don’t get children tested after they’re born?” That was how things had been done in Pelugia for centuries. Everyone already knew who they were going to present as from early childhood.

Royce shook his head. “Testing children is against the law. In that regard, we are a traditional society. Presentation is still an event for every child, and we think that knowing who you will present as just takes all the fun out of it.”

Haydn drummed his fingers over the railing absentmindedly. “But isn’t your brother in the army?”

“Yes. Aksel is eleven years younger than me. By the time he presented as an alpha, I was already an adult. I forbade my mother from falsifying his documents and making him pretend to be something he isn’t.”

Ah. That explained the strange tension between Royce and his mother.

“I see,” Haydn murmured. “It must be a relief for you that the war is over.” If Royce’s younger brother died, that would have likely been on his conscience forever.

Royce gave a clipped nod.

“For all it’s worth, I think you did the right thing,” Haydn said.

Royce looked at him, a long look that made something in Haydn’s stomach squirm.

“You’re different from what I expected,” he said at last.

Haydn chuckled. “In a good way or a bad way?”

“Good.”

Haydn grinned, batting his eyelashes exaggeratedly. “Why, thank you, husband mine.”

Royce gave a snort. “Definitely more ridiculous.” He turned toward the door. “I’m sure you’re tired,” he said. “I certainly am.”

“Yeah,” Haydn murmured. “Good night.”

“Good night, Haydn.”

As the door shut behind him, Haydn smiled a little to himself, looking at the sunset. Royce hadn’t even bothered to extract a promise from him that he wouldn’t tell his secret to anyone. That implied that he believed he was trustworthy. It pleased Haydn, more than he could express. Although their relationship had started off rocky, maybe he and Royce could actually become… friends?

What more could one ask of a marriage between two alphas?

Chapter Five

By the end of the month, Royce was at his wits’ end. Being married to an alpha was challenging in ways he hadn’t expected. The smell of a strange alpha in his house, on his territory, was incredibly aggravating, no matter how much he had grown to like Haydn. Wherever he went, every room seemed to stink of the other alpha’s scent, which made him embarrassingly snappish and growly. It was fucking mortifying.