"Well. Hand her over to me," Beatrice snapped.

"Not now, Bea," I said, restraining my growl.

Mairwen's volleyed between us.

"Yes, now, unless you plan to lock her up to nest straightaway," Bea said, and before I could suggest that maybe that was exactly what I would do, my older sister held out one strong and elegantly gnarled hand. "Let her find her legs in this place, Ronson."

"We should discuss…matters," Niall interjected, the pair of them piling on me.

If I'd brought Adelaide home, I would've happily passed her off to Bea and went away to work with Niall, I considered.

"I would like to see the castle," Mairwen said, still too softly, but her eyes were bright. Her cheeks were still flushed from flying, hair hazily freed from pins by the wind and the sea. She looked excited now, not pale and frightened as she had when I'd declared her my choice.

You'll do. I wished now I'd thought of something better to say than that. I'd meant to tease her, but the words were a rude precursor, too aligned with the reactions of the others.

"Show her the library," I said to Bea, finally unwrapping my arm from Mairwen's shoulders. Her breath hitched, and her scent wisped into the air again, gnawing down into my stomach and lower.

Books were part of the equation then. Noted.

Mairwen skittered away from me, eager enough almost to offend. Beatrice grunted in agreement and caught Mairwen's hand, tugging her inside. I glanced at Niall and wondered if I could escape with them, follow Beatrice and see the castle through Mairwen's eyes.

"Do you approve?" I asked Niall as the women disappeared.

Niall's lips flattened, and something sank inside of me. "I'm not sure that I do."

My temper flared. It didn't matter what Niall thought. Except even I wasn't certain of my choice. Mairwen wasn't certain.

"I'm not sure that I don't, either," Niall said, relaxing and shrugging. "We'll see. For now, we need to consider what their next move will be, how they will try and use this one."

This one. Mairwen.

"She's too smart for them," I said, and I wished she'd been at my side to hear it.

"Perhaps," Niall said, turning to go inside, leaving me to follow.

My hands clenched at my sides. Mairwen was in safe hands for now, and Niall was right. Gamesby and his ilk wouldn't give up so easily. I had better things to do with the day then chase little whispers of my omega's perfume. I would have plenty of time for that come evening.

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Chapter SixMAIRWEN

The castle spun around me. Partly because it had been almost a day since I'd had a meal I'd managed to keep down, and partly because of the incredible pace Lady Beatrice Cadogan set. She was half my size, and yet her mincing steps carried her through the twisting halls, up and down the endless staircases, as though she had a pair of wings to rival her brothers'. I couldn't catch my breath to ask her the questions that raced through me with every soaring and empty hall we passed through, every vast staircase we swept down and climbed up, all the ancient castle wings we crossed into, the dozens of faces we passed who stared eagerly.

I was sweating as we entered the colossal kitchens, down in the belly and feet of the castle. I was sure I looked more like the harried men and women who labored in the steam and blaze of the kitchen stoves, their faces flushed and brows dewed. This kitchen was the liveliest place I'd seen yet in the castle, full of more activity than all the other wings and halls combined, and I helped myself to a rare pause in Lady Beatrice's speech to gasp for air and take the space in. The room smelled understandably wonderful, warm loaves of bread being pulled out of ovens, herbs hanging from the rafters, meat sizzling on spits.

And in the middle of it all stood a tall, broad woman, barking orders and sampling salt. She glanced up at us, her eyes narrowing. She looked to be about middle-aged, the same as my mother, but somehow more vital, powerful. Almost as powerful as our alpha, I thought.

"This is she?" the woman snapped.

I looked over my shoulder before I remembered, of course I would be the she in question, the newest and most notable arrival to the castle. Which was all wrong, if I gave it too much thought.

Lady Beatrice nodded, gesturing between the slow approaching woman and myself.

"Omega Cadogan, Cook Guinney."

"Mairwen," I declared, determined to hold onto my name.

Cook Guinney paid no attention, but I thought I caught a smile from Lady Beatrice. "If you've changes for tonight's menu, you'd better have them out now. Tomorrow's too, for that matter," Cook Guinney groused up at me.

She grabbed a bound notebook from a worktable and brought it to the doorway where Lady Beatrice and I were safely out of the way of the workers.

"No changes tonight," I said quickly, because I wasn't stupid, but I helped myself to a glance at the open page of the notebook I was passed.

Meat, meat, meat, potatoes, bread. I snorted without thinking, and Cook Guinney cleared her throat. "The alpha needs good, hearty food for a rut."

I nodded, because it made sense, and there was something decidedly masculine about the simplicity of the fare. "Roast the potatoes with sprouts and carrots. And…" I stalled, searching around me, patting at my pockets and finding a pencil I kept for notations as I read. I scribbled in the margins. "A sauce for the fish. Tart juice and bitter greens."

I was not an ideal omega, and if I stopped to think of the days ahead, the months and years, there were more expectations I was terrified of failing than those I had any hope of meeting. But I did quite like planning menus.

I mumbled a few more notes, scribbling a recipe onto the page, and then tapped the pencil against my pursed lips. "This will do for tomorrow." I reached to turn the page and check the next day, but Cook Guinney had had enough of me and snatched the book out of my hands.

"You can look your fill at the rest of the week tomorrow morning. I've work to attend to now," Cook said, frowning down at my notes. But her frown faded into speculation, and I squared my shoulders, confident in my choice.

"It's time to take you up to the nest," Lady Beatrice said to me, turning from the kitchens. She was definitely smiling now, although it might've been at Cook's expense. Or even mine. "I see you have your hands busy, Guinney, but send a luncheon up for Omega Cadogan."

"I can carry a few—" My words died on my tongue at the arch look Beatrice gave me. Offering to carry my own meal up to the nest was not the act of the alpha's omega. I tucked my hands behind my back and followed in silence, back up through the winding stairs and halls of the castle, sweat dripping down my spine, my toes pinched in my shoes.

I missed Lord Cadogan's wings. Going up to the towering height of the castle was so much worse than descending from it, and I was embarrassed by my own huffing and puffing when Beatrice's steps finally slowed outside of the large single door at the top of the turret.

"After the rut has concluded, we will likely find you your own permanent room," Beatrice said, pulling a key from the chatelaine that clinked against her hip. "Until that time, you will sleep here with the alpha."

I nodded, but my head ceased its dizzy bobbing as the door opened. The room was huge! It was round with beamed, peaked ceilings and an intimidatingly huge bed sitting on a platform of stairs at the heart. To my left, an enormous balcony faced the island, small specks of homes folding into the green hills. To my right, a large arched window faced the sea, with a cushioned bench that tempted me closer.