"If you go chasing after Mairwen right now, the pair of you will be in the nest before ten minutes is up, unless you plan on knotting her in the library."

My body swelled and my eyes narrowed, a growl bouncing off the stone bricks surrounding us. "Niall, I am warning⁠—"

He raised his hand and rolled his eyes. "I'm not trying to be an ass, Ronson. I'm happy for you, but Tylane's tail, you have no focus lately. One whiff of⁠—"

"Ronson?"

I straightened and spun toward the door at the soft call from inside the library.

"Is that you?"

"Damnit," Niall hissed.

Only the fact that my intolerable half-brother was right kept me from charging through the open door. I had been…easily distracted as of late. More like obsessed with your omega, I thought to myself, a smile bursting onto my lips as Mairwen appeared in the frame of the doorway. I took a step toward her, guided by an immediate, imperative to touch the purple mark just peeking out of the collar of her new dress. The mark of my teeth, the bruise she let me refresh each night as we gasped and held onto one another with the endless urge to touch and taste and sate our mutual craving.

"Omega," I purred, wrapping an arm around Mairwen's waist and tugging her to press against me.

"Mairwen—Omega Cadogan," Niall corrected at my snarl. "I'm begging you. Lock yourself inside that library until dinner and do not let Ronson in."

Mairwen laughed as I growled, but she sobered as she realized Niall was serious. I had been late to two meetings Niall had arranged this week so far, it was true, but Mairwen hardly needed to sequester herself.

Except that my head was ducking, cheek nuzzling into her throat, tongue dipping out, and I tried to nudge her back inside the library where we could be alone.

She grinned, pushing at my chest. "I see. I am trying to do my own work here." Her hands caught my face and tipped it up until my vision was full of Mairwen's flushed cheeks and bright smile, her amber eyes glittering with humor and an answering need. "Quit making Niall's job harder than it already is, alpha. I will see you at dinner."

"In our rooms," I rasped as she lifted her face up for a kiss. I would've missed the slight flinch if I hadn't been so close to her already, but it vanished and Mairwen slipped free of my grasp too quickly, her delicately-shaped waist so perfectly showcased in her pretty new dress, making her hard to catch.

"Very well. Our rooms for dinner," she murmured.

I frowned in confusion as she ducked back into the library, shutting the doors quickly behind her. My shoulders hunched as a lock turned, snapping loudly into place, as if baiting me to break it open just to prove I could.

Niall cleared his throat, and I shot him a glare. He was the reason I wasn't currently kissing my omega.

"She's quite taken Cook in hand, you know. Our dinners have seen great improvement," he said, quietly and wisely moving out of reach. "You should consider attending one."

I snarled, but Niall only laughed, marching swiftly toward my office and leaving me to follow sulkily after him.

"I don't believe Alpha Feargus plans to bring his new omega, but there is some…expectation of seeing Omega Cadogan," Ewan said, chin propped on his fist, seated across from me at my desk.

"Torion took an omega straight away?" Niall asked from behind me at the same moment I blurted, "Expectation of Mairwen?"

Ewan glanced between us, and I restrained my growl as he addressed Niall first. "Weeks before any selection ceremony could be arranged, he claimed his right to another dragon's omega. The circumstances… Well, it depends on who you speak to. I believe he may have done the woman a favor. She'll remain at his keep, preparing for the impending rut."

I sat back in my chair, stunned. Was Torion trying to beat me at ill-advised actions? I was incurring the ire of my betas left and right lately, refusing to compromise. But I had never even so much as flattered a local beta's omega. Even my father hadn't gone that far, although there were rumors of extended affairs.

Ewan shifted in his seat and met my gaze next. "Gamesby and Palmer have been spreading information to the other isles, my lord."

"Rumors," I spat out.

Ewan hummed and shrugged. "Not…rumors so much as, well, the general opinion of local dragonkin on your choice of omega." I bristled in my seat, but Niall set his hand on my shoulder.

"Mairwen's made no real public appearance since you claimed her," Niall said.

"There hasn't been time," I muttered. And I had firmly banished Mairwen's old clothes, making it next to impossible for her to leave the castle. Not that I really wanted Mairwen leaving the castle. I barely tolerated these extended periods of tackling business and politics without her.

"Palmer and Gamesby have exaggerated her unsuitability, I suspect," Ewan said, waving a careless hand.

I stiffened, glaring across my desk at the Skybern spy who had served me well for many decades. He blinked, hands stilling on the arms of his provided chair as the air around me shimmered with restrained fire.

"No doubt," Niall said, calm where I could not be.

The next person who made any remark regarding Mairwen's suitability as my omega was going to meet my dragon's claws.

"Bring my omega here," I said, voice low and stony.

"I'm sure that isn't⁠—"

"Ronson, honestly," Niall sighed.

I twisted toward my brother. "Go to the library and bring her here to meet Mr. Dalton."

Niall's eyes just barely resisted rolling, but he left immediately, Ewan Dalton shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"My lord, I meant no offense."

"I am aware of the general misconception surrounding my omega, Dalton. I only wish for you to make your own opinion. Meet her, and then share whatever gossip you like."

Ewan Dalton shrank in his seat and nodded. "Of course, my lord."

Niall must've flown down the halls, because it took him very little time to return. Perhaps he understood the risk to Dalton's neck if left alone with me for too long. The door to my office creaked, and Niall stepped aside, holding it open to make room for Mairwen's entrance.

"Omega," I purred, rising from my seat, Ewan hurrying to do the same.

Mairwen could not have responded better if she'd been trained for this moment. The call of her rich, hypnotizing perfume slowly filled my office as she approached. Her cheeks and chest were flushed, and she'd undone the long braid of her hair so that silken strands swayed against her back as she walked. She'd chosen one of the less rigid stays to wear under her dress, but had foregone the lacy fichu, leaving the swell and curve and shadow of her breasts exposed above her collar.

I held out my hand to her, only sparing a glance for Ewan Dalton when Mairwen rounded my desk, her thick lashes batting shyly against her blush.

The beta looked stunned, his nostrils flaring, one hand braced against the back of his chair. I didn't know what nonsense he'd heard filtered down from Gamesby and Palmer, but I was sure it bore no resemblance to my omega.

I'd been an idiot not to see the jewel Mairwen was right from the start, but I would admit privately that the subtle changes she'd undergone since I'd claimed her would make a significant impression on those in her acquaintance. The presence of her perfume alone would likely set Gamesby back on his heels.