Viola
“You are mine,”Syon smiled. He anticipated victory and it made his eyes bright, nearly mirrored gold. His feral alpha manifested behind the civilised facade. I growled, knowing how close he was to a rut, and there would be no rational thought if he went there. “You will not deny me again. Go. Say your goodbyes.”
“You don’t understand!” I snapped aggressively. My gown felt too hot, and I rubbed at my mating gland which itched more than usual.
“Understand you are mine. The sooner you accept this, the better,” his smile nearly killed me, for my heart was breaking.
I shook my head. Anger thrummed in my veins. My thoughts came as an illogical jumble of sexual desire and annoyance that it was the omega who was keeping a clear, logical head, while the alpha went off into a sexual frenzy. I struggled with my hot and cold response to Syon. For the first time, I lost all sense of my argument and allowed my unruly feelings to lead me. “I am not. You are… I cannot believe this. You see me as an object to be collected as you would collect Olivia. Do you intend to marry and breed me? Or will you find some other poor woman to be your broodmare? No. No. I cannot… Let me go,” I leant forward and grabbed the handle to the drawing room. An iron grip prevented my escape. I needed to break free. I’d do anything to have him let me go for both our sakes.
“If you leave this house without me, I will run you down and never let you out of my sight again. I will physically bind you to me,” he snarled. Looking into his eyes, I could see them turning feral, the light reflecting over and over until his eyes glowed mirrored-gold like a predator stalking its prey at night. With every breath, with every inhalation of my own rising scent, the baser instincts of his dynamic began to rule him. If I did not get away, he would tip straight into a feral rut—blind to anything but mating and marking. My heart broke for him. It broke to see him so lost to the part of him that he’d despised in his father. That he hoped to prevent by never mating. I understood now. On a basic, animal level I understood what he wanted to avoid.
“You don’t want to do this, Syon. You don’t want to hurt me,” I purred. “Just wait here…”
“Hartwell,” he growled, but there was a moan of deep and confused need. My damn slick was doing this to him. My own selfish desire to have him for myself. Not as a facsimile of Iris, but as Viola Hartwell. I desired his knot, his bond. All the things I could not have. I wanted to scream but instead, I spoke softly, soothingly. The wildness in him met with my tenderness, my omega power to calm her mate. I dared to think of him as such even if only for the moment.
“You have to let me go, Syon.” I ran a hand through his hair, the golden locks as soft as slick. I cupped his cheek with my free hand and with a ghost-like touch drew him close until our lips brushed.
“You are Syon,” I whispered into our kiss. “You are not going to hurt me. You will control this. You can. You are the best of alphas. The best I’ve ever known.”
My kiss seemed to work, for he released my wrist, and I pushed into the drawing room, closing the door behind me. I could feel my heartbeat in my core which clenched around nothing. Had I kissed Syon? Had I agreed to go back to him? My Goddess, I needed to tell him what I’d done. Before he found out in some other way, I needed to tell him.
I looked up to find Olivia looking at me with concern. We’d come to an uneasy understanding. She was confused and hurt, but I didn’t think she hated me. Rather, we were both embarrassed and unable to explain the breach in our friendship without revealing the cause.
“My dear Viola... You look… Are you alright? Who was that?”
“I... I think... I need a moment,” I assured her. Just a moment and then I would be back with Syon. “He… He is Syon. The duke of Orley, I mean.”
“Oh!” she gasped. “Some tea, perhaps?”
I floated towards the sofa where Olivia sat and reached for her hand, craving my friend’s touch.
“You—“ she took a sharp breath.
My eyes went round. I reeked of slick and alpha. She dropped the teacup and pulled me down. Her lips crashed into mine, her kiss was too sweet and soft compared to Syon’s masterful kisses.
“Stop!” I wriggled away from her as she pawed at my clothes. I didn’t want to hurt her but I needed to get free. “Stop!”
“You—“ her eyes were blown black with desire.
I scrambled back and righted myself. Caroline growled, barely controlling herself. My aunt held her back. If Caroline had been a dog, her hackles would have risen. Knowing she must recognise that some alpha—that Syon!—had been groping at me. I scrambled for the door. Syon would be on the other side. But that seemed the lesser evil when compared to the chaos of Olivia’s needy howls and Caroline barking to be let free.
I ran straight into Iris’s arms. She was white as a sheet, for just behind her stood Syon.
“Iris,” I cried, throwing my arms around my twin. The masquerade was finished, I was exposed. In this time of need, my twin was here.
“I missed you, Vi,” she hugged me close.
“What is the meaning of this?” Syon snarled, crowding us back into the drawing room. The terrible anger in his face made me shudder with genuine fear.
“I came to see my sister, who I heard was visiting with the Countess of Kellingham,” my alpha twin said as if she’d not walked into the lion’s den.
Olivia moaned as Iris and I stood next to each other.
“I’ll be, but the resemblance is uncanny,” Caroline gasped. She stepped forward, her brow wrinkled in confusion. “Tis’ most perplexing. But how am I to know which is which?”
Syon’s growl grew, thankfully masking my own frustrated rumble.
“Very easy,” my aunt said. “My sister-in-law had twins, twin girls. Iris is an alpha. Viola, an omega. As you see before you, Viola’s eyes are violet—my brother was feeling particularly romantic the day they were born. The difference is as clear as day, though otherwise they look remarkably similar.”