Page 47 of Regal Rising

She blinked. “Oh. That will be... oh. Wait. Colony.”

He smiled. “Yes. We will restrict our numbers, but we are here now and have already contacted local governments to weave ourselves into the fabric of the modern age.”

“Which is why we wanted you back in time before we took down the Stronghold.”

He stroked tendrils of hair from her forehead. “And it worked. We are all integrated into the society that spawned you, and while it has been challenging, I have been watching and waiting for this moment.”

“That is rather embarrassingly specific.”

Avor grinned. “You were and are the treasure of my life, but Ira is the jewel. What do you think she wants for over a decade of missed presents?”

Regis sighed as the scales on his erection folded again so he could slide. “She’s into horses, in the worst way, but I don’t have time to take her, and while we have a lot of space, I don’t know anything about horses.”

He slid free of her and dropped to her side, curling her against him. “Funnily enough, my people are very familiar with horses. Until we get zoned for a stable in the area, I think I know where we can take her.”

She smiled. “Alita?”

“Or Olly. But Alita’s horses are more used to riding.”

“How do you know that?”

“I have been watching the explosion of betas into omegas and some of them turning into light elves.” He chuckled. “My company has been creating houses, building businesses, and working on the expansion that this city is undergoing on the flood of alphas from around the world. The ladies were hiding, but more alphas just kept coming.”

Regis sighed and licked his chest. “I know. It was so perplexing, but I talked to Keres recently, and she explained what happened. She turned this place into a sanctuary right around the time that Ruby put all of her energy into the soil itself. Throughout the years, the ladies all blessed the area one by one in different ways.”

He stroked her spine. “Watching the changes, my people have come to a decision.”

“What is that?”

“The laws governing omegas here are strangely confining. Marshall and Dante, along with their firm, are getting ready to start pushing a repeal of the laws.”

Regis chuckled. “That’s cute. We are going a little more direct. The ladies are going to take over the Omega Centres, one by one. What they have been doing is horrific. Omega suicides have increased in the last seven years. Yes, some good matches have been made when the alphas have brought the omega in for medical care, but they are few and far between.”

“I hadn’t realized it was that bad.” He frowned and kissed her temple.

“They don’t publicize it, but one of the women taken from the Stronghold had a sister who was handed over to a pack of seven alphas, and after her first heat, she killed herself.”

“That’s horrific. What was done about it?”

Regis shrugged, “By the authorities? Nothing.”

Avor leaned back and asked, “What did she do?”

“I don’t know. She hasn’t gotten back here yet.”

“You let her go alone?”

Regis sighed and rubbed her forehead. “It isn’t really a matter of letting these ladies. Now that she isn’t pinned to a wall and her wounds have been healed, North is scary as hell. Even worse than Rex without coffee.”

“What is her full name?”

“Ibella North.”

“Her skillset?”

Regis blinked. “How would I know that?”

“The same way I know all of my men. It came with the crown.” He grimaced. “Who was her sister?”

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