The door closed softly behind the physician, the sound muted by thick carpets and heavy drapery but loud enough in the sudden quiet to mark the end of official concern.
Outside, Arion could feel his security like a second skin, their positions locked, the perimeter sealed, and the familiar awareness of men who would not let even a shadow move without permission. The instinct to rejoin them, to reassert control of the space, rose immediately.
He shifted forward, already preparing to stand.
"I should return to the main hall," he said, his voice cooler now, the tremor gone, replaced by that controlled, lethal calm his guards knew too well. "They will want confirmation that…"
"No."
Dean stepped into Arion's path and placed one hand flat against his chest, right over the steady, powerful beat of his heart.
"You're not going anywhere yet," Dean said. "Your men can wait. The palace can wait. The world can survive fifteen minutes without you looming over it."
Arion froze.
For a heartbeat, the old reflex flared up: the instinct to override, to move on, to take command of the situation through sheer willpower.
Instead, a dangerous satisfaction else flickered through his golden eyes.
"You are blocking me," he observed quietly.
"Yes," Dean replied. "And you're going to stay seated because you just collapsed in my arms, and I am not doing that again tonight."
A corner of Arion's mouth lifted.
"You are very bold for someone standing between a dominant alpha and his security detail."
Dean tilted his head, unimpressed. "You're very cooperative for someone who usually threatens people's lives when they inconvenience him."
Arion exhaled a low breath that might have been a laugh.
Then he leaned back against the couch again, visibly choosing to obey, making Dean more confused at how… docile he can be.
"As you wish," he said, tone smooth, almost indulgent. "They can wait."
Dean blinked. "That was… too easy."
"I am in a good mood," Arion replied. "You kissed me, then ordered me, and now you are worried about me. These are not conditions under which I feel inclined to argue."
Dean's ears warmed. "That is not how this works."
"It is exactly how it works," Arion said softly. "You commanded me as you accepted you are mine. I'm awfully cooperative with my omega."
The word settled between them, heavy and intimate.
Dean swallowed, then narrowed his eyes. "Careful."
Arion's gaze softened, the intensity still there but tempered, controlled. "I am being careful. I am also being honest."
Outside, the guards remained perfectly still, unaware that inside the Fitzgeralt sitting room, the most dangerous man in the world was sitting quietly because a stubborn omega had put a hand on his chest and told him no.
—
The front doors of the Fitzgeralt mansion opened with far more urgency than usual.
Lucas came in still in his palace coat, hair wind-tossed, expression filled with the concern that something had gone very wrong for the household to summon him back like this. The moment he crossed the threshold, Windstone was already there.
Impeccable as ever. Straight-backed. Hands folded over his silver-headed cane. Eyes alert in the way they only were when danger had brushed too close to his family.
"Your Grace," Windstone said, and then, after a beat, softened, "Lucas, you came faster than I expected."
"You said Arion collapsed," Lucas replied. "And that Dean was with him. Where are they?"
Windstone hesitated for exactly one second.
"In the west sitting room. The physician has just left." Then, very thoughtfully, "Before you go in, there are… dynamics you should be aware of."
Lucas narrowed his eyes. "What kind of dynamics?"
Windstone's mouth twitched. "Ones involving a crown prince, a dominant alpha in backlash, and your omega ordering him to stay seated like a misbehaving pup."
Lucas stopped mid-step.
"…Dean ordered Arion around?"
"Yes."
"And Arion listened?"
"Enthusiastically. I thought I needed to intervene when I saw them kissing in the car…"
"They WHAT?"
Windstone raised a hand calmly, unruffled by the sudden spike in volume.
"In the car, during the initial backlash. His Highness was barely conscious of his surroundings. It was not predatory."
Lucas's eyes were blazing now. "Windstone."
The older man inclined his head. "Dean initiated it."
That stopped Lucas cold.
"…Dean," he repeated slowly.
"Yes. Pulled him in by the collar, from what the driver reported. Very much in control of the situation, despite appearances."
Lucas stared at him, the protective fury twisting into something far more complicated.
"And Arion?" he asked.
Windstone's lips curved, just a little. "Looked as if he'd just been given permission to breathe again."
A long silence followed.
Then Lucas exhaled through his teeth, running a hand through his blonde hair. "So my son kissed the Crown Prince, anchored a dominant alpha in pheromone backlash, and is now ordering him to sit."
"That would be the concise version."
Lucas closed his eyes briefly. "Trevor is going to have opinions."
"Trevor always has opinions."
Lucas opened them again, already moving toward the corridor. "And now?"
"Now," Windstone said gently, "your son is standing between a wounded apex predator and the rest of the world… and the predator seems perfectly content to let him."
Lucas paused at the threshold, his expression settling into something equal parts wary, proud, and deeply aware that his child had just stepped into a very dangerous orbit.
"…Of course he did," he murmured. "I blame Trevor's genes."
Lucas moved down the corridor with the controlled speed of someone who had learned long ago how to enter rooms where power and danger coexisted with family and who refused to be intimidated by either. Windstone followed a step behind, more out of curiosity than necessity.
The door to the west sitting room stood slightly ajar.
Lucas paused just long enough to school his expression, then pushed it open.
Inside, the scene was… not what he had braced for.
Arion was seated on the couch, broad frame relaxed but alert, posture that of a man who could rise and command the room in a heartbeat and had, for once, chosen not to. His golden eyes lifted immediately, then softened when they found Dean.
And Dean…
Dean was standing right in front of him.
One hand still rested against Arion's chest, fingers spread over his heart as if the contact were both an anchor and a warning. His stance was firm, shoulders squared, and chin lifted in that familiar, stubborn angle Lucas had known since his son had been old enough to argue with everyone around him and win.
"You're not done resting," Dean was saying quietly, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. "And you're not going back to play prince until I say you're stable enough."
Arion's mouth curved, dangerous and entirely too indulgent.
"Yes, my omega," he answered, without a trace of irony. But clearly trying to see where Dean would draw the line again. This time his son only raised a brow.
Lucas stopped in the doorway.
The sight Windstone had tried to prepare him for, but which still hit with the full force of reality: a Crown Prince of the Empire, dominant alpha, apex predator, sitting obediently because Lucas's son had told him to.
Dean sensed the change in the room and turned.
"Dad."