'There are three… no, five men behind me. Why didn't I notice earlier? Damn it,' Ezra thought, his entire body going rigid.
Lior wriggled in his arms, trying to peek at whoever stood behind them, but Ezra gently pressed the boy's head down.
"Peppermint," Ezra whispered.
Lior's eyes widened.
Immediately, he lowered his head.
Stayed quiet.
Just as they had practiced.
Ezra adjusted his cloak, making sure Lior was fully hidden beneath it, then slowly turned around. His gaze was cold, unreadable.
The moment he faced them, he knew what they were.
Bandits.
And from the stench that hit him, sharp enough to make his stomach turn, they were all alphas.
So he had to be careful.
Especially with Lior in his arms.
Especially without a weapon.
"I was just passing through, sirs," Ezra said calmly. "I didn't mean to trespass. I was under the impression this was still an alleyway."
The man in the center, gripping a long bolo knife, grinned. Ezra assumed he was the leader.
It was a wide, toothy grin, four gold teeth flashing.
"Yer not from around here, are ya?" the leader drawled. "If ya were, ya wouldn't be thinkin' this was an alley."
"I don't mean to be rude," Ezra replied evenly, "but I used to live here. And this used to be an alleyway."
The leader let out a loud laugh. "Well, ain't that somethin'. My deepest apologies, sir Know-It-All," he said, prompting the rest of his men to snicker.
Ezra resisted the urge to narrow his eyes. He had to stay calm. Steady.
He was unarmed, and every one of them carried a weapon.
Ezra could fight, but he was smart enough to know better than to take on five armed alphas, all twice his size.
Especially with Lior in his arms.
He needed to talk his way out.
"If that's settled, I'd like to be on my way now. My apologies for the misunderstanding," Ezra said, dipping his head slightly. He tightened his hold on Lior and took a few careful steps forward.
Just as he expected, the men shifted.
They blocked every possible exit, forming a wall of bodies.
'Fuck,' Ezra thought. 'I knew it wouldn't be easy, but…'
In moments like this, his instincts screamed at him to fight. That was the knight in him.
But the maman in him forced him to breathe, to slow down, to hope these men could still be reasoned with.
"Please let me pass," Ezra said calmly. "I have nothing worth taking. From the looks of it, you already have far more than I do. I only have this satchel."
He lifted his free hand slightly, gesturing to the worn bag slung at his side.
"Hah. Ya think I'm a fool?" the leader sneered, tilting his head.
'Yes,' Ezra thought.
"No, sir. I do not. As you can see—"
"What about the little kid you're carryin', huh?"
Ezra froze.
"The child is none of your business," he said, lifting his gaze to meet the leader's glare. His voice was colder now.
"Oh hoh. Boss, this fella's got guts," the man beside the leader said condescendingly as he stepped closer, head tilted, a dagger glinting in his hand.
"Easy, Jock," the leader chuckled. "Don't wanna scare the prey."
"Prey?" Ezra echoed, taking a cautious step back.
"Our client's been lookin' for fresh meat like you and that kid," Jock said, closing the distance. His hand lifted, reaching for Ezra's face. "A pretty face like yours, and a kid that young? Oh, that brothel's gonna—"
Ezra caught Jock's wrist before he could touch him, his grip digging in hard.
Jock's eyes widened, but instead of anger, a smirk spread across his face.
"What a look," Jock whistled, twisting slightly so the others could see. The leader's grin only widened.
Ezra stared back at them, no longer cold.
Murderous.
His thoughts beat against his skull, relentless.
'Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.'
Since when did men like this exist in the kingdom?
Since when were there brothels?
Questions piled up in his mind, but instinct screamed louder. They were in danger. Ezra's gaze flicked around the alley, searching for anything he could use as a weapon.
Anything.
Even a broken plank or a loose shard would do, but letting go of Lior wasn't an option.
"Maman… what happen?" Lior whispered, his voice barely audible.
Ezra wanted to answer.
He didn't get the chance.
"Say…"
As the leader spoke again, something shifted.
Ezra felt it instantly.
Wrong.
His eyes widened as his head dipped involuntarily, nausea twisting violently in his stomach.
'What the—'
The urge to vomit hit him all at once.
A pungent, rotten stench flooded the air, thick enough to choke on.
'Is this…'
Ezra had felt this sensation only once before.
That time, it had been overwhelming, intoxicating.
This was nothing like that.
Pheromones.
But how?
'Are they… are they in rut?' Ezra tried to lift his head, to see what they were doing, how they were releasing so much of it.
Alphas and omegas produced the strongest pheromones, unlike betas. But even then, such intensity only came during rut or heat.
Normally, only faint traces lingered. Enough to identify secondary gender, nothing more.
That was how it had always been in Luxaelis.
How it was supposed to be.
"Ya said ya left for quite some time, didn't ya?" the leader murmured, his voice low and satisfied. "That means ya don't know shit about what's been happenin', little omega."
Ezra's eyes snapped wide.
"Omegas are already rare," the man continued. "But a male one? Oh hoh. We could make a fortune with just you alone. Say… that kid of yours, is he a little bitch like you—"
Ezra snapped.
He lunged forward before the leader could finish the sentence, fist slamming hard into the man's jaw.
Pain exploded through his knuckles.
'Shit,' Ezra thought, teeth gritting as he felt just how thick and solid the man's jaw was.
Still, he didn't pull back.
"Boss!"
"Boss Mango!"
"You fucking—"
Before Ezra could recover, rough hands grabbed his cape and yanked hard. The sudden force sent him crashing to the ground, pain jarring through his shoulder as he instinctively curled around Lior.
Before anything else, before the bandits' laughter or the pounding in his head, Ezra looked down.
"Lior," he whispered urgently.
Small hands clutched his tunic, Lior's face buried against his chest. He was crying, but quietly, as if trying to be brave.
Trying not to make a sound.
That alone nearly broke Ezra.
'Really… my brave little boy.'
"Shh… I've got you," Ezra murmured, pressing his forehead gently to Lior's hair. "Maman's here."
Lior nodded weakly, tears soaking into Ezra's clothes.
'I'm sorry,' Ezra thought, guilt twisting painfully in his chest. 'I should've brought my sword. I shouldn't have assumed anything.'
Luxaelis was not the kingdom he had left.
Not anymore.
Heavy footsteps scraped against stone.
The men were closing in.
Ezra pushed himself up onto one knee, turning just enough to shield Lior completely with his body. His head swam, the alley spinning as the thick stench of pheromones pressed in from every direction.
Too strong.
His stomach churned violently.
'Damn it…' Ezra clenched his jaw and raised a hand to cover his nose and mouth, trying to block the scent.
His vision blurred at the edges. His limbs grew heavier with each passing second.
Ezra hated this. It had been so long since he'd felt this weak. Even giving birth to Lior alone hadn't left him like this.
He needed a way out.
Fast.
"Look at him," one of the men chuckled. "Already lookin' sick."
"Don't kill him yet," another added. "Buyers don't like damaged goods."
'They're talking about me like I'm some kind of item.'
Ezra's fingers trembled as he tightened his hold on Lior.
'Stay conscious,' he told himself. 'Just stay standing.'
His eyes darted around the alley again. Nothing. No loose planks, no broken crates, nothing he could use as a weapon. For a split second, the thought crossed his mind to steal one of theirs.
It would be risky.
Very risky.
Especially with Lior pressed against his chest.
One wrong move, and Lior would be the first one hurt.
That thought alone killed the idea instantly. He couldn't risk it.
This fight would have been easier if his arms were free, but he would never risk letting go of Lior.
Never.
'Think. Think. You're a goddamn knight,' Ezra told himself. 'You trained for this. Now think.'
Boss Mango stepped closer, his men following, their laughter echoing off the stone walls as Ezra swayed on his feet.
The urge to vomit surged again.
"Should've stayed away, little omega," the leader said smugly.
Ezra turned his head just enough to cover Lior's ears. "Fuck you."
The leader laughed. "Ha! You've got balls, I'll give ya that. But those tiny balls won't do a damn thing for you now. So be a good omega and—"
"What is going on here?"
A sharp and commanding voice cut through the alley like a blade.
Everything stopped.
Ezra's heart slammed violently against his ribs.
'That voice…'
He knew it.
He would recognize it anywhere.
Ezra slowly lifted his head. The dizziness faded, replaced by something far more dangerous.
Hope.
And fear.
Because if he was right, then that man was—
"Helios?"