Page 41 of Dragon's Surprise
“You can’t—” Kerry said.
“They can.” Fergal’s voice was loud and firm. “According to the Code, they have every right.”
“You can’t take all the omegas.” King Donál turned to Erwan. “How will our clans survive? They’re our only hope for offspring.”
“Maybe you should’ve considered that before deciding they were worthless and yours to do with as you pleased,” Erwan said. “Besides, you have zero chance of getting healthy eggs anyway. Dishonor comes at a price.”
Kerry scoffed. “I don’t see you with any hatchlings.”
Erwan raised his chin. “My brother Jermon just had four. All eggs survived.”
“I don’t believe a word of it. He’s mated to two wolves, one of them an alpha,” Alistair said derisively.
“His wolf omega had the four eggs,” Erwan said. “And before you claim that’s impossible, let me point out that magic is able to do things you can’t even dream of or imagine. It’s not limited by the boundaries you impose upon it.”
“Hold up.” King Donál raised a hand. “You’re saying the fertility problems we all have are related to what you call our dishonor?”
“They are. They started right after the Great Shame, didn’t they?”
King Donál scratched his beard. “Yeah, but that was the Doyles, not us.”
“But you stood by and let it happen,” Fergal said. “That’s what the O’Connors are known for, right? Never taking a stand, always staying out of things.”
“It’s not like the Fitzgeralds were any better,” Oscar snapped. “I didn’t recall your clan protesting either.”
“No, we didn’t. And I could say that wasn’t my decision because it wasn’t, but the shame of it rests on my shoulders regardless, and that’s something I’ll have to find a way to live with.”
Alistair snorted. “Always so dramatic. As if you’re better than the rest of us.”
“Can we focus on the real problem here?” King Donál sounded as whiney as a toddler. “They can’t take my omegas.” He turned to Zacharias. “You can’t just leave. We… We’ll treat you better. You won’t have to do the red tent anymore if you don’t want to. And it’s not like we’re as bad as the Murphys. Everyone knows they straight up abuse their omegas.”
“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Zacharias said. “Are you for real? Do you really think we would ever believe one word coming out of your lying mouth?”
Oscar jumped up. “You can’t talk to your king like that!”
“He’s not my king anymore. I told you. We’re out. All of us. We choose to join the True Doyle clan, so the only one with authority over us is King Erwan.”
The omega had balls. To confront an alpha took guts in and of itself, but to do it in a room full of others? And to have it be his former king? Rhene could only imagine what Zacharias would bring to the clan and the pack once he was let off the leash.
“There is no True Doyle clan,” Cladhaire all but wailed. “There’s only one Doyle clan, and that’s mine.”
Zacharias barely spared him a glance. “You have no clan. There’s you and your brother, and that’s it. So if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not waste my time with you.”
Holy shit. Rhene fought against the laugh bubbling up inside him, but he lost that battle. The look of absolute shock on Cladhaire’s face was just too precious, as was the utter confusion on the faces of the others, as if they couldn’t believe what they were witnessing. No wonder. They must never have encountered an omega who spoke like that. And maybe if Rhene hadn’t grown so accustomed to Sivney, he would’ve felt the same way, but now he was cheering Zacharias on.
“You’re gonna fit right in with us,” he said, and Zacharias’s face broke open in a grin.
“Okay, let’s at least try to achieve some resemblance of order,” Gregor said, looking calm and collected as if nothing had happened. “Zacharias, before you can join the True Doyle clan, we need to formally confirm their legitimacy.”
“They have no?—”
A gesture from Gregor brought Alistair to silence. “We will follow procedure. Every clan will have two minutes to state their opinion, and then we’ll bring it to a vote. The Murphys have the floor for two minutes.”
“Not while the omegas are still here,” Kerry said.
“Your time has started, so if I were you, I’d make use of it,” Gregor said coolly.
“Right. Okay, then. The Murphys vote no to acknowledging the True Doyle clan. We haven’t seen any evidence of the charges. Where’s the proof that King Cladhaire threatened Erwan’s life, killed others, or used black magic? King Cladhaire has been a loyal member of our Dragon Council for many years, and we have never witnessed him doing anything that directly violates the Code.”