"Years ago, Eli was a victim of rape," Warren said quietly. "He was in his first heat during a skirmish attack by a group of North Veridian alphas. Your people forced him while he was too lost in heat to even resist. He was fourteen."
Jordan swallowed. He would like to say that what he'd heard surprised him, but unfortunately, things like that happened all the time during the war, on both sides.
He still felt guilty for his aggressive behavior with Eli earlier. The poor omega must have been scared of alphas, especially North Veridian alphas.
"I'm sorry," he said, awkwardly.
Warren made a dismissive noise. "I don't blame you for something your people did when you were a child. But I will blame you if you scare Eli with your alpha bullshit and cause any bad memories to resurface."
"Wait," Jordan said, confused. "You mean he lives here?"
Warren heaved a sigh. "Of course, he lives here. He has nowhere to go. He comes from a very old, influential family, but they disowned him after his 'disgrace,' especially since he got with child."
"And your parents took him in, even with a child?" Jordan said, a little surprised by such kindness. No matter how unfair it was, victims were not treated kindly by society, neither in South nor in North Veridia.
It was beyond fucked-up and old-fashioned, but omegas' purity was still very valued. The Reeds were old money. It was surprising that they had taken in a disgraced, disowned omega with a bastard child.
Warren shook his head. "Eli lost the child due to too much stress.
My father took pity on Eli and claimed him as his second spouse."
Jordan's eyebrows flew up. He was bewildered for a moment before remembering that in the South society, an alpha was permitted to marry multiple people as long as the alpha could provide for additional spouses.
"Wasn't Eli fourteen at the time? That's gross."
"My father wasn't a pedophile," Warren bit out. "The marriage was on paper only, to give Eli some respectability."
"Did it?" Jordan said softly.
Warren grimaced. "Yes and no. People didn't forget anything, but Eli is accepted into polite society as part of our family. He still prefers to stay at home."
"So he's actually your stepfather," Jordan stated.
Warren let out a laugh. "We're almost the same age. I've never seen him as one. But Amelia does see him as a parental figure—Eli even nursed her, because our mother didn't want to breastfeed."
Jordan nodded thoughtfully. Now Amelia's affection for Eli made sense, as did Warren's protectiveness.
"Thank you for telling me this," he said. "I appreciate it. And I promise I'll be more careful around him."
Something like surprise flickered in Warren's eyes, as if he hadn't expected Jordan to be a decent enough person to make such a promise. It was a little insulting.
"Thank you," Warren said.
Jordan just nodded. He looked around and raked a hand through his hair, searching for something to say.
"Could you show me to my bedroom?" he said. "I know your housekeeper told me where it is, but I'm not confident I can find it again. The house is huge."
"Of course," Warren said, opening the door and guiding him out of the room with a steady hand on his back.
Jordan had to suppress the urge to shrug it off.
After fourteen years of fighting a war, it was difficult to accept a hand on his unprotected back. But he had to accept it.
This man was his husband. They needed to learn how to get along if they hoped for the peace to hold. It was bad enough that they'd nearly come to blows a few minutes ago. They needed to do better than that.
"It's here," Warren said, stopping in front of a door on the second floor. "My room is at the end of the corridor if you need anything."
Jordan turned to him and hesitated. But they needed to talk about it, to establish that they both understood where they stood. "Do you expect us to have sex?" he said bluntly.
Warren stared at him.
The silence stretched, becoming awkward. Jordan crossed his arms over his chest.
Finally, Warren said, "Don't take it personally, but I don't find alphas attractive."
Rubbing the back of his neck, Jordan gave a clipped nod. "Okay. So I presume this is going to be an open marriage?"
A tiny wrinkle appeared between Warren's brows.
It was taking him an inordinate amount of time to answer such a simple question.
Jordan raised his eyebrows and laughed a little. "Surely you don't expect us to be celibate for the rest of our lives?"
Grimacing, Warren said, "I know. I just don't really like the thought of other people touching my stuff."
"Excuse you? I'm not 'your stuff,'" Jordan said, though he was somewhat amused. "I can't believe you had the nerve to lecture me on my alpha bullshit. Are you sure you don't have a knot?"
He expected Warren to laugh it off.
Instead, his expression became very strange. Hesitant. Wary.
Jordan's amusement faded. Wait, what?
Before he could say anything, Warren pushed him inside the bedroom.
Closing the door, he turned and regarded Jordan with solemn dark eyes.
"How committed are you to the peace?" Warren said. "Do you truly want it?"
Jordan cocked his head to the side, taken aback by the change of subject. "Of course I'm committed," he said with a brittle smile. "I'm so tired of this war. I've been killing people since I was sixteen, Warren. I might be good at it, but it's not something I actually want to do."
Warren's eyes seemed to look right into his soul.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he nodded. "Then you must know the difficulties we will face. I'm not a beta. I'm an alpha."
Jordan would've liked to say that he was shocked—and he was—but the strongest emotion he felt was relief.
Now everything finally made a little more sense. His strange reaction to this man was a little more understandable now.
The way his skin crawled with awareness and alertness, the way he bristled from having Warren in his personal space: it all made sense.
Warren was eyeing him warily, as if he was expecting him to be angry.
Jordan wasn't sure why he wasn't. Mostly, he was disturbed.
"Why did your prime minister pick you? I specifically requested a beta." Did Cruz not want this peace to last?
"He doesn't know," Warren said. "No one outside my family does."
Jordan frowned. "I don't really understand why you would pretend to be a beta. There are more alpha politicians than there are betas." He sniffed carefully. "You smell like a beta."
Though now he was wondering if the smell of ozone and wet soil that appeared in Warren's scent when he was angry was his true alpha scent.
Sighing, Warren loosened his tie and stepped out onto the balcony. Jordan followed him.
They watched the scenery for a while.
It was pretty here, Jordan had to admit. The estate was beautifully situated on green hills sloping quite gently down to the sea.
There was a tall forest in the distance, its green and red trees visually spectacular, especially in the reddish rays of the setting sun.
The four moons of Veridia were visible on the darkening sky.
"Are you aware that during wartime, all South Veridia alphas under the age of thirty-five have to serve ten years in our army regardless of whether they want it or not?"
Jordan turned his head and looked at Warren's profile. It was a handsome profile: strong, stubbled jaw, straight nose, sensual mouth. It was a pity he was an alpha.
"I'm aware," he said. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Warren's gaze was fixed on the setting sun. "I used to have an older sister. She was an alpha, and she was drafted when she turned seventeen. She died a few months later." He pursed his lips. "My mother was inconsolable. I was eleven at the time. When I presented as an alpha a few years later, my mother was scared she would lose another child to this war.
She somehow managed to get an illegal Suppressor Implant and had me implanted with it. It masks my true scent and somewhat hinders my senses, but now I have to live with it if I don't want her to get in trouble for falsifying my presentation documents."
Jordan furrowed his eyebrows. "You don't get children tested after they're born?"
That was how things had been done in North Veridia for centuries. Everyone already knew who they were going to present as from early childhood.
Warren shook his head. "Testing children is against the law. In that regard, we are a traditional society. Presentation is still an event for every child, and we think that knowing who you will present as just takes all the fun out of it."
Jordan drummed his fingers over the railing absentmindedly. "But isn't your brother in the army?"
"Yes. Leo is eleven years younger than me. By the time he presented as an alpha, I was already an adult. I forbade my mother from falsifying his documents and making him pretend to be something he isn't."
Ah. That explained the strange tension between Warren and his mother.
"I see," Jordan murmured. "It must be a relief for you that the war is over."
If Warren's younger brother had died, that would have likely been on his conscience forever.
Warren gave a clipped nod.
"For all it's worth, I think you did the right thing," Jordan said.
Warren looked at him, a long look that made something in Jordan's stomach squirm.
"You're different from what I expected," he said at last.
Jordan chuckled. "In a good way or a bad way?"
"Good."
Jordan grinned, batting his eyelashes exaggeratedly. "Why, thank you, husband mine."
Warren gave a snort. "Definitely more ridiculous." He turned toward the door. "I'm sure you're tired," he said.
"I certainly am."
"Yeah," Jordan murmured. "Good night."
"Good night, Jordan."
As the door shut behind him, Jordan smiled a little to himself, looking at the sunset.
Warren hadn't even bothered to extract a promise from him that he wouldn't tell his secret to anyone. That implied that he believed himself to be trustworthy. It pleased Jordan more than he could express.
Although their relationship had started off rocky, maybe he and Warren could actually become… friends?
What more could one ask of a marriage between two alphas?