(GILBERT'S POV)
Kar'zath crossed the pit in three steps and bent over me, and I felt him breathe me in — slow, deep, tasting the air like a sommelier with a rare vintage. And then he pulled back, and his eyes went wide and bright, and his mouth opened and the sound that came out of him was pure, greedy delight.
"Oh," he said. "Oh, yes. A top-tier omega." He straightened up and turned to the rim and announced it to the entire pit like a man displaying a trophy: "A top-tier omega werewolf! This one the king keeps for his own bed." He looked back down at me, and his tongue wet his teeth. "Until Lord Nowi decides what he wants done with you, pet. Or forever. The king does hate to give pretty things back."
My heart went down like a stone falling into a very deep well.
"No—" I said. "No, I'm not — I'm not what you think I am—"
I was still saying it when they lifted me. They lifted me without care, and I screamed.
