by Isoellen
The cocky boy had been mouthing off during the battle, called him a freak or some shit, so Darre had decided to make him a member of the freak club. Alreck turned out to be a decent soldier, however, who obeyed orders and kept everyone in his detail in line.
Clawed hand sweeping out, Darre gripped Alreck's neck, points to jugular, and pulled him in close for a sniff test. Surprise bloomed with fear, and then the sweet smell of full submission. Alreck's own inner predator had been tamed by a greater one.
He hadn't betrayed Darre and had no plans to.
Satisfied, Darre shoved him back a step and waited until Alreck met his eyes.
It took him a moment.
Good. All the better. There was a difference between a respectfully submitted alpha and a cowardly one. Darre had a lot of practice figuring out which was which.
Alreck had cleaned up Darre's office after too many meetings gone wrong to not have a healthy respect for what Darre could do when he was angry.
"Yes. Fine. In fact, you can have first pick and organize the mess. I have no desire to play matchmaker. But the rule stands: marriage contracts with willing signatures. You will have to seduce your female, if you can."
Alreck gave him a toothy grin. "Ladies like my scars. Makes them think I can survive and protect them. It’s not an issue."
"Tell Mac you have my orders, then." Darre considered the other man for a moment. "Alreck, something ugly is coming. I need you to have your most reliable men on duty. Loyal men, if such men exist in the district of the damned. You get me? I don't know which direction the threat will come from yet. It's not you. It could be someone else in my tower. Anyone else in my tower.
“Or it could come from outside. Or both. I don't fuckin' know, but I feel a storm coming." He paused to let the words sink in. "Don't tell Mac or Seta my orders on this. You get me? And if you see that old dog Nixon, I want to talk to him."
"He has his wife with him."
"Perfect. I want to see them both."
"Alpha, are you going to be housing drones now too?"
"Until I figure out what to do with them. And all those females get servant contracts, like they do in the other sectors. Ha, and I'll give that over to you too.” He barked a short laugh at Alreck's dismayed expression. "You can pass that chore off if you want, but you'll be the final authority and answer to me."
Darre watched relief play over Alreck's face, and Darre wanted to laugh again. He'd shocked the man enough, however.
Giving Alreck his leave, Darre ordered food from the kitchen before mounting the stairs. He discovered after the first flight that he could run up them now. Nothing hurt.
At the top of the stairs, the guards stopped him. He didn't remember their names but recognized their faces and scents. He gave the three of them a good smell before he said a word. He couldn't check every male who worked in his tower in one day, but by the rod, he would know that the males closest to his mate were not plotting behind his back.
This behavior wasn't too unusual. Everyone in the tower knew of Darre's bestial tendencies. The males submitted and tested true. No scent of deception-based fear. No sour lies.
"Alpha," the male in charge said, "there are two men at the door. They say they have information on the black robes."
Darre frowned. It wasn't the first time someone had come to his front door peddling information in exchange for credits or favors. But it was odd they came with just the information Darre was seeking.
"Has Mac requested a meeting? Or Seta?"
"No, Alpha."
"Any updates from either of them?"
"No, Alpha."
Darre felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck raise. There it was again—that sense of a shit storm looming. Of someone else trying to set him up, plan behind his back, and change the game.
While he loved to stalk and torment his prey—drag out the hunt until he exhausted the enemy—he did not like the feeling of being preyed upon. He was not any bastard's prey.
"Send a runner. Have them go all the usual places. Announce a fight tomorrow. I challenge my Alpha Mac, Alpha Seta, Alpha Berandal, Louis the Scribe, and any-fuckin'-body who thinks they are gonna knock me out of my tower. Those two outside want to talk to me, they can talk to me in the pit. Make sure they have directions on how to get there.”
Darre watched the guards’ faces as he issued his challenge. By morning, everyone in Sector 2 would have heard the news. Only the worst kind of breed ran from an open pit challenge. To not meet Darre would earn a brand of cowardice with a bounty anyone could cash in on.
It was one of the few laws in the sector, meshing so well with the primal instinct of alpha males that no one fought it or questioned it. Fighting was how breed alphas established dominance. It was in their biology. Trying to avoid it meant you were not an alpha. Not a man.
Louis the Scribe, wherever he was, would also feel the pressure. His name had been well-known enough that he had a reputation to uphold, even if he was only a beta. He had a significant position with the black robes. Alpha or not, failing to face Darre would put a bounty on his head and brand him as weak.
Darre was not going to play by someone else's rules of subterfuge and deceit. He played only by his: tooth and claw, flesh and bone, face to face, might makes right. The monster of Sector 2 was the top alpha.
It was time to remind people.
Chapter Sixteen
Naya
Naya felt Monster before she saw him. He was a force of nature, the daunting power and inherent sensuality of his presence lighting her up before he'd even opened the door, and startling the poor drones into freezing like prey caught in his claws.
He filled up the doorway, blocking the only exit, a wall of muscle who had to duck to enter the room. Though he’d only been gone for a short while, she'd forgotten his size, the burning intensity of his black eyes, and the shape of his lips.
He overwhelmed her, made a tingling shiver go down her spine and pool in the cradle of her belly. Forced to stay in this stifling room all day and use a bucket as a toilet, Naya wanted to be angry with him, but instead her being filled with delight and admiration.
His features were blunt, his jaw cut, chin sharp and jutting to accommodate the extra size of his teeth, which only added to his beastly appearance. He had heavy eyebrows set over dark eyes and a broad forehead under his too-long wavy hair. His overall appearance was far from human—he was large, and so well-muscled she could see the ropey veins beneath his skin. There was no mistaking him for anything but alpha breed.
He was the most beautiful male she had ever seen.
The drones didn't feel the same way. The two silent girls, Ann and Nor, dropped the plates of food they'd been holding and scrambled into the far corner of the room upon seeing him.
Sara froze, eyes locked on the floor, hands shaking. Young Tee's eyes went glassy and brimmed with tears.
Naya wondered if all alphas affected them this way, or if it was just her alpha. She planned to send them away, but before she could open her mouth, Monster had her in his arms and was carrying her out of the room.
He manhandled her as if she were a child who always wanted to be picked up. She squawked at him, a ridiculous sound that came out before she could stop it.
"Monster, please. Put me down!” she demanded primly.
He held her high, pressed his face into her neck, and inhaled as if she was the source of all his air. Then he was licking and kissing her there, making her melt, rendering her unable to form words or thought.
They cut through that familiar hall to the room he used as his office. The sparsely furnished room had undergone changes. There was a wide, low-back couch made of scarred leather and stained wood. Next to it were big baskets of wool blankets and a few pillows, things that looked like decent nest making materials.
Where had he been hiding those?
There was another lamp, and a short shelf stacked with what looked like paperback books. Books!
Her eyes took in the add
itions greedily, wanting to investigate, but her body, made liquid by her mate's mouth on her skin, turned into him, curling around him in a hug.
This confounding male. One touch and he readied her for the taking, pulled her heart open, and made her weep with want.
"Monster,” she whimpered, her hands seeking the skin under his shirt, her mouth pleading for his.
He sat down in the chair behind his desk and gave her his kiss. His tongue touched hers in that deep intimate way that caused more full-body trembling and slick to pool between her legs. She'd kissed no one before him, other than the platonic kiss one gives a child. Now he held her and kissed her as if they had hours to spare and would do nothing else.
With one hand he held the back of her neck beneath her braid, and with the other he cupped her jaw, keeping her steady while his lips played over hers.
She opened her eyes for just a moment and found his were closed—lashes long and dense against the burnished color of his skin. All his focus was on her mouth.
His tongue dipped in and her eyes drifted shut at the taste of him. She loved the flavor of his breath, the smell of it, and would spend a hundred years trying to come up with ways to describe it. It was different, yet the same as his natural scent—softer, not as spicy, but so male.
She didn't know how long they sat there wrapped up in each other. She was so dazed she didn't hear the knock at the door, nor its opening.
Naya startled when she opened her eyes and saw the drone called James bringing a tray of food and drink in. "Alpha, pardon. Nixon and his bride-mate are on their way in."
Monster made a rumbling noise in his chest and kept kissing Naya. She tried to pull away, embarrassed by the public display of affection, but his mouth followed.
"Please. We have guests," she tried to protest.
He tucked her deeper into his shoulder and opened his eyes. They glinted with purpose, his lips curling up in a smirk. His hold tightened as he leaned in and gave her a kiss that curled her toes and made her head spin.
She lost herself in him, in the pleasure of him, so much that when the guests she knew were coming arrived, she didn't notice them standing there, watching with amusement.
"Sir, do you plan to come up for air soon? You are giving my bride ideas," a male said.
"Nixon. Do not, or the only idea I will have later is you sleeping in a different room," a woman replied.
The male laughed.
Naya's body stiffened and she hid her face against Monster's neck, consumed by a full-body blush. He'd done that on purpose.
"Such a proper princess," Monster whispered in her ear, nipping the lobe and making her shiver.
"Nixon," he said to the man, “did you talk to that breeder girl?"
Naya chuffed against his neck. He didn't say hello? Didn't introduce her? His voice and relaxed body language said that he was on friendly terms with this Nixon, more so than he had been with anyone else she'd seen.
When she looked up, she saw a male with a squarish face and a flat nose. He was the first alpha she'd seen who wasn't wearing a breather. Standing next to him was a slightly shorter, slim blonde beta woman.
"Yes, we did. Poor thing." He looked at the woman next to him.
Hazel eyes flashing, Nixon's bride-mate was not afraid to speak her mind. "Alpha Nothonal Darre, what are you going to do with all those drones? All those women?"
Naya knew that Monster was not a good guy. He had done bad things. But she bristled anyway. No one took that tone with her alpha. No one.
An unexpected growl erupted from her as her body tensed. That other woman needed to remember her place.
But Monster squeezed her neck. "Settle, treasure. It's all right." A purr rolled out of him.
Nixon cursed. "A full-on bond. Wow, Alpha. Congratulations."
She didn't know what her reaction said to him, having never been so offended by anything in her entire life. She felt ready to claw the other woman to the floor until she cried mercy and begged for forgiveness.
Monster kissed her forehead. "Fuckin' fearless,” he murmured. Then, tipping his head at their guests, he added, "Marissa, this is my bonded. She is fierce for such a small one. You'd do well to respect that. And remember, while she will just be skinning you bloody, my friendship with Nixon won't stop me from breaking your neck if you stand there showing off your grand independence. Just because I don't face females in the pit doesn't mean I don't expect the same from them as I do my alphas. You get me?"
The smell of aggression filled the room and Marissa's nose twitched. Her face lost color and her eyes dimmed of righteous indignation. Her alpha put an arm around her, but he wouldn't defend her to his superior. He couldn't.
"Forgive me. I spoke out of turn. Those women and drones, they've been so abused. I'm worried for them."
"I am aware, Marissa. But that is not what I asked you to find out, is it?" Monster said.
"No. Sorry. Sorry." She coughed into her hand, nervous now. "The girl—she is from the same sector as your mate. She is the illegitimate child of an alpha scribe."
Naya gasped. Was that girl a sister she didn't know she had? Had her father sent her here? Questions poured into her mind.
Monster had warned her that someone close to her lurked in the shadows of this betrayal, but never could she have guessed her father might be one of them. They were not close, but he had always shown her gentleness.
Marissa hesitated at Naya's gasp, worried about upsetting her.
"Tell me," Naya blurted. "She said her father sent her here, didn't she? What's her name?"
"Her name is Rachel, daughter of Corre."
Naya moaned, relieved, yet horrified—and thankful Monster held her snugly in his lap so she didn't fall apart into a thousand pieces.
"Why do I know that name? Corre?" Monster asked.
Nixon clarified. "Rachel's father is the Second to Ratmhir, Master of the sector scribe house, and your mate's sire. She said Corre is not a believer in that First Alpha nonsense, but he is a man against the breeder laws, property rights for women, and wants to see all drones enslaved. He sold her to Tenbel because he didn't believe his own daughter to be more than property. I don't know if he wanted to curry favor with you by sending an omega breeder to you, or if he just wanted to weaken her father's position as Master of the scribe house."
"Crispin's father," Naya added. "He was there. People were gathering, waiting for my heat and our ceremony. He is my father's friend. They took over the scribe house together from the last Master."
"And what did the girl say of my mate’s intended? Was he a part of this?" Monster asked.
"Rachel didn't say. Her mother is a beta pleasure worker. They lived apart from Corre."
"Good enough."
"Sir, one other thing. Her child…" Nixon looked at Marissa for confirmation.
"Rachel wasn't used by Tenbel or any of the other males. That uppity black robe wouldn't touch her because they were related. He is a half-brother. She belonged to the one called Louis. There is something you need to know. She said Louis isn't a beta."
Monster straightened. "What do you mean?"
Naya's head was spinning. The girl, Rachel, daughter of Corre, half-sister to Crispin—and bald, disgusting, Tenbel, also half-brother to Crispin?
She leaned forward to listen. She hadn't told Monster about her conversation with the drones. Descriptions of the beta sounded just like her father, but was this Louis related to Crispin as well?
"The male is an alpha. The way she talked about him. The way he smelled. I'm sure Louis is an alpha," Nixon said.
Naya watched the subtle emotions in Monster's eyes as he absorbed the news. "Do you think Louis is also related to Corre? Did Rachel say? Did she know him before she was brought here?"
Nixon's bride-mate shook her head. "That poor girl is so young. How could her father, her brother, do this to her? And to force her to mate with a relative? It can't be true."
The big body beneath Naya’s hummed with a mix of confu
sed emotions. Through their bond, she could feel the storm of them until everything settled suddenly into the red boil of anger.
Offering no commentary on the discoveries, Monster asked, "Have you heard or seen Mac or Seta today?"
"Mac left with ten men and credits to hire more, I assume to deal with the other black robe parishes and take on that slumlord."
Nixon hesitated. Naya could see him thinking, smell the anxiety in his sweat.
"You challenged him again? And Seta?" Nixon asked.
Monster nodded. "What type of men did Mac take with him?"
Shaking his head, Nixon said, "The kind he works with routinely. One of them started the fight that killed a guy recently, and it's not the first time. The man wants seniority in the dorms. I know Mac has had to make him knuckle under twice now. I told him we should just send him to the pits and be done with it. Some others are the same. They lost fights with Mac over something or other. Rotten to the core."
"Men who have forgotten their loyalty to me and given it to my secretary?" Monster speculated.
He was talking about the betrayal of one of his men. Naya remembered meeting the other alpha. She hadn't sensed a threat from him.
Was this what life with Monster was going to be like? She didn't imagine Monster would face his challengers the way her father did, with verbal maneuvering and asset acquisition.
"It's possible," Nixon answered.
Monster's large hand moved to the food James had brought in earlier. He picked up a knife—a tarnished thing with dents and scratches in the metal handle—and poked at the hunk of meat on the plate.
"Nixon, I need you to pick men who are loyal to you, loyal to me, and have them on guard around the tower and at the pits tomorrow. Not obvious, but watching, ready. Do we have men who can do that?"
"You think Mac will move against you? Seta too?"
"I want to be ready for anything," Monster said evasively. He began cutting the meat. "If the men ask you about the new women, you can refer them to Alreck."