by Isoellen
"How is Alreck? Is he okay?" Naya asked.
"I can't believe you did that," Darre admonished, ignoring the question as he lifted her up in his arms, his face buried against her throat. "Stepping in front of me, risking your life... twice! Twice today!"
"Is he okay?" she repeated, exasperated.
One of Darre's men bent over Alreck. Darre thought his name was Jordan.
"He has a pulse,” Jordan grunted.
"Make sure that beta is dead,” Darre ordered. “Or better yet, take their heads for the front door—that'll send a message. Bring the woman and gather our men.
"I want to fuckin' make sure I know who every person in the tower belongs to. Gods, how long do you think Mac was planning this?" he asked, turning his attention to Nixon.
Nixon shook his head. He was as dumbstruck by the betrayal as Darre, it seemed. The man reached behind him for the bound female, dragging her along behind them.
"Get everyone in the common room—every fuckin' person in my household. I want to smell them all, tonight. And I want extra security. Use Alreck's team—men you trust. There are too many alphas in my tower whose names I don't even know..."
He choked on the rest of that thought, of what could have happened tonight because of his carelessness. "Been fuckin' asleep too long,” he muttered.
Nixon's eyes went to the back of Naya's head. Darre was clutching the aroused, still-panting little thing tight. The muscles in her shoulders tightened and the rumble of a growl vibrating up every time she caught sight of the other female.
"And now you are awake," Nixon replied.
"You going to do this with me?"
"Whatever you want, Alpha." Nixon lowered his chin in agreement. "Mad Monster or Broken Prince, you have always been the toughest fucking man I've ever known. I'm staying on your good side." He smirked at Darre, "It's where all the fun shit happens anyway."
"Good answer."
He took Naya to the twelfth floor and straight to the shower. He wished the plumbing was better, wished that he didn't need to use a bucket and could just stand under a sumptuous spray of water with his mate in his arms. She made him want all the easy-living crap the rest of the world enjoyed just so he could share it with her.
Releasing the ties of his kilt, he let it fall to the floor as he kicked off his shoes and pulled Naya into the box. She was still in her clothes, but they were ruined now. Mac, Louis, Berendal, and his champion—their blood all soaked her to the skin. Mud and filth from the tunnel covered her.
He opened the valve and let the water rain down on them. He gathered up a fistful of her curls, pulled her head back, and kissed her hard, drinking in her taste.
Her face was muddy, but the running water washed away the filth and revealed swelling and scuffs.
He couldn't remember the last time someone had risked themselves for him. She had selflessly defended him at the potential cost of her own life.
He'd felt it through their bond. In those moments of danger, nothing had mattered to her but him. Not her own life or the tiny whisper of a child she carried—she'd been consumed by an instinctual need to protect her mate.
He lifted her up, nosing at her adoringly. Blood and violence washed down the drain as he breathed her in.
Sweet, sweet omega. His fingers found her soaked core, pushed deep, and made her howl.
"Step in front of me in the pit?" he seethed against her skin. "What were you thinking?"
"Mine. I was thinking you were mine!”
"And in the tunnel?"
She showed him her dainty little canines, snapping her teeth. "Mine."
"You endangered yourself! Our child!"
His cock replaced his fingers. A hard thrust made sure he sank all the way to the barrier of her cervix. He didn't want to stop. His fingers slipped over her ass, found that second hole, and pressed in.
He needed to remind her who owned her—her life, her body, and her love.
Darre tore the wet dress from her body and finished her hard and fast against the wall of the shower, fucking her raw, punishing her pussy for what she'd done. He made her cry with pleasure and pain, biting at her shoulders until they were bloody, then filling her up with his seed, marking her outside and in.
Afterward he took her back to their room and threw her into the nest. "Naya, that's rule three."
He was still furious and hadn't forgotten the infraction just because he'd come.
"Someone had to shut off that noise. They shot you! Look at you. Do you even know you are still bleeding?"
"You don't interfere in my shit,” he ground out carefully, pronouncing each word as if it were its own sentence.
He could see the bruises forming on her face, her shoulders, and her arms, marks he hadn't put there.
"That wasn't just your business. I'm in this too."
"I need to go. You will stay here. You will fuckin' stay right there and wait for me. If you put one—"
"This is about me too! And you are still bleeding!" she insisted.
He snarled in warning. "The bullet was through and through. It's fine. But you—I'm going to call the doctor for you."
As gently as he could manage in his current state, he turned her so he could see where else that bitch had hit her. He lifted her dripping black curls to check beneath them, then smoothed his hands over her ribs and belly.
Such a fucking risk she'd taken. Insane. Madness. She had risked her life for his. He didn't deserve her.
"Your wound needs to be cleaned and bandaged." Naya said. She stuck her lip out. Naya was not much of a pouter, but she was not happy.
She was just as shaken as he was. He'd forced her into the cage to watch as they attacked him, to watch as they confronted him. He'd made her feel helpless.
His expression softened with guilt. It was only the slightest change, but clever girl, she caught it.
He sat down so she could fuss over him and told her where to find the medical supplies.
"I'm going with you, Monster. I'd like to hear what she has to say,” she insisted. "Please?"
"You need to stay right here."
She set her jaw, stubborn and mutinous. She set the bandages aside and crawled into his lap, wrapping her arms and legs around him in a full-body hug. He felt her mouth right against his sternum, kissing and licking at his skin.
"You will be right there. Nothing will happen to me. If you leave me alone, who knows what—"
He had her twisted over his lap before she could finish, giving her still-damp ass several hard swats.
"Then quit talking and get dressed,” he demanded as he sat her upright and got off the bed.
They met Nixon in Darre's office. Alreck was there too, ice on his head, bent over and uncomfortable, his eyes focused with furious intensity on the bound beta woman.
When the woman noticed Darre and Naya, she started screaming.
"You ruined everything! Everything, omega breeder! He was supposed to rape you, kill you. He's a beast—an animal. How could you fuck an animal like him?"
"Quiet!" Darre barked.
Enemy or not, she was still just a beta. Her body spasmed as if he'd kicked her. Unable to resist his alpha command, she quieted.
"I'll ask questions. You will answer. Where did you get the gun?"
"You think you control everything,” she snarled.
The girl had a soft, fragile look about her, but her irrational hatred had transformed her into an ugly thing.
"I had it with me. Under my clothes,” she added. “Mac made sure none of your men touched us."
"And the alpha deterrent device?" Darre asked. He hated those things. It was no surprise one had ended up in Sector 2. They'd been outlawed everywhere, and his own little corner of hell dealt in just that sort of commodity.
But it should have been under his control. Guns? Sound emitters that disabled every alpha in range? She was right. He’d thought he had control of everything. He'd been blind.
Seta had tried to see Darre and had been refus
ed. Now he was missing. Dead. Darre was sure he was dead. Mac had been planning this takeover for a long time, and Darre had been oblivious.
"Tenbel hid it here when he brought you the bitch. Mac was gonna use it to control your men when he took over."
Alreck reached over and spanked her hard on the ass, quick and fast. She howled at the pain.
"I'm taking a whip to you if the alpha lets you live, Rachel. And I'm counting. Every time you disobey, evade a question, or behave badly, that’s another lash.”
The female, frightened and angry already, looked like she was ready to sink into the floor. Her face morphed, eyes glossing and movements full of trepidation. She changed so rapidly Darre wondered about her sanity.
"Are you really Corre's daughter?" he asked her.
"Yes."
"And did he send the omega breeder here?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To punish and humiliate her father for stealing the scribe house from us,” she spat. “And to destroy you. She was supposed to destroy you."
"And who was Tenbel to you?"
"My half-brother."
"And who was Louis to you?"
"My mate. My alpha. You killed him. Everything went wrong. My father was wrong to bring you the breeder. He underestimated what a breeder could do to a beast like you. But my father thought it was the only thing that would destroy you. Either you'd become a mindless beast, or the king would finally come after you for breaking the breeder law.
“How could you choose him?" She tried to twist her head to look at Naya. "Don't you know what a monster he is? Are you blind? Are you sick?"
Alreck intervened again, lips tight as he spanked her in a flurry of brutal swats. Darre watched him put his back into it, happy that she would not be sitting down for a while.
Twitching and trying to escape, all it took was Alreck's steady hand to bring her to heel.
"What did I say, woman?" Alreck hissed.
"You have no right! No right!"
"I claim that right!" Alreck growled.
Darre stepped close, his feet near her face when he bent down to ask her, "And why this elaborate plan of black robes?"
"To take you down. Mac would take over. He and Louis would tame the betas, weaken the stronger alphas, reform Sector 2, and get all the credits and the glory.
“Louis would become First Alpha. After the humiliation of Naya’s kidnapping, my father would take over as first scribe. He'd help establish the first scribe house here, maybe become Administration.”
"Fuckin' law slugs and their scheming."
"Father said she was a quiet, fearful thing. Said you'd break her. Said she'd see you and never recover. How could he know she would ruin everything? It's her fault my mate is gone!"
"It's your mate's fault. He was a fool. And he wasn't a bond-mate, just a contract husband. You'll get over it, because you're getting another one of those." He sent Alreck a meaningful look. "Get her to yield, or she'll go to the Hole. I won't risk my bond for a treacherous beta slut."
Nixon, who'd been quiet during the interview, now spoke up. "I have some leather restraints that will fit her. They’re wide, so they won't cut into her skin. And you might want to borrow my wooden cross and spanking bench, padded for her pregnancy. It’s good for more than just spanking."
Darre eyed Naya. She'd need her own punishment for breaking rule three later. "No. I want the bench. Has it got a leather cover? I don't want something that smells like your dick, weapons master."
"Then you better have your own made," Nixon said with a toothy grin.
Chapter Twenty
Darre
There was a knock at the door to his office. People in the tower knew not to come down the hall unless he expected them. Darre's muscles tensed; it could only be more trouble.
He nodded at Nixon, who moved to open the door. One of his guards stood in the hall beyond.
"Alpha, the king is at the door and asks for an audience."
The announcement threw a damp blanket of silence over the room. In any other sector, people knew to bow and scrape to the royal family, who had established their reign almost two hundred years ago.
Darre didn't want to see him. He had the power to make the man camp at his front door for as long as he wanted. No one could force the Mad Monster to do anything he didn't want to do. Not even the former king. Not even his sire.
But ignoring Rhineholth felt like running away, and Darre did not run.
"Nixon, you're my second now," Darre announced.
Nixon said nothing, but his face conveyed his displeasure. He preferred his old title, it seemed. Darre wouldn't argue with him about it now.
"I'll be down to get new vows of allegiance from everyone in the tower after I deal with this. You know what to do."
The other man tipped his head in acknowledgment.
"Alreck, get this female secure. I don't want to see her again." He glared in disgust at the woman who'd tried to kill him, who could have ruined everything. Though she was hogtied and helpless on the floor, Rachel still felt like a danger to him. His world would be safer if her head was on a stick facing the street with those of her cohorts. He had killed females before, but never one carrying life.
His hand went over Naya's belly, its twin tightening against her nape. She turned her face against him, purring low and quiet, filling him up. She was always filling him up.
It was a risk. The monster was tapping at the back of his skull, ready to argue the point. The beast in him had no reservations about killing the beta. She and her unborn were enemies. The mother's poison could infect the child, who would grow to want revenge.
But Darre was free of the beast's control, and he could make his own choices. He chose to trust Alreck.
Breathing in Naya's scent, he pressed his face against her neck behind her ear. She helped him remember why it was important to show mercy.
Corre, the beta’s father, would need to die, though. Rhineholth could give Darre that. Corre had plotted with Mac and his son, Louis. Corre had broken Rhineholth's breeder laws and endangered an omega breeder—tried to force a choice on her by throwing her to Darre's monster.
Darre wanted the man's hands and cock separated from his body, preferably with something dull and rusty.
Nixon left the room with Alreck, who put the female over his shoulder. Head wound or not, the younger man took Darre's declaration about the woman needing a new marriage contract seriously. He growled at Nixon when he reached out to help. She was his responsibility, and he clearly meant to handle his business.
Nixon grinned.
With the door open, Darre could smell the anxious drones in the hallway. He'd told them to have regular meals ready for his mate, and they'd been waiting. Naya smelled them too and tried to pull away so she could see to the drones. He grunted, giving her a hard kiss first.
Naya motioned them in, taking the food as she began telling them about their excitement in the pit. The young one touched her fingers to Naya's bruises, frowning. Naya assured her she would be fine.
Without direction from Darre, she warned the drones to take orders from no one but herself and the twelfth-floor guards. After, Naya asked them about their day. They shared that they had discovered a bathing tub, which made the youngest girls shake with pent-up glee at the news.
It was news Darre also enjoyed. He watched a pleased smile split Naya's lips, her hand going to the hair on the smallest girl's head in an affectionate touch that made the drone blush.
Naya interacted with them with care and confidence. If she had ever been breakable like Rachel claimed, Darre had never seen it. The bond had changed him, but he hadn't known her before and so couldn’t know how much their bond had changed her.
Picking up the food that Naya had set on the couch, he moved it to his desk. He studied the spread of meat, cheese, apple slices, and a pile of green leafy stuff with an oily dressing dribbled on it.
Darre couldn't remember having ever seen a meal prepared b
y Cook that looked anything like this. He tasted the greens and made a face at the verdant feel of them in his mouth. The sweet and sour vinegar of the dressing wasn't enough to make him want to eat grass.
Settling himself in his chair, he watched his woman interact with the drones. Three of the four were taller than her, with too-angular features that suggested they weren't being fed well enough. Perhaps he needed to talk to Cook about providing extra rations for the drones.
What was wrong with him? By the rod, why was he thinking about the condition of the drones, or that he'd forgotten to get a doctor for all the people in his tower who he’d taken from Tenbel and his devoted followers?
As an alpha, drones were nothing to him. Too weak to be a threat, he viewed them much like cattle—good for doing the grunt work breed didn't have the time or inclination to handle.
His education had taught him he owed his superior breed genetics to the humans, but he'd always found it humorous that they'd caused the downfall of their own race in trying to alter what nature had already done. Now they would always find themselves on the bottom of the food chain.
Darre's primal brain refused to believe they had much value outside their ability to complete tasks. Every alpha alive had the same issue. It was an inborn prejudice. It had always driven Darre crazy that his father had tried to act otherwise. Drones were less meaningful to him than the sliced beef on his plate.
Much less, because he had no use for them.
But as he watched his treasure look them in the eye, talk to them as equals, and care for their feelings, she gave them value. She changed everything.
Years ago, Darre had told his father he thought omegas, betas, and drones should be represented on his father's council. Considering Rhineholth's wish to appear as though he held all citizens in equal regard, it made sense to have input from every caste under his control. While Darre didn't feel the others were equals, he believed the input of the lower breed and drones would make it easier to create the peace and harmony his father had claimed he wanted.
Rhineholth had laughed at him. That was the first time anyone had ever called him insane.
When Naya turned and smiled at him, his thoughts scattered. She could pick up a sense of him now, especially feelings he lingered on, just as he could sense hers. Her face and body might be sore, but Darre could feel that it hadn't wounded her desire for his attention.