by Isoellen
She introduced her parents next. Still Monster said nothing. This was her visit; he'd told her it would be this way.
Her parents would want to fawn and try to curry favor. She'd warned him.
He grunted at that as well. Now a tower of reassurance behind her, her place as his bride gave her status with her parents she hadn't had before. He was the strongest alpha, his strength was hers, and their bond and her blessing made them one.
In the hierarchy of their society, Naya found herself as the woman everyone in her family would now defer to.
If it hadn't been an inborn instinct, the change might have gone differently. But when greeting her father and her mother, a natural transition took place. They submitted respectfully to their daughter in the presence of her alpha. Later, without their presence, this effect would wear off. Naya could just imagine mother's outraged tirade.
But now the woman was soft with welcoming smiles, unable to meet her youngest daughter's eyes.
Naya wanted to hug her.
But she didn’t.
Her father took her hand. "You have done well, girl,” he said with a squeeze. She saw something in his eyes that made her think again of how he’d tried to manipulate her choice by bringing around stronger alphas. Maybe he had also known she hadn't really wanted Crispin.
The entire party eventually went into the house. Naya would have time with her family tonight and tomorrow, but the next day the king, Constantine Kane, and Monster's father Rhineholth would be arriving for a meeting with Monster.
She showed him her room. Untouched, the nest practiced in preparation for Crispin gave her odd feelings of relief. She could almost see her fear in the way she had arranged the bedding.
Monster studied everything, discovering Naya bit by bit in the room. "Your private space is like you. These colors are bold compared to the rest of this home,” he mused.
"Mother thinks bright colors are vulgar and pretentious."
He made her space feel even smaller, his big presence filling it up, dark and hard in the small, colorful, comfortable room.
"We could take some of your things with us, if you wish, treasure. I don't know when we will return here.”
At her nest he found the stuffy dressed in one of Crispin's shirts. It had been months, but this was the mad monster that now made an appearance. His territorial instincts knew no bounds.
He ripped the thing off her bed like it was rancid, opened the door, and threw it into the hall.
She giggled at him.
"Invite me into your nest, mate,” he said as he prowled toward her.
Naya took a step back. "This is my parents' house,” she cried, trying to hide her smile. Their desire for each other could barely withstand a few hours of separation.
Her vulva was always a little swollen because of the weight of her pregnancy, always a little wet, but his growl caused a spasm of slick to leak into her thick, padded underwear. The bulky stuff was ugly, but Naya had realized her mother was right—it was handy. The drones had helped her make her own.
Darre’s growl lowered as he called to her again. Naya went to her bed, to the nest she had built for another. It would be too small for this beastly man, but it didn't matter; she'd found he could make anything work when it came to pleasure.
She sat down and held up her hands for him. "Monster."
It was hard not to smirk at his “what took you so long” expression.
*
Her husband stayed at her side at all times. Her parents could not draw him into any kind of conversation. Instead he pulled her in to his lap and fed her, acting like her chair and ignoring everyone.
He thawed a bit with the boys, though, especially when Finnor took issue with his manhandling.
"Should you be touching her so much? There's a baby in there. You're so big. You could hurt the baby, picking her up and setting her down. What kind of mate are you? Are you a bully-mate?"
She felt his amusement, and a mild respect at the challenge.
"Bully-mate?"
"You know, one of those controlling, demoralizing alphas who pick on their weaker mates. I thought you had a bond? It looks like you never let her do anything, like you take all her rights away, control everything. She looks happy, but I don't think what you are doin' is right. And there's a baby in there. You could hurt it. Mother and Father never—"
"That's enough." Monster commanded, silencing her brother's tirade. "I do not care what your mother and father do or do not do. But I will answer your question because you braved asking.
“We do share a bond, and I do care for all her needs, pleasures, and the safety of our child. We are connected heart to heart. I do not do anything she does not like unless she has broken a rule. Rules are important so that we both fulfill our expectations to each other. A good alpha has rules and is clear about them."
Finnor thought about the answer for a bit, his eyes pouring over them from head to toe in a way that made Naya want to laugh. He could be a tyrant, this young brother of hers, but he was also thoughtful.
He tipped his head to the side after his assessment. "What kind of rules?"
"That is between mates."
A big huff of displeasure escaped the boy. "Talis says that we will learn more in our final year at school before our enlistment. Why is all the good stuff in the final year? It's not fair. I'm ready to know now."
"Maybe, maybe not, pup. But there is a reason for alphas to go through extra schooling and enlistment, and your body has not yet met the requirements," Monster informed him.
Finnor threw his shoulders back, puffing out his youthful chest. "I am not a pup. I may be young in age, but I am never at the bottom of the pile."
"You cheat," Naya volunteered, softening her words with an indulgent smile.
He frowned at her. "There is no cheating when it comes to winning, Naya. I just know where everyone is weak."
He knew where everyone was ticklish and had a technique to make them either have to laugh or give way. In the middle of testing their strength, trying to win while playing at big, no young alpha would dare laugh or giggle. They'd give up first.
It was Naya who had discovered that trick while playing with them when they were still babies in the park. She'd loved to hear their loud, free laughter. Finnor had paid attention to the lesson.
"This brother of yours should come and foster with us, Naya. He could be one of your guard," Monster murmured. This was a big compliment, and Finnor grew taller right before their eyes.
It would be nice to have her family with her, but Sector 2 was still Sector 2.
Monster ignored her parents, only answering their questions if they came through her. Her brother Talis, now Talis Rizer, was home from his time with the army. He hung back, just watching, but the youngest three, always together and led by Finnor, amused Monster somewhat. He answered the boys’ questions and let them examine his claws.
Naya discussed packing her things with her mother and Phee and talked about the sort of things she might need for the baby. She talked to the servants about family recipes. The conversations stayed mundane.
She asked her mother how she was feeling, but got only half-truths in answer. Mother couldn't look her in the eye. Phee was no better.
Phee stayed near Talis or generally avoided her. Naya wanted to talk with her, but Monster, conscious that this was the house of her kidnapping and that her parents had not treated her with the regard he thought she deserved, would not leave her alone for a minute.
Phee had not renewed her marriage contract with her mate. She wore the event like a failure rather than seeing it as the freedom to find a mate who would value her.
Naya could feel her older sister's assessment even at a distance as she watched every interaction between herself and Monster.
As far as Naya knew, they were the first bonded couple Phee had ever seen up close, and their interactions—Naya's joy and Monster's purring contentment—were not what she had expected.
Complexion
sallow, body thin, Phee had suffered much from her marriage's failure. Wearing the lurking bitterness Naya had sensed since her marriage to Grayson Swift, Phee's disappointment settled on her shoulders like a mantle of mourning.
She didn't eat. She relied on lady’s maid to sleep. She'd lost all her vitality. Naya had never known Phee to be anything but confident in her status, even a little haughty. But Phee had failed to do the one thing expected of every omega.
The failure to create a family had left a mark.
On her second day in her childhood home, Monster and Alreck were across the room engaged in conversation with the king and his father. Naya sat nearby, two guards stationed next to her chair. It was overkill, but Monster left nothing to chance.
She was sorting what yarns to take and leave when she saw Alreck's head turn as Phee lingered in the hall. Nostrils flaring, the alpha scented her.
Phee's contract marriage ended, her bond untaken, she was an available omega. It was awkward for all the unmated Sector 2 alphas in the group who had never come across omega breeders. Instinct and desire demanded action, but their allegiance to Monster controlled them.
Alreck seemed the most affected.
Two months ago, Alreck had lost Rachel, the beta he’d claimed, after she’d mortally wounded herself. Alreck had done all he could with the girl, but he had an important position within the tower and had been forced to leave her while working. Though he’d hired drones to help him watch over her, they were no match for her desire to end her life.
From what Nixon's wife explained to Naya, Rachel’s growing feelings for Alreck caused nothing but guilt, adding to her madness instead of healing it. Her family had made the girl sick with their twisted ways.
Phee entered, tracked by Alreck's gaze and then Monster's, though he looked to Naya first. She met his gaze, smiling knowingly. Monster clapped Alreck on the shoulders, claiming his attention with the hard blow.
"I haven't been able to say congratulations. Mother will never forgive me if I don't," Phee said as she paused at Naya's side, pressing the tips of her fingers onto Naya's belly and then pulling her hands away as if burned.
"Good manners are important," Naya agreed. Her parents were more than honored to host them. The day that Constantine Kane and Rhineholth arrived, they’d practically stumbled all over themselves to see to their every need and desire. Once Naya returned to Sector 2, this distinct honor would be something her mother would be sure all her neighbors were made aware of.
"Are you okay?" Phee asked softly, concern in her voice. "He has taken over your life. He won't even let you feed yourself."
"You know that I am."
"Your bond is..." Phee let the words trail off.
Naya nodded. "Amazing. Everything I ever dreamed."
The words made Phee wince.
Naya began to apologize, but Phee held up her hand in a flash of her usual haughtiness. "No."
And then she was gone.
There was some shifting in the alpha's discussion, and Monster came back to her. Phee escaped the room through the exit to the kitchen.
Approaching behind Monster, Constantine Kane gave Naya a bow of greeting. The man was an older, more refined version of his younger brother, magnetic and attractive with fewer scars. He had a habitually distant expression, cold and restrained. With a manner that expressed dislike and distrust of his younger sibling, Naya couldn't like him, even though he was nothing but kind to her.
The conversation between the alphas had been a dance of restrained brutality.
There had been changes in Sector 2. The Administration had lifted the supply embargos, but new merchants had no desire to sell in such an infamous area. The wall and border control had increased on both sides, and travel had become less restricted.
True change would take years. Populated by army deserters, law breakers, and opportunists, most of the alphas in Sector 2 were men of low character—the worst of the worst. Monster had filled his sector with other monsters.
He discussed plans to address the lawlessness of the place. They would reinstate order slowly and systematically, allowing for adjustments as needed.
There were also new laws for the women of the sector. This caused endless trouble. Most of the slumlords, who wanted drone farms and beta concubines, fell under the Mad Monster's claws. He showed them no mercy.
Monster had told his father he would clean up his sector the way he wanted without council or Administration interference. Rhineholth and the King hadn't liked it. They wanted to establish Administration unity, but Monster would not allow it.
Naya had listened to the confrontation and felt his resolve echo through their bond.
Once bitter and furious thoughts had corrupted Monster's thinking in every way. Naya thought back on his life decisions, his reasoning, on how he planned to bring down the Administration—all single-minded and deluded.
Broken by his pain and what he’d seen as the final betrayal of his father and family after a lifetime of smaller offenses, locked in a rut that drove him mad, Monster's mind had worked in convoluted ways. He’d understood brutality and nothing else.
But Naya's blessing had healed him. Healed everything. He discovered new things about himself daily, things about who he was and who he could be. He was more Darre and less monster. The man had come to terms with his past.
But he would also be her ever-hungry and inexplicably sweet Monster, who had taken her in his arms and begged for her bite.
He always did as he thought was best now. He was so sure of himself, confident and determined. He only cared for the opinion of one person, and they spent hours talking sometimes.
Living in this home, the daughter of upper-class breed, Naya had thought her life would consist of learning to make her favorite pastries and tending the home of a scribe who would never amount to much. Instead she had become the advisor to one of the strongest alphas in the 12 Sectors—the Broken Prince, next in line for the position as king.
As if continuing an earlier conversation, Constantine Kane said to Monster, "I know you don't want it."
"Fuck you know anything," Monster answered with a low grunt. In one move he picked Naya up, sat in the chair, and pulled her in his lap.
Kane frowned. "I don't want this any more than you do. But you are a strong alpha. You might be able to take me in a fight, bringing those claws with you into the arena. This makes you Alpha of Alphas on might alone."
Naya felt their bond twist; it was not something he wanted.
"I do what I need to do to fix the sector,” Monster said. “Alpha of Alphas is an Admin thing. Give it to Admin."
Her purr was automatic, as was the lessening of tension in his body.
"It is more, and you know it. It is the role of second. That is you," Kane said.
"Fuck second."
Naya leaned back into Monster's chest and asked, "Would it help root out the rest of the betas who organized as black robes and help find those who still wish to enslave the drones? It isn't an empty title if we do something with it."
"Are you getting in the middle of my shit again, treasure?"
"Perhaps."
He grunted. And smiled.
Naya giggled.
"Fearless fuckin' omega," Monster said.
The king of the 12 Sectors laughed, and Naya felt her giggle grow. She was thankful every day that she'd been kidnapped, shoved in a box, and delivered as a gift for the Mad Monster to devour.
Isoellen
Isoellen is just your average, aging child-care worker who drinks too much coffee. Her first romance story was written in 1977 at 8 years old after seeing the movie Star Wars. She knew even then that a rogue on the wrong side of the law was a better mate than the boy on the hero's journey.
The worlds she creates are violent and sensual, but her characters always find beauty in the decay and romance with intimacy. True-love and happily-ever-after's are guaranteed.
She lives in the Northwest and can be found looking for the piece of pape
r she wrote her last Facebook password on.
Keep up with her ->
Isoellenwrites.Blogspot.com
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