Unless the outside was about to come in.
Aura tracked Castor's movement around the cabin as he gathered things to take with them. He was large, larger than any male she had ever seen before. Muscles bulged under his golden skin as he moved, light playing along every peak and valley. He stalked the room like a predator, something at the very top of the food chain. But that didn’t mean he could take on dozens of men who were almost equally sized, with the strength of insanity driving them forward, and hope to survive.
He was going to get them both killed with this terrible plan.
“Where are we even going to go?” she asked, voice practically a whimper. “It’s not like anywhere here is safe.”
“We find ship. Then go home.”
Chapter Ten
The girl’s revelation about the lack of Omegas where she had come from still roiled through Castor’s mind. There was no place on the planet where the dynamics were not integrated into every level of society. He would know that better than anyone else, few people traveled between the sectors as frequently as he did.
But the girl said she had come from a space station. There was not a society in existence with the capability for space travel, most of the city-states had lost that knowledge hundreds of years ago. Even if this girl was a member of a society that had managed to escape the atmosphere during the great wars a millennium ago, the chances of one person making their way back to Earth now was unimaginable.
And yet, here she was.
He had to assume that she was confused. Perhaps the crash had addled her wits and her mind concocted a wild story as a result of head injury. There had been others like that in the past who had become amnesiac and altered after extensive trauma. She could be from one of the sectors in which Omegas were treated like chattel slaves, beaten and abused if they stepped out of line. One soldier in his personal guard had been struck in the head once during a training exercise and then forgotten the names of his own children. Such treatment was certainly possible toward Omegas in many of the cities on the planet.
Except none of that would explain how she had come to be in the Forbidden Zone.
Castor resolved to find the ship that had brought her here. It wasn't possible for her to have arrived alone, which meant there could be others still alive able to tell a story that actually made sense. Rescue was their only hope for escape. He could not traverse the kilometers of hostile terrain between them and the closest civilization with her in tow and have any hope of survival.
And that he had been out here for so long meant no one was likely to come for them. He had suspected from the beginning that his crash had been no accident, but the lack of response confirmed it. At the least, Central Command should have sent out scouts to recover his corpse.
But if his crash had been no accident, he was left to wonder who had orchestrated it. Castor had prided himself on being beloved by the people, but the same could not be said for his father’s advisors or the many Alphas who profited off of the extreme inequality that pervaded Pandora.
Any of them might want to get him out of the way.
What to do about the pack of feral Alphas outside was only another question he didn’t have an answer for. Her scent alone would be enough to bring the ferals running from miles away.
Which was why he had bundled her in a pile of his own clothing, the leather covering every inch of her perfect skin and saturated her in his scent. The thought of that pleased him more than it should have and he pushed that realization away with an effort. All he could concern himself with now was survival so he could return to Pandora and bring justice to whoever had caused his crash. Finding out the truth of this girl's identity remained a secondary consideration.
Aura looked scared. He noticed it, even as he tried to ignore her. Fear colored the delicious aroma of her scent in a way that drew his attention. Part of him wanted to reassure her but the words did not come easily to him, regardless of their language barrier. Because there were no reassurances he could utter that would be in any way truthful.
“Leave tonight,” he murmured. “Move quiet and hide in the dark.”
Traveling at night would be safer in some ways and more dangerous in others. The Alphas here were still men and therefore more active in the daytime. But there were other dangers in the Forbidden Zone. He again questioned his ability to keep her safe as a curious sensation curled around his heart at the thought of something happening to her.
Castor had never reacted like this to a woman in his entire life, Omega or not. Despite the danger, his cock jumped at the thought of her naked beneath the furs and leathers laden with his scent. Anyone who came within a hundred yards of her would know that he had mated her recently, and numerous times.
That thought should not have pleased him as much as it did.
But soon this girl would no longer be his problem. They would find her ship and send up a distress signal. Once rescue arrived, they would return to the city and he would place her in the custody of Central Command. Let the proper authorities investigate her origins. He assured himself that letting her go would not be a struggle, even as a vision of her face floated behind his lids whenever he closed his eyes.
Each time his gaze strayed to the furs, he found her staring at him. Doe eyes tracked his movements back and forth across the cabin. He wondered what thoughts moved behind those swirling irises that were the color of chocolate as it melted into a liquid.
He considered asking her. But he could only understand parts of what she said, and he suspected that her answer would not please him. She didn’t understand the danger that they were in and her fear overwhelmed her judgment.
The girl continued to sit straight up on the sleep furs, even as he approached her.
“Rest,” Castor barked, harsh tone a response more to his own thoughts than anything she had done. “Night comes soon.”
The fear in her eyes morphed briefly to anger, although she tried to hide it. This wasn’t a girl used to being told what to do, which just raised more questions in his mind. What Omega was given the chance to grow accustomed to freedom?
“Down,” he said again.
And still, she did not respond to his command. Perhaps she'd misunderstood him, but he’d made his intention clear with a finger pointed at the furs. He needed her to rest before the difficult journey ahead of them. There would be no more opportunity to do so until they found what they were looking for.
“Sleep.”
Aura’s head tilted as she regarded him with an unblinking gaze. He resisted the urge to toss her down into the furs and force her into compliance. His body’s response to her had taken over his mind too many times already. He would not touch the impertinent brat again.
But she would comply.
Castor advanced on her with darkness in his gaze, a low growl emanating from his throat. Aura scrambled back on the furs, huddling underneath them in a semi-prone position so that only her face was visible. When he continued to glare, her eyes squeezed shut in a parody of sleep.
That would have to do for now.
He couldn’t remember the last time he'd met a woman this willful, Omega or otherwise. Most of the Beta females who paraded themselves in front of him simpered for attention, not speaking even a word of dissent. And the Omegas were always obsequious, terrified to so much as meet his gaze lest he fall on them like a ravening monster.
Aura was very different.
But her supposed crash site was his best chance at finally getting out of here, anything else about her was not worthy of consideration. At least that was what he told himself as he continued to watch her for a moment to ensure that her eyes stayed shut.
The sooner he was free of her, the better.
Castor opened the window first to check the clearing outside. A handful of Alphas remained in the area, but they were sluggish with approaching nightfall. These men were still dangerous, but this would be the best chance they had for escaping undetected.
The girl had fallen briefly
asleep in the furs, but he had remained awake and alert. Watching as the fewer Alphas remaining in view outside had retreated to their own hiding places where they slept for the night.
He wasn’t looking forward to this journey. It would be difficult for him on his own, but having the girl with him made traversing the Forbidden Zone even harder, if not impossible.
“Is time,” he said grimly. “Up.”
Aura stirred with a grumpy sound but obeyed, shifting sore limbs as she rose to her knees with her eyes still half-closed. She seemed confused for a moment as she reoriented herself but as soon as their eyes met, her gaze filled with startling clarity and she remembered precisely where she was.
“We're leaving?” she asked, voice a husky murmur.
“Yes.”
Castor strove to remain brusque as he slung a pack over his shoulder and waited for her to rise to her feet. In anticipation of their eventual rescue, he already found himself maintaining an emotional distance from the girl. Whatever existed between them could only live here and had to be forgotten the moment they left the Forbidden Zone.
Aura struggled to get to her feet, exhaustion written on her features, but he made no move to help her. She wrapped the leathers he’d provided around her body, covering everything but the circle of her face. He had no shoes for her that would fit but had given her thin lengths of animal skin to tie to the bottoms of her feet. She would feel every root and rock they passed but the coverings might save her from true injury.
Once she seemed ready, or as ready as it was possible to be, Castor went to the single lamp in the corner and extinguished it. The room plunged into darkness. Aura made a small squeak of surprise but immediately slammed her hand over her mouth when he grasped her arm hard.
The gun was slung over his shoulder, for all the good it would do them. With only a handful of bullets left, he was better off using it as a blunt instrument to bludgeon any Alphas that attacked them rather than attempting to actually fire it.
Castor pulled her towards the door, more accustomed to the dark than she was from the weeks he’d spent in the Forbidden Zone. He unlatched the many bolts on the door one at a time, pausing between each one to listen for any sound on the other side.
If they were quiet enough, it was possible to get away without attracting notice. The girl pressed up to his back, her pounding heart beating a harsh tattoo he could feel even through the furs.
Without so much as a single creak, the door opened into even more enduring darkness. Save for the pale moon hanging above them that cast the trees in shadows, there were no other sources of light.
He sensed they were not alone in the clearing around the cabin, but no movement was visible in the dark. They were downwind of the cool breeze carrying the stench of feral Alpha like a stain, so it did not convey their scent to whatever waited in the dense line of trees.
Castor stepped forward and Aura followed behind him, her light footfalls barely audible. Although the grip of her small hands on his back reassured him she remained close.
They were halfway between the cabin door and the line of trees that would offer at least some concealment. There was no guarantee of safety anywhere in the Forbidden Zone but the worst place to be was out in the open like this.
With each step that brought them closer to the trees, Castor breathed just a little easier. If nothing had followed them by the time they entered the forest, they had a much better chance of making it the crash site alive.
Until Aura stepped on a thin branch. It snapped beneath her foot, the sound ricocheting through the clearing like a gunshot in the dark.
Chapter Eleven
Aura froze in place as Castor spun to face her, the whites of his eyes bright in the darkness. The sound of that branch breaking beneath her feet still echoed through the trees, louder even than the slam of her heart in her chest.
Castor tore his gaze away from her ashen face and searched the clearing, but neither of them moved so much as a muscle. Moments passed as they waited for the crash of pursuit or the furious growls that prefaced a pack of feral Alphas descending on them.
But the quiet settled around them as Castor’s vigilant expression faded to one of mere annoyance. His feet had not moved from where he had planted them as he turned his head to face her, but she could sense the agitation in him.
She swallowed a cry of surprise as he lifted her off of her feet and into his arms. He was large enough it made her feel like a child as he picked his way toward the trees. His vision had to be significantly superior to hers as he seemed to have little problem avoiding the dry leaves and branches that might make enough noise to alert predators to their presence.
Aura held herself stiffly in his arms, resisting the urge to burrow into his chest which was covered only by a thin vest made of leather. He had likely wrapped her in every piece of clothing that existed in the cabin, leaving little for him to wear. His skin was so hot that it was practically feverish as he pressed her against him, causing a light sweat to break out on her skin.
He finally set her down on her feet when they reached the safety of the dense forest. It was darker under the canopy of the treetops and Aura fought off the urge to curl up into a ball on the ground and give in to the inevitable death that must be following them like a shadow.
But he did not release her immediately, instead holding her tightly in his arms as he bent to whisper in her ear. “Step as I step.”
When he released her, Aura felt the immediate loss of his heat that had protected her against the chill wind. But she followed his instructions and stepped forward only into his much larger footprint which was barely visible in the dark.
She marveled at the fact that a man as large as him could move so quietly. It was a struggle to keep up, but he looked back at her every few moments as if to reassure himself that she was still behind him.
Not for the first time, Aura wondered what would have become of her if this man hadn’t found her. Yes, he had taken her virtue and manipulated her body in a way she had never imagined could be welcome, but he hadn’t actually hurt her.
Even if he seemed to be sick of her presence at this point, at least he hadn’t attempted an escape without her. That was the only explanation she could think of for the change in him, that he’d grown annoyed with her. She could sense he was pulling himself away, if not always physically then definitely emotionally.
And she told herself that she no longer desired to mate with him now that the heat, as he called it, had faded away. But she had enough self-awareness to recognize that was a lie.
So Aura tried not to feel bad she hadn’t shared the entire truth with him. The men who'd brought her here, or at least the one who survived the crash, had already sent up a distress signal. After this long, it was likely to have gone unanswered.
There would be no rescue coming for them.
None of the terrain was familiar to her, even though he had carried her through these same trees only days before. Perhaps it was just the dark playing tricks on her eyes, but it felt as if nothing changed as they passed the same trees on a path that never seemed to twist or bend.
Something shuffled to their side and Castor hesitated. She nearly ran into his back as he came to a sudden stop but caught herself in time. The sound did not occur again, and he continued with measured steps down the overgrown path.
Branches whipped past her arms, stinging the skin. Some were so low that he had to lift them up so she could pass beneath without being hit in the face. Although she understood the concept of trees and forests, this was the first time Aura had ever experienced them firsthand. She was not a fan.
Castor stopped at a fork in the path and stared up at the low moon as if he used it to orient himself in this hostile terrain. Aura kept her attention fearfully on the trees. The low light seemed to shine off of dozens of eyes staring straight at them, likely scavengers skulking through the dark.
Aura waited uneasily for Castor to walk again. When he did, she pressed in close behind him
as if his mere presence could chase the dark away. He glanced at her with a curious expression but said nothing.
A ferocious roar rang through the trees, seeming to come from everywhere at once. Aura halted as a flash of fear froze every muscle but Castor propelled her forward with a reassuring hand at her back.
“Far away,” he murmured, voice so soft that it barely carried far enough for her to hear. “Safe for now.”
She let him hurry her forward, even as she wanted to beg him to carry her again. But the pack slung over his back and the weapon on his shoulder were enough of a burden, she didn’t want to add to it. Even as her legs shook underneath her, each step seeming more difficult to take than the last.
As if it had been waiting for the sound of an Alpha’s roar, the forest came alive. Hoots and calls drifted through the air as nocturnal creatures made themselves known. Somehow, the sounds made her even more nervous. She had known they weren’t alone, but the confirmation did little to settle her nerves.
Castor had said that more awaited them out in the darkness beside feral Alphas. Aura was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was entirely defenseless. This one man could do little to keep her safe against many dangerous predators. And what else waited for them out in the darkness?
Her breath came in faster and faster pants as fear overwhelmed her.
A hand twisted into her hair and gripped hard, bringing Aura suddenly back to herself. She stared up into Castor’s sharp eyes as he forced her head up. His glare seemed to be more a response to the situation, rather than an expression of real anger.
As soon as he had her attention, the hold on her scalp eased and became more of a caress as his fingers played in the strands of her hair. To her surprise, his other hand wrapped around her and he briefly held her against him in an embrace.
Despite her fear, the gesture was soothing. Aura recognized that she would never understand the force that seemed to drive them together, but for now she would take comfort in it.
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