“Your sister served her role well, and she will be rewarded in due time. As of late, there have been a series of detonations in Dagon. We need to discuss what to do,” he says.
Her heart flutters. “An attack?“
Nodding, he circles the desk. “Three coordinated attacks. One, near the center of the Republic. Another, at a nearby station. The third was inside a prison near the church square where religious zealots harp about your sister.”
Ruby looks toward the window. In the distance, remnants of black smoke swirl in the sky. “Why wasn’t I alerted?”
“I came in to warn you this morning. If you didn’t have your legs propped over your ears, you might have heard the explosions,” Severin snaps.
She rolls her fingers into her fists. “Who are the culprits?”
Severin hides his smile behind a twitching lip. “The Ouroboros traders,” he says, low and grim for effect. “Vash, Killian, Lucas.”
“My sister’s alphas? But that’s impossible. They were under strict observation,” she says.
“They are cunning beasts,” he says.
She glances over at him, concerned. “Why does this feel like something you’d do?”
Ignoring her, he comes to her side, kissing the arch of her neck. “Do not worry, my kitty-cat. I have men scouring the streets for them. It won’t be long until we find them.”
But Severin is lying.
The alphas will be arriving shortly.
Chapter Three
Hands ravage Rae’s body.
Failing to kick the shins of the guards who hold her down, she curls and attempts to shield her breasts.
“Someday, you will be judged. All of you. My alphas will tear your limbs off. They’ll make you beg for death,” she pants.
The guards laugh. One smacks the back of her head. “Severin saved you from that thug, Cassian. We are standing on the right side of history, love,” he says.
“Cassian? I took his life. No one else can take credit for that,” she says.
The guards chatter their teeth. “But what will the people see on their television screens? I’ll tell you. They’ll witness the minister rescuing you from drowning. He’ll tell them Cassian tried to drown you, and they will feel that lush swell of pride flood their hearts as Prime Minister Ruby stands on the podium to declare you queen.”
“Maybe,” she says. “Two years is a long time. You have kept them waiting. Will they believe your footage?”
The guard shuts his mouth. They didn’t come into her room to talk politics. They came to take her milk.
“Just be a good girl and give us that sweet cream, whore-beast.”
They force a set of plastic pumps around her breasts, scraping the edges of her skin until it chafes. She is freezing and in pain, but the more she struggles to get away, the more they threaten to beat her into submission.
She has nearly reached her breaking point.
“Stop! I can’t do this any longer,” she squeals. “You will not take any more from me.”
Another guard leans forward and opens his foul-smelling mouth. His teeth are cracked, sulfur yellow, and his tongue is purple and split down the center.
“If we don’t take, your children will die. Is that what you want?” he asks.
Another guard cackles, slobbering. “The queen is an evil, petty bitch, ain’t she?”
All the guards look the same. Ugly and despicable. She recoils in disgust.
“I’m just so tired. I don’t think I can give you another drop,” she admits with rare honesty.
Rae collapses near the golden throne and does not dare move. The dim candlelight tantalizes her eyes, revealing rich velvet rugs draped across the walls. She has never seen a royal palace before. It’s both beautiful and fear-inspiring.
Soaking wet from the coronation, the water pours down her naked body. She held her breath until she feels a swift pressure build within her lungs. A hurried cry escapes her throat as soon as the black dots of exhaustion swirl in her vision. Solid footsteps echo behind her, forcing her to stop and turn her head.
Severin. Not again…
“Guards, you may let her rest. She has given an adequate amount of milk. Any more will draw blood,” he says.
The guards leave.
Rae is thankful, but she will not give him the respect he craves. “What are you doing here?” she asks.
“Calm yourself. You don’t need to practice your breathing anymore, dear,” he hisses.
From a window, a chilly wind rushes across her body. She takes another deep breath and twists her arms over her erect nipples. Closing her eyes, she imagines the freezing water pulling her body under, the cables twisting inside her open cavities, sucking the life out of her for God knows what purpose.
He says it’s all for show, but there has to be more to that machine.
“I won’t let you drown me again,” she says.
He furrows his hand into her hair and squeezes. “Why don’t you do what I ask and shut that mouth?”
Forced to exhale, she allows her saliva to fall from her lips. Like the dew from a mourning flower’s first awakening, the speckled red drop extends toward the floor.
More blood, and Severin catches it on the front of his boot.
“I do not trust you,” she says. “Which is why I keep my mouth open.”
The brutish commander’s lip twitches, but he manages to stop the movement by sniffing. “You play the act of a bad girl well,” he replies.
Slowly, she removes her arms from around her breasts and lures her spine backward into a perfect arch. She knows what to show the alphas in charge, and she expects him to try to rape her. If he tries, she will bite his cock off.
“Maybe I am a bad girl. Maybe I’m worse than you think. The people adore me for my behavior,” she taunts.
“Get up, you slut,” he mutters. “You should be aware by now that I’m not interested in your dried up cunt.”
She obeys, but every movement is drawn out to lay him on the brink of madness. As she stands, she thinks of every insult she can hurl at him. He is no evil genius, but he has succeeded well enough with his twisted plan to keep his jesters engaged. Despite his competence, he is a pathetic, thin man with no regard for her wellbeing.
“Oh, that’s right. I am technically your queen. Am I not?” she taunts.
“You are a figurehead. A brittle top for the mantelpiece. We keep you here to remind the world that their suffering is not in vain,” he says. “They do not worship you for your insolence, but for your suffering.”
Rae’s sight darts toward the door, but two guards in leather harnesses sit poised like jackals ready to subdue her rebellious movements. “You will not put me in that… thing again,” she growls.
Ignoring her, Severin places both palms against her ribs. The warmth spreads throughout her body, but her doubts will never dissipate.
“Fight me all you want, but there is nothing you can do to end me. I cannot have another insurrection on my hands,” he says. “I refuse.”
Rae may have been naked and vulnerable, but she feels her anger get the best of her. She grabs the front of his black turtleneck, forcing him close enough to smell his musky scent.
Strangely, he does not react.
“You don’t want to fuck me,” she says. “This is a first.”
“I see past the physical,” he says. “Now, let my shirt go. It was just ironed.”
Rae unpins her fingers from the soft fabric. “You are using my sister, aren’t you?” she asks. “The only thing you lust over is power.”
Severin forces his thumb into the center of throat. She coughs and collapses, allowing for him to climb over her and finish the job.
Teeth clenched, he lowers his lips near her ear and growls, “Keep your voice down, or I will crack the cartilage. I do not lust like you animals because there is a plan bigger than any cock, more appealing than any soft cunt, and I abide by its rules. I am an explorer, a man whose sole purpose was to lead the right p
eople toward the center of it all. You know nothing.”
He lets go, and she hits the floor like a bag of bricks, gasping for air before coughing.
As soon as she catches her breath, he stands and waist for a response.
“I am getting the sense I can debate my terms,” she says through tight and controlled sobs.
“You will get nothing from me or your sister. She does what I tell her to do. Now, stand the fuck up.”
When she does, he places his finger underneath her jaw. “Chin up, dear. Good, very pretty. Now, if you’ll follow me into the other room, we will dry you off and dress you in your gown,” he says.
Without another word, he leads her through a door behind the golden throne. The room is small, dark, and cramped, but a lone window looks out to a green courtyard.
It’s far too high to jump from safely.
In the back of the room is a large and sturdy bed. Over it, a full canopy shrouds any light from hitting the sheets.
“You may hate us, but we have provided you with comforts no other omega gets to experience,” Severin says.
Propped open near the bed stands a wooden wardrobe with careful etchings of regal horses and galloping deer. Hung inside is the most beautiful dress in the world.
Rae can’t hold her sudden excitement back. She feels the urge to run and wrap her arms around the red-and-gold satin, to feel the fabric around her body.
She has to admit, it’s very difficult to say no to these gifts.
“Oh, if the alphas could see me in that dress,” she exclaims. “They wouldn’t know what part of me to take first.”
Severin pulls her arm back, and she spins into his chest. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. You may be the queen, but that doesn’t mean you get to live out your wishes,” he sneers. “Besides, it’s about time I let you know that we have hanged your alphas. Long ago.”
She nearly drops to the floor. “You didn’t…”
Severin nods. “We had no choice.”
Once it sinks in, her heart seems to implode within her chest. “You have taken everything from me,” she says.
Surprising even to herself, Rae lashes at the minister, forcing him to the floor. Using the strength of her knees, she coils around his neck like a snake and begins choking the life out of him.
His shallow cries mean nothing to her, and the icy pain from his tearing and needling fingernails feels as dull as ant bites.
“I will kill you,” she screams, ankles hitting the dresser forcefully with a bang.
She bites, sinking her teeth deep into his finger. But the door flies open with force, and she knows she’s about to feel a world of pain.
“You fucking bitch,” he whines. “You bit off my finger.”
Rae holds the taste of iron inside her mouth before allowing the red liquid to drip onto his face. She closes her palm around his sagging lips, smearing her blood.
Before the guards can touch her, she lashes back and grabs one of the silver posts that holds the window shades in place.
Naked and acting like a feral animal, Rae swings the pole in front of her, growling much like the alphas did when they took her the first time.
Suddenly, she remembers their touches, and how they shaped her to understand the world. They loved her, but now they are dead. It is in this moment she decides to kill everyone in sight for their crimes against her, the new queen.
“Don’t come any closer,” she grunts, hips thrusting back to stand firm.
Severin curses and holds his gnarled stub of a finger close to his abdomen. His face turns maroon, and he looks on the verge of fainting.
The guards keep their assault rifles ready, inching toward her. Waiting for an opening to strike.
Pained, Severin screams, “What are you doing? Subdue her at once.”
Seeing their movements, Rae does the opposite of what they must expect. She swings the rod back, connecting it against her own nose. At once, tears swells behind her eyes. Heat spreads throughout the front of her face, sinuses swollen as blood leaking down her face.
And that’s when a new voice breaks through the commotion. “Severin…”
The voice was like her own voice, but far more commanding. “Ruby,“ Rae whispers.
Her prim-and-proper footsteps echo like heavy raindrops against the top of an umbrella. The guards disperse and kneel near the walls of Rae’s room. One by one, they bow their heads.
When Ruby appears, she walks through the row of alphas avoiding eye contact with her. “Severin. What is the commotion I am hearing?” she asks.
Breathless, Severin does not kneel. “Our queen has taken a new liking to violence,” he says. “I should execute her for this.”
Face dripping with blood, Rae stumbles toward an open space in the room, panting through the throbbing pain.
“You can hang me where you murdered my alphas,” she says.
Ruby sneeks a peak at her body. A look of distaste forms on her face. “What on earth is our omega talking about?” she asks. “Go on, I’m waiting for an explanation.”
Severin opens his mouth, but Rae steps forward and forces Ruby to see her. “You can refer to me as your queen,” Rae says.
A wavering smile forms on Ruby’s face. “Enough of this. I want everyone out of this room at once. Leave me with my sister.”
Severin finds the energy to stamp his foot and puff out his cheeks. “No. I need to prepare the queen for her first address to the public.”
“The address can wait, and so can the people,” Ruby says.
Shaking with tyrannical rage, Severin removes his hand from his pocket and shows the commander his mangled stub of a finger. “This is who you are protecting? A monster with sharp teeth?”
“What do you wish to do? Oh, let me guess. File her teeth down?” Ruby walks leisurely to the bed and sits. “We could go through with your plan, but then she wouldn’t have the energy for the address. She must rest. You can’t have it both ways, Severin.”
Huffing, the tired and hurt beta stares, weighing his options more carefully than usual. When his brain connected the dots, he storms out of the room.
The guards follow, closing the door.
“I should bite your finger off, too,” Rae says.
“You’d do well shooting me between the eyes. Word to the wise, if you’re going to injure an enemy, make sure they’re dead,” Ruby replies.
Rae exhales. “I should have bitten his tongue off. That man squeals louder than the omegas in Cassian’s facilities.”
Ruby laughs at the joke, surprising Rae. Still, there is the sense the two sisters come from two unfamiliar worlds.
“Where are the bodies of my alphas? I understand I am under your control, but at least let me have a funeral for them,” Rae says with growing tears in her eyes.
There were moments in her days where she would try to forget the hurt of separation. Whenever reality came rushing back, the pain hit her heart harder than she expected.
She doesn’t expect anyone to care, so she sucks in her pride and blinks to avoid spilling any more tears.
Ruby doesn’t reveal her emotions. She keeps them locked tighter than a clam.
Patting the bedding, Ruby calls her to sit down next to her. In her hand is a silver brush. “A funeral might be in the cards, but you must first learn to behave,” she says. “Can you do that for us?”
Rae takes a seat, but she does not want any point of contact between the two. Though inches apart, her sister takes her shoulder and forces her to lean closer. “I can behave,” Rae says.
Ruby drops her chin, fixing her gaze toward her sister’s unkempt nest of hair. Without care, she brushes the knots away with violent strokes.
“We will make a fine leader yet out of you,” Ruby says.
“That is what I don’t understand,” Rae replies. “Why on earth would you want me to be a figurehead for anything? I can’t lead. I couldn’t even mother my children.”
“Hush. Taking them in was the only thing I could do
for you. I know you hate me, but you’d be surprised to know that I vouched for you. They were going to kill you.”
“You stole my babies,” Rae mutters.
A hopeful smile shapes Ruby’s face, and her cheeks turn pink with rare inner warmth. “And they are wonderful beauties,” she says. “I know it’s too early to tell, but they are very smart.”
No matter how polite Ruby acts toward her, Rae cannot forgive her sister’s actions. Instead, she buries her anger, storing it as an atom bomb.
“Will I be able to see them someday?” she asks.
Ruby does not answer this question. The children are not up for discussion, and Rae has no upper hand. “Your face is a bloody mess. I’ll order you a bath. Afterward, we can take a day off. I’ve been enjoying shooting in the nearby forests.”
“Shooting?” Rae squeaks, aware that her sister is most likely coaxing her away from asking the important questions.
“Hunting, dear. It will take your mind off things for a while. You deserve a break.”
Ruby tosses the silver brush to the side and calls for the guards to return. When they enters, she gives them strict orders to bring in the hottest bath imaginable with various salts and herbs to soothe the cuts and swelling of her skin.
“Treat her like the queen she is,” Ruby says. “If I find out any of you touch her, I’ll kill you myself. Do you understand?”
More symbolic gestures.
If Rae ever finds out the truth, that the fathers of her children are alive, a new hope will threaten the New Republic. For now, this is the best Ruby can do.
Bowing, Ruby exits to attend to the children.
Rae’s milk is plentiful, but Ruby’s kindness is not.
Chapter Four
“Look at her. She’s everywhere,” Vash whispers.
Killian doesn’t want to witness the changes of their world. Every corner is lit up by strange lighting. Every building has a picture of her face.
His mate. His woman.
The first time he saw her on that screen was enough. The world, for all its glint and glamour, is stale. They are ruining her image.
Still, his tired eyes are controlled by the urges of his heart, and he cannot resist the flood of endorphins that follow after peering into her eyes. False image or not, he misses her.
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