by Alison Aimes
Ruthless King
A Dark Mafia Omegaverse Fated-Mates Romance
Alison Aimes
Orchid Publishing
Contents
Ruthless King Blurb
THE ALPHAVERSE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
STOLEN Excerpt
TRAPPED Excerpt
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS for RUTHLESS KING
About Alison Aimes
Books By Alison Aimes
THANK YOU
Ruthless King Blurb
He’s the most brutal Alpha crime boss in the galaxy—and she belongs to him now. Payment for a debt owed. Pawn for an act of vengeance. Property to be used, knotted, and bred.
Irresistibly gorgeous mafia king Nikolai Skolov is dominant, hard, possessive—and determined to bend innocent omega Dahlia Lundin to his will. But she is equally determined to resist. The lives of those she loves depend upon it.
Except Dahlia isn’t prepared for the insatiable hunger the Alpha’s discipline awakens. Or her soul’s recognition that her new master is also her fated mate.
As dangers mount and betrayals loom, all Dahlia knows is turned on its head. Allegiances are tested. Secrets exposed. Until Dahlia is not sure if her ruthless enemy is the monster who will destroy her or the only one left who can save her . . .
Ruthless King: A Dark Mafia Omegaverse Fated-Mates Romance is a scorching HOT standalone novel that includes:
A ruthless alien mafia boss
An innocent heroine growing into her power
Warring families
A forced marriage
A fated Alpha-omega bond
A long-suffering hero waiting years to claim his female
Plenty of hot and filthy Omegaverse action
Betrayal, murder, and revenge
Serious plot twists
And an epic romance that proves love will always triumph over hate.
THE ALPHAVERSE
This story takes place in Anarcheim, a parallel Alphaverse galaxy in a dark future seeded with varied forms of alien life. There are, however, two immutable constants. The first is that all inhabitants are Alpha, beta, or omega. Alphas lead, betas serve, and omegas submit. That is the way. The second is that violence is a way of life, power is essential to survival, and crime is king.
1
“P-please, Alpha Lord. Why am I here?”
“Quiet!” His meaty hand tight around her forearm, Dahlia hurried to keep up with her father, Olan Lundin, her bare feet slapping against the cool tiles.
She was still in her silk dressing gown, one that covered very little. Less than an hour ago, she’d been preparing for her prime omega bridal contract to the eldest son of the Verish crime syndicate. The pretense of dutiful acceptance the only alternative since her father, head of the Lundin Syndicate, had wanted the merger, and crossing one of the most brutal crime lords in the galaxy came at a price.
She’d learned that lesson many times.
Except now she was here, on this sleek, rumbling space shuttle, breathing air outside the compound where she’d been under lock and key since her first estrus began. Twenty-four years old and finally seeing beyond the restricted walls of her quarters as she’d always dreamed of doing.
Only this was a nightmare, and she was far from free.
“Keep up.” Olan jerked her arm, sending her stumbling into his side as they hurried down the hallway. The walls of the space shuttle were so black and glossy she could see more than she wanted reflecting back at her. Her white robe and unbound white-gold hair were stained blood red from the crimson track lights, while her small omega frame was dwarfed by her father and his handful of bodyguards.
Like all male Lundins, Olan’s soldiers were eerily beautiful with long flowing white-blond hair, pointed ears, and snow-colored horns that twisted upward to a proud point. But their gazes were predatory rather than protective as they honed in on her father’s bruising grip, his show of aggression triggering their own.
The stink of testosterone thickened the air—sending slick pearling on her own folds; the omega in her responding to the dominance even as her soul cried out in horror.
“Fuck.” One of them sniffed the air. “She smells good.”
“Keep it together,” Olan barked at his men. “Or I’ll rip your throats out.”
Normally, she would have hidden from her father and his bodyguards as fast as she could. Except there was nowhere to run.
Olan had brought her to the secret gathering place of the Brotherhood, the elite organization of the most powerful crime families in the galaxy. Her father was one of its twelve members and attended its secret, closely guarded meetings often. Lowly omega daughters usually did not.
So why was she here?
The sight of the Brotherhood creed carved into the dark corridor in blood-red ink only added to her fear.
Death comes to all. Sooner to those who betray us.
Did they somehow know about her plan to escape? The money and jewels she’d stolen over the years when her father grew careless and left his contraband lying around?
Tearing her gaze away from the ominous words, she tried once more. “Alpha Lord, please. If you could tell me what has happened. What—”
“Enough!”
The back of her head slammed into metal, pain streaking down her spine as the massive Alpha pinned her to the shuttle wall, his bulk crushing her.
He shoved his face into hers and bared his fangs, his wild, unkempt beard scraping her chin, his breath hot against her cheek. “There is only one good use for an omega’s mouth and if you don’t shut yours, I will forget you are my first daughter and allow these guards to shove it full of Alpha cock here and now.”
As always, her body shook and went pliant, her gaze sliding downward as her omega instinct kicked in and the compulsion to submit overrode everything else.
She hated it. Herself most of all.
She’d wished all her life to rip the biological imperative to obey from her cells and get rid of the omega taint, but it could not be done.
The alpha, beta, omega dynamic was as inescapable as her fate.
Alphas dominated while betas served, and omegas submitted.
Each role was an innate compulsion programmed into the genes of every inhabitant in their galaxy. The interplay did not require affection, caring, respect, or consent. Like breathing, it simply was. Its essence primal. Irresistible. Immutable.
No matter how hard she tried to resist.
“You have caused me enough fucking problems,
omega.” Her father slammed her head into the wall once more.
She fought to stay silent. Noise only triggered further aggression in Alphas. Already, his men snapped and snarled at his back, their frenzy for violence growing.
“The contract with the Verish family is null and void. You will no longer be given the honor of prime omega to their family.”
Shock slammed through her. Panic, too. Her family had been working toward that alliance since her birth.
The Verish crime family might be insect-like in appearance, with pinchers protruding from their lower gums, but they were well connected within the Brotherhood. As the official vessel of the Verish Alpha offspring, she would have been given the protection of the Alpha’s family name and the promise of food and shelter for the duration of her life, even after her childbearing years ended. The two other main positions available to an omega—indentured omega and unclaimed omega whore—offered no such guarantees.
But even more importantly for her own plans, she’d intended her new position to get her out from under Olan’s thumb and make it easier to escape Anarcheim with her sister and mother, resettling in a non-Alphaverse galaxy where they’d never be found.
She had no desire to trade one form of servitude for another and while the eldest Verish son might not be as horrific as her father, he was still an Alpha—and that meant he saw her as nothing more than an omega plaything to be bent to his will.
She wanted to give her little sister, Kaiya, as well as her mother and herself a different life than the powerless, voiceless ones they’d endured thus far.
But her goal appeared more out of reach than ever.
“What happened to void the contract?” A terrifying thought occurred. “Did they discover you were lying about my gift?”
Olan’s eyes went wide. His hand closed around her throat and squeezed. “Say that again and I’ll kill you myself and risk the Brotherhood’s wrath.”
She nodded as much as his grip would allow.
His hold slackened and air flooded back into her lungs.
“As far as you’re concerned, your gift works. Always has. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Alpha.” She repeated the words he’d beat into her. “I am a lucky, rare omega who still has her visions.”
In truth, she’d only experienced the power of her gift once fifteen years ago, but like a phantom limb, the pain of the loss still ached every rotation of the suns’ twenty-nine-hour cycle.
She pushed it from her mind. Her gift was gone, its loss one more thing she had to accept.
“Good.” Olan’s hold loosened further, an owner pleased with his pet. “What else?”
“Unlike most omegas who lose their gifts around the time of adolescence, I continue to be able to access mine and see past events.”
“Exactly right.” It was a bold untruth maintained through manufactured testimonies from terrified witnesses who’d saved their own skin by claiming she could recount events she’d never witnessed.
As a result of those lies, she’d become a sought-after prime omega and Olan’s reputation and influence had grown, his wealth expanding, his criminal businesses prospering.
He didn’t care that she’d be the one to suffer when her new Alpha commanded her to use her gift, and she was unable to deliver.
Her father had instructed her to take responsibility for the failure and suggest that her new surroundings and her new Alpha were at fault. It hadn’t concerned Olan that she’d be beaten, or worse. He expected her to bear the consequences of his lies, and she’d been prepared to do so.
Because she knew the cost otherwise.
“Remember your sister and your mother are counting on you for their continued safety.” It was as if Olan read her thoughts. “I know you won’t want to disappoint them, or me.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“When your gift fails while in the bastard’s care, that’s on him—and you. Correct?”
Bastard’s care? She tried to make sense of Olan’s words. Was he saying she was going to be given to someone else instead? When the eldest Verish son had come to assess her potential as his prime omega, she’d been unnerved by the way he’d looked at her, as if he intended to devour her. Literally. Maybe—just maybe—whatever was happening now would be a better fate. Maybe escape would be easier?
But she knew better than to probe given Olan’s current mood, so she told him what he wanted to hear instead, “Yes, Alpha.”
“Right answer.” Spinning her away from the wall, her father hustled her down the hall again, his soldiers falling in line right behind. “You will obey as always.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Another lie, but direct confrontation would get her no closer to escape.
He moved faster. “I have some gambling debts I can’t currently pay.”
Her throat went dry.
“You will be given as payment instead.”
Payment. As if she were an omega whore. It was a far fall from prime omega status. Not that she wanted that anyway, she reminded herself.
He gave her no time to respond. “I have also been accused of crimes against the Brotherhood.”
She stumbled on her feet. This was an even bigger blow.
There was no greater sin than to betray the Brotherhood. Worse, punishment for such a misdeed did not end with the guilty party but extended to his closest family.
“Is it true?”
“No.” His grip grew so tight she feared he’d break her bone. It would not be the first time. “And if you are asked, you will, of course, affirm your Alpha’s innocence.”
Dahlia swayed, bile rising in the back of her throat. “Who is your accuser?” But in her heart, she already knew.
Olan snarled, ignoring her questions in favor of a rant she’d heard before. “This damn feud. He’s like a wolverbear with a bone. First, he attacks my businesses. Then my personal assets. Then, he moves on to threats on my life. It’s enough.” Her father’s roar echoed through the hall. “He will regret taking me on when his name is blacked out of the Brotherhood as if it never was. This must come to an end. There will be a trial. Evidence will be presented. I will be allowed to counter. Then, the Brotherhood will decide in my favor. It will all work out.”
But Dahlia wasn’t so confident.
She knew her father had done terrible things. She also knew he was a liar.
Her stomach seized. This could not be happening.
All she had done her whole life was to try and protect her sister and mother. She’d endured the beatings, the punishment, and the humiliations to keep the two people she cared for as safe as possible from Olan Lundin.
Now, he was going to be the death of them anyway.
Because if Olan was the one found guilty by the Brotherhood, it would not be only him who was executed, but all of his household, including her mother and sister.
Not if Dahlia could help it.
She’d simply speed up her plans for escape. She’d run away from whomever she was to be given to in payment while her new owner’s guard was down and hadn’t yet realized she was less biddable than she pretended. With Olan distracted by the trial, his attention would be elsewhere, too. His careful surveillance of her mother and sister weaker than usual. There was still hope.
“In you go.” Her father’s impatient words cut into her schemes.
She hadn’t realized they’d reached the end of the ship’s corridor.
He gestured toward an opaque glass door as high as her knees.
Her heart slammed into her ribs.
“No.” She hated small, dark places. She’d spent far too much time floating in the deprivation punishment chambers her father used for those who displeased him, including omega daughters who did not obey fast enough.
“In!” He shoved her to her knees.
Panting, she looked inside. Oh, gods, it was so small, and it would shrink once she entered, the sensors in the walls conforming to her body and forcing her to remain bent over, her body in submission.
&nb
sp; She forced herself to breathe. She had never allowed her father to break her, and she would not do so now.
She crawled forward—only to be stalled as thick fingers tangled in her hair and jerked her back out, her scalp stinging as she hung in her Alpha’s grip.
“One more thing.” He pressed his lips to her ear so his soldiers wouldn’t hear. “Do not tell that bastard anything.”
What bastard? She wanted to scream. He’d told her nothing more about her fate.
Olan shook her like a rag doll. “That damn gift of yours is broken. Make sure it stays that way. You cannot help being a useless omega whore who will spread her legs for an Alpha growl, but betray this family, and you will regret it. As will your sister. Not a fucking word of your family’s secrets to anyone. You already know what happens to snitches in our world.”
Before she could respond, he tossed her headfirst inside the darkened glass cell.
Her forehead hit the glass. Her palms slammed against the floor. The door slid shut, and the lights flickered off as the darkness closed in.
Her breath rasped in her ears, her mind screaming as the walls and ceiling contracted. The pressure on her back increased like a boot on her spine, shoving her to the floor. The sensation of being crushed was as terrifying as always. Thankfully, the ceiling stalled as her belly hit her knees and her body folded in on itself, pinning her in place. The omega submissive first position, achieved with or without her consent.