Her jaw stiffens, then she retreats. She shoves the remainder of the bandages into the kit, and pushes it into the dash, shutting it. She brings her free arm up and winds it around her waist.
“Get some rest. Once we reach our destination, I can’t guarantee that you’ll get any sleep for a while.”
She straightens her spine, closes her eyes, and for the rest of the journey stays that way. At some point, her breathing evens out. I shoot her a sideways glance and find her forehead furrowed. Her face, or what I can make of it around the gag, is pale. There are dark shadows under her eyes. Her body is twisted in a position that surely can’t be too comfortable for her.
My heart lurches.
Why should her comfort matter to me? I slow the car and bring it to a stop. Then, unfastening my seat belt, I lean over and loosen the gag. She moves in her sleep but doesn’t awaken. I slide off the gag and shove it in my pocket. I ease her head back until her body rests in what I hope is a more comfortable position.
This is to make sure she survives the journey in one piece. That’s all it is. It's what anyone would do to their possessions, making sure they are cared for, protected.
Her eyelids flutter, and I recoil, start the car, and set off. She mumbles, then settles down.
I drive up the winding roads. The darkness crowds in, and I have to peer through the windshield to make out where I am headed. Lowering the speed, I navigate the circuitous slope. The headlights pick up the steep grassy incline on one side. We are far above Loch Ness, heading toward Inverness. Where’s the turnoff? I keep going, eyes straining, then find the small, almost hidden road.
I swing onto it, and the SUV bumps along the unpaved surface. I keep going until I hit a wall of foliage, then stay there idling. I flash the lights off and on, then switch them off. The silence is almost absolute. Except for the breathing of the woman at my side.
Within a few seconds, the foliage is pushed aside. I drive the car through, down the lane, until I reach a clearing. There are five bungalows set around the space. A motorbike, an SUV that has seen better days, and another car I don’t recognize are parked there. Bringing the SUV to a halt, I jump out. Footsteps crunch on the gravel, then a man appears at my side.
“Kayden.” He props his arms on his waist.
“Dominic.” I raise my chin.
“Didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“Or was that what you’d hoped?” I bare my lips at my second.
“Knew you'd survive whatever Zeus had in store for you, especially after that hairbrained plan you came up with which led to…” He waves his hand around the place.
Anger thrums down my spine. “Perhaps my plan worked better than expected. Zeus is distracted, isn’t he? He’s found a mate; he has much more to lose. It makes him vulnerable.”
“You made us vulnerable.” He rolls his shoulders. “Look around you. We lost the country, lost the omegas, set ourselves up to be targets of the Vikings, who will not stop until they’ve gained back what you promised them—one way or the other.”
He’s fucking right. Not a moment has gone by when I haven’t berated myself for losing the one thing I had promised my father. The one thing that I would protect with my life. But I intend to make sure I get it all back and Zeus pays the price for what he did to me.
“You forget one thing.” I crack my neck.
He tilts his head.
I slam my fist forward and smash it into his face. His head snaps back. Blood spurts from his nose, over his lips, highlighting his white teeth. He snarls, then lunges at me.
I sidestep him, stick my foot out.
He goes sprawling on his front, and I leap on him, slam his head into the ground, then twist his hands behind his back.
“I am still the Head of the Clan, still the Chief of Scotland. What I say goes. If I ask you to jump, you do. If I ask you to throw yourself off the highest peak of the Highlands, you fucking do that. You don’t question what I say.”
He turns his head and spits out blood.
I lean my weight down and l bury an elbow into the small of his back. He pants and tries to draw in a breath. I lean in further, pinning him to the ground.
“Do you fucking understand?”
He nods. I loosen my grip enough for him to take in a breath, and another.
The sound of the door of the SUV opening reaches me a second before the scent of honey and slick deepens.
“Alpha?”
I look up.
Dom angles his head toward the SUV. “So this is the reason for your foul mood?”
16
Chloe
“Get back in the fucking vehicle,” he roars.
The sound grates over my sensitized nerve endings, and I jolt. His anger is a palpable force that slams into my chest. I slap the palm of my free arm over my ear and lurch back. I collide with the edge of the car and fall in.
“Who’ve you got here?” The man on the ground peers up at me. His nostrils flare; his gaze rakes over my body.
I know what he must see—a helpless omega who is ready for the taking.
“None of your fucking business.” Kayden grits his teeth. His jaw tics. He rises to his feet in that fluid gesture that is so characteristic of him. He prowls toward me, anger fairly leaping off of his body.
A moan threatens to bleed from my lips, and I swallow it back. I can’t show him how scared I am right now. He takes another step forward, his gaze holding mine. Those amber eyes flare. Golden depths roll with suppressed emotions. Anger? Something else. The need to mark me as his. The need to hurt. My breathing goes shallow. His hand snakes out, and I wince and squeeze my eyes shut. The next second, the bindings holding me to the car drop away. He grabs my shoulders, and fear spikes my veins. Anger explodes at my temples.
I fight him in earnest. “Let me go. Don’t hurt me.”
He yanks me close against the wall of his chest. Heat. Hardness. The kind of infallible warmth that only comes from direct contact with another human being. He is my captor, I want to be scared of him, I am afraid of what he can do to me, but he holds me tightly. His arms restrain me and reassure me simultaneously.
“Shh,” he whispers.
His breath is hot, his heart thundering against my ear. His chest planes heave. I try to free my arms, and his grip tightens, and somehow…somehow instead of it feeling threatening that he’s got me locked and immovable, it feels almost freeing. Like he’s giving me the permission to break down again, to let go of whatever I am trying to hold back, to give in to the fears that crawl through my gut, that grow in my chest, tendrils snaking out, winding around my thoughts, radiating out to my fingers, my toes.
My shoulders heave. I draw in gulps of air. A headache pounds at my temples, a combination of the estrus that surges in my blood and my restless sleep. I sag against him and he rights me. My eyes burn; my chest hurts. Gripping my shoulder to keep me upright he pinches my chin so I am forced to meet his gaze.
“I am going to take you inside.”
I stare. The beginning of shadows stain the hollows under his eyes. The skin stretches across his cruel face. His lips purse. “Nod if you understand?”
His voice chafes over my sensitized nerve endings. I jerk my head.
He bends, then winds his arms around my lower thighs and hauls me up over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. My head lolls, hair hanging down as the blood rushes to my face.
He turns, then walks away from the car.
Footsteps sound behind us. I guess the other man, Dominic, is following us.
“You going to tell us who she is?”
“A prisoner.”
“That much is evident. What do you intend to do with her?”
“Trade her in with Zeus, when he comes looking for her.”
Dominic swears. “You think Zeus values her enough to walk in here? If he hasn’t tailed you already, motherfucker. You are putting the lives of our closest clansmen at his mercy.”
“My clan. My decision,” Kayden
snaps back, his voice whirling around me, the tension from his body slapping my skin, my face.
My stomach lurches. I moan and wriggle against the hard bones of his shoulder. He rubs a hand over my back, patting my ass. His gestures seem absentminded. The warmth of his touch sinks in through the seat of my pants, reassuring me. Isn’t that strange? He’s made it clear I am a pawn in this, whatever power play is on between him and Zeus (and Lucy…yeah, I am not sure how much I can trust my sister now). Yet, something inside me insists that he cares for me despite everything. I groan, and his steps hurry.
“A decision that affects all of the rest of us,” Dominic says.
“If you don't agree then you can leave.”
“I am not here for you.”
“You are treading on shaky ground, Second.”
“I promised your father I’d stay with you.”
Kayden’s body stiffens. The tension crackles off of him, mixed with anger and a tinge of something else. Regret maybe? Nah, he may want to make sure I am not in danger and purely for his own selfish needs, but regret, now that’s an emotion I don’t associate with him at all.
“And that includes backing you in whatever insane decisions you decide to make. Doesn’t mean I won’t fight you over it.”
Kayden tosses his head. “You are too fucking rational, too logical.”
“You and Zeus are so similar, it’s no wonder the two of you don't see eye to eye.”
Kayden swings around, my body lurching against his. “No more talk of that motherfucker.”
“You’d think the two of you felt more for each other than being enemies. Maybe someone needs to lock both of you in a room, until you fight out whatever it is that claws at your guts.”
“Maybe I need to thrash it out with you first?” Kayden rasps.
“We are evenly matched.”
“I brought you down earlier; you are growing soft here without anyone to keep you on your toes…” Kayden’s shoulders flex; the hard lines of his back dig into my chest.
“Whoever she is, this is wrong.”
Now, I stiffen. So Dominic has a conscience. He and Kayden also seem to have a less-than-cordial relationship. Is it something I can use to my advantage? Not sure, but it’s worth a try. I only need to wait for the right opportunity.
Kayden swivels around and continues walking.
“You are contradicting everything your father stood for. First, sending Lucy to kill Zeus.”
“Which worked in our favor,” Kayden's pace quickens.
“Now, kidnapping and holding this omega against her choice.”
“Which is going to lure Zeus here, and when he comes, we’ll be waiting.” Kayden half angles his body, and the other man pauses.
“I have your back, Kayden.” Dom sounds resigned.
“You could have had me fooled.”
Dom huffs out a breath, “Have it your own way. But don’t say I didn’t warn you when we are caught between the Vikings and Zeus.”
“You’ve had your say, now do your duty. Shut the fuck up.”
17
Kayden
Dom’s jaw tightens. He has my best interests as he insists, and I don’t doubt that. Fact is, a lot of what he said is true.
It was wrong to kidnap her and hold her against her will.
It was wrong to have brought her here and endangered all of them.
The Vikings will pursue us until I make good the loss of omegas to them.
There is a chance that when Zeus comes, he won’t be willing to negotiate.
Which leaves me where? Facing a possible rebellion among my team. They’ve been loyal to me. I have a chance at getting them to see my point of view. It is the only way out. I have to use all of the skills at my disposal to get them to back me up. Dom will come around. He always does. The man is older than me, in his late thirties; he’s already seen a lot. No wonder he tends to be cautious in his approach. He prefers to take the more cautious way out. That’s why he is my second. My adviser. I take the lead; he often acts as my buffer, to smooth things out in my wake. He needs to get with the program and do exactly that now.
I raise my chin and meet his eyes. “You’re right.”
“Huh?” He frowns, then folds his arms over his chest. Creases fan out from around his eyes.
“I shouldn’t have endangered all of you this way. It was wrong to come here. But it’s done.” I toss my head. “I am here now, and I want to call a meeting of the entire team so we can decide on what we want to do next.”
“You are actually going to consult the entire team and work out what’s best for all of us? Dom rubs the back of his neck.
“Didn’t I say that?” I narrow my gaze at him.
He stiffens but doesn’t look away. “Now?”
"You gotta problem?" I tense, and the omega’s muscles bunch. Is she so tuned into me that she senses my anger? She wriggles in my hold and I pat the curve of her ass. She draws in a breath, then her muscles relax. I continue stroking her body, from ass to thigh and back. The curves of her body under the fabric of her pants are soft, yet firm. I turn my head to nuzzle the side of her butt and Dom's eyebrows shoot up.
I drop my arm to my side. The fuck did I do? Do I want her so much that I can't keep my hands to myself in front of an audience? I draw myself up to my full height, "Besides, I am awake." I crack my neck, "No reason the rest of the team needs to sleep in.”
I stalk toward the cabin at the end of the line. It’s bigger than the rest and set apart a little. “Fifteen minutes,” I tell him over my shoulder.
“Just to be clear, no one missed you while you were gone.”
“Ten.”
He swears. Then marches to the door of the cabin on the opposite side.
I reach mine and shoulder open the door. I walk past the large room with chairs scattered around it. It’s the only space in this entire compound that accommodates all of us and which we use for meetings. I walk right through, past the small kitchenette to the bedroom.
I drop her on the bed. Her body bounces once, then stills. She doesn't move. Her eyes are open but her gaze is fixed on a point past my shoulders.
"How are you feeling?"
She doesn't reply.
"Are you hurting anywhere?"
"What do you think?" She twists her lips, but still refuses to meet my gaze. Adamant omega. A pulse tics at my jaw.
Why do I care how she feels?
After today, I'll never see her again. Not until I hand her over to Zeus, and then things will go back to the way they were. I'll have lived up to the promise made to my adoptive father. My citizens will be happy. My clan will be able to go home. Everyone will have what they want. Including me. A heavy feeling rolls in my stomach. The blood pounds at my temples and I ignore it. I am doing the right thing. This is the only way to get over her. To forget I had ever buried myself inside of her, licked her skin and claimed her.
She bears your mark asshole. And once I turn away from her, I'll forget about her. Forget the vulnerability in her that draws me to her. Forget how her innocence seduces me, makes me want to lose myself in her. Makes me want to protect her. Take care of her. And I can't afford that distraction. I can't allow myself to be emotionally attached to her.
It's why I must do this. It's the only way out.
I scoop her up in my arms and she doesn't protest. Her muscles are slack as if she's mentally checked out. It's a coping mechanism and it angers me.
How dare she allow her attention to drift away when she is in my arms. With me? How can she think of anything else but me? I snarl low in my throat, but she doesn't wince as I expected. My biceps flex; the blood thrums at my temples. Fuck this omega and her histrionics. It's all a bid for my attention; that's all this is. Well, you’ve got it little one. You asked for it.
Striding into the bathroom, I lower her to the floor. She sways and I steady her with a hand on her side.
Her hair flows around her shoulders and I tuck a strand behind her ear. She blinks; her ga
ze widens. I tense. Why did I do that? Why do I constantly want to touch her, caress her, hold her... soothe her. Soothe her? Before her, I've never wanted to comfort any other omega I had fucked. She's screwing with your head, and just by being in your presence. I let go of her and fold my arms over my chest.
"Use the facilities."
Her gaze flicks across to the porcelain commode in the corner.
She takes a step toward it, and her knees wobble. I swear under my breath, and she flinches. That only makes me angrier. At myself, for allowing her to get so weak. I square my shoulders, then scoop her up and deposit her near the commode.
I press down on her shoulders, and she raises her gaze.
“Some privacy, please.”
“Nothing I haven’t seen before.” I glare at her.
She hesitates, then color flushes her cheeks. “Please.” She squeezes her eyes shut. “Don’t deny me this.” Her features twist. A teardrop trails down her cheek.
Damn it, that look on her face. The pulse that thuds at her throat. All of it screams at me to show her mercy. Mercy.
My heart constricts. Why the hell does it feel like I am shattering a little inside?
I turn my back on her.
There is silence behind me. A beat. Two.
“You have two minutes.”
A breath whistles from her. Then comes the rustle of fabric as she pulls down her jeans, then her panties. The tinkle of liquid hits the ceramic. She finishes, there's a whisper of cloth against skin, then she flushes. Footsteps sound toward the sink on the far wall. I pivot to find her washing her hands.
Her spine bows, and her thick hair fans around her shoulders, covering her expression. The scent of her is heavy in the space. That whiff of honey, the tang of pepper, and beneath it all that sugary scent of her slick which sinks into my blood.
Her shoulders convulse.
Only when I am standing behind her do I realize I have moved. She stiffens. Then shuts off the tap, and looks around. I grab the towel and hand it to her. She dries her fingers. I watch her movements—slow, precise. Another ripple flows down her spine. She grips the edge of the sink, and her gaze meets mine over her shoulder. Green eyes dilated, the darkness of her pupils bleeding out until only a circle remains around the edges.
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