I’d managed to hide myself away during the worst of these phases, had never felt compelled to lay with any alpha, not until this monster.
I need him, yet I want to fight him.
I must show him he can’t just take. Not without paying a price first. Not without begging, pleading, making me scream.
Anticipation stretches my belly.
An age old instinct inside me jolts to life. My core clenches. My knees quake, and I push my boot-clad feet into the dirt for purchase.
He angles his head and peels back his lips. “On the contrary, it renders the entire process so much more interesting.”
There is so much cruelty in his look…so much lust…so much everything.
My skin tightens.
Every single emotion that I have fought against my entire life, denied myself, all of it drips from his gaze.
I can’t tear my gaze away.
I clench my fingers, my muscles strain, and I try, once more, to move. It only sends another pulse of pain through me. Being in this particular alpha’s presence is weighing me down, making me feel like I am already in his control.
How is that possible?
The General takes a step forward, and his scent slams into me. Earthy, woodsy, and liberally laced with pheromones.
I am sure he can see every single emotion, every nuance of the feelings that tremble over me right now.
My belly clenches. My womb spasms. Slick pools between my legs and slides down my inner thighs.
His nostrils flare. He leans back on his heels. One side of his lips rises in a smirk.
The alpha knows exactly what he wants. His eyes gleam. His features flush.
Fear twists my insides. My limbs tingle.
It’s as if I am watching everything unfold in front of me from a distance.
Setting my jaw, I square my shoulders, only for another burst of pain to radiate out from my center.
I arch my back, thrust my breasts out at the keening need that grips me.
I wrap my arms around my waist and cannot stop the groan that ripples up my throat. Even to my own ears it feels more like an invitation, a call to the alpha to do what he was born to do to an omega. To mate me, knot me, and make that pain inside me go away.
To fill that emptiness that is once again writhing, gnawing, and tearing at me, growing inside me with every passing millisecond until it feels like I am one big mass of yearning that will not stop. Not until he slams into me, and no, no, no! This can’t be happening.
I’d starved myself of food for days to weaken my libido; I’d also calculated the time of the month to make sure I am between heat cycles. I hadn’t counted on the proximity to this particular alpha sending me straight into one.
My head spins with the overload of endorphins that my overwrought nervous system is dumping into my blood. All brought on by his presence. Him. He’s the reason why my body is responding with such primal need. The omega in me recognizes him. Only him.
My pulse thuds in my head; my vision blurs.
Pain cramps my womb, and I double over.
The shortage of omegas has led to alphas exploiting them, taking them at will. As he no doubt intends to overpower me now.
I will not let him do that. I straighten in time to see the General stalk toward me. His masculine presence tugs at my nerves, pushes down on my skin, sinks into my blood. My head spins.
Heat sweeps over my skin and heads to my lower belly. My core weeps.
All of my life I have tried to deny that I am an omega: the receiver, the nurturer whose insides are ravenous for an alpha’s touch, who has been deprived of the sensory stimulation that only comes from an alpha’s rut. Now, his scent, that concentrated testosterone, sinks into my blood, forcing a reaction.
The General growls.
It’s a long, drawn-out purr that seems to emerge from the very depths of his masculine body.
The hair on my neck stands on end.
Liquid need radiates out from my womb, bleeds through my skin, and flares up in the air around me.
My womb cramps, and a fresh burst of slick gushes down between my legs to wet my pants. I don’t dare look down, don’t dare acknowledge the liquid pooling under me.
I should be mortified, ashamed at my public display of what I am…an omega meant to be mated and bred, who cannot physically hold back her reaction, not in the presence of this prime male specimen, and yet the survivor in me says I need to fight. Fight! My shoulders shudder, and I straighten my spine.
The General slams his fist to his chest. “Leave us,” he roars.
The aggression comes off him in waves, surrounding me, cocooning me. Is he trying to shield me from the sight of his own men?
Footsteps sound, then fade away. Of course they'd rush to obey him. No one will dare stand up to him, and I'd walked into this predator's lair and challenged him. Sweat beads my palms.
The doorway to the warehouse slams shut. The echo resounds through my head. The blood thumps at my temples. A pulse flares to life between my legs.
“You scared?” His voice bleeds through the space.
"What do you think?" I grit my teeth.
"I think I am going to enjoy breaking you." He peels back his lips, and my knees tremble. The fine hair on my nape stands up.
The scent of my fear is so strong I am sure he can smell it, and that's not good. The first sign of weakness and this dominant alpha hole will pounce. My belly twists. A flare of heat tugs low below. No, that should not excite me. The thought of him delivering on his earlier promise should not make my thighs clench in anticipation.
I need to get away from that lethal, coiled, powerful male, before he senses how his nearness is affecting me.
I stagger away from him only for my feet to tangle in the carpet, and I cry out. I go sprawling on my back and stay there.
“Get up,” he snarls.
I blink then slap my palms onto the carpet for leverage and stagger back to standing. Thrusting my chin forward, I meet his gaze. Those startling blue eyes burn into me. Concentric circles of aquamarine, teal and a wild blue, that draw me in. Trapping me in the sphere of his influence.
“Kayden sent you to kill me.”
My chin quivers, and I ball my fists at my sides.
His jaw firms. “I should kill you for daring to burst into my stronghold and trying to assassinate me—”
“But you won’t.” Yeah, that would be too merciful of him.
He’s a monster, and I don’t expect any pity from him. But every alpha has an ego. And this predator more than anyone else I have met. Perhaps I need to appeal to that?
He tilts his head. “Feisty, aren’t you?” His voice is soft, almost casual.
My stomach churns. Whatever he has in mind for me, it’s not good. The thoughts skitter through my head, and I force my brain cells to knit the words together in a coherent sequence.
“You bet.” I set my jaw.
His gaze narrows.
My stomach twists, and not only with arousal. My heart hammers, and a bead of sweat trickles down my spine.
“You are a big powerful alpha. Me, I am but a helpless omega.” I flutter my eyelashes.
So, I am overdoing this, he's going to see right through my act. “Why don’t we make this more exciting for you?” I force out the words through a throat gone dry.
He angles his head.
Guess what? He bought it. A flicker of hope sparks in my chest.
Then his lips widen in a smile, and it’s so feral, I know, he’s not going to let me go. Not that easily. There’s a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. My heart thuds, and I almost lose my will to resist—almost.
“I agree.” He thrusts out his chest.
“Huh?”
Why am I having this conversation with him? I am only delaying the inevitable, that’s all, but I have to try, have to.
“Run." His nostrils flare, "I'll even give you a head start. You have until I count to ten.”
“What do you mean?” I gulp down a brea
th.
“You are losing precious seconds.”
No, it can’t be. This is not exactly what I'd had in mind when I had suggested making things more exciting. Not.
“Nine.”
The alpha is toying with me? He’s going to hunt me? My palms sweat. It can mean only one thing. He wants to increase the anticipation of whatever is to come. The violence, the ultimate conclusion to this game is only one, and it’s not going to be in my favor.
I close my fists so tightly my nails slice into my skin. The scent of copper leaks into the air.
“On the other hand, perhaps you’d rather we conclude this farce right now?” His eyes gleam.
The bastard no doubt thinks I don’t have a chance of outrunning him. I square my shoulders and thrust out my chest. I will not submit, not so easily.
His gaze sweeps over my breasts, down to my core, and he stares at the space between my legs. There’s no mistaking the anticipation that laces his features.
I want to scratch that look of satisfaction off his face, to deny that my insides tremble in response. More moisture gathers between my legs. What is wrong with me? I am here to kill him. Not to mate him. Not. To. Mate. Him.
My pulse races.
I turn on my heels so fast I almost stumble, then find my balance. A scream boils up, and I bite down on my lips to hold it back.
“That the best you can do?” His voice mocks me.
My legs feel weak, yet I force myself to move, to put one foot in front of the other. Keep going. Don’t stop.
Reaching the exit of the warehouse, I throw myself against the doors.
3
Zeus
The double doors swing open, and she races through, leaving behind the sugary scent of her slick. The spicy scent of her fear leaks into the air, laced with that spoor of the rain on cool dawn air that is so uniquely her.
My cock throbs, straining against my pants. Adrenaline pumps through my blood. I walk after her, my pace leisurely, yet everything inside pushes me to hurry. Hurry. Go after her, claim her, take her.
I’ve never felt such a powerful need as this to have an omega. Never felt this overwhelming urge to shield her from the gaze of other alphas, to hide her from sight until I have had my way with her. I speed up my steps and walk out into the wilderness surrounding the warehouse.
Ethan and Sol stand on either side of the doors, their gaze trained on the figure weaving through the trees.
One of the other alphas breaks formation to run after her.
“Stop.”
He halts and, his shoulders bunch. The fucker angles his body to face me over his shoulder, and his torso leans forward. Every muscle in the man's body is coiled. “You don’t intend to keep her all to yourself now, do you, half-breed?”
“That’s General half-breed to you.” I stalk over to him.
The man turns his gaze to follow the omega who is now almost out of sight. “You’ll give her up to the omega harem, and then I am going to rut her and mark her and—”
Reaching him, I wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze. The alpha is bulked up to the point of being almost obese with muscle. But I am taller than him, and while I am leaner, I know I am more powerful, and that’s not ego, just a fact.
The man gasps, “Surely you are not going to kill me over an omega.”
“Wrong comment.” I increase the pressure of my grip, hear that sweet snap as his spine breaks. I remove my hold on him, then tap his forehead. His body tumbles over.
I walk over the body of the fallen alpha. “No one hunts her but me.”
Ethan stiffens behind me, but he doesn’t protest. “Of course, General.”
Not that his agreement fools me.
My second has questions, but he’ll table it for later. Much later if I have my way with the omega. “Make sure there’s food and water in my suite.”
“As you wish.” Ethan’s voice has an edge to it this time. He knows what I have in mind and is not happy about it. Big fucking deal.
He’s this close to insubordination, and I need to tell him off. My second is not indispensable, and it’s time he realized it. But right now, I have more pressing things to take care of.
“One.” I complete the countdown.
Adrenaline pumps through my blood. The thrill of the chase kicks in, and I take off after her.
Heart hammering, pulse-pounding, my feet slam into the dirt, and mud flies up behind me. Reaching the end of the path, I follow the still fresh scent of her sugary essence and that unmistakable trace of fresh rain that sinks straight to my blood. My cock throbs. Warmth floods my chest. My fingers tingle with the need to touch her. I follow the trail to the pool of water in the center of the forest surrounding the stronghold.
She swam across it, in a bid to dissipate her scent and throw me off. Clever omega.
She can fight and she knows how to evade a hunter—this is not an ordinary submissive on my hands. She’s unlike any woman I have ever met, someone who challenges me, faces up to me.
My groin tightens.
I quicken my pace and run around the perimeter of the pool. Her scent fades on the other side. Where could she have gone? I scan the area. Trees line the edge of the open lawns that lead down to the parapet walls. The water of the Thames River glimmer beyond that.
I run towards it, calculating how far she could have gone. It wouldn’t be like her to do the obvious and hide in the forest on the far side of the stronghold. This way is more exposed, more dangerous. It's exactly the route she'd take.
I run across the grass, straight through the last line of trees.
There's a rustle from the branches above, and that sweet scent of her pours over me. My instincts scream at me to swerve; every part of me stiffens to alertness. But if I were to move aside, she’d hit the ground. The thought of that soft body being hurt, being marked by anything else except my fingers sends a primal burst of anger through me.
She slams into me from above.
The force of it topples me on my back. And then she is on me, her legs squeezing my waist, her fingers around my throat.
“Round one is mine, alpha-hole.” She pants then rams her forehead down on mine.
Sparks of red and white flare behind my eyes, pain shoots through my head, but already I am moving. “Not yet, omega-hole.” I bare my teeth, grab her waist—she’s so small that both my palms meet on either side—and then I twist my body so she’s lying under me, her strong thighs still gripping my waist, her ankles locked around my back. I bend over her.
Her cheeks flush; her chest heaves.
I push my arousal against her core. It’s a blatant sign of who is more dominant, not that there is any doubt about that, okay? Still, it doesn’t hurt to show her who’s in charge here, does it?
Her gaze widens, her lips part, and fuck! I want to lean down and slide my tongue into that ripe mouth even as I ram my cock balls deep into her pussy.
She must sense my intention, for that sweet, sugary scent of her slickness leaks into her air.
“Does the thought of being taken by me turn you on, Omega?” I lower my voice to just short of a purr, holding back the rich sound that I already know will arouse her further.
Her eyelashes flutter. She swallows, and her hips wriggle under me, brushing against my iron-hard shaft.
Heat bursts through my veins, radiating through my blood, until it feels like every part of me is on fire, with need. For her.
She thrusts out her breasts, and her nipples are outlined through the material of her tight black T-shirt, so sharp, so enticing.
“Oh, Alpha, please take me, rut me.”
She flicks out her tongue to lick her lips, and I feel it all the way down to the tip of my shaft.
“Said not this omega.” She bares her teeth.
With a move I don't see coming—and I have faced down some of the best hand-to-hand fighters in this land and won—she twists her body, then makes to slide out from under me. I let her go until she is sure she is almost
free. Almost. I wait until her features relax, then snake out my arms. I grab her wrists, and twist them up above her head, shackling her there.
A growl rips out of me and her gaze widens. The green of her iris lightens. The scent of her arousal deepens. A pulse tics to life at my temples. My cock throbs in tandem.
I hold her down with my more powerful body, and this time there is no finesse. Only brute force. An alpha laying claim to his omega. “Oh, you will be begging for a lot more before I am done.” I take her mouth.
I had meant to punish her for what she’d done. Not the physical hurt when she’d rammed her head against mine. It’s my ego that is more bruised—the one that cannot accept that this sprite of an omega could have flounced into my stronghold and then attempted to kill me. It’s that which makes me ram my tongue between her lips and swirl it over her teeth, and then I suck in her essence.
Honey and melting ice and sweet, tangy berries, the taste goes straight to my head. I growl low in my throat. The sound rips out of me. Possessive, harsh, it rolls over her. Her entire body seems to stiffen, then relaxes.
Her thighs quiver.
I smell the dampness of her slick, wetting her pants and sinking into the seams of my crotch. My dick throbs, needing to be inside of her.
I transfer her wrists to one hand and sweep the other palm down the side of her arm, to her breast, squeezing that ripe nipple.
I feel the shudder flow down her side as her pelvis thrusts up to cradle my hardness.
Another growl wells up from me, rippling over where her breasts are crushed against the planes of my chest. The sugary scent of her arousal is all around me. I slide my hand down her hips to squeeze the lush curves of her butt. Mine. All mine.
Her body arches under me, her spine curves, the cradle of her hips calls to me. All her muscles shudder, and it’s so fucking hot. A primal need grips me. My shoulders go solid.
I slide the heel of my hand between us to rub against her core, her still-fabric-covered center, needing to feel that slickness, wanting to lick it up, pushing, shoving, cupping her core, dry humping her with my hand. Wanting to see her come.
A low moan bleeds up her throat. Her teeth dig into my lower lip, and shock waves ricochet down my spine.
Fated Mates: Paranormal Romance Series Starters Boxset Page 36