“You don’t know that,” I say. Vemlox doesn’t know that.
“It would be terribly stupid of you to try to kill me. Because if you fail…” Sidone snaps her teeth, then grinds them.
Loyo’s whine behind me tells me he’s still here. Cursing and the wind carrying Vemlox’s yummy scent tell me he’s approaching. Sure enough, he comes around me, looks me up and down, blinks once, then bares his teeth but says nothing. That’s contained rage, and I don’t want to be anywhere near it when it blows up. I step back, blood trailing down my fingertips and the side of my cheek, my eyes on the snow. “I want to go home.” My lower lip trembles. I’m gonna cry. I don’t think I can take this anymore.
“Never,” Vemlox says calmly and picks up my hands.
Sidone stands next to us, examining my palms. “You need a healer,” she says.
“A sealing fill will do,” Vemlox says.
“We’re out,” Sidone answers.
His jaw works, and his gaze locks with mine. “I would have a sealing kit for my Omega had she not used it on the hound.”
Loyo whines.
“Quiet,” Vemlox barks at Loyo. “What were you thinking, Sam? Where would you have gone?” He spreads his arms, my blood coating his palms. The snow starts falling at the same time. “There is no escape from this!”
“Well, fuck you! I don’t even know what this is. What is this? Where am I, and why am I here? Why am I a slave to your every whim? Why do people call me Omega? I don’t know anything, and you’re lying to me!” I spin on my heel and stomp away, then fight him when he picks me up and carries me back inside, past the Alpha who’s still on the floor but seemingly alive, up the long stairway and inside a plain room, where Sidone and another Alpha already await.
Vemlox deposits me on top of what looks like a table, then throws some furs over me. He steps back.
“Thank you,” I tell him and wipe my tears, staring at the ceiling.
The man lifts my palm. First one, then the other. “Do you have your own kit?” he asks.
“No,” Vemlox bites out and walks around the room, carrying his sack. He peers inside it. When he doesn’t find what he’s looking for—because I robbed him—he smirks and marches over to me, then picks up my small sack and looks inside. “Good girl,” he says, and turns over the sack. Daggers, medical supplies, and food spill out. “Where is your gun?”
I reach for it, but he lifts a palm. “Keep it.” He pulls out his med unit and checks the cartridge. “Not a drop of sealer. Here.” He throws the unit to the man, who looks at it with a frown.
“Even Horde males travel with medical kits,” the man says. “Don’t you?”
“We do.” Vemlox stands beside my bed and crosses his arms over his chest, a smirk playing on his face.
I don’t know what to make of it. But my pussy does. It spills liquid heat as if he’s got control over it somehow, and I gulp, then blush profusely. The other Alpha lifts his nose and snorts. “By the Serpent’s balls, the girl smells like—”
“Quit sniffing,” Sidone barks. “You’ll lose your tongue.” To me, she says, “This is our healer. You don’t need to know his name, but know this. The one time he couldn’t part from an Omega, our Alpha castrated him.”
“Jesus,” I mumble under my breath.
“Mm-hm. I don’t believe he’ll be that kind to my brother.”
Vemlox snorts.
Sidone walks to the door and pauses, then glances back at Vemlox. “If you’re suicidal, come find me. I’ll make it quick.”
14
Vemlox
Humans are a warm-blooded species that wastes lots of energy, including blood. I’ve never seen so much blood come out of a small person before, didn’t believe it possible. But I witnessed my Omega’s cuts bleed, and the loss of blood made her dizzy. The healer and I forced medicine extracted from a coastal plant down her throat. He swore to me she’d be better by the Sycol’s fall. It’s almost time for it to fall. While my Omega sleeps, I stand at the cave’s entrance in wait for Montar so I won’t miss greeting him in case he comes.
I’ve bonded the Omega.
I’m keeping her.
She mustn’t ever find out I’ve brought her here to give her to another Alpha. This is a burden I will carry because she now trusts me to take care of her, and I only know one way to do that. I send a prayer to the Serpent that Montar gets delayed at the capital, primarily because I’m unwell. My belly has been churning all span long, my neck’s stiff, and I can barely turn my head. On any other occasion, I’d allow a healer to take a look, but I can’t have any of the Guardians knowing I’m unwell. I am Horde and an outsider here. Sidone, while capable, isn’t their Alpha and would die defending me. I can’t have that either.
Who thought I was best suited for this mission? I chuckle. Me. Always me, putting myself out there, proving myself to Loven. I even argued with Kinre about being the male for the job. Loven expects my return in five spans.
The snow falls on the mountain, and somewhere down there, Dreikx camps inside the safe house. After I give the Omega to Montar, I can slide down the mountain and reach Dreikx in two spans, be in Ohala eating desil and drinking fine brew in two and a half. I can do all this and live happily motherfucking ever after if only I’d give up the Omega.
But I’m a stubborn motherfucker, always taking the hard road, always wondering what I was born to do. It’s not to lead the Horde. I can’t best Loven. Yet, I wonder if I could. All Alphas wonder if they can. Some train so that they can try. Perhaps every Alpha feels like they’re meant to change our world. Loven certainly did, or else he wouldn’t have done it. And for a female no less. I found his reasons solid. I’ve found Omegas are worth the bloodshed we await.
It’s coming.
The battle that will end the stalemate between the Horde and the Regha king.
I smell it in the wind, in the Omega’s blood on my hands, in Sidone’s fear for my life.
* * *
“Alpha males release pheromones to entice Omegas, not slave girls. In case Alphas get carried away and bond Omegas, they die starving for one span while strapped to a pole. Not only is it a long death, it’s also humiliating,” Sidone says, boredom infused in her voice. “Therefore, Alpha males are dumb. I, on the other hand, will not die for Omega pussy. Furthermore, it is my duty as your sister to tell you Montar’s scout hound arrived this morning. Montar isn’t far behind.”
“How long?”
“A span or a half span.” She shrugs, “Can’t be sure.”
Outside, on the training grounds behind the settlement, the winds whip our bodies. Sidone stands fierce, hands clenched on her sides, a look of fury directed at me. She’s looking for truth and clarity. I’ve given her bullshit.
“Gonna make me ask it?” she says.
I stop pacing the cliff’s edge and lean against a tree. “Maybe.”
“This is not funny, Vemlox.”
I smirk just to irritate her some more.
Sidone snarls and points to her nose. “I smelled it.”
“Smelled what?”
“Oh, you fucker.”
“Did that.”
A dagger flies. With my armor up, it hits my shoulder and bounces off. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Oh, it’s me who’s wrong.” Sidone marches over and gets her dagger, then straps it back into her wrist harness. Hands on her hips, she asks, “Why are you releasing a bonding scent for the slave girl? You can only bond an Omega.”
“She’s human.”
Sidone’s brain works fast, and I know when she puts Loven’s human Omega and Sam, the human Omega, together. Her eyes widen, her mouth gapes, but nothing comes out. Speechless is not how I would normally describe Sidone, so I brace myself. I had this coming from the moment I decided to bond Sam under the Guardians’ roof.
“What the fuck?” she shouts. I open my mouth to answer, but she lifts a finger. “Silence now. You’ve said enough. I’m trying to figure out my plan of action.
I’d castrate you, then kill the damn Omega if you weren’t my brother. Since you are my brother, I’ll kill the Omega and have Tremt castrate you.”
I chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” she says.
“I brought her here from her home on Earth as a gift to Montar.”
Sidone grabs my cheeks. “But you’re behaving like you want to bond an Omega on his watch. Collectors will come for her, and Montar will suffer for allowing the coupling. Tayseer will show Montar mercy because that’s his blood, but you? You will die for the girl. I can’t let you.”
“All the same, I forbid you to hurt her.”
Sidone’s eyes soften. “We are remote. We know only what the king tells us, and a few whispers of the Horde Alpha’s bonding an Omega and growing red armor reached all the way up here. You must tell me everything.”
“Where is your loyalty?”
Black eyes lock with mine. “With you, brother.”
“Swear it.”
“I swear it.”
Sidone will stand with me. It is another burden I have to carry. I will never forgive myself if something happens to my baby sister. It doesn’t matter that she’s a force in her own right. She’s still my baby sister. Loven will have to take her into the Horde. I will make him do so. Sidone will betray Montar if I ask it of her, and then she’ll have nowhere to go but back to the king, who’s gonna lock her up, never to see the light of day. He’d kill her if she were an Alpha male, but Alpha females are extremely rare, and even the king won’t touch Sidone. He’ll keep her in case one day an Omega male is found so they can breed. Alpha females are said to produce only Alpha males or females, no other dynamic. Her offspring is guaranteed to be Alpha. If Alpha males and Alpha females could breed, the king would be the first to breed her.
“Is she really an Omega?” Sidone chokes out.
“Yes.”
“There’s still time for a change. Let’s lay out a strategy.”
I smile.
Sidone doesn’t. “Tell me you haven’t bonded her. Tell me!” She doesn’t await my answer. “Serpent’s prick, but there’s a bug wreaking havoc in the Horde. A disease that makes you all stupid.” She shakes me by the shoulders. If Alphas could cry, this would be the time for Sidone. She fears for my life. As she should. I intend to do something incredibly stupid. “Fuck your damn cock,” she continues. “I will cut that thing off myself.”
“Too late.”
“Wha…” She gulps. “What do you mean?” She’s side-eyeing me. She knows. She might’ve smelled my scent, but she can’t believe it and needs a confirmation.
“I’m breeding her.”
A gust of wind slams into us. Shocked, Sidone forgets to brace. I don’t and try to catch her as she falls on her ass. Sidone stays down as I laugh and laugh. The wind picks up the fallen snow, and white covers her while I laugh like the fucking lunatic I am. I have disobeyed direct orders. Sidone is right. Omega pussy makes Alphas stupid, and I wonder if breeding her was worth both Sam’s and my life, because in the end, Montar has to believe in our cause in order to bleed for it more than he believes in protecting Regha’s king. If I give him nothing to believe in, why change sides? No reason. The king’s still in power, has got a bigger army and more Alphas, and while Loven carries red armor, parents still tell tales to their children of the king’s armor and strength, not anyone’s else. The power is the king’s.
Sidone snarls and leaps up. Winds blow, and she staggers to the side. She’s lighter than I.
“You’re gonna blow away, little girl. Kori’s gonna have to take care of you.” I’m barely standing, but she doesn’t know that.
“Did you just Daddy me?”
I smirk. “Mm-hm.”
“I’m not laughing, brother.”
“You should be. Life isn’t so bad when you’re bonded.”
Well, that does it.
“Raise your armor, brother.”
15
Sam
Rustling sheets awaken me. Groggy from the medicine they forced down my throat, I turn and bump into a hard shell. Vemlox lies next to me. Instead of moving away, I scoot closer and press my forehead to his chest. “I don’t know what to do.” Asking for help is hard. I don’t do it often, but when I do, it means I’ve tried all other options and I can’t get out of trouble on my own. Daddy used to bail me out, help me when I was at a crossroads, especially during times in my training when men disregarded my skills because I had tits and not balls. Most times, I called them out on it, but often I didn’t, opting to take a higher road and keep away from conflict.
On Regha, I find myself truly helpless, lacking purpose in my life except to spread my legs for this particular Alpha male because it’s the only thing that feels right, and yet it’s the very thing I fear. As if he knows what I’m thinking, he picks up my thigh and slings my leg over his hip, then grunts as if in pain.
I look up. One shiner stares back at me. “My God, what happened to you?”
Vemlox doesn’t answer. He pushes into me, and I gasp, digging my nails into his shoulder as he forces me onto my back. My pussy clenches around him, liquid heat making his passage easy. He slides in and out of me, eyes locked with mine. “You’re gonna let Kori fuck you nice and take care of you?”
“Yes.”
He grabs my throat, rests his weight on his other elbow. This pushes him farther inside, and my eyes roll back in pleasure.
“You will not run again.”
“There’s nowhere to go. There’s no space gate, there’s no way back.” Oh God, saying it devastates me.
Ignoring the conclusion that I meant to voice as a question, Vemlox fucks me. “You will wear gloves on your hands and leathers all over your body, especially when you ride the hound. Say ‘Yes, Kori.’”
“Yes, Kori.”
“From now until the end of our time.”
It takes a bit to register what he’s saying, so I don’t answer right away. He isn’t ignoring me. He knows my struggle.
“Say it.” The hand around my throat squeezes. Instead of feeling fear, I lift my hips. “What do you want me to say?”
“Say that you’re mine.”
“I’m yours.”
“Promise you will use your skills to defend yourself. Promise you will shoot anyone you feel you should.”
Okay, that’s different. I don’t want to shoot anyone I feel I should. I should shoot anyone I feel I must. A big difference. I’m not a trigger-happy cop. Taking a life isn’t a thrill; it’s a necessity. But I can’t answer him. He’s choking me and fucking me at the same time. My body answers for me. My orgasm explodes at the same time Vemlox releases my throat. I gasp, and he spills inside me, jets of his seed filling my womb. My pussy’s channel milks his cock for all the cum until there’s no more to give, then stretches to accommodate the blessed knot. I’ve come to expect the knotting every time he fucks me. It’s addictive. The stretch, the purr, the care he takes with me after he fucks me raw. Like now. He flips us over so that I’m sprawled on top of him, muscles completely relaxed as if we’re honeymooners on vacation and this is our first sexual rodeo.
I stretch out my hand to grab a fur, but he beats me to it and piles everything within reach on top of me. Not that I’m cold anymore. I burn with desire for him. It’s beyond anything I can explain. Completely illogical, and yet it’s there, present in the way I’m addicted to this male. “What happened to you?”
“Had a go with Sidone.”
I prop my hands on his chest. One eye’s swollen, bruised but not shut, and he’s sporting four gashes on his cheek. “Looks like you got mauled by a lion.”
Vemlox purses his black lips. “Lion is an animal?”
“The king of the jungle.”
“Jungle is a bunch of trees?”
“Never mind the trees or the lion. You look awful, and I can’t believe you beat up a girl.”
“My sister is an Alpha, second-in-command around here. She’s hardly just a girl.” He smiles. He’s pr
oud of her.
“I don’t have any siblings. How many do you have?”
“Just Sidone that I know of, but likely more. I await genetics.” When I frown, he continues, hand under the furs, rubbing my back, dipping lower to squeeze my ass. And cue my sex drive. It’s back and wants more. Jesus, I’ve never experienced such drive in my life. There’s lust, and then there’s this. “Sidone and I share a father who might have been a member of two Alpha packs. I’m unsure.”
The word packs confuses me, but I press on. “You never asked him?”
“I never knew him.”
“Oh wow. Okay, that’s different. My dad is my best friend.”
Vemlox smiles. “I like that about humankind. Both Omegas I know speak fondly about their families. It is how I want to raise my kids. I want to be there and watch them grow.” Black eyes lock with mine. “Don’t you?”
I swallow hard. “I haven’t thought about kids. It’s a bit too early for me.”
“You are matured, have declared your heat for me; therefore, you are ready to breed.”
I scrub my face. Still hard and inflated, his knot hooks us together, but if I could fidget and physically leave this conversation, I would. Then I reflect a bit. “Wait a second. You said ‘both Omegas’ you know. Where are they? Because they’re not here. I know that.”
“Ohala, the Horde stronghold. Loven refused to give up the Omega we found there or even form an Alpha pack for breeding purposes. Instead, he has bonded the Omega, a crime punishable by death, and now the Horde prepares for the king’s army.”
Finally, my patience pays off. Vemlox tells me what’s really happening on Regha. Before, only the king wore red armor. Now, there are two strong Alphas with red armor inside the Horde, and the news of this will spread as soon as Loven allows the information about Kinre’s armor to leave the Horde stronghold via a Beta female spy inside the house. They intend to follow her to her contact, capture the contact, and torture the male for information.
Alpha Knots: Alpha Horde, #3 Page 9