by Zara Zenia
“You’re no different from him. You still . . .” Melody shook her head, stumbling as she tried to get away from him.
Devron made a face, then scowled. “I am nothing like that man,” he said, his expression darkening. “I interrupted the imprint because that was the only way—”
“Stop it!” Melody shrieked. “I don’t care about your stupid Frenzy. This is my freedom. Don’t tell me it’s the only way! Are you going to try to undo it?” If he was such a savior, he wouldn’t care about their being chemically bonded as they were. He wouldn’t care about ‘keeping’ her, or ‘owning’ her like Nor. If he was a rescuer like he claimed, Devron wouldn’t look as guilty as he did.
“Undo? What? No, why would I—” he muttered, clearly astounded by the very thought of it.
“I knew it!” Melody cried, turning, her foot sliding on slippery leaves as she tried to take off. She tried to leave, tried to run, tried to push off the damp forest floor, but nothing happened. It was like there was an invisible leash around her, holding her in place, keeping her from going anywhere.
She fought and fought against the pull, struggling until she was out of breath and nearly falling over from exhaustion.
Devron waited until she was hunched, shoulders slumped in defeat, head hung low, to approach.
“Are you finished?” he asked callously.
Melody whirled on him, her eyes flashing fire he hadn’t expected from an Omega.
“No,” she hissed. “I’m not finished, and I’ll never be finished. I don’t belong to you. You can’t own me,” she growled through her clenched jaw.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said, taking her by the arm. She couldn’t resist him much. She could play-fight, she could give him a little chase if he wished it, but nothing more. Devron knew they didn’t have the time to waste on her fancies of exercising her free will. She had none, and the sooner she came to terms with that, the better.
“You are mine. There is no way to reverse the imprint. If you wish to stay alive, you’ll stop resisting me and help me look for shelter. That wreckage is going to lead Nor’s men straight to us.”
Melody wasn’t sure whether she wanted to believe him or not.
Well, she knew she didn’t want to believe him, but she didn’t know if she should. Devron knew way more about these things than she did. He could be making everything up as he went along and she wouldn’t know any better. She had to stay suspicious, had to stay on her toes.
“What kind of nobleman can’t afford his own Omega?” Melody said as he dragged her behind him. He wasn’t going to let her walk on her own anymore, and being treated like a child like made Melody feel petulant like one. More so than usual, even.
She knew she’d gotten to him when Devron’s fingers around her arm tightened, squeezing painfully though she didn’t give him the satisfaction of gasping. He yanked harder, and Melody nearly tripped when he did, stumbling and staggering forward, kicking up brush and debris in her wake.
“Could you be quieter?” Devron snapped.
“Could you let me walk on my own?” Melody retorted.
“Will you stop trying to escape?”
“No.”
He glared at her, but Melody shrugged unapologetically.
“I won’t,” she said for clarification. “Not ever. That’s what you’re getting yourself into here, buddy.”
Wonderful, Devron though. Out of all the Omegas on Cania, I get the one without a sense of self-preservation.
“Then try to step more carefully.” He grunted, tugging on her arm again.
Just to spite him, Melody kicked up more leaves, making enough of a racket to scare away forest creatures.
“Need I remind you that I can, and will, carry you?” Devron threatened.
As bad as being dragged around like a puppy on a leash was, Melody thought being carried would be worse. Perhaps she’d pushed him far enough.
Yeah, right.
“Well? You never did answer my question,” she said, falling into step beside him so he couldn’t make her stumble again. It was difficult to keep up with him. His long legs made every stride of his two or three of Melody’s, and he wasn’t maintaining a slow pace for her. It was a punishing speed for someone of her stature, but she wouldn’t complain. Not a chance.
“I did,” he said, voice icy enough to give Melody chills. “I am the bastard son of a nobleman. My mother worked very hard to keep us fed and breathing, but there’s not room in the budget for . . . extras.”
“So you just steal what you can’t afford, is that it?” Melody pressed, thankful that he had no way of knowing the hypocrisy of her statement. She’d made an entire life of being a thief, taking what wasn’t hers and redistributing it. She never stole for herself, though. She always got paid. Keeping the hot goods invited trouble.
Trouble like Brandy got them into. The very same fucking trouble that landed her all the way out here, on another goddamned planet.
“I don’t make a habit of it,” Devron muttered.
Melody couldn’t even argue with that. He seemed inexperienced from the get-go. Keeping the stolen property for himself, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs—more like bodies—and doing everything he could to piss Nor off by releasing his other captives and shooting his way off the ship. None of it spoke to someone with professional experience. It was all the doing of a desperate man without any other options.
It was obvious to her when she laid it all out like that. And in other circumstances, Melody might have had some sympathy for the guy. He didn’t seem all bad. He was quick-witted and probably funny when he wasn’t annoying the hell out of her, but he also wanted to own her.
And not in a sexy dominant way. In a ‘you’re my slave’ way.
That just wasn’t something she thought she could get over, no matter how dreamy he was, no matter how much he made her want to jump on him like a pile of flapjacks.
“So, what’s the plan?” she asked, looking around the forest for the first time. When they’d crashed, she kind of had other things on her mind—like not dying—and then when they’d started to move away from the crash, she’d been focused on him, but now?
Well, now, Melody was actually looking around at the dense forest, and it was certainly alien. The trees were enormous, bigger than sky scrapers, their roots the size of trees back on Earth. And she felt lighter in her step, like the gravity might be less, though not by much. Enough that the tendrils of ferns were as big as her arm, that leaves were the size of her head. Even Devron looked minuscule next to the gigantic trees, and Melody couldn’t help but gape at them.
“What is your obsession with plans?” Devron asked. “We find somewhere to camp, to regroup, and see where on the planet we’ve landed.”
Melody groaned. This was a level of unprofessional that she wouldn’t have tolerated from the lowliest of lookouts. You never went into a job without a solid exit strategy. That was rule number one.
“Anyone ever told you you’re a terrible thief?” Melody sighed, trudging after him, shaking her head. She needed a plan. Maybe Devron was fine ‘winging it,’ but not Melody. No way. She didn’t know enough about this planet to plan an escape, but maybe she could learn. Maybe she could convince Devron to educate her under the guise of making a plan for them both.
And then she could run. Go back to Earth, back to . . .
To what, exactly? Back to jail?
Exit strategy, Mel, she scolded herself. Find the exit strategy first, then work backward.
Devron snorted, a strange sound of laughter she hadn’t heard from him before, and his shoulders shook.
“I think I’m okay with that, to be honest,” he said.
“You shouldn’t be when it’s our asses on the line because of it.”
Devron paused in his steps long enough for Melody to pull ahead, and he made an exaggerated show of scoping out her backside.
“Fairly nice ass on the line,” he said appreciatively.
“Fairly?” Melody as
ked, arching a brow, sounding offended.
That got another snort-laugh out of Devron, but the conversation died after that.
7
“There.” Devron pointed through the misty fog. Melody couldn’t see anything where he pointed. The fog was too dense, the light too dim, and it seemed it was only getting darker.
“Where?” she asked, sticking closer to him than she’d like because of the weather. That was all it was. The weather made it hard to see, and the last thing she wanted was to get lost in an alien forest where no one would ever find her. She might not like that Devron had kidnapped her and wanted to keep her a slave, but he was someone. He cared about her staying alive, at the very least. Even if it was only for his own purposes.
“Just follow me,” he said, pulling her after him. At that point, Melody was practically grateful for the way he tugged on her. She was running out of energy quickly, flagging, muscles giving out under the weight of exhaustion.
The treatments had taken a lot out of her, plus the imprint, the escape, the crash—all of it was still pressing on her. She hadn’t had a chance to rest at all, and whatever remaining traces of adrenaline that had been in her system were long gone now.
Devron was able to navigate the forest floor for them both. He watched his step, making sure Melody could follow, watching her feet slip, her face twisting with pain every other step. If she’d only let him touch her, she would feel so much better, but she had to be stubborn, resistant.
He couldn’t muster much sympathy for her, in that case. It would all be much easier for her if she’d just stop fighting. Of course, everything that Devron had seen about her so far suggested that there was no hope of that ever happening. Melody didn’t seem to know the meaning of the word surrender. Getting her to submit to him was going to be a challenge and a half.
An enormous vantu tree shot from the forest floor before them. Its girthy roots split where they met the trunk, forming a pocket cave under the tree and its root system. The perfect secluded area for Devron and his ill-gotten gains to seek refuge.
“There,” he said again, but when he looked at Melody, her eyes were unfocused. She was still following him, but only because she had no choice because his persistent pulling her along kept her awake.
“Come on,” he said softly, releasing her arm to instead slide his around her waist, pulling her tight against him so that he was supporting most of her weight as she walked in step beside him. “We’re almost there,” he encouraged, though she was far too gone to make sense of what he was saying.
The ground sloped down as they neared the base of the tree, and Melody’s next step slipped, her foot flying out from under her. Acting on pure reaction, Devron tightened his grip around Melody’s waist and spun her into him, wrapping both arms around her until she’d steadied.
Holding her like that, he couldn’t help but remember their meeting, when she’d thrown herself at him, kissing him with the same desperate hunger he felt for her. Of course, her hunger had been momentary, fleeting, brought on by the imprint. His only grew and intensified. He wanted her more now than a minute ago, and more a minute ago than an hour. The imprint technically only worked one way, but one look at Melody and Devron had been hooked. Frenzy or no, she was something special.
Melody blinked, dark eyes fighting to focus. She was so unlike Canian women with her rich tan skin, dark hair, and even darker eyes. He wanted to dive into her depths, to let her darkness envelop him.
“Watch your step,” he finally said, the foreign spicy-sweet scent of her invading his senses, imprinting on him without any treatment.
Melody blinked again, then finally seemed to snap herself out of the daze she’d been in, taking a step back from him, her eyes hardening.
“Isn’t that supposed to be your job now, Master?” she asked with an obviously impetuous sneer.
He should have liked hearing her call him that. He should have delighted in it. It was what every Alpha wanted from their Omega, that term of endearment and subservience. But coming from Melody, it seemed wrong. It wasn’t just the disdain in her tone. It was the way the sounds formed on her tongue, the pain they seemed to cause her deep down inside.
It resonated in him, too. He couldn’t enjoy it, no matter how much he wanted to, no matter how often he’d dreamed of having an Omega to call his own, because it felt completely and wholly wrong.
He couldn’t let her see a flicker of weakness, though. She was already going to be difficult enough to manage. If he gave her the tiniest bit of room to take advantage of him, he knew she wouldn’t stop until she was in charge.
He scoffed at the very thought. An Omega in charge? Preposterous.
She had a point, though. Sarcastic as she was being, she wasn’t wrong. He should be looking out for her, every step of the way.
“So be it,” he said with a grunt, bending to scoop her into his arms like a child.
“I can walk,” she protested, but it was only a few steps down into the cave beneath the tree, and Devron set her down before she was able to make too much of a fuss.
The rich, damp smell of the soil permeated the cave made by the space between the two huge roots of the tree. Dozens of other roots spread out from the ceiling, too, reaching in all directions, searching for more nutrients for the tree. Down in the cave, the light was dim enough that Devron could scarcely see, and he was sure that with Melody’s dark eyes and inability to see through the fog, she was in a worse position down here than he was.
“Now what?” she grumbled, kicking at the ground.
“How about some rest?” Devron offered, reaching into one of his many pockets. Spend enough years in space, mining asteroids, and you got pretty good at being prepared. He was always ready to be stranded, to have to fend for himself for a few days until rescue could come.
This time, no one was coming to help him. He probably should’ve packed with that in mind, but the few supplies he had would still come in handy. He pulled out a small metal cylinder with a ring attached to the bottom. Yanking the ring out removed the barrier between the two volatile chemicals while simultaneously unfurling the petal-like branches that radiated the warmth produced by the reaction. The petals glowed a dim orange, and Melody crouched to the ground in an instant, dropping to her knees with her eyes wide, her jaw slack as her hands came up to test the temperature.
“The hell . . .?” she muttered, her fingers getting closer to touching the molten-hot material.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Devron warned, holding back a smirk at her childlike wonder. He’d never seen anyone so awed by something as simple as a portable heater. Did they not have such things on her planet?
Melody withdrew her hand but glared at him. “And why should it matter to me what you’d do?” she asked, hostility dripping from every syllable.
Devron sighed and offered her the compact emergency blanket from one of his other pockets. It wasn’t a comfortable thing, practically made of ultra-thin metal, but it would keep her warmer than anything else would short of Devron’s body being pressed against hers—and he didn’t think there was a chance of that happening at the moment without grievous injury to one or both of them.
“You need to rest,” he said, waving the blanket at her again. Melody took it hesitantly, her lip curling at the sight of it, brow furrowing at the noise of it as she unfolded it.
“And what about you? What are you going to do?”
“Also rest,” Devron said, sitting on the dirt floor of the cave and stretching his legs out in front of him. “You’re not going anywhere, no matter how hard you try, so you might as well make the most of the time we have here.”
Melody glared at him, and Devron had no doubt that she had a million things she wanted to say to him, smart remarks, insults, rebuttals—he’d expect them all, coming from her—but instead, she remained silent, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders, still giving him a look that would have killed if she’d held that kind of power.
The warmth of the heater s
pread and filled their little cave, the dim glow barely enough to see by, nowhere near enough to keep either of them awake after the ordeal they’d had. When Devron woke, he found Melody already awake, too, her back to the heater, which had dimmed significantly through the night. She sat with her spine stiff and straight, slowly moving her shoulders, first one, then the other.
She grunted as she twisted slightly to one side, then hissed when she tried to repeat the move on the opposite side. Leaning forward, she took a deep breath, and Devron admired the way her back curved and arched, how her breaths made her whole body move in concert, the ridge of her spine peeking through the thin fabric of her shirt.
“Are you sore?” he asked, deciding he’d watched as a voyeur for long enough.
Melody froze, her body stiffening before she slowly turned only her head to look at him. In the dim orange glow of the heater, her eyes shone like burning coals, making his blood stick in his veins.
She was gorgeous.
And she hated him. That look in her eyes was nothing but pure, undeniable hatred.
“What?” she asked, more of a bark than a question.
“Are you sore? It was quite the day. I can help,” Devron offered, raising his hands. His fingers couldn’t soothe aches the way his mother’s could, but it would be something.
“I’m fine,” Melody snapped, even as she massaged her own shoulder.
Devron sighed.
“Why won’t you let me help you?”
“Because I’ve seen what your brand of ‘help’ looks like, buddy, and I ain’t about it.”
He sighed again, taking his time to keep his tone even with her even as she intensified his hunger.
“I will treat you well, Melody. Better than any other Omega. You won’t want for anything, you won’t be mistreated—”
She scoffed, jumping to her feet, swaying on them unsteadily. Devron wanted to lurch out to help her, but he knew how she’d look upon that. He knew better than to push her further right now. She might be chemically imprinted to him, but she was still herself. She was still a thinking, feeling creature with opinions and a free will.