A Tainted Claim (Beholden Duet Book 2)

by Zoey Ellis

  Maddoc stood staring at her with those hard, soulless eyes she’d seen when he first entered their room; only this time, the intense anger in them made her mouth dry. That familiar shiver and tremble burst into existence, and she edged backward, words frozen on her tongue.

  He strode toward her, their eyes locked as though nothing else existed—as though no men fought and died around them, as though no arrows whipped by their heads. He wore the same layered clothes as before, complete with his red hood, but armor covered his chest and legs and the end of an enormous bow peeked over one of his shoulders. Within moments, he’d closed the gap between them, and as she turned—too late to escape—he swept her up with one arm, her back flush against his chest.

  Maddoc turned and strode toward the woodlands on one side of the gardens, calm and relaxed as though he simply came to collect one of his belongings.

  Ana held her breath, multiple raw and conflicting thoughts and emotions battering her insides as her mind tried to make sense of what was happening. Behind Maddoc, a battle was being waged in the gardens, every inch of it was filled with men fighting, and a nauseous wave rose to her throat. All this death and destruction. Wherever Maddoc went, this was what happened.

  She wriggled in his grip, trying to fight her way out of his hold, but he pressed her tighter against him.

  “You will not escape me again, Analisa.” His coarse voice was loud in her ear. “Do not even try.”

  Just as she was about to respond, Maddoc abruptly stopped, his body jerking as the clang of swords rang out behind her.

  Ana wriggled out of his grip as he fought, until she was able to slip from his arm, but he grabbed onto her and yanked her behind him as he continued to fight. The king’s guard surrounded Maddoc in a close semicircle, engaging him in sword combat but unable to get close enough to her to pull her away from him. Even with one hand, he managed to hold off the kings most trained guards while he held onto her tight.

  Looking around for a way to escape, Ana’s heart rose at the sight of her father on horseback, his royal robe streaming behind him, his face grim and determined. He angled his horse toward her and leaned over to one side, his gaze trained on her. Ana’s eyes widened, instinctively knowing what he intended to do. She widened her stance and bent her knees slightly, her heart pounding as Father neared.

  The ground trembled as he approached, and as he passed Ana, he leaned over and grabbed her, wrenching her from Maddoc’s grip and using the momentum of his body and her push off the ground to flip her behind him on the horse. Ana tried to find something to cling to in order to maintain her balance, but she was facing the wrong direction and the copious layers of material on her dress were not suited to remain upright on a saddle.

  A thunderous roar tore through the air, and Ana held onto her seat as her eyes met Maddoc’s. She wanted to look away, to avoid being targeted with his fury, but she’d never been able to. Tearing his eyes away from her, he threw his whole body into fighting even more furiously against the king’s guard, his sword moving at lightning speed as he dispatched of her father’s most skilled men. As soon as he speared the last one, his bow was in his hands and an arrow was already flying toward her before he’d barely looked up.

  Ana didn’t have time to scream. The arrow zipped past her and she heard a grunt behind her, followed by a low gurgling groan. No! Dread froze her heart as her father’s horse began to slow.

  “Father?” Ana tried to turn, but she was already trying not to slide off the horse. When her father leaned to one side, his hold on her slipped away, she dropped off the horse and to the ground, a hard jolt shuddering up her hip. “Father!” The commotion of the gardens swallowed her scream, but as she struggled with her dress to get to her feet, shouts of alarm caught her attention.

  A few knights of the king’s guard surrounded her father’s horse, bringing it to a stop, but Ana’s whole body turned cold when she saw her father, leaning to one side as the guards pulled him from his steed.

  The arrow had shot him straight through his neck.

  His guards lay him down on one side, some kneeling down to tend to him, others yelling across the gardens, but Ana couldn’t remove her eyes from him, her horror and panic mounting. The arrow was lodged firmly through his neck and blood poured from the wounds, drenching his armor.

  Ana headed toward him, tears stinging her nose as he writhed and clawed at his neck, his mouth opening and closing under his wide eyes. There was no way he could survive such a wound. He was going to die. “Father!” She began to run, but before she’d taken even two steps toward him, a thick arm lifted her off the ground and she was once again against the outlaw’s chest.

  He turned away from the gardens, this time running toward the woodland.

  “Father!” Ana screamed so loud her throat burned, and she fought Maddoc with everything she had, trying to twist out of his grip and get back to the gardens, but the Alpha wrapped both of his thick, heavy arms around her torso this time, securing her against his chest.

  “Let me go!” She punched Maddoc’s arms and dug her fingers into the massive muscles trying to pry him off her. “Father!” She craned her head to look back at the gardens but within moments, her father was no longer in view. The Alpha weaved through the trees surprisingly nimbly, his hold tight, and the cries and commotion from the gardens faded the farther they went.

  “Maddoc, put me down!”

  He didn’t answer, his breathing steady and heavy as he trudged through the trees.

  But the image of her father bleeding on the ground burned into Ana’s mind, fanning the flames of her panic and fear for his life. Using every ounce of energy she could, she fought against his hold, kicking, screaming, punching, twisting, and straining against every part of the Alpha that touched her. She couldn’t leave her father like that. She just couldn’t. He was most certainly dying and she wouldn’t keep quiet or be a good little Omega when her father, who tried to save her from this man, lay bleeding to death in the gardens where her wedding was to take place.

  Fresh tears filled her eyes and the more she thought of her father, the man she’d always looked up to, the man who raised her, the more the dread overwhelmed her. She would never see him again. The sobs came so deeply that she could barely breathe, but she still fought, struggling to be released from the bastard who had started all of this, intending to ruin her, and now he had killed her father. She fought him with everything she had, until she was so hysterical that he was unable to hold her.

  He abruptly halted, allowing her to slip from his arms, but holding onto her upper arms with both hands. “You’d better fucking behave, Analisa!”

  “No!” She wrenched herself from him so hard, pain ricocheted up her arms. “I want to see my father. He is bleeding to death back there!”

  “He knew the risks coming here today.” The anger in his bellowing tone roared through her. “He shouldn’t have taken you from my arms after I had already obtained you. It is the height of his dishonor to try and take what has already been claimed by someone else—”

  “I don’t give a fuck about your honor!” Ana screamed, her throat burning with each word released. “You said you wouldn’t kill him.”

  “What did you expect, Ana?” The growling agitation in his tone made his words even more threatening. “What did you think would happen when you disobeyed me?” The darkness in his eyes reached a ferocity that made her shiver. “I told you no one should touch you, or everyone you care about would die. And instead of abiding by that rule, you ran away to get fucking married!” He stepped forward and grabbed her neck, roughly yanking her toward him, the acrid scent of his fury stifling her. “And you let him touch you.”

  Ana’s own fury was fed by his. “He is my—”

  “He is nothing,” the Alpha roared. “He has no right to touch what is mine!” He stepped forward, forcing her to step back. “What exactly did you do with him in his mansion?”

  Ana glared at him, unable to believe that this was the height
of his concern while her father lay bleeding to death. But then what did she expect? He was the one who had fatally wounded him. Ana firmed her mind and tilted up her chin. She would not bend to this man—this murderer—anymore. “Take me back to—”

  “Answer me!” he roared, pushing her back farther and forcing her to retreat. “Did you fuck him?”

  “I want to see my father!”

  The Alpha pushed her back harder until her back slammed against a rough tree bark, it’s uneven gnarly knobs ramming into her back. She forced herself not to cry out.

  “You will never see your father again if you do not answer me!” the Alpha roared.

  Ana glared up at him, the anger between them thick and suffocating, but in that moment, she saw what she was really looking at. This man was a monster. The darkest black fury consumed him, bulging at his neck, darkening his eyes, clenching his huge muscles. His whole body was poised to attack, and every sense within her told her that he was bordering on the edge of control. The worst was the pungent scent seeping from him, entrenched with his aggression, flared an intense longing in the pit of her stomach, bringing with it a twisted admiration and desire at the sight and smell of an Alpha with such intensity and violence. Ana grit her teeth, willing the feeling away. “No, I did not fuck him.”

  The Alpha’s stance did not change. “Did he touch you?”

  Ana’s mouth tightened. “Not... like that.”

  “Then how?”

  Ana held his violent gaze. “Please take me back to my father.”

  The Alpha pulled her forward until his lips almost touched hers, then he slammed her back on the gnarly bark. This time a biting pain dug into her back, and she had to cry out. “How?” he demanded.

  Ana gasped, blinking rapidly as tears stung her eyes from the pain. “He… kissed me. That’s all.”

  All bravery deserted Ana when an enraged roar erupted from the Alpha; the roar so violent it shook the trees around them. His mouth slammed against hers, knocking her head onto the tree bark, and he kissed her so hard, it hurt.

  She pushed back against his thick shoulders, trying to pull her mouth away, but it didn’t make a difference. He bit and sucked on her lips and pushed his tongue into her mouth, punishing and brutal. Ana tried to bite him, to be just as violent in response, but it seemed as though he didn't even feel her resistance. As their mouths battled, his scent deepened into that familiar rich complexity tainted by the harshness of aggression, and Ana’s desire flared in response, just as violently as his kiss. Her nipples grew so taut, they stung with that rushing sensation she’d relished back in their room, accompanied by an exquisite throbbing between her legs.

  Horrified, she wrenched her head away, panting hard. Father had to be taking his last breath by now, if he was even alive at all, and she was becoming dangerously aroused by this bastard. “Maddoc.” She didn’t like the way her voice trembled. “Let me—”

  The Alpha released her neck, gripped the skirts of her dress and tore them down the middle.

  “What are you doing?” Ana gasped.

  She wasn't sure if the Alpha heard her. His hand dipped to her thighs, digging into them as he pried them open.

  Ana’s fury surged again. Raising a hand, she slapped him across the face as hard as she could, the crack of her hand echoing through the trees.

  It fucking hurt her hand, but Maddoc’s head barely moved. Annoyingly, the violence in his eyes changed to a hot smolder, and Ana’s own craving peaked to a tortuous need. Her whole body was aflame at the way he was looking at her, coupled with his scent, and she remembered—he liked when she slapped him—or at least when she was angry enough to do so. “Don’t touch me,” she spat, a sob almost escaping that she couldn’t control the conflict within her. “You are letting my father die without me. Don’t ever touch me again.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you want.” Maddoc’s growl was so low, it vibrated through her chest. “You have been irresponsible with this body, even after all my warnings.”

  “Stop trying to make this about me!” Her voice sounded shrill in her ears but she didn’t care. “All you want to do is turn this entire kingdom to chaos and upend the royal structure. You want everyone to be at the mercy of you and your men. I want no part of it.”

  “It has always been about you.” Maddoc hooked his hand under her thigh and lifted her leg. “You have no choice, Princess. ”

  “Yes, that’s right,” she remarked bitterly. “Everyone has to suffer for the actions of other people, just like making me suffer because of my father.”

  “Do not act like you didn’t beg me to fuck you,” Maddoc said dangerously, his other hand releasing himself from his pants, “or knot you or suck that clit until you screamed. You wanted everything I gave you. The only time you didn’t reach for my cock was when you were asleep. Do not act like it was any hardship for you!”

  Ana glared at him, forcing herself not to lower her eyes, even though the embarrassment at his truthful words coursing through her was almost unbearable.

  Maddoc lowered his face until his mouth was against hers, his black eyes staring directly at her. "And do not act like you are not wet right now, needing me to fuck this aggression out of you. Don’t act like your pussy isn’t sopping and twitching and waiting for me, because I can smell it."

  With that, he drove into her in one single spearing thrust, and Ana wailed in relief as the burn she needed rocketed up her core, flaring an erotic rejoicing throughout her body that made every hair on her arms and neck stand on end. It was though her body celebrated the feel of him inside her again, and she clung to him, knowing she needed it. He slammed so deep inside her she gasped, pumping a rhythm that slapped her hips against the tree bark as he worked in and out. His lips remained on hers, grunting into her mouth as he claimed every moan and whimper that escaped it. As her body jolted against the knobby bark, searing pains rocked into her back, worsening with each slam, and yet it fed into the bitter sweetness of the savage rapture that had overtaken her. All thoughts were shunted out of her mind as her body tuned in to the deliciously overwhelming sensations coursing through her.

  “So good,” he grunted into her mouth before biting her bottom lip.

  Ana agreed but couldn’t speak.

  She was so wet, her slick spurted out of her, as he worked in and out, dripping along her thighs. She found herself annoyed that his skin was partially obscured by their clothing, but he yanked her neckline down and encircled her hard nipples, and suddenly she was mindless with pleasure. When her orgasm came, it was with the violence of both of their fury, and it wrecked her completely. Tearing through every muscle in her body and sweeping away whatever resolve she had left. By the time the Alpha’s release neared, Ana was limp, her body battering against the tree bark as it bruised her spine, her head limp to one side.

  The Alpha withdrew and pushed Ana to her knees as he spurted his seed all over her. The warmth splashed her face and neck, and in the mindless numbness of it, Ana reveled in the satisfaction of his mark on her and the rawness between her legs. But slowly, as the Alpha continued to mark her, her mind began to clear. The gritty scent the of soil underneath her knees rushed into her nose bringing her back to her surroundings. At the Alpha’s last grunt, she noticed cloaked men standing farther back in a semicircle in the woodlands, their backs to them. They were his men.

  Instantly, the image of her father sprang back to her mind and tears welled in her eyes, a dark gloom growing in her chest.

  After fixing his pants, Maddoc yanked Ana up by her elbow and lifted her again into his arms, striding through the woodlands without saying a word.

  Ana barely had the strength to fight him anymore, but she saw he was not heading back toward the gardens—he was heading away from it.

  “Wait,” she croaked, her throat sore. “You said you would let me see my father.”

  The Alpha said nothing.

  Too tired to say anything more, Ana remained limp in his arms, nursing a bitter sorrow. He�
��d lied. He told her what she wanted to hear and then fucked her knowing she wouldn’t see her father again.

  They arrived at a clearing where a group of men and women waited atop horses, along with an enormous black horse that had no rider. Maddoc placed Ana sideways in the saddle and swung up behind her. Nodding at his people, Maddoc spurred the horse into action, and led them through the woodland with Ana leaning against his chest.

  The dissolution in her heart made her numb. Her father was dead and her true mate was likely dead too. She would probably never know the extent of what happened at her wedding, how many of her father’s knights survived, or even if any of the guests were hurt. What she did know was that without the king, the kingdom was certain to descend into chaos and that must have been what Maddoc wanted all along. He may have acted like he was angry with her for leaving, but this had to be the perfect result for him. No king on the throne meant the opportunity for anarchy.

  She gritted her teeth as she closed her eyes, relishing the bitterness between her legs and the sharp ache in her back. Pain roared around her body almost as unbearable as the pain in her heart, but she welcomed it. It echoed the ferocity of her anger—anger that she was still so attracted to him, anger that her mother would be without her true mate, and anger that the kingdom had lost a truly great monarch.

  But at least Maddoc had shown his true colors beyond any shadow of doubt. He had killed her father and then fucked her against a tree while she begged to see him. There was nothing about this man’s brutality that had been untrue, as much as he may want to play with words to make it seem so.

  She forced the sobs in her throat down as hard as she could as the clarity of her situation revealed itself to her. She was his property now, but that didn’t mean she had to willingly take whatever he gave to her. Granted, her body may be lost to her at times, but he did not need or deserve anything else. So she made a vow in honor of her father’s memory, in honor of her mother, in honor of Milly and Ryden, that she would never stop fighting him, that she would never make it easy for him, and that she would take her last breath before she gave or asked him for anything ever again. He may take her body, but he would never take her sanity or her mind, her love or her loyalty for those whom he made suffer. The first thing he would never have was her purr, the second was her words.