“You trust this place?” Tavia hissed. “There are too many mutants—”
“Elites,” Renaldo corrected. I snarled a warning at him. Again, he ignored me. “We can lock you in our safe rooms. I can guarantee your protection.”
Oh, sure he could. And then the bastard would have Tavia under his control. At his whim. He could use her as a bargaining chip. Use her in any way he wanted because she’d be too preoccupied with her heat. I wouldn’t allow it. Wouldn’t allow her to be taken advantage of.
Never. Protect mate.
With a roar, I shoved Cassian aside and lunged for the human, slamming my fist into his jaw. That got his attention. He couldn’t ignore me now.
But as the other two humans drew weapons and several of the Elite closed ranks to guard him, he calmly straightened and wiped the blood that dripped from his lower lip. “I remember now why I despise Alpha Weren.”
I snapped my teeth at him, wanting the fight. Rage flooded my senses, mixing with the pounding desire to get Tavia somewhere safe. Somewhere alone. I either needed to bleed this bastard or claim my mate.
Or both.
“Let them go,” Renaldo commanded, and the guards moved away from the doors. “You must have much faith in your forces if you think you can protect this omega during her heat.”
“It’s not your concern.” The words clawed up my throat and my fists ached for another hit.
Renaldo’s mouth twisted at the corner. “Indeed, it isn’t. Not yet.” His gaze flicked past my shoulder to Tavia. “You know where I am, if you ever need me.”
Fuck that.
I reared back for another hit, but Cassian pulled me backward before it connected again with the human, and shoved me toward the exit. Tavia and Charolet were already on the move, and my focus shifted to getting out of the stronghold.
Outside, my men were alert and silent, watching the mutants who guarded the keep. I marched forward, motioning for them to follow, and we made our way back to the desert where the rest of our caravan waited.
Chapter Ten
Tavia
Omegas had a code. Any time one of us started our heat on our shift in the castle, we’d smuggle her back to the Badlands, to the safety of the bunker. The good thing about the alphas having zero respect for us was they seldom knew our names or the difference between one or the other. As long as the job was getting done, that was all that mattered.
But out here under human rule, I only had Charolet. Dagger was too busy picking useless fights with the humans. Stupid alpha. As my body temperature rose, I wondered if I should’ve taken Jacoby and Renaldo up on their offer to go into their omega bunkers. No. The bunkers in the Badlands might be decrepit and filthy, but they were the only control I had over the situation.
“Send the betas back to Luxoria,” Dagger commanded. “Now.”
“What’s that going to accomplish?” Charolet asked. “Tavia needs to get to a safe spot. Away from humans and wolves.”
“Exactly.” Dagger climbed into the Humvee and motioned for me to follow him. “Once the betas scent her heat, I can’t trust them around her.”
“You need to go too, Dagger.” Charolet crossed her arms over her chest, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from me. I knew her expression all too well. We’d had plenty of time to practice not showing horror to anyone, but her dilated pupils told me everything I needed to know. My oncoming heat was no secret, and we were in big trouble.
“Someone needs to drive us back to the bunker.” I couldn’t take it anymore, and I unbuttoned the top of my jacket. The hot desert air wouldn’t provide much relief, but at least the breeze could hit my skin.
“Tavia! No!” Charolet’s lips moved, and I could make out what she was saying, but I couldn’t hear her. Bad sign. That meant I was close to full blown heat. It affected all omegas differently, but for me, it meant I’d start to lose my human senses.
Dagger waved his arm frantically, and I knew he was yelling at us, but all I could hear was his animal. The raw, primal growl that had been trapped deep inside him for too long. Cassian picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. Charolet’s expression changed from fear to pure rage as he carried me to the truck. She chased after us and pulled my body away from him.
“In the back,” she mouthed.
She fought with Cassian and Dagger, and I let out a whine. She put her hand on my back to steady me as I climbed into the giant vehicle. Maybe I could be safe here. Maybe if Dagger drove this thing as fast as it could possibly go the dust he kicked up would be enough to mask the scent of my heat.
It could’ve worked, if wolves, fully intact as well as the mutants, hadn’t already surrounded our truck. Some of them were dripping at the snout, just dying for a taste of me. Dying to drive their knot deep into my center and spray their seed inside me.
Claim me.
My scream vibrated like a howl.
Charolet pushed me down to the center platform so I was no longer visible. Wouldn’t help. Dagger floored it, and she slammed against the back of the seat as he drove straight for the waiting wolves. The little part of me that was still cognizant knew that if he killed any of those wolves, the humans would make us pay. Dagger had already pissed off Renaldo when he sucker punched him. Couldn’t say I didn’t like that. A lot.
I ripped at my clothes. “Please,” I begged Charolet.
She kept her hands firmly on my shoulders, and she’d broken out in a sweat from the heat that radiated from my body. Her breath came in ragged gasps and her rapid pulse thundered against my skin. We couldn’t go into heat at the same time. She had to keep me safe.
I wished she’d let me up so I could see what was going on in the front seat with Dagger and Cassian. Especially Dagger. I was pinned behind him. The windows had fogged with my heat, and it had to be driving the two alpha wolves crazy.
“Open the windows,” I pleaded between clenched teeth. The worst part of losing my senses was that I couldn’t hear how the words sounded. Human or wolf.
Charolet shook her head. “The wolves.”
Of course they were chasing us. Renaldo probably put a reward on my head. Whatever human or mutant who brought the Queen’s sister back to the city while she was in heat would… no. I wouldn’t be forced to mate with any of them. There had been times I hadn’t been so lucky, when my girls weren’t around to protect me, and I hadn’t made it to the bunker in time. That nightmare flashed before my eyes and I shook my head to make it go away. It was just Charolet, and I knew she’d fight these bastards with everything she had.
I prayed it would be enough.
The truck skidded to a halt. All I could see was Dagger’s hand, pointing to the door. Charolet let up her grip on me to protest and I sat up, ripping the coat away. I was moments away from melting into a puddle of my own heat.
Charolet shook her head, and she grabbed me, like she was afraid she was going to lose me. A whine escaped my lips. I had no idea how loud it was, if the wolves were still following us. Everything was getting fuzzy and I couldn’t afford to slip into my own prison. Not now, when I would put everyone in our party in much greater danger.
Between my legs was slick, hot, and uncomfortable inside the leather pants. I wriggled out of them. I couldn’t take it anymore. Everyone could already smell my heat.
Charolet was arguing with Dagger. Big surprise. Cassian put his hand on her arm, and they shared a look that made me grit my teeth to keep my wolf instincts locked inside me. Stripped down and raw with need, it was no use. She broke the gaze reluctantly and looked back to me, pulling me against her body in a hug and kissing my cheek.
“I’m not leaving you,” she mouthed. I’d gotten really good at reading lips during my heat. “I’ll never leave you.”
If I wasn’t about to black out from need, I would’ve told her to go to Zelene. To tell her that the danger wasn’t in the human city, it was in the castle. That the humans had been trying to help us, but something was very, very wrong…
Charolet let me
go, and climbed out of the truck. Cassian glanced back at me with an all too familiar feral look in his eyes before he got out of the passenger's seat. He craved my heat.
Dagger climbed into the backseat. Oh, shit. He had me exactly where he wanted me.
He put his hand on my cheek and pushed my damp hair away from my face. It wasn’t exactly cool, but his touch gave a respite to my heat.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you back to the Badlands in time, Tavia,” he said softly.
What? Wait a minute. I heard what he said.
I could hear him. As though my wolf knew his wolf. They spoke the same silent language.
“Dagger,” I whispered, but at least I didn’t whine. I didn’t know what I wanted to say to him. That I wasn’t scared. That I was glad it was just him and me. And that he’d already done something that no other wolf was able to do. Quelle my heat.
I’d been mad at him when we left Renaldo’s castle, although in my hormone rattled brain I couldn’t remember why...
“I drove as fast as I could to outrun the wolves, until we ran out of electric charge.” He let off a sound. A cross between a purr and a growl. And his eyes spoke of all the delicious things he wanted to do to me. But his gaze didn’t stay on me for long. As he crawled closer to me, he looked out the windows, watching for trouble. He was a good general. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise. No other wolf will lay a hand on you.”
He meant to see to my needs, be the one to break my heat fever. But...
“Your mate.” My lips were so dry, and I thrashed beneath him. My leather uniform had felt like a prison, but his was so soft against my feverish skin. His cock was already hard when I moved against it. “What about your mate?”
He closed his eyes for a long blink. His arms caged me in, muscles straining against the leather. His knee was between my legs and I was about to writhe against it for relief.
“I meant for her to never find out.” He took a deep breath. “But I can’t keep it from her any longer. You’re my mate, Tavia.”
Chapter Eleven
Dagger
The admission left my lips without any effort. You’re my mate. My mate. Words that I’d been hiding for so long, yet now, under the influence of her demanding scent…
I lowered my nose to graze the skin of her neck and draw in her sultry essence. She moaned, arching into me, and my head spun with all the ways I wanted to take her. My wolf demanded I have her.
Now, hard, fast.
But she was wedged so deep in my heart already that concern for her safety had me shaking like a goddamn leaf. The wolves bayed in the distance, threatening to come closer. I’d moved us as deep into the canyon as I could. I didn’t know how long we could hide here, or if Cassian could keep his mind straight. I only knew that I would die trying to keep my word to Tavia. To keep her safe.
When did she become this important?
Was it the first time I spotted her, sweeping the streets near the castle, when my inner wolf told me who she was and I denied it? Maybe it was when she lost her job covering for Zelene’s mistakes, and I pitied her for being omega. Or when she stood up to me in the bunker when King Adalai shifted for the first time, and I was secretly proud of how strong she’d become.
Was it as I watched her tend to omegas who needed help in the Badlands, and knew without a doubt she would never accept me?
It didn’t matter when it happened. Just like it didn’t matter what happened after this night. This was the situation we were in. I could ease my mate now, keep her from the wolves, and deal with her hatred later. Maybe she wouldn’t have chosen this if her body wasn’t riddled with hormone fluctuations, but at least I wouldn’t hurt her like some males would.
When it was over… shit, I didn’t want to think about that.
“Dagger,” she breathed. “You don’t have to lie to me. Your mate is important to you. I saw it in your eyes when you told me.” She panted between words, her voice taking on that whine that came with the heat. She was trying so hard to be rational. “Don’t risk her for me.”
I stared down at her, aching to prove it, but her words and scent had me frozen in place.
“There’s… there’s… someone else.” Tavia gulped like the mere thought made her want to cry. She looked more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her. It made me want to curl around her. Shield her from everyone so they couldn’t see her like this, unguarded.
But there was only the two of us.
Then her words soaked through the fog of lust that surrounded me. Someone else. My wolf bucked in fury before my human brain even had time to catch up.
“There’s… Cassian,” Tavia finished. “He will do this so you don’t have to.”
Everything inside me turned hard between one heartbeat and the next. Cassian. Did she wish it was him sating her heat? Just hearing his name from her lips while she writhed with need made me murderous.
Kill him. Kill him first and then claim mate. My wolf felt so close to the surface that I thought I felt claws prick my fingertips. But having never shifted before, I couldn’t be sure.
“No.” My voice snapped out in a ferocious snarl and Tavia’s pupils dilated in response. “It will be me. No one else. Only me.”
I didn’t wait for her to agree. Going up on my knees, I unclasped my leather jacket and peeled it away from my damp skin. The air wasn’t cool in the least but the feel of it on my throbbing chest made me want to press my body close to her to soak up her heat.
I bunched the leather into a ball and slid it under her head, wishing we were somewhere more comfortable. Like my quarters in the castle. Or hell, even that ratty bunker where Adalai had taken Zelene. Anywhere safe.
Tavia’s hands flew to my chest, fingers scratching a desperate trail down the ridges of my abdomen until she found my waistband. I put my hand on hers to stop her from going farther.
“Not yet.”
Her beautiful eyes lifted to mine, questioning. “Change your mind?”
I shook my head, not trusting my voice. I hadn’t changed my mind. In fact… I’d made it up.
Not only was I going to keep my omega safe throughout her heat, I was going to make her feel so fucking good that when this was all over, she would still need me. She would need me. Tough as nails Tavia. Brave and fierce Tavia.
Like Zelene needed Adalai.
Like the desert needed rain.
Like… like I needed her.
“Have you ever been kissed before?”
Tavia frowned, breath chugging in and out of her lungs. “Yes.”
I knelt over her, arms pressing into the hard platform between the seats, caging her in. “No, love. Have you ever been kissed in a way that made your toes curl?” I stared into her eyes, letting my dominance flare. “Made your breath stop. Made you feel molten? Have you been kissed like you were beautiful. Like you were a treasure? A mystery to reveal. A gift to unwrap.”
Our breath mingled for several heartbeats as she considered her answer.
“You must know I haven’t.”
“How could I know?”
“What omega has ever been treated like that? Like a treasure?”
The honesty in her words attacked my heart like a virus. It was high time she felt her worth. The person I was before was beholden to a king, and to the laws of the kingdom. I could never have broken them without losing my honor. Without losing respect for myself. In this moment, losing my position as a King’s General felt like a gift. Because it meant I was free. I didn’t have to hide my thoughts anymore, and I didn’t have to make choices that ate away at me in the still of the night.
It meant I could give my omega these moments. Make her feel special for a little while. And the only regrets I’d have is not lifting her up out of the mud sooner.
I inched closer to her lips, the tightest rein on my wolf to keep from plowing her mouth with my tongue. “You’re going to want to rush this,” I murmured. “But you’re going to have to keep still. I’m trying to show you something.”
“I don’t know if I can.” I knew she was right about that. She squirmed at my nearness, the heat making her undulate.
“Try.”
I brushed my lips to hers, soft as a petal, before urging her mouth open to lave my tongue at her heat. She froze, almost gasping at the invasion, but I drew back, sucking her bottom lip between mine before she could retreat. Slow. Steady. Right now, there was nothing more important than getting this kiss right.
It could be our only one.
I couldn’t think about that now.
Pressing her open again, I tasted her. Slow, languid sips that made her fingers squeeze my biceps even as she melted into the platform below us. Strawberries and wine. That’s what Tavia tasted like. My hand on her jaw, I tilted her head and angled my mouth to go deeper. I wanted her taste on my lips for years to come. Wanted to be able to taste her in my dreams. Her scent, I wanted it permanently in my lungs. I wanted her mark on me as much as I wanted mine on her.
Shit.
I had to be careful. I couldn’t claim her like this. Not when she was lost to her heat.
Breaking our kiss, I eased back to gauge her reaction.
She stared up at me, looking confused and surprised. For the first time since we’d left the keep, a look of clarity came over her eyes and her gaze went all over my face. As if she didn’t recognize me.
“I… I didn’t know you could do that,” she whispered.
“Do what, love?”
“Make me feel like… that.”
My gut clenched, but I wanted to hear the words. Needed to hear them. From her lips, so I knew I’d done right for once in my fucked up life. “Feel like what?”
Tavia swallowed hard. Twice, before answering. “Special?” The word was quiet. Like a question or a secret. Or both.
“Yes,” I finally admitted, pressing the word into her cheek with a kiss. “You are special, omega,” I whispered near her ear. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before. But you are so fucking special… to me.”
It could never be enough. Not enough to make up for what she’d gone through or for my part in it. For being truer to my duty than I was to her. Nothing could ever make up for the injustices our society wrought. But no matter how much my body ached for her, no matter how much she needed relief, I wouldn’t rut her in a dirty Humvee without her knowing this was always meant to happen.
His Defiant Omega (The Royal Omegas Book 2) Page 5