He didn’t know how, because she was right. If an Alpha did what he had done to his cute, tiny, green-eyed Omega sister, he would kill him. His mother? Kill him. If he had an Omega daughter? His mother was right; death would be too easy for anyone touching his baby girl like he touched Eve. God. He was an ass. He could blame his dynamic, but that was too easy. Being Alpha was supposed to make a man better, not worse. He’d acted like a spoiled teenager and a self-entitled brat by not even reading what she had put in her contract and by manhandling her to the point she’d stopped saying no and taken his knot in abject silence. Had she enjoyed it? Maybe. Had she said no? She had, and he’d purred and growled until she couldn’t say no anymore. He’d known what he was doing. Then she’d run from him with tears streaming down her face.
Lukas heard his door open and slam shut quickly as whoever came to check on him realized how dire the situation was. Rats, his men were all rats.
“Mom!”
“I said, do not ‘mom’ me, boy.” She beat him, doing no damage whatsoever other than to his pride until she wore herself out.
When she was done, she sat with a loud thump and slumped her shoulders. “What’s this girl going to do now?” she asked.
Lukas told her.
He told her everything.
Eve was in the training gym when the old woman found her. Eve twirled around at the sound of the door opening and brought her bo staff to the other woman’s neck, stopping just short, before she realized it wasn’t a sparring Alpha in front of her. The other woman never flinched.
“I apologize, ma’am, I’ve never seen another woman here. I assumed it was one of the guys wanting to pick a fight.
“With you?” the older woman asked.
“Yes, ma’am.” Eve dropped her bo to her side. “Eve Hatfield,” she said, extending her hand.
“My son said you are a fighter. I didn’t quite believe him. He had a lot of fast-talking to do, and I thought he might have made up that bit. I see he did not. Marion Jennings, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Lukas’s mom? It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am.” Eve shook her hand with a firm grip.
“Beautiful and well mannered.” Marion turned her million-dollar smile on, and Eve grinned back. His mother was gorgeous, a little smaller than herself, but not by much. Her shiny, white-gray hair lay long and straight to her waist, and green eyes looked at her from a smooth, unlined face. Her hair contrasted beautifully with her caramel-colored skin that held just a dash of cinnamon hue to it. She could have been Eve’s age or younger. “More well-mannered than my son. I apologize for his behavior. He was raised better.”
Eve blushed, turning her head to the side and hiding behind a fall of red hair. Marion reached out, running her hands through it.
“I’ve never seen hair like this. It’s beautiful, and your skin is the most unusual thing I’ve ever seen. Did my son hurt you? Had you had an Alpha before or been knotted?” she said, cupping Eve’s face and surveying it in the light.
“No, ma’am. I’m fine. It’s fine.” Eve didn’t recall the last time she felt embarrassed, but Lukas’s mother asking her about sex set her face flaming.
“You came here after something, yes?” she asked, not letting Eve off the hook.
“Yes, ma’am, I suppose I did,” she sighed, meeting the other woman’s eyes.
“And I think you may have gotten it, Eve Hatfield. My son is an idiot who made a big mistake. He realizes it. He’d give you anything. Anything at all, to fix it. I’ve never seen him even look at an Omega, and you have him tied in knots. I think he’s ass deep in alligators when it comes to you.
“That’s power, Eve, Don’t discount it. I’ve been bound to an Alpha for a long time. It sure isn’t easy, but it’s always worth it. Come have lunch with me. Let’s have some girl talk.” Marion gripped Eve’s arm and walked her up the stairs.
“I should change, maybe put on my scarves,” Eve tried, attempting to pull the smaller woman toward the second floor.
“Nope. Never change, Eve. Make’em work for it.” The older lady chuckled, and the silver-haired Omega led the red-headed one back into the streets of Greenville.
In his office watching the cameras, Lukas grabbed his desk so hard it broke. Again. Then he called his Alpha guard and most of his Beta guards and sent them to follow his troublemaking mother and his unique, hellcat of an Omega who was currently dressed in only skin-tight yoga pants and a sports bra. The two of them together would not be good. Would. Not. Be. A growl escaped his lips as the corners of his desk turned to dust under his grip.
Eve usually ate once in five different restaurants so as not to draw attention, but Marion had other ideas. She was on her third plate of barbecue and Eve on her fourth. Plates stacked up, and the attention of the entire restaurant was on them.
Henry’s had been around since before the war and would survive long after. Passed through the family for generations since, Henry’s made the best true southern-style barbecue in the New South, and if you ask the owner, he’d tell you that was the real reason the war had started. The conflict between tomato-based barbecue lovers and vinegar-based barbecue lovers runs deep. Everyone knows which way is right, though.
Neither woman said a word as they mowed through plate after plate as waiters gave their table a wide berth and a wary eye. Each woman drank water straight from the pitcher, and neither cared. Both sipped beers in between.
“You don’t know how to be Omega, do you, young lady?” Marion said when she finally pushed her plate away, stretching her back and cradling her food baby.
“I have a degree in Dynamics, Ma’am,” Eve said, stretching out and placing her hand on her belly with a loud burp. “S’cuse me.”
“You also have a degree in law, correct?”
“The Alpha was chatty. Yes, ma’am. I have a degree in law, but never sat for the bar.” She picked up the pitcher and chugged the rest, waving it for a refill.
“Call me Marion please, dear,” she said, as she sipped her beer. “So, you have a degree in Dynamics, drink a specialty floral tea to help with your scent, and I’ve been told used other, more interesting measures, to disguise yourself, yet you still drink enough water to fill all the humps on a three humped camel. That tells me you may know about Omegas but have no idea about being an Omega. There’s a big difference.” Marion waved the waiter over as he passed by. “My son is paying the check. Add twenty-five percent for yourself and bring us two cups of coffee and two slices of red velvet cake. Make them big ones,” she said, fixing the larger Beta waiter with a glare.
“Yes, Ma’am.” He shied away, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
“You know what all that water does, right? Why your body demands it?” Marion looked at Eve over nonexistent eyeglasses.
Eve shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. “Our metabolism is higher. We need more of everything,” she answered, her brows knitting together.
“Why? Why is that so?” she asked patiently.
“Because we have to prepare for estrous and that period of time we don’t take in nourishment,” Eve answered automatically. She didn’t need a degree in dynamics for that answer; every Omega is taught that.
“That’s a good textbook answer, but I can tell you from lots of experience that a mated Omega takes in plenty of nourishment during her estrous. That’s part of an Alpha’s role in serving you. The real reason you drink all of that water, Eve, is to help make the slick an Alpha’s growl induces. What you drink pours right back out of you the second an Alpha growls to make you ready to take him.
“You were raised by Alphas, honey, they can read the book and teach you, but only another Omega can make you understand. You’ve been using herbs and remedies to mask what you are, then drinking enough water to give your dynamic away with one vocalization from an Alpha. I’m not trying to embarrass you,” she said when she saw Eve blanch.
“Do you know why an Alpha purrs?” Marion asked, her face was not judgmental, showing almost no expr
ession.
“To calm his mate so that she accepts the mating bond which is often forced upon her,” Eve answered from rote.
“That is also true, but did you know that during the first weeks of pregnancy, an Omega’s slick can cause the unrooted embryo to be flushed from her body? Many an Alpha will purr for his mate for weeks without stopping, even in sleep, to keep that from happening. The mated Alpha will do anything to keep his child in her womb and will purr to the point of physical exhaustion to keep her still. He will mate her to feed that embryo and slow her slick, but he will not growl, only purr. It is instinct. Even the worst of them can’t fight it.
“Alphas have been known to die while trying to please unhappy and broken Omegas for the duration of their pregnancy. They starve to death because they are unable to care for themselves while caring for their mates. That’s why an Alpha male can smell a pregnancy from the second it occurs. That scent flips a switch in the Alpha brain and changes their approach to everything. You think there is freedom in being Alpha, but does this sound like freedom to you?” She paused the fork that was going to her mouth long enough to register the shock on the younger Omega’s face.
She didn’t know. She really didn’t. Dynamics classes were taught by Alphas. They taught the basics, the biology of the different dynamics, and their experiences with them, but they had no way of learning from actual Omegas because they never think to ask one.
“Beta couples have Beta children, Eve. Alpha couples have Beta children and a rare Omega, like yourself, but that is one and a million odds. Only an Alpha and an Omega can have an Alpha child, but they are also the ones more likely to have an Omega. The world needs both. It really does. A good mating between an Alpha and an Omega is not slavery. It’s the only way we can both be free. Through that bond, an Omega finds true freedom, and an Alpha finds peace. I know that is hard for you to accept, but it’s true,” she stopped again, catching her breath and letting her eyes roam over the crowd in the restaurant. She measured her next words carefully, for Eve was indeed a strong Omega with an Alpha heart.
“I want to help. You’re an Omega, but I’m not sure you know what that means. I applaud everything you’ve done and everything you are trying to do. I believe you’ve already changed more things than you know. I just, I don’t know. I want my son to be happy, and he wants you. You’d be good for him, but you would also be good for the New South. I’m not sure you even understand your power enough to use it.”
“Ma’am. I’m not sure what The Alpha told you,” she started.
“He told me everything,” Marion interrupted, patting Eve’s hand and holding her gaze for a long moment.
Their coffee and cake arrived, and they took a few bites in silence.
“If he told you everything, then you understand what I’m trying to do and why I need to do it,” Eve answered, lowering her voice and pausing the bite of cake before it reached her mouth.
“I understand that there is a war, and maybe you wanted Lukas to fight in it for you. I understand that you made a contract, and he violated it. I think you both underestimated one another. I do understand these things, but I need you to understand something too. Omegas are a rare power. A rare power indeed. You have the greatest Alpha in the New South and possibly the world in your thrall. He wants you. You want change. There’s more than one way to fight a war. Surely you know that. Women have been using the tools at their disposal since the beginning of time. As an Omega, you have the ultimate power. Use it.” Marion patted Eve’s hand again before going back to focus on her cake.
“I don’t understand why I should use my body when I can use my strength, Marion,” Eve said around a mouthful of cake.
“And that’s the difference between being raised Alpha and Omega. You get more flies with sugar than with vinegar. That’s all I’m saying. I like you. I see what he sees in you, but I see something else. There’s change in the air that was never there in my time as a young Omega. It’s the right time, and you’re the right person. Don’t discount any avenue by which that change could come.” She smiled at Eve and finished her cake, waving the waiter down for a coffee refill.
As much as Eve bristled against what Marion said, she wasn’t wrong. Not even a little bit. Eve had planned on using her body to get what she wanted, hadn’t she? Maybe she could still do it. Maybe there was time. It didn’t sit right, but it gave her another idea that did.
They finished their coffee and walked the streets back to the capital with minimal conversation, both deep in thought. Clouds had settled over the area breaking up the blazing heat of the day while waves came off of the pavement, and the air smelled like rain. Eve noticed the leaves blowing inside out and thought it might do more than rain. She loved the sound of a good thunderstorm and how hard they made her sleep.
Lost in thought, she felt them approach before she saw them. Within seconds they were surrounded by Alphas, each wearing an expression she did not find at all welcoming or gentlemanly.
“Ladies. Two gorgeous Omegas out for a little stroll, huh? Never seen a real white girl before.” These Alphas were young and hadn’t grown the muscle to go with their height, but they were dangerous all the same, and both Omegas knew it.
“I want the older one. I hear Omega pussy gets better with age,” one of the men said.
As the men reached for the Omegas, Eve whipped her bo staff from the waist of her pants and extended it, pulling Marion behind her. She twirled once, taking the largest man down in one blow, hitting him a second to make sure he stayed down.
“Back the fuck off, boys. Didn’t your mama tell you not to take what isn’t yours?” she said, letting the grin she felt on the inside flow onto her face.
“My mama was a bitch, and if I want it, I take it,” said another young Alpha, reaching for Eve.
“You need to go back for a little more home training, kid,” Eve said, twirling her bo. She saw an opening and then took him out with one strike, too.
She didn’t wait for any of the others to speak or give them a chance to run. She had them stretched out on the pavement and moaning in seconds. She moved like what she was, a fighter. These men were untrained and no challenge to her. She found that infuriating. When she rounded on the Alpha holding Marion, she almost didn’t register that it was Lukas and moved to take his head off.
“You were right, Luke, she is exactly what you need.” Marion chuckled, patted his cheek, and stepped over the fallen bodies in the road to head back to the capitol building.
Eve snarled, more pissed off at the lack of skill these Alphas displayed than the fact they approached her at all.
“Spar with me,” she hissed at him, demanding not asking.
He watched her through hot, green eyes, “Let me get my mother settled, and you’ll give the fight you’re looking for.”
Eve stalked back to the capital, and The Alpha fell into step beside her.
“You protected my mother, thank you,” he said.
“I doubt she needed my protection,” she said, her scowl growing deeper.
“I thank you anyway, she can flay a man with words, but she is not a fighter.” He grabbed her shoulder, stopping her march down the street. “Are you okay? Why are you so angry?”
“I don’t know. Just spar with me and make it go away.”
But she did know. If Omegas had the right to choose, then Alphas would be held accountable for their behavior. Men have harassed women on the streets for ages but were kept in check by societal norms lacking under Alpha rule. If Omegas could choose, then Alphas would realize that bad behavior would get them nowhere. They would be held accountable and forced into more acceptable behavior. Instead, they acted like big giant toddlers and got what they wanted because of it. It made her mad. Marion was right, but she was wrong too.
The Omega body had too many weaknesses for an Alpha to exploit. It wasn’t magic itself, but the reaction an Alpha had to it might be. But Marion had given her another idea, and the thought solidified in her mind.
She bent her knees and flexed into a fighting stance, twirling her bo staff lightly in her fingers.
“Eve,” he started, and she went on the offense, forcing him to shut his mouth and fight her.
She danced and whirled, never standing in one place long enough for him to land a hit, and she demanded that he try. She pushed him harder than she ever had, fighting him with everything she had, and realized something in the process. She was ready. The fight lay ahead, and she was in the best shape she ever had been.
The sound of their staffs colliding was deafening in the small space, and the smell of their sweat and mixed blood lay sweet in the air. Many times, the door to the gym opened and was slammed shut as the air in the room did not offer a welcome to any who might watch.
Their muscles strained, and chests heaved from the effort. He had mass and size, but she had speed and agility. It was an even match. The next time Eve swept The Alpha’s feet from under him. She rode him to the ground, grinding her hips against his. Faster than should be possible, she pulled the handcuffs from her waistband and cuffed his hands around the steel water pipe along the wall when she had angled him. He should have known after their last encounter that she would do this.
He pulled against his bonds once, then twice, bucking against her in an attempt to rise. She hummed for him, and he went limp underneath her. She rose, stripping her clothes off, never taking her eyes from his.
“Eve?” His eyes went from enraged to confused.
Saying nothing, Eve went to the case of water and chugged two before grabbing two more and feeding them to Lukas. “Shhhhhh, Lukas. Be still.”
The Omega Rule (Omegas of the New South Book 1) Page 10