Eve rose and slid The Alpha’s pants down, tracing her fingers along the hard planes of his muscles and the shaft of his cock before moving back up and tracing the lines of the tattoos on his arms and chest. She had never seen anything more magnificent and wished she had time to trace them all.
“Eve, undo the cuffs, Eve. I’m not asking again,” he growled, but it was not a growl to call her slick; he was angry.
“No,” she said, trailing her fingers over his chest and up the line of his jaw.
He was beautiful. There was nothing but perfection everywhere she looked. His dark skin shone in the lights, and sweat dripped down his lines of muscle. She hummed her satisfaction at his appearance and spoke words of praise over his body, watching as his eyes rolled back and his head sagged against the floor.
“Yes or no, Lukas?” she asked, stilling her hands and watching his face.
“Fuck you, Eve. Fuck you. Yes,” he growled again, the tone lower and demanding.
He called forth her slick and the strings to her womb, and she smiled when it pooled between them, taking him into her mouth, she purred and hummed to him, saying all the things Alphas want to hear. Need to hear.
She didn’t care that it was fast, and she didn’t care that it was messy. She sucked him harder and harder, rubbing his balls and humming until she filled her belly with his seed and enough calories to keep her alive for a week when there was no drive to take in actual food. Just him. He had everything she needed. She took his cock down her throat and filled her belly, rubbing his knot until it was empty, and then she rubbed and sucked it until he grew hard again even though he lay under her with sated trembling muscles.
Easing her slick soaked body over him, she watched his face as she took him all the way to her cervix. It was unreal. The feel of him, the taste of him, the look of him was too much. She rode him with her eyes on his. He growled and purred his encouragement, telling her that she was strong, that she was beautiful, that never had he felt anything better than what she gave him.
The sound of their flesh moving and slapping together echoed, and her body thrilled at the feel of him. She came hard. Gripping his cock as she bowed over him, shouting her satisfaction. Her muscles clenched, and she felt every ridge and every line of him as he filled her in a way she never dreamed possible. He fought her, refusing to give her what she wanted. Not yet.
When the last wave of her orgasm ebbed, she started again, fucking him into the mats below. Her body took over and moved in ways that her lack of experience did not understand. Then she made a mistake. She kissed him. Leaning over, she took his mouth in hers and tasted Alpha on his tongue. She turned liquid inside her skin as she fought his tongue the way she fought his body. The feel of his cock between her legs and his tongue in her mouth undid her, and she wanted to reach up and undo the cuffs that held him fast, but she knew that if she did that, he would wrap her in his arms, flip her over, and cage her between them. A part of her that she couldn’t reconcile wanted that. Wanted it so badly.
His Alpha sang to her Omega, and she didn’t hate it as much as she should.
Hadn’t he done everything she asked? Once he read the damned contract, had he not done everything in his power to honor it?
They had talked, even though they hadn’t always agreed he had listened. Shared meals. Shared his body. Taken care of her. She had run all over Greenville, and he simply watched as she took down a gang of young Alphas. He had sparred with her and given her the fight she wanted when she wanted it. He’d allowed himself to be chained when that goes against every instinct an Alpha has. Every. Single. One.
Even now, as he lay under her, she knew he could break free, but he trusted her. If someone walked through the door and challenged the cuffed Alpha, he trusted her to either defend him or set him free to fight. Isn’t this the definition of a good Alpha? A good mate?
This was freedom, was it not? Had she ever felt better in her life?
Tears dripped down her cheeks, mixing with the sweat on his chest and sensing her distress, he purred for her, the sound low and soft in his throat. She hated that the sound smoothed her sharp edges so completely. She ground into him, ignoring it and what it did to her soul.
She rode him harder, grinding her hips and chasing escape from the feelings that ran through her, and she came again. This time when she clenched his cock with her core, he came too, releasing with a roar and ramming his hips into her so that his knot took her deep behind her pubic bone, causing her orgasm to start again. And again. Her muscles clenched him tight, and she screamed, milking his knot as only an Omega can. She emptied him.
And as his knot grew and her body convulsed on it, in a fit of possessive fury only an Omega can feel, she bit the soft skin where the curve of his neck met his shoulder, shaking her head and rending the flesh until blood flew in droplets through the air. She felt half of the mating bond snap into place and cared not one bit
“You’ll suffer now, Lukas,” she said at the look of pain and fear she saw on his face. “This is what it’s like to have no choice, Alpha. Your body won’t respond to any but mine. Now you’ll know. At least until I’m dead, then you’ll be free,” she stopped, licking his blood from her fingers, surprised to find it was rich like chocolate and delicious like cake.
“I’ll never be free, Eve. I haven’t been free since the moment you walked into my office, Eve, please,” he pleaded, pulling against his bonds in earnest. “For all your studies in Dynamics, you were raised an Alpha. You want to be an Alpha because you think there’s freedom in it, but there isn’t freedom. For either of us. From the moment the first hair grew on my body, I have fought my instincts. I did what I did because I wanted you. I wanted you forever, and that’s no excuse, but I wanted you for a lifetime with no thoughts of death. You place your mark on me as an act of rebellion and tell me I can move on once you die, Eve. You’re no better than me. I want to live with you, not die with you.
“I have searched for the piece of me that was missing. Whether it was an Alpha, Beta, or a smart, stubborn, dominant, hellcat of an Omega female, I’ve had no choice in this. None. You aren’t the mate my brain would have chosen. You’re wild and unyielding when all I thought I wanted was softness and comfort. But you are the mate my heart chose, EJ, the one my body did, and there’s no going back. Please uncuff me. I want to hold you. I need to hold you, please.” His head sank back against the floor, and his body shook under hers, his knot binding them together.
Ignoring him, she dropped her head to his chest and slept. When the knot loosened and their fluids flowed from her, she grabbed her clothes and left him, knowing that he was right. She was no better, and if anything, she was worse.
Chapter 14
Eve dressed quickly in the hall. The heavy scent of Alpha and Omega mating hung in the air and would keep others away for a while. The enraged shouts of The Alpha could be heard but mistaken as roars of pleasure. She raced up the steps and slammed into her room, packing everything she owned into her sacks. She draped herself in heavy scarves, hoisted the packs over her shoulders, and rounded to go running straight into Jason.
“Jason,” she said, her eyes shooting to the door and her hands reaching for her staff.
“You’re leaving, EJ?” he asked, his eyes sweeping her body and nose flaring at her scent. “Who will I spar with? I’ll get all soft and weak without you.” He stifled a smile before his face grew serious.
“Don’t make me fight you, Jason,” she said, her voice going low and dangerous.
“I’m not going to fight you,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “The Alpha says that there are a hundred or more Omegas in the woods just waiting. Is that true?” he asked, bringing his dark eyes to her light ones.
“It is,” Eve said, easing her bo down.
“Are there any males? Any Omega males?” he asked, taking a deep breath and dropping his eyes from hers.
“There are three,” she answered, and the first real smile she had felt in a long time
spread across her face.
“Do you think?” he stopped, breathing in deeply again. “Do you think one of them might choose me?” he finished.
Omega females are rare, and Omega males even more so. Most, but not all, Omega males are gay. The Omega male’s body was much different than an Omega female, obviously, to accept an Alpha male lover.
Eve’s smile grew bigger. “I think at least one might, if not all. You are a catch, Jason. I’ve enjoyed sparring with you.”
“Where are you going, Eve Hatfield?” Jason asked, standing aside, so the path to the hall was clear.
“Home, Jason. I’m going home,” she sighed, and it came out as a sob.
Jason nodded once and held her eyes. “I’ll release The Alpha in half an hour. Anything longer will be suspect. Run fast, Eve. I have no doubt we’ll be right behind you with an army of Marines. He will tear down heaven and earth to bring you back.” He pulled her into a quick, awkward hug.
“I’m counting on it, Jason.” With a wink, she was gone, leaving him shaking his head.
Minutes later, Jason heard a roar and felt the building groan. He knew they were all out of time; fixing his face and going into a fighting stance, he waited as the Alpha pounded up the stairs,
“I heard her door slam, Sir, she appears to be gone,” he offered as the bloodied, naked, and enraged Alpha stormed into the room.
“Find her! Bring up the footage in my office! I will dress and be there,” The Alpha snarled as blood dripped down his chest from the wound on his neck and the ones on his wrists. He stood, breathing in the scent of his Omega and their sex and roared his rage at her absence, rattling the windows in their frames.
As Eve rode her motorcycle into the growing night, she felt his rage and pain and knew she had made yet another mistake. Fighting the need to return and soothe him, she rode like the wind, hoping the miles would ease it.
Jason pulled up the footage of the last three minutes from Eve’s room and replaced it with a black screen. The Alpha would think the camera malfunctioned or that she had disabled it. By the time his furious Alpha came into the room, he had footage from every camera up on every available screen for them to pour over.
“She claimed you,” Jason started. “Can you use that to find her?” His eyes slid sideways to take in the mess of a man next to him.
“As I was chained to the wall and she was above me at the moment, the binding is incomplete. I can feel her here,” he said, pounding his chest. “It won’t help me locate her.” He sighed, hanging his head onto his chest and rubbing his hand over his heart.
“Is everything okay, honey?” Marion said from the door, stopping short when she took in her son’s appearance. “Oh, dear. I guess that’s one way to do it,” she sighed, walking into the room and folding him into a hug. “You’ll get her back, sweetie. Don’t worry.” Patting his head, she pulled away.
“Mom. What do you know?” he said, forcing himself not to growl at her since he didn’t want to get beaten with a newspaper. Again.
“I know that you’re right. She’s perfect for you. Now go be perfect for her.” Patting his hand, she winked at him. “I’m going home to your father; he’s getting antsy. Call us when she’s back, and my grandbaby is in her belly.” She patted his arm again and left the men giving one another confused looks.
“Get the men ready, Jason. We move out in the morning. Recon units and Special Forces with light artillery only under my command, we’ll be moving fast through rough country. I want drone and air support on standby. We’ll go through the First District on the North wall at the easternmost point, skirting the Seventh as much as possible. Check the old maps. There is a place called Catlettsburg that now has a small munitions stash and former airplane hangars to use as a base. The roads are still mostly passable in that area. Tell the men we are going dark until we are not. Don’t tell them where they are headed or what our objective is. Call out the Reserve. I want them set up in a week. Take tanks and heavy artillery. They are under Derrick’s command, and I want them openly staged in Roanoke. Lots of movement. Lots of distraction. Get the drones up and bring in unmanned shuttles of supplies around the clock. They’ll get there a day or two after we arrive in the First. They’ll mask our movements and make people worry. I want Comlinks open to me. We’ll coordinate as we move forward.” The Alpha slumped into his desk chair and took a drink of Eve’s moonshine from the bottle.
“If the Seventh is as volatile as they say, then expect to be attacked openly. Be ready for anything and send Derrick to me for briefing. Leave Malcolm and the Raider team here to keep peace in our absence.
“To what objective, Sir?” Jason asked, taking the liberty of pouring himself a whiskey. He seemed to be taking a lot of liberties lately. If the Alpha found out he let Eve walk away from him, his head would be on display at the wall for eternity, but as the son of a rare Omega male, he knew what Eve was after even if she did not.
“To bring the Seventh to heel,” The Alpha growled, taking another sip of the clear, sharp grain alcohol.
“You mean to bring an Omega to heel, Sir,” Jason muttered.
“I don’t think that’s possible. Neither may be possible, but I’m not willing to lose the war. Either of them. Leave me, send Derrick in the morning.” he ordered, slamming the bottle onto his new desk and cracking the glass overlay.
The other Alpha left.
When he was alone, Lukas drank the moonshine sip by sip. Without Eve he couldn’t sleep, so he didn’t try. Her mark stung, and the cord between them accused him and reminded him of every misdeed and wrong step. Halfway through the bottle, he could feel her body moving over his again and the wetness of her slick as it ran freely between them. He longed to taste it, to feast on it. Never had he felt the way her body made him feel, but it was more than that. He liked the way she thought and the way she fought him. She wasn’t boring and never would be. She’d ripped a man apart because he couldn’t please her, and he had no doubt she would do it again if pushed. He liked it. She was untamed and out of control but the most controlled individual he’d ever met. She was everything he wasn’t.
He could feel her heartbeat. It was slow and steady. Someplace, she was safe. Someplace, she was comfortable. Someplace without him.
Three-quarters of the way through the bottle, he felt her miss him just for a moment. She woke up in a haze and wondered why he wasn’t there to comfort her, and the cord accused him again. He felt her sigh across his skin as she turned over and went back to sleep. He could smell her on the wind, and his cock dripped need onto the floor until he had to satisfy himself with his hand since if he thought of another woman, it went limp and useless.
She changed him. In many, many ways, she had changed him.
When the bottle was empty, he finally lost his fight with consciousness, and his head fell onto the desk, cracking the glass in a spiderweb around it.
Chapter 15
The Alpha awoke with the sun, his body slick with sweat, dried blood, and determination. His brief lapse into self-pity over, he showered, changed, and prepared to inspect his warriors. Dozens, but less than a hundred of elite Alpha and Beta males and a scattering of Alpha females waited at parade rest, and upon seeing him at the top of the stairs, they snapped to attention.
Dressed in his woodland camouflage, The Alpha walked to meet them, his rucksack slung over one shoulder, and his M16L11 slung over the other. Strapped to his right thigh was his Laser Glock 62, on the left his Laser Glock 71, and in his waistband was an antique M1911 that shot honest to god bullets filled with honest to god gunpowder. To his left bicep, he had strapped his collapsible bo staff and to his right a short combat knife. Down his back in a long sheath, he wore his father’s father’s Helbitr, a medium-length sword that was perfect for close combat in densely wooded areas.
At the bottom of the stairs, he reminded everyone in the room why he was The Alpha. Aggression floated around him like a dark cloud, but his expression was flat, and his eyes gave away nothing. To
wering above the next largest Marine, he inspected them all. Nodding approval at their choice of weapons even though they did not know their exact destination, proving why they were the elite of his battalions.
“Comlinks are keyed to local communications only. If you travel more than a mile in any direction, the only channel you will have comes to me,” he began without preamble. “We’re going into the Seventh District. We are doing recon and flying under the radar until we can learn about and engage the enemy. There’s a war going on that the New South knew nothing about. It ends now. Our allies are unconventional, and our enemies disguised as allies. This will not be easy. Our job is to fight at the heart of this war. The secondary front will make a show of being large and lumbering to take attention off of us, but they are ready to engage in any type of jungle warfare we face.
“Bottom line is there is a large faction of individuals calling themselves Sevenths. You would think they would be loyal to the New South, but they are not. They are spreading Sedition, dissent, and wish to secede from the New South. The explanation is complicated, but the result, if they win, would not be. It would be devastating. They will be stopped. They will be stopped, and the citizens who are loyal to the New South protected regardless of the fact that some of them look a little…. treasonous,” he stopped, laughing, before putting his flat mask pack on.
“Permission to speak freely, Sir.” A man stepped from the ranks and waited for a response.
“Granted, Ulie.” The Alpha slipped into parade rest and waited for the other man to speak.
“Rumor has it that there are one hundred Omegas in the woods for our taking. Are they connected to this, Sir?”
The Alpha sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “NS304, otherwise known as The Omega Rule, was signed into law today and states that no Omega can be forced into sex, into a bond, or have claiming marks placed on them without his or her consent inside or outside of estrous. The Omega Rule states that each Omega has the right to choose his or her Alpha, has the right to deny the attentions, affections, or pursuits of any Alpha for any reason. Each interested Omega and each interested Alpha may spend no less than one day and no more than fourteen deciding whether or not they fit together before they must move on to another interested party, thus hastening jointly compatible matchings. This speed dating process cannot be used within seven days of suspected estrous or for the following five days so as not to force undue influence on either party.
The Omega Rule (Omegas of the New South Book 1) Page 11