This urgency to protect her, to take her out of there, to find a way to release her, notwithstanding what happens to me. I cannot do what he asks of me, cannot. Will not.
“Untie me and fight me.”
He chuckles. “I might have taken you up on that offer, but…” His gaze falls on his missing arm and…he raises his shoulders. “Well, it wouldn’t be fair, now would it? Considering you have both arms and I have one, it would be a very one-sided battle.”
Fucker. There’s no way I’m letting him carry out his plan. No way am I going to rut her in front of him and his men.
I’ve never had an issue with public exhibitionism. When you grow up on the streets and live in a shantytown, everything is conducted out in the open, including the act of coupling.
It had never bothered me before, but with my omega? No way am I going to allow anyone to humiliate her.
“I’ll take on five of your men, all at once.”
“You are a good fighter.” His gaze flows over my shoulders.
“Unarmed.”
“That may be a possibility.” He scratches his chin.
“And they can bear weapons.”
“They’ll be armed and they’ll chase after your omega. It’s up to you to find them and kill them before they get to her. If you fail…” He raises his shoulders and lets them fall.
“Bastard.” Rage grips me, intense, the kind I’ve never felt before. My stomach twists in fear. Sweat drips down my spine.
“You got that wrong. I am the legal heir of my father. It’s you who is the bastard.”
His alphas grow restive around him.
The one holding my omega drags her close to him. “Why are you debating this with him? Kill him, give her to me. Let me take her cunt and teach her what it is to be taken by a real man. She’ll keep us entertained until we reach the stronghold and take it for ours.”
“Along with all the other omegas there,” a second man adds.
“It’s gonna be one long omega pussy-fest.” The first smacks his lips.
I stiffen. Anger twists my guts, and something inside me snaps. Yanking my other arm free from the man holding it, I slide my hand down my leg, and reach for the knife that’s strapped to my thigh. I tug it free and throw it at the man closest to my omega.
It embeds in his neck with a wet sound.
I expect her to scream, instead she goes completely still. His body crumples to the ground. Simultaneously, she plants her fist in the man closest to her. She grabs his shoulders and pulls up her knee, so she hits him in the groin. She shoves him aside and sprints toward me.
Another man blocks her way. He grabs her and flings her to the ground.
The sound of her body hitting the hard earth sends another ripple of anger racing down my spine. “Pick on someone your own size,” I roar.
“We’ve delayed long enough.” Harald glances at the man who holds down my omega. “Release her.”
The alpha grabs her hair and raises her face. “I want her. She smells so fucking sweet.” He licks her cheek.
And something inside me snaps.
Gritting my teeth, I flex my shoulder muscles and shove them apart. Pain burns down my wounded flesh and I ignore it. My chains snap, and I race for her. I am halfway to her when I am tackled from behind at the same time that another man slams into me from the side. I fling him off. A third comes at me from the front. I twist my torso so he arcs through the air and over me, hitting the ground to the side. Another three spring on me. One of them holds my legs from behind, but I keep moving.
“Touch her, and you die.”
I keep moving, dragging more than my body weight in men along with me.
“Release the omega,” Harald's tone is hard.
"But…” the soldier whines.
“Now!” His voice booms out.
The soldier releases Lucy who rolls over, then springs up to her feet.
“Run,” I growl.
She doesn’t reply. She narrows the distance between us and tackles the man who is holding me down. He tumbles back and hits the ground.
She squeezes his neck between her thighs, grabs his head, and twists his neck.
The crunch of his spine cracking rends the space. She springs up to her feet and turns to me. Her chest heaves, her eyes glitter, and her hair sticks to her forehead. She is glorious. My warrior omega.
A warmth fills my chest. Whoa, hold on there? Now I am proud of her? Where are all these emotions coming from? I shake my head to clear it, then snap my gaze on her. “Woman.” I roar, “Why can’t you listen to me, just this once?” A bitter taste fills my mouth. It’s fear… for her. The band around my chest tightens. I need to get her to safety.
“The same reason you refuse to recognize that I can take care of myself, Alpha.” She blows me a kiss. Turning, she sweeps the legs out from under the second man who’s come at her from behind.
Adrenaline spikes my blood. I hit out at the third guy blindly, take him down. I aim for the fourth when a gunshot explodes in the air.
I freeze; so do the other men. Everyone except Lucy, who dives toward me. She slams into my chest, and her weight feels sweet, right. I catch her and tuck her behind me.
“Who’d have thought”—Harald sneers—“that an alpha as powerful as you, as focused on revenge, would find a mate.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I thrust out my chest.
Harald raises his arm.
And I know it’s a signal. I don’t need to look around me to know that every single alpha in the vicinity is ready for the hunt. They are going to come after us, but they’ll have to face me first. No way am I going to let them get to her.
I grab her arm and tug her so quickly she stumbles before righting herself. I sprint for the edge of the clearing pulling her along. “You remember how fast you ran when I tried to catch you the first time?” I pant.
“Y…yeah.” She shoots me a glance over her shoulder.
“You’ll have to run faster this time around.”
7
Lucy
He yanks me along and I am half dragged in his wake. I’d always wanted to fight shoulder to shoulder with him, but had never thought it would turn out to be the two of us taking on the Viking contingent. The most brutal warriors in all the new world. Men who kill without mercy, who raped—no, I’ll die before I let them get to me. I’ll kill myself, I’ll— Zeus increases his speed, and his powerful legs seem to eat up the distance.
I have to focus all my instincts on the path ahead to avoid tripping and slowing down.
His grip on my hand is bruising. My breath comes in pants, and my hair sticks to my forehead, but there’s no time to push it away. The sound of a shout behind me sends a shiver of fear running down my spine.
Zeus swears and speeds up.
The muscles of his massive thighs undulate and the planes of his back flex. His powerful shoulders slice the air as he leans forward on his feet. The poetry is evident in every line of his body.
This monster is the most beautiful male I have ever laid eyes on. He makes me hate him, makes me lust after him, reduces my insides to a gooey mess, only to inflame me to anger the next. A ball of emotion clogs my throat.
“Fuck.” It’s my turn to swear.
“You’re learning fast, Squirrel.” He tosses over his shoulder. “At this rate, I am going to corrupt you completely.”
“Not that you haven’t already, Alpha.” My voice trembles. “If anything were to happen to you…” I can’t complete the sentence.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you…or me.” He doesn’t look back, doesn’t look around, just keeps his gaze focused forward.
The sounds of footsteps reaches us.
We hit a fork in the path, and Zeus comes to a halt so suddenly I slam into his back.
The scent of burned pinewood, of warmth and pheromones, all of it crowds in on my senses.
My belly trembles, and tears prick my eyes. “Why did it have to be this way?” I slam my fist
into his chest.
I am not the kind to throw tantrums, but when I am with him, when everything I’ve ever wanted is right in front of me and I know I am going to lose it…well, something inside me snaps. The feminine part of me insists on coming to the fore and wants to cling to him. “I can’t let you go, Alpha, I can’t.”
“Listen to me.” He grasps my shoulders and hauls me to my toes. He
peers into my eyes. “I…”
“I—”
We speak at the same time. I gulp. His eyes, those beautiful blue eyes blaze at me.
There’s fear, heat, and some other emotion that I dare not name.
He swears, under his breath. Tilting his head, he closes his lips over mine.
The taste of him sinks into my blood.
He thrusts his tongue inside my mouth and his teeth dig into my lips. The coppery taste of blood bursts on my tongue. Mine? His? He ravages my mouth and drinks from me, sucking out the very essence of me. He's storing up my taste, my scent, committing me to memory. My instincts scream a warning and I know he's going to put himself at risk. I tear my lips from his. “Don’t you dare do it.”
His lips curve up in a smile that reaches his eyes, and those blue eyes glow darker, indigo flames leaping up inside. “I fucking love you, you obstinate, stubborn omega.”
I stare, “Now, you tell me.”
“You need to hide.” A pulse tics at his jaw, “Once I lead them away, you must escape.”
“I’m not leaving you.” I grab his collar and throw myself at him. But he holds me at arm’s length.
“We cannot both die. You cannot die.”
“I can’t live without you.” My throat closes.
“You can.” He sets his jaw.
“No.”
“You will.” His features harden.
“No, no, no—” I dig my nails into his arm.
“For the child you are carrying.”
I go completely still.
That’s it—that’s what is different about me. Why I have been so hormonal and my emotions so erratic that I am getting whiplash trying to keep up with my own feelings.
“How do you know?” Not that it matters, but I need to ask.
“Your scent.” He swallows. “It’s different.”
Another shout reaches us, this one so close that I jump.
He grabs me close, and shoves me into the undergrowth, right there in the fork of the path. “Go.”
“But—”
“For our child.”
The fear in his voice, the devotion…all of it leaps out at me. I know I can’t let him go without saying it. “I love you,” I burst out.
He smiles. The resignation in his eyes clutches my heart. I’ve never known my alpha to seem so beaten. The band around my chest tightens. My hands and feet tremble, and I bite down on my lip to stop myself from screaming. He hauls branches over me, covering me completely.
His footsteps pound away.
Silence descends.
Sweat runs down my back, my chest, and the branches scratch at me.
The dust stings my nostrils along with the receding scent of burned pinewood. My alpha. I squeeze my eyes shut to stop myself from bawling. The tears leak past my closed eyelids, but I don’t stop them. There are more shouts, footsteps racing toward me.
My heart hammers.
They come to a stop right in front of the bushes where I am hidden. I hold my breath.
They talk to each other, deciding which way to go.
There’s an explosion in the distance. Him. It’s him. Zeus did it to get their attention away from me.
Every instinct inside me wants me to throw myself at these men and tell them to stop, but I don’t. No, I cannot destroy Zeus’ effort. I need to get out, find the rest of his men and bring them here.
The men take off in pursuit. As soon as their footsteps fade, the breath rushes out of me. My lungs burn.
There’s the sound of swords clashing, bullets firing, a man screaming… Zeus. Is he hurt? A scream wells up. I press my knuckles into my mouth and bite down on it.
They couldn’t have caught him. Not my alpha.
My heartbeat thunders in my ears. Adrenaline spikes my blood. I slip out and run the opposite way.
Zeus is alive. He has to be. I race down the path. My pulse thuds at my temples, my breath screams down my lungs, and my eardrums ache like they’re going to pop at any moment. I race past the tree line into a clearing and keep going until I hit the docks. I come to a standstill, panting. There, facing me is Ethan with Mirela next to him.
She looks at me and takes a step forward, but Ethan yanks her back. Something tugs at the back of my mind. My instincts scream at me to stop, that something is wrong, and I push it away.
I reach Ethan and grip his sleeve. “I don’t know how you got here, but you have to help me. Zeus…they’re hunting him.”
He doesn’t say a word.
Mirela begins to cry. “You traitor.” She tries to hit him.
He grabs her arm and wrenches it behind her. She snarls in pain.
“What are you doing?” I stop, but I already know.
I’d suspected it all along. When you share a bond for any length of time with another person, you learn their secrets, what they are thinking about, their innermost emotions, and Zeus never trusted Ethan. Never.
“He was right.” The words tremble from my lips.
“I am sorry, Omega.” He raises his head, and those blue eyes of his are serious. “It’s not what I wanted, but it had to be this way.”
Footsteps sound behind me. A group of Vikings burst onto the shore. Two of them drag the body of an unconscious Zeus between them.
“No!” My pulse thunders at my temples and adrenaline spikes my blood. I will avenge my alpha. I will kill whoever has hurt Zeus. Is this what he felt when he decided to avenge his mother’s death? I raise my fist and slam it into Ethan’s side.
He doesn’t duck. “You’ll pay for that.” He wheezes.
I raise my fist again, but a soldier steps up behind me, grabs my arms, and twists them behind my back. I don’t resist.
Harald saunters into the clearing. “Get them to our temporary warehouse.” He walks past me onto the pier. “We’ll amuse ourselves with them tonight. I plan to take their bodies back to London as trophies.”
8
Zeus
Consciousness creeps in at the edge of my mind, and I become aware of a low, soothing hum. Gentle fingers trail over my chest, and something cold touches it. A trail of fire burns down my front.
I groan, not quite understanding what’s happening.
Something cold grazes over the inflamed skin, and the sensation subsides. A bandage is pressed over my chest. Water bathes my temples, and I sigh.
“You’re hurt; you need to rest.”
Her voice.
She makes to move away, and I snake out my arm. I grab her wrist and pull her to me.
She falls against my chest, and another flash of pain jolts me. I groan but don’t let go.
“You are going to reopen your wounds.”
Her voice is low, and I detect the edge of tension in it. I bring her close and bury my nose in her hair, breathing in that cool-rain-on-dawn-air scent of hers. It settles something inside of me. When I am with her the noise in my head subsides.
A tang of cinnamon and pepper teases my nostrils and my groin tightens.
She’s pregnant, with my child. My eyelids fly open. “You’re okay.”
Eyes of shattered green blaze down at me. There are dark bruises under her eyes. Her hair is astray and all over her shoulders. I reach up, and touch her cheek, “You didn’t answer me, Omega. Did they hurt you?”
“No.” She shakes her head.
Her gaze flickers to the right, and I follow it to find there are bars enclosing us. My gaze rakes over the row of iron, and I cradle her closer.
Realization sinks in. “They imprisoned us?”
“Not only.”
Lights b
laze over us. I blink, blinded for a second.
“I see you are awake,” Harald’s voice booms out, slapping over my skin.
Her shoulders shake. I sit up and bring her close to me, wanting to hide her behind my back. A growl rumbles up my throat. It’s meant to soothe, and a moan bleeds out of her.
Her entire body trembles; fear leaks from her.
I hold her close, not caring about the wound on my chest that throbs. Not caring that every part of my body hurts, my shoulder screams, my calves tense. I heave myself up to a sitting position and drag her up with me.
She climbs into my lap.
Her arms brush my chest, and her hips press down on my shaft. My naked shaft.
A door creaks open somewhere, and the wind sweeps in, bringing with it the scent of the sea.
Goosebumps rise on my skin.
That’s when I realize that we are both naked. Our clothes are gone, and we are trapped in this cage.
A shiver of apprehension runs down my spine.
In my arms, she trembles again.
Fear rolls off of her in waves along with that cooler scent of her omega essence, and mixed with it is the sugary scent of her slickness. My shaft instantly hardens. Another purr grumbles up from me.
She burrows closer, all but climbing inside my skin. I wrap my arms around her, trying to make as much of her body come into contact with mine as I can. She folds her legs and brings them up so she’s completely huddled into my lap.
I hunch over her. I want to shield her from prying eyes.
A wave of tenderness sweeps over me.
I had vowed to protect her… I had failed. I had faced Harald’s men, killed at least five of the bastards. Another ten had ambushed me, coming at me from all sides. I’d fought them off, had even thought I was winning, but one of them had managed to ambush me from behind.
My last sensation was that of the blade slicing into my flesh. It had bitten into me like a son of a bitch, and I had blacked out.
“They won’t hurt you, I promise.”
She folds her head under my chin and moans. “They’re going to kill us.”
Owned by the Alpha Page 5
