Crave To Conquer

by Zoey Ellis

  Drocco turned toward the woman and watched her. She relaxed as she spoke, getting into her stride. The collared, tawny tunic that skimmed her curves was typical of Vamore wear but it didn’t show enough of her natural shape for Drocco’s liking.

  “Children are still being taken all over the known Lands but with the prolonged lack of available Omegas, the Omega and Alpha birth rates are beginning to decline. Most Alphas born over the last few decades have been to Beta parents and they only come from Betas who have Alphas in their immediate family.”

  “I don’t need to know about the effects of this on the Lands,” Drocco interjected. He was highly sensitive to the fact that Alphas could eventually become endangered if the current situation continued, but he refused to discuss it with anyone. “I want to know how to find them or stop them from being taken.”

  “From what I have gathered, it is almost impossible to stop the Omega children being taken. There are mishaps and coincidences that cause no one to be around when they disappear. Many claim the use of the Talent is the reason—reports suggest that bodyguards lose their memories and locked rooms remained undisturbed, however, there is no concrete proof of this. It is possible, and likely, that all of the Omegas are still alive, although whether they are in good health cannot be known.”

  Drocco’s attention peaked. “How do you know they’re alive?”

  “There is nothing to suggest they are killed when they are taken or that they are killed at all,” the historian said, moving around the corner desk to a stack of parchment on a smaller desk next to it. “The late King of Ashens made agreements with all territories that exist in the Eastern, Western, and Southern Lands. Every city was searched peacefully and no bodies were ever found. There was also a sighting of a carriage filled with Omegas heading toward Neka twenty years ago. At the time, the witness thought herself mistaken but soon after, Beta males in the area claimed they could smell that Omegas had been there.”

  “Why was this never made public?” Drocco asked.

  “The ruler of Neka didn’t want to be accused of harboring Omegas and have his territory turned upside down by numerous rulers on the say-so of a few unreliable witnesses. So he suppressed the information.”

  “Neka is now part of the Lox Empire,” Drocco said, his voice low. “He will have to answer to me.”

  “That ruler died five years ago,” the woman said. “He was succeeded by his daughter.”

  “It makes no difference,” Drocco said, dismissively. “She accepted his title so she must accept his mistakes.”

  The historian said nothing. She stood by the smaller desk, a wad of parchment in her hands.

  “Continue,” Drocco ordered.

  “That is all I can say for certain right now, your Imp— Emperor.”

  Drocco nodded. She seemed to already know more detail than he did. “You will work in this room and liaise only with me on this. Nothing is to be copied or taken from this room. Understood?”

  The woman hesitated. “May I ask why, Emperor? It’s just that many of the records are decaying and if they were copied—”

  “This information has been collected over the last eighty years starting from my grandfather’s time. It holds witness accounts, detailed descriptions, statistics and information that can no longer be readily found. It shall not leave this room. If you have a concern about a record becoming destroyed, you speak to me.”

  The woman nodded. “Understood.”

  “How long will it take you to compile all of this information?”

  “Will I get any assistance?”

  “No.”

  She pressed her lips together, surveying the room. “Three months.”

  “That’s too long,” Drocco growled.

  “Then I need assistance. At least three administrators should lessen the workload and bring it down to one month.”

  “You are aware that this information is highly sought after?” Drocco said. “I cannot allow it to fall into the hands of those that would make more significant progress than me.”

  The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Is this a competition for you?”

  “It is a challenge,” Drocco said, sharply. “One that everyone else has failed.”

  “You have already united the Eastern Lands under one name, how many challenges do you need to accomplish in your lifetime to feel complete?”

  “Every single one that presents itself to me,” Drocco snapped.

  The woman ground her jaw together, her eyes flashing. “Then give me three months. The Omegas have already been missing for over one hundred years. What is three months?”

  A sudden shock hit Drocco like a pail of ice cold water. She was arguing with him. And what was more astonishing was that he hadn’t even noticed at first.

  He moved to her in a flash, whipping up sheets of parchment in his wake. Planting himself in front of her, he trapped her against the desk, as parchment floated down around them. “You seem to have a problem understanding your place,” he said between gritted teeth. A hot annoyance buzzed within him accompanied by something he couldn’t quite identify.

  She began to lower her head, but he grabbed her neck and forced her head up. “Oh no you don’t,” he murmured. “Do not try to adopt a meek stance now. You are one of those Betas who think you already rule the world but I can assure you, Betas will never get to that stage. I will find the Omegas we deserve, and a whole generation of Alphas will be born.”

  She stared up at him with those bright eyes and he rubbed his hand over the smooth skin of her neck and lower jaw, so small he could easily crush it with a sharp squeeze. Her honey-colored skin felt like velvet and he found himself staring at it, a thrum of desire skipping through him. It had definitely been too long since he’d had a woman.

  “You seem to be a challenge all of your own,” he mused. “You have an unruly manner, even for a Beta. I’m surprised you have been allowed this position.”

  “I’m the best there is,” she said, her voice strained.

  He realized he held her too tight, but squeezed her neck tighter before releasing her. She gasped for breath but didn’t lower her head.

  Something about her was intriguing. Drocco looked into her eyes for any signs of submission, any hint of why he might be attracted to her, but there was none. He leaned into her, then frowned. Her scent was disappointingly bland. Still, part of him wanted to have her imprisoned and tortured, while the other part ached to bend her over and fuck her right there. All of him wanted to dominate her; have her recognize him as Alpha and submit accordingly. But any time he forced a Beta to submit as an Omega naturally would, it rendered them mostly useless for anything else. He couldn’t make use of her skills on the investigation if she was begging for his cock every hour.

  “You will have your three months,” he said.

  She took a shaky breath and nodded, finally lowering her head.

  He turned and left the room. Those three months were for him as much as for her. He would enjoy her beauty, her skills, and her defiance and then make her pay for each and every indiscretion when the investigation ended. He smiled, thinking of her snappy retorts, her pretty mouth, and all that curly hair. It would be worth it.

  CHAPTER TWO

  CAILYN

  As soon as the Emperor left, Cailyn let out a heavy breath of relief. She fell against the desk trembling, bracing herself with both hands and breathing deeply. What the fuck was that? It was almost as if he could tell she was an Omega.

  Steadying herself, she made her way back to the desk in the corner and sat down. Closing her eyes, she focused her mind and checked her magical blocks from the top of her head through her entire body to the soles of her feet. All were securely in place.

  She opened her eyes, biting her lip in thought. The Emperor’s behavior had made her think at least one of her blocks had been knocked askew. He glared at her with those cold black eyes as though he knew she hid something, and when he grabbed her, he rubbed her neck like he wanted to force her to submit.
The crazy thing was, she almost did. She almost went limp as soon as his massive, rough hand closed around her neck and jaw, and she’d had to fight against the automatic reaction. She shouldn’t have had that response—that was the whole point of the fucking blocks.

  She sighed and rubbed her forehead. The Emperor was much more terrifying than she’d imagined. Massive, bulky, and animalistic, he was so alpha he was almost a ridiculous stereotype. His wild black hair, the way he prowled the room, his arrogance and demands—all typical of an Alpha with no limit to his ego. The only thing that had surprised her was his way of communicating. Most Alphas she had come across were unable to articulate themselves so well, even if they were smart. They lacked the patience to reason with anyone. The Emperor had shown great patience with her rebellious comments and she had expected punishment when she kept pushing. She hadn’t been able to help it. With her Omega instincts blocked, it was easy to be as pushy and sarcastic as she wanted, and it was difficult not to be when she utterly despised him. He represented every reason why Omegas would never return to normal society. The fact he thought he deserved them, like they were property to be owned, was enough of a reason to fuck up his investigation.

  She tapped her fingers on the desk, surveying the room but not seeing any of it. Now she had met him, she could properly form a plan. Firstly, her reaction to him needed to be corrected. She was almost certain that he had been emitting Alpha pheromones and if she hadn’t been blocked, her superior Omega sense of smell would have been overwhelmed. She would have ended up at his feet in a pool of slick begging him to fill her. She shouldn’t have been physically affected by him at all and couldn’t afford for that to happen again. She was the most accomplished Omega in the Compound with the Talent, which was the reason why she was given the mission in the first place. Since she didn’t have any contact with the Mothers to ask them why this had happened, the best she could do was reinforce her blocks and try to stay away from him.

  Secondly, the investigation. It was well known that Emperor Drocco had been collecting information for decades, and now that he had secured the Eastern Lands and was restructuring it as the Lox Empire, the Mothers wanted to make sure he would not find them. She had been sent to find out how much he knew about the Omegas and mislead him. However, if he wasn’t going to allow her to copy or remove any information, and if he was going to be working closely with her, it would be difficult to secure anything pertinent. She would need to commit important things to memory or use the Talent.

  She stood, finally looking carefully at the room. The three-month time frame she had told the Emperor wasn’t entirely accurate. She really only required one and a half to two months, but she needed the breathing space. She had intercepted the real Miss Camille Lefroy only that morning, taken her identity, and had her hidden. Although she had studied her for months, many things could go wrong if anyone was to suspect she wasn’t who she said she was. Luckily the real Miss Lefroy only went by her family name in her profession, and her friends and family called her Cece; very few people knew her real name. Still, one letter from Vamore would be all it would take to impede her mission or cause her immediate death. She needed to be careful.

  She firmed her mind and got to work with new enthusiasm, sorting and reading the books and files. The quicker she got this done, the quicker she could leave this mission and Emperor Drocco behind.

  ***

  For the next week, the Emperor came to see her three times a day. He arrived at the research room every morning, midday, and late afternoon to find out what she had discovered. He made her tell him everything she had found during her reading and then forced her to theorize an opinion. Of course, her opinion kept changing the more she unearthed and she began to feel mentally exhausted with the constant analyzing.

  At the beginning of the second week, she returned to her private quarters at midday to avoid him. Her quarters were not far from the research room and consisted of a beautifully furnished living area with an entire wall of glass that looked out over Ashens city, a spacious bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen area. Lying on her bed, reading a letter from the real Miss Lefroy’s sister, she fell asleep.

  A strange air around her caused her to stir awake. She blinked, suddenly alert, and slowly sat up. Turning to glance around her quarters, she screamed in shock. Emperor Drocco loomed next to her bed, his wide build blocking almost all the light.

  “Emperor,” she gasped. “What are you doing in here?”

  “This is my Palace,” he said, gruffly. “I can go anywhere I choose.”

  She bit her tongue to avoid responding with an angry retort. She valued her privacy, especially with her occupation. Taking a breath to calm her racing heart, she secured herself upright, keeping her eyes low. “How can I help you, Emperor?”

  “You know I am due to see you at midday,” he said. “I arrived today and you weren’t there.”

  “I wasn’t aware I was required to be there.”

  “Of course you are,” he barked. “I need an update and an analysis.”

  She lifted her eyes to meet his. “These updates are causing me mental fatigue, Emperor. They also waste a lot of time. In a week, I have done a fifth of the work possible because I keep being interrupted to stop and explain things to you.”

  The Emperor’s eyes narrowed. “I need nothing explained to me. I have read every single one of those files,” he said, his tone sharp. “I’m making sure you are as good as your reputation suggests.”

  Cailyn made a face. “If you don’t trust my reputation, why have you allowed me on the investigation?”

  “You are being interviewed.” His eyes glittered from the shadows on his face. “And this midday nap does not bode well for your continued employment.”

  Cailyn’s mood lifted. If he retired her from the investigation that would be perfect. She could simply take the useful information she had found so far and leave unscathed. “Are you bringing in another researcher?”

  The Emperor looked down at her for a long moment but she couldn’t see his expression with the shadows across his face. That trembly feeling began to rise in her again and she tensed, hoping it wouldn’t overwhelm her.

  “Get back to the research room.” He spun on his heel, his black robes twirling around his enormous frame, and left the room.

  Cailyn’s mood sunk as she fixed her hair and headed back to the research room. Maybe she had just made things worse for herself. He was probably offended that she had criticized him, but she had wasted half an afternoon sleeping because of his ridiculous interrogations. He needed to know.

  The Emperor stood in the center of the research room talking to another man when she arrived—a man dressed in the rich red cape of the Lox and not the gray robe of a servant. However, he was slimmer than most of the Lox, with a head of curly brown hair and silver-gray eyes. Commander Torin. Cailyn had read about him. At one point in the past, she had considered accepting a mission to seduce him in order to get close to the Lox. He was the only Beta in the army and that alone made him interesting, but there was as little information about him as there was about the Emperor. As she approached them, their conversation ended. Commander Torin walked past her without giving her a second glance.

  “How are you organizing the records?” the Emperor asked.

  “I’ve created piles for each decade and spread them a little so files and other information can slip in,” Cailyn explained. “Why?”

  The Emperor glanced down at her. “That isn’t your usual method.”

  A sudden heat spread through Cailyn. He knew Miss Lefroy’s methods. “I thought this way would work better considering the variety of subject matter.”

  The Emperor made a noise in the back of his throat, before moving quickly around the room. “I think your usual method would work better.”

  Cailyn stood for a moment trying to think of which of Miss Lefroy’s methods he referred to. When he began to pull the tables around the room, she knew which one. The Chron Line—the most popular meth
od of organizing research that Miss Lefroy had developed.

  Over the next few minutes, Emperor Drocco pulled a number of tables to make a line across the length of the research room. He shot her a hard look any time she moved to help, so she just watched and injected where necessary. Next, they decided how to order the information chronologically down the table, with areas cordoned off for specialist information.

  “This should make the research easier to organize,” the Emperor murmured, observing the new layout. “It is a good method.”

  Cailyn dipped her head in a nod. “Thank you. When will you be checking in next?”

  The man walked around the tables slowly until he faced her. “I want your comments on all of the files you have examined,” he said, his voice somewhat soft.

  Cailyn kept her eyes locked on his, unable to lower them as he came closer. His dark eyes looked different than normal—shiny and luminous.

  “I want to be able to see your opinions on the research.”

  Cailyn frowned. “You want my opinion permanently recorded on the files?”

  “You are the most accomplished historian in the Eastern Lands aren’t you? Why not?”

  Cailyn lowered her head, that strange trembling feeling creeping over her again. He stood too close. “Yes, Emperor. Of course.”

  He stood silently in front of her and then lifted a hand to her chin, a rough brush against her skin as his finger lifted her eyes to his. “You have the job.”

  Cailyn nodded. “Thank you, Emperor.”

  As he stared at her, the feeling increased, expanding over every inch of her being. His hand twisted and began to close around her throat.

  “Emperor, I really need to get started,” she said, forcing her voice to stay calm. “Is there anything else?”

  His hand slowed, brushed down her neck, and then moved away. “No,” he said, his eyes running over her before turning and leaving the room.

  ***