by L. V. Lane
“Good choice,” he said and opened the door for me to climb inside.
The journey passed in silence. All my usual sassy comebacks had fled me, and Kade appeared similarly intent.
Choices? What were the choices in this life and this world?
I wasn’t shown through the nightclub this time; instead, the underground transport bay had an elevator that took me to Lucian’s office.
Lucian stood waiting for me when the doors opened to his office, wearing a dark gray suit that emphasized the stark brightness of his eyes. The Alphas were the favored dynamics, the ones who had come out on top. The sharp suit did not disguise the animal that lurked beneath the facade.
The animal part of me sensed how lowly I was. I did not belong.
He nodded, his focus on something over my shoulder, and I heard the faint rush of air as the elevator closed.
For the second time in as many days, I was alone with Lucian Banner.
“Where were you going this morning?”
“I—” I had no idea what I could say. “I needed to report a matter,” I finished. The urge to lower my eyes was strong, but I could not look away. Did he think I’d intended to report him?
“Accept my proposal, and I will take care of him.”
Him?
“You haven’t given me a proposal yet,” I said, finally finding a semblance of my wits.
His lips twisted into a smirk that sent my stomach into free fall. What did he want?
I knew what Dino wanted from me; he had made it more than clear. Like my brother, I was in his debt, and the monster would one day come to collect.
“I haven’t, have I. Let me address that now.” He indicated the low seating area that offered a view over the nightclub. I was early—earlier than I would usually arrive—but the wild party never seemed to end.
My legs grew heavy between the elevator and the couch, and I was glad for a reason to sit.
He took the seat opposite, lounging back. The action emphasized his rippling Alpha build that the fancy suit could not disguise.
“I have a drug I want to test,” he said.
I felt a blush creeping over my face, this was not what I expected, and his broadening smile did not help.
“A drug? What is it going to do?” Why was I even asking? He wanted to drug me, he was a criminal, if the rumors were to be believed and I could easily believe the rumors.
There was a long delay before he offered a cryptic, “Probably nothing.” His eyes turned hooded as we continued to stare at one another, and that cursed blush came rushing back. “But, it might turn you into an Omega.”
What!
I burst out laughing. He frowned.
“And you think anyone would choose to be an Omega?” My life had just taken a very bizarre turn.
He adjusted his cuff, sending the material moving and stretching over muscle. “I will pay you a great deal of money.” He named a figure too large for me to comprehend.
I had to blink a few times to catch up with what he’d said, and a derogatory scoffing noise escaped my lips. “Money would be irrelevant if I became an Omega…before I know it, I will be someone’s,” —pet— “possession. Or deployed to the war—I heard Omegas were deployed to the war.”
“Not always,” he said, which did not make sense. “I would like nothing better than to care for you, should the drug prove effective.”
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“You will?”
I could see I had stunned him, but he recovered quickly.
“Assuming my other conditions are met,” I said. I could do a lot with money, could get out of the hellish environment, away from Dino, and make a new start somewhere else. Maybe even leave Chimera. The idea of never seeing my family upset me, even my brother, who brought nothing but trouble to our door.
But this was an opportunity, and like he had said yesterday, I was ready to take it. Why wouldn’t I? It wasn’t as if his drug could really turn me into an Omega?
Not when I was one already—a muted Omega that testing did not reveal. I could hardly believe my luck!
This morning I had been about to report my dynamic status to the government. They promised compensation to Omega families because once an Omega revealed, they would not be going home again.
“You’re looking very smug, love,” he said, eyes narrowing in a way I was becoming familiar with. “You don’t believe it will work? I’m prepared to pay you well for the chance.”
I was playing him, I realized, and I was not a player. But if I was playing him, he was also playing me. “Why would you do this? Why do you want to test this drug…on me?”
“I think you know the kind of man I am.” His voice was smooth and oddly calming, such that I got lost in it without hearing the words, and I had to catch up with what was said. “The drugs, if it works, will be very lucrative. But I need a non-dynamic. One who has the appearance…and disposition of an Omega.”
“You think I have the disposition of an Omega?” I’d been told more times than I could count that I didn’t.
“Pet,” he said, and just that word from him in that sexy voice could make me shiver. “From my recent experiences, I would say you are the perfect Omega in every way but one.”
My heart rate jacked up, and I turned away. I could feel my body responding, despite the suppressants I had bartered my soul for with Dino Malaxos. Forcing my breathing to slow, I directed my thoughts away from the beautiful man sitting opposite me and the rich pheromones that were surrounding me. It wasn’t easy, but I had become adept at ignoring my body's cues where Dino was concerned.
Lucian was proving far more difficult.
I had indebted myself to Dino. He was holding it over me, and I knew there would come a day when he would demand I pay in one way or another.
I was out of options; I had been out of options for a long while.
I sensed Lucian was a dangerous man the first time I met him, perhaps more so than Dino. If I went ahead with this and he found out that I had duped him, it would not work out well for me. But if I could do this, then I would have a way out.
“And what happens after? What if I become an Omega, and I go into heat?”
He shifted in his seat…like a predator about to pounce.
“I would be happy to rut you through your heat.”
God, those words, that voice, and those intense eyes staring into my soul. I swallowed.
“What if I don’t want that? I want you to supply me with suppressants. You can get them for me?” Any man in possession of a drug that could allegedly turn non-dynamics into Omegas would have access to suppressants.
“I can.” He inclined his head. “But I don’t agree with their use. Which might be hypocritical of me.” He shrugged. “An Omega has emotional needs that cannot be met or masked with drugs. Yes, drugs help, but rutting is much healthier.”
“No, thank you.” No way was I letting him rut me. I had been through several heats with the aid of drugs, locked in my room, while my mother complained, and my brother played his music loud enough to drown out my tormented cries. My heats were extreme, even with suppressants, I could not imagine what they would be like without. “Suppressant supplies will be included in the contract.”
His lips twitched. “Contract? I’ll have one drawn up, Pet.”
Now the bastard was amused. “Agreement, then. Whatever it is we are doing, legal or not, there should be an agreement,” I said firmly.
He nodded. “How long do you need to prepare?”
That question drove home the reality of what I was considering. No, I was long past the consideration stage—I was about to do this. The payment was generous, but I would do it for the suppressants alone. And after, I would be free.
My eyes lowered to where my hands were clasped neatly over my functional brown dress. I was already late for my shift at the coffee house, and after leaving early yesterday, I thought even my amiable manager would not be best pleased. Dino was due to visit any day with my
next batch of suppressants, and he had been making less than subtle suggestions that it was time for me to let him take care of me. I shuddered, I had no desire for that Alpha to touch me.
“I’m ready now,” I said quietly. “Will you need to do anything before. No medical—I don’t like medicals. I had one a month ago, and I could provide a copy.” I doubted they would have means of discovering my dynamic given that mandatory testing had not, but I was disinclined to take the risk.
Silence settled between us once again. I noticed that he did that a lot, and it was really unnerving. There was so much going on behind those eyes, calculation, assessment, and more calculation.
“I’ve no wish for harm to come to you, Pet. I’ll have the doctor review your report. If he’s satisfied, we will proceed.”
CHAPTER FIVE
THE RUTHLESS PREDATOR in me had woken up the moment Madelyn entered my office, trembling and anxious. She looked like an Omega, and if I had my way, she would soon be one. Redheads hadn’t interested me until her judgey ass had entered my life. Now I wanted nothing else.
I was a man who took what he wanted. My business empire was acquired through that very mandate. None of what I now possessed had initially been mine. But I had taken all of it from those too weak to hold it.
I came from Lyus, and there was no greater hellhole in our Empire. The infamous Alpha conscription had ripped me out and put me to use in the war. It was not long before the military realized they had bitten off more than they could chew, and we had parted ways under a mutual agreement of sorts five years later.
Like all dynamics and non-dynamics, there were scales on which we sat. I wasn’t the biggest, strongest, or fastest Alpha, but I was one of the smartest. I liked to be in control, I liked to pit myself against a competitor, and I liked to be the winner.
I was always the winner.
She didn’t balk at the electronic contract I had Rhett draw up. Not that it was worth a damn, but it seemed to allay her concerns. I had a suspicion she was eager for this to be done.
“Who is he?” she asked, her attention shifting to Rhett, who had made a rare appearance…because he was a nosy bastard. He was semi-civilized today—as in he had put some shoes on. The bright orange t-shirt with a gecko, tongue hanging lewdly out, and middle-finger saluting, lowered the tone a bit.
“My lawyer,” I said. Even I didn’t believe that bullshit. Rhett raised an eyebrow in a way that suggested some of my money was heading the way of his favorite gecko sanctuary. Asshole!
“I handle his contracts…and money,” Rhett said, smirking. He remained on the other side of my office, perhaps sensing rightly, that I would not appreciate another Alpha getting close to Madelyn. “I’m here in case you have any questions.”
She didn’t have any, and Rhett left with a nod.
By her decision, she had indicated her intention to leave Chimera with the money she would make. She had asked me to arrange a payment to be presented to her parents for the standard state Omega dowry when such a dynamic was revealed. She notified the arty coffee house that she was quitting herself.
There was no stone to be left unturned in her intended disappearance.
I wanted to spank her ass for her naïvety—I thought that perhaps I would since, whatever happened with this experiment, the little redheaded coffee server, was now effectively mine.
I had my brother investigating Dino the dick, and between that and Ethan Black’s demands, he was busy. Black was a fellow Lyus conscript and infamous collector of favors. I owed him so I couldn’t begrudge the time Rhett spent.
Aiding Black's investigations had delivered the Omega drug into my hands. Such highly lucrative opportunities were a natural fallout of whatever he was up to—it was a relationship with mutual benefits, so I was prepared to toe the line. And besides, the mad fucker would rain holy hell on my life if I didn’t.
“Are you ready, Pet?”
She nodded. “Yes, I’m ready.” She didn’t look close to being ready—more like she was about to throw up, but I wasn’t going to argue.
I owned half the shit in this building, so with her medical records checked, we took the elevator to the floor where I held a private medical suite that better resembled a luxury apartment, and here she was administered with the drug.
Rhett had uncovered some of Doctor Brach’s research after we got our hands on the shipment. We knew the way it worked and the recommended safe dose.
I would admit to being nervous despite my determination to see this done. I wanted her to become an Omega but had no desire to harm her in the process.
“How are you feeling?” I asked as she fidgeted in the soft bed. I’d ordered the room prepared with nesting grade bedding because when I went after something, I went all in. Her hands had petted it the moment she’d gotten in…and a sigh had escaped her lips. I latched onto that tell more than was healthy. You didn’t need to be an Omega to appreciate luxury, yet there was something about her that had thrown me from our first meeting.
She was wearing a plain blue medical gown, and she tugged at the collar. “A bit hot,” she said, pushing her gorgeous hair over her shoulder and puffing out a little breath in a way that was both adorable and sexy as hell.
What the fuck am I doing? If the drug worked, it would be lucrative, but I’d be deluding myself if I thought that was my only interest.
The Copper virus, first discovered a millennium ago, had changed us irrevocably. It had created the Alphas, Omegas, and other dynamics.
There wasn’t much rationale involved between an Alpha and an Omega. We were both driven by animal instincts—it didn’t help that there were so few Omegas and that what few there were harbored gifts that saw them deployed in the war.
It had been five years since I’d had my dick buried balls deep, felt the soft purr of a contented Omega—and since I had experienced a proper knot.
That shit was addictive. Forget drugs, Omegas were about to become Chimera’s new vice—and I always sampled the goods.
I hadn’t pressed her for an answer on where she was going this morning. She didn’t offer an explanation.
I didn’t ask her what the fuck she chatted to Dino ‘dog’ Malaxos about every month.
And she didn’t offer that either.
I was still burning to know the fucking answers, and I was going to get them, but all in good time.
The Beta doctor checked her vitals, and meeting my eyes gave the tiniest shake of his head. “If we were going to see a result, it would have manifested by now.”
I growled. I kept that shit on lockdown, so it pissed me the fuck off.
The doctor’s hands shook so badly it was a wonder he didn’t drop the information tablet in his hand, and he took an involuntary step back. There were a couple of Beta nurses checking her latest blood test result on the other side of the suite, and they both cast a nervous glance my way. My temper was as infamous as I was, no one wanted to see the results when it escaped my tight control.
The whimper coming from the bed drew my attention. My eyes narrowed; she was fidgeting restlessly, one hand at her throat. “I feel hot.”
That was the second time she had said that.
I sensed the other occupants of the room still, but all my focus was on the woman in the bed. I put my hand on her chin—it was the first proper touch—and turned her face to mine. “Look at me, Pet,” I commanded.
Brown-flecked lashes lifted to reveal stunning blue eyes, awash with confusion. “I feel funny,” she said.
The Beta doctor began to babble. “The tests don’t indicate—”
“Shut the fuck up and take another sample,” I growled at the doctor, not taking my eyes from my fidgeting prey.
She whined when the needle pricked her arm. “Hush, love.” I stroked a thumb over her soft cheek. “Let him take the blood.”
“But I’m not an Omega,” she said, eyes on the blood filling the vile. Her voice, though, lacked conviction.
“The doctor will check,” I sai
d, forcing myself to release her and step back.
An animated conversation was happening on the other side of the room.
“I need to leave,” she said. “You said I could leave after—that it would show within an hour, and if it didn’t, I could leave.”
“I’m not sure what it means,” the nurse was saying to the doctor, but I kept my focus on the tiny woman in the bed. “The hormones are volatile, but there are no Omega markers.”
“I need to leave,” she said with greater urgency and made to get out of the bed.
I growled, and her whole body spasmed this time, back arching, head back, and face contorting.
I didn’t need test results to know that reaction. Every Alpha instinct in my body sprang to life, and pinpricks swept over my skin like wildfire through a dry forest. An unnatural stillness had gripped the room everywhere but the bed. I watched her writhing with a detachment that surprised me. It was like I was a voyeur watching someone else’s show.
It took several minutes before she returned to a semi-lucid state. Pheromones permeated the air, hers, and mine in response. I didn’t fuck Omegas, hadn’t since I’d left the military, but the rich scent was far more potent than I recalled.
Leaning over, I took hold of her chin, turning her to face me.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her blue eyes gazing up at me, dazed, and if I was right, a little lust-drunk on Alpha pheromones.
I caught her silken hair in one hand and closed the other over the front of her throat. “Claiming you,” I said and lowered my lips over hers.
Her chest sawed unsteadily as I took her soft lips. The urges that consumed me were dark and not entirely sane.
I wanted to fuck her, had done so since we first met. But now I wanted to own her absolutely, to collar and claim her, to imprint myself upon her. To ruin her for any other Alpha. There would be no other Alpha. I would force a heat upon her and breed her before I ever let her out of my sight.
I would be ruthless in this pursuit. Merciless in my quest. I would take all of her and make her mine. Only then would I be satisfied.
Her body was already mine. The way she opened to the kiss, letting me plunder her soft mouth, the way her tiny hands clung to me like I was her salvation told me as much.
