by Sara Fields
He sat down in front of the fire and I took a seat in the armchair next to him. He was wearing the black cloak that we all wore to disguise our identities when we were called together in a gathering. I could see just a hint of his light blond hair beneath the hood, but when he adjusted it once more, it was gone.
It had been some time since the Ghost had visited me in private.
As Sage, I was one of his most trusted allies and a visit like this in the middle of the night could only mean one thing.
I was about to be assigned a very important mission, one that only I was to be privy to and one that I was going to be trusted to complete all on my own.
The Ghost cleared his throat.
“I’ve come to you, Vikar, today for a very special reason,” he began.
I nodded, keeping my silence. I reached for my cigar and took another long draw, waiting for him to continue.
“In the recent battles between Valgertha and the nearby city of Ravenrath, there was a war prize that was taken and kept secret except to those of the Branch of Zymos. King Thranar had in his possession an unbonded omega. She was captured in battle and brought back to the safety of our city,” he explained.
I kept my silence, deciding to listen first and ask questions later.
“He was a cruel alpha to her, Vikar. I’m aware of many of her injuries, both old and new. Thranar was a disgrace to the alpha name,” he spat, turning his furious eyes toward the fire.
“What would you have me do?” I finally asked.
“She is going to be a difficult target, but Thranar was undoubtedly a high-ranking member of the Cult,” he explained. “This omega likely knows more, but she’s been very tight-lipped about everything, even to the queen who rescued her. It is not outside the realm of possibilities that she is a member herself or that she’s aware of a number of other very powerful members or really anything at all.”
“Would you have me torture her to find out?” I asked. I hoped that he wouldn’t ask that of me. I had no qualms interrogating dangerous men, but I’d never put my hands on a woman in that way and I had no intentions of doing so. However, at the end of the day, I served the Brotherhood and I would do as I was told.
“No. I wouldn’t ask that of you. You know as well as I that we do not do such things. Instead, you may break her in the way that only an alpha can. She is unbonded and unclaimed. Now that she is in our hands, I am granting her to you. She will be yours and it is your responsibility to find out what she knows, whether you put her over your knee or flat on her back,” he commanded.
I licked my lips. It was a tremendous honor to be granted an omega. As a member of the Brotherhood, we weren’t allowed to pair bond to another. I’d never taken an omega of my own. It was a right that was granted by only the most powerful and it seemed now that I had finally earned the privilege of taking my very own mate.
“You honor me greatly, Ghost,” I whispered hoarsely, still astounded at this unexpected turn of events.
“It’s a long overdue one, Vikar. Your loyalty should have been rewarded long ago and I apologize for that,” he answered. I shook my head.
“Thank you. There is no need for apologies. I was only doing my duty,” I replied softly.
For a while, he was quiet, watching the flames flicker in the hearth.
“Her name is Luna,” he finally said.
I tasted her name on my tongue. It was perfection. My future mate.
* * *
For days I followed her, learning about every aspect of her routine. I watched her take walks through the garden with the queen and how she smiled at her maidservants when they stoked her fire or changed the sheets on her bed. In silence, I learned of her kindhearted nature and smiled when she insisted on helping a young child in need, no matter if they fell and scraped their knees or dropped a bite of food on the sidewalk.
I always saw a faraway look in her eyes when she walked away from those children and I quietly wondered if she’d lost someone of her own in the past.
I silently observed her, wanting to know everything about her before I pressed for answers of my own. There was a certain beautiful and peaceful innocence to the way she moved and interacted with others.
The Ghost had told me of the wounds she’d suffered. If Thranar wasn’t dead already, I would have ripped his head from his shoulders myself. She didn’t even bear my mark yet, and still I wanted to protect her. I would have my hands on her and soon, but I would bide my time until I understood her better before I took her for myself.
She was an omega and I was an alpha. I was a predator and she my prey.
It was in my nature to take an omega for myself. Simply by being in my presence, her body would react to mine, eventually forcing her into estrous if the time was right. She’d beg me for my cock and the relief that only an alpha’s knot would bring her. Her legs would drip with slick, preparing her body for the rough mating that she was meant to take. It was instinct and when I was ready, I would bond her to me for the rest of our lives, linking us together forever as one.
She was a beautiful little thing with a figure that spoke to her omega status. She was small and slender, but I knew she was strong. I would tower over her with ease at well over six and a half feet. I was also at least double her size, if not more than that.
There was a certain amount of reservation in the way she interacted with others and I knew she was doing her best to hide the feisty, fiery nature that was characteristic of an omega. I could see the intelligence in her soft emerald eyes, in the way she quietly looked out in the distance toward Ravenrath when she thought no one else was looking.
She knew something more than she was letting on. I was sure of it.
At first, it was just a few furtive glances in the nearby city’s direction. After that, it began to escalate. I noticed that she was stealing food and supplies, filling water skins when she thought no one was looking and asking questions that she shouldn’t when she thought she was alone with her wait staff. She moved around the castle at all hours of the night and when she was ready, she packed a bag and set out when the sun was low on the horizon.
I followed her as she made her way out of the castle and through the city gates into the shadows of the forest.
She was going back, even though she was safe in the warrior city of Valgertha. The man who’d claimed her yet never bonded her was dead. Ravenrath was likely still in shambles and still, she wanted to return for reasons unknown.
Before I was through with her, she’d tell me everything and then I’d make her mine in the most primal way imaginable. She’d scream my name as she took every last inch of my cock, over and over again until her heat finally abated and her womb was full of my seed.
I looked forward to the moment when she finally realized what was happening.
I kept my mind busy with fantasies of her on her knees before me, begging for relief, as I tailed her through the forest. It was clear that she wasn’t quite sure of the way and that she hadn’t had much experience in the ways of the wilds, because she missed every single sign that the skotaur mother had left behind, from her paw prints in the dirt to the singed leaves that marked her journeys through the trees.
Skotaurs were dangerous beasts, but they could be tamed, even the wild ones if you knew how to handle them.
I’d heard her screams and knew immediately what had happened. Unlike Luna, I’d seen the smaller prints from the young skotaur pup alongside the mother’s. Within moments, the warning growls from the threatened female echoed throughout the forest and I rushed to Luna’s aid. When I finally found her, she was flat on her back staring straight up into the eyes of the mother and I cleared my throat. The skotaur stilled.
I recognized her.
I’d raised her.
Her name was Bayla. I’d found her abandoned at the edges of the wilds when she was no more than just a pup. I took her into my home and cared for her, bottle feeding her every four hours until she was old enough to feed herself. When she’d fin
ally grown to be as large as a warhorse, I’d led her back into the forest and set her free. She and I had met several times as she grew into her full size, and now I was overjoyed to see that she had a pup of her own. Not only had she survived out here, but she appeared to be thriving.
“Bayla,” I whispered, and the skotaur swung her tail from side to side in warning. “Leave her be. That little thing couldn’t mean your son any harm,” I continued, taking care to keep my tone gentle and nonthreatening. Skotaurs showcased distinctly feline behaviors and even the most well-trained ones could turn on their humans, but they always gave warning signs.
“Come. Show him to me,” I guided softly, and her fiery eyes finally connected with mine, blazing with fury at the omega’s audacity. A quiet mewling sounded to my right and I knelt down, watching as a very young male pup emerged out of the brush. He was no more than two weeks old from what I could tell.
Bayla removed the single paw that was holding Luna captive. Exceedingly slowly, she sat back on her haunches and haughtily appraised me for a very long moment before she decided to join me. I didn’t move toward her young. Instead, I held out my hand to her and she cocked her head to the side. I smirked, remembering just how temperamental she could be. In the end though, I knew she’d come to me. She always did.
When she finally started toward me, I grinned widely, welcoming her with open arms.
“You’ve grown to be quite fierce, little Bayla,” I murmured. She purred softly and I reached for her curved horn, petting her the way she used to adore when she was small. Her purr grew louder, just as I had expected.
Out of the corner of my eyes, the small form of my omega began to move and Bayla quickly hissed in warning.
“Don’t move, Luna. Bayla has yet to decide if you’re worth killing. I suggest that you don’t give her a reason,” I said, and Luna’s expression tensed with frustration. She was very much out of control and that knowledge was making my cock very hard right now.
Luna stilled, lowering herself back to the ground. What she didn’t know was that running from a skotaur often triggered them into action. Had she stopped, knelt before her, and lowered her head, Bayla wouldn’t have gone after her.
“You do not know the ways of the wilds, do you, omega?” I asked her, and she grimaced.
“I can make my way just fine,” she scoffed, and I chuckled.
“Can you now?” I murmured, taking my time to caress Bayla’s horns and making her purr for me in the meantime. Luna glared from the skotaur to me and I reveled in the knowledge that I could tame this fiery beast while she could not.
What she didn’t realize is that I was going to be taming her next. She’d been given to me and I was going to take her.
My cock throbbed with need.
I imagined her naked and wet and begging for my cock.
She glared back at me with as much ire as she could manage, and I simply smiled in return.
“Come. Take my hand, Luna,” I demanded gently.
“How the hell do you know my name?” she asked with a confused and deeply suspicious frown.
“It does not matter how. Now take it before Bayla is convinced you are an enemy and in fact dinner for her and her pup tonight,” I commanded, more firmly this time. There was a flurry of indecision that passed quickly over Luna’s face before she decided her life was more important than whatever I was after and she slowly rose to her feet.
“Keep your head down. Don’t look in Bayla’s direction,” I instructed, and I was pleased to see her obey. Her tiny fingers took mine, and for a second I was awestruck by how much smaller hers were than mine.
“Bayla, meet Luna,” I said softly, and Bayla made a noise that was halfway between a snarl and a purr. “Be nice now. She didn’t mean any harm to your son,” I chided her carefully and Bayla sighed. She’d always had a fiery personality and I was happy to see that hadn’t changed in the years since I’d seen her last.
“Nice to meet you,” Luna whispered tentatively, and Bayla huffed a bit. Luna mimicked my petting motion on the skotaur’s horn, and she finally relaxed under the omega’s cautious touch. All the while, Luna kept her eyes on me, suspicious and anxiously watching for the moment I looked away so that she could make her escape.
Little did she know she wasn’t going to be getting away from me.
Now that I had my hands on her, I was never going to let her go. She was mine.
Forever.
Chapter Three
Luna
His piercing silver eyes were like that of the moon and the stars and the light of the daytime sky combined. The moment he’d stepped into the clearing and made the skotaur pause and stop its impending attack, I’d known he was the man who had been following me in Valgertha. Cloaked in a dark green robe, he’d hidden in the forest and it wasn’t until he emerged into the light of the moon that I could see his massive and far too familiar form. His gait was distinctive enough for me to recognize him, a strong heavy walk of a man who’d seen things on the battlefield and survived through it all. I’d thought I’d lost him back in the city when I was weaving through the markets. I’d been overconfident in my abilities. It was obvious he was a much better tracker than I had thought him to be and I was unsure if I was thankful or irritated that he’d found me so far away from the castle walls, deep in the forest all on my own.
Time would tell.
It was more than obvious that he was a Valgerthian warrior. Up close now, I could see that the sides of his head were shaved close to his scalp, and his dark brown hair was plaited and interwoven into an intricate rope of braids that hung much of the way down his back. It was a sign of his wealth and status, marking him as someone with much power and prestige. There was a white scar bisecting the right side of his forehead, likely a result from fighting on the battlefield. His jaw was angular, and his gaze was dark as he stared back at me with a certain possessiveness that I wasn’t particularly keen to behold.
He looked at me like he owned me.
I’d seen that look before, the gaze of an alpha claiming an omega for himself. He knew what I was. I also knew that he wasn’t a beta. His alpha scent was strong and far too enticing.
I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
I licked my lips, hating how good his fingers felt on mine, how there was a certain tingle of electricity racing up and down my spine at the way he held my hand, and I pushed it all away. I tried to ignore it. I had to, for my daughter’s sake. I couldn’t let this man stop me from returning to Ravenrath and back to her, not when I was so close.
“Who are you?” I finally asked, forcing myself to speak even though every time I opened my lips, I fought the yearning to taste him on my tongue.
“My name is Vikar. I already know yours,” he answered boldly, and I tensed, even though I tried to stop myself from revealing what I was truly thinking. The skotaur had sat down on its haunches and was watching the two of us with keen interest. Its haunting red eyes glowed with fire. The youngling pranced beside her until it curled up against her thigh and used her warmth to fall asleep. He burrowed his nose beneath his tail, and I would have thought that the whole thing was almost cute except for the fact that the little guy had almost gotten me killed.
“And what do you want from me, Vikar?” I pressed.
“I want to get to know you,” he answered evasively. I bit back a snarl, a long-practiced skill I’d mastered from being in Thranar’s presence for so long. If I ever even hinted at a growl near him, he’d slap me across the face hard enough to throw me to the ground. I’d only done it twice near the alpha king and I had paid dearly for my transgression. It was a lesson I wouldn’t soon forget even though he was dead. He was an alpha and they were all the same. They only ever wanted one thing and that was an omega to spread her legs and beg for their cock. This man would be no different.
“Do you now?” I spat and he simply grinned in response. His reaction wasn’t hostile, and it made me pause. He should be angry, and his obvious amusement was more unn
erving to me with every passing moment. I didn’t know what to think. I began to grow anxious at his unexpected behavior. Thranar would have growled, reminding me of my rightful place before him and in the eyes of the Cult. An alpha’s growl always forced a painful twist of arousal to race through an omega’s core. For me, it always made my thighs wet with slick, no matter how hard I tried to stop it.
Vikar though, he didn’t even seem remotely bothered by the challenge in my tone. In fact, he seemed to like it and I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“I do. I’ve got a great many questions for the former queen of Ravenrath, omega to the great King Thranar,” he said. I noticed that he was careful to keep his voice level, revealing nothing about his opinion on my former alpha.
“He’s dead. I am no queen,” I answered. In truth, I never was. I’d never been afforded any measure of power beside the king. I’d never been publicly acknowledged by anyone at all. I’d simply been an object that the Cult had given Thranar as a gift in exchange for his work in ruling the city. I bit the side of my lip.
I wasn’t going to say any of that. In fact, I wasn’t going to say anything at all. I didn’t know this man. He could be a spy sent by the Cult themselves to capture and interrogate me until I revealed everything I knew. They killed women for far less than that and I had no doubt that if they ever got their hands on me again, I’d pay a very high price for my absence, no matter the circumstances that surrounded it.
“You would have made a great one,” he murmured softly, pulling me toward him and tracing a thumb along my chin until it grazed my lower lip. Hesitantly, I raised my eyes to meet his, something I’d never done willingly with Thranar. I would never have even dared.
“Why would you ever say such a thing?”
It was only when he smiled in response that I realized that I had said those words out loud. I bit my tongue in self-admonishment, ashamed of myself for revealing something I hadn’t wanted him to know. I resolved to not let it happen again, no matter what came next.
