Shit.
“Ambassador to the Omegas,” Renaldo mused, eyes riveted on Tavia. “Then it is you I must convince…”
“We’re here to negotiate the release of our stolen people,” she blurted, clearly unnerved by his presence.
Renaldo frowned. “Stolen people? There are no stolen people here, sweet omega.”
Sweet omega. What the fuck…
A look of innocence came over Renaldo’s face, and my hatred of him grew. “You must mean the Elite.”
Her forehead unfurled at the word. “Elite?”
Renaldo smiled warmly. “I assume you are referring to our omega partners.” He swung his arm wide, presenting the mutants that filled the space. “Allow me to introduce the Elite.”
As one, the mutants bowed their heads to Tavia and held the position until she spoke.
“I know… knew many of you from the Badlands. I want you to understand that your people, including the king himself, have not given up on you. Your loved ones at home are fighting for you, and we won’t stop until you are free.”
A rumble rolled through the place, but it wasn’t a sound of relief like I expected it to be. It reeked of confusion and finally… humor.
I looked at Cassian as Renaldo and his commanders chuckled along with some of the mutants.
“Sweet Tavia—”
A growl snarled up my throat, but the human ignored it.
“—I believe you are mistaken. The Elite and every other omega under my protection is here of their own will.”
“Lies,” Charolet hissed.
Renaldo’s expression grew more humored. “I assure you it is true. Please, ask any of them, and they will tell you.”
Tavia narrowed her gaze at the human. “They will likely say whatever you want them to at this point. Look what you’ve done to them.”
“What I’ve done to them? From the poison in your voice, I take it you think I’ve done them harm. That’s simply not the case, darling.” His tone set my instincts ablaze, made my wolf snap and snarl inside. Renaldo was full of adoration.
Adoration for what was mine. I wanted to rip his eyeballs from their sockets so he couldn’t look at her. I wanted to pull his trachea from his throat so he couldn’t speak to her.
But Tavia was having none of it, and that was enough to stay my fury. “I’m no darling,” she told the human. “And it’s clear to me that you are using my people to fight your war with the king. It’s unacceptable. You can’t just experiment on people and turn them into beasts for your glory.”
For the first time, Renaldo turned serious, his expression darkening to something honest. “You misunderstand greatly, Ambassador to the Omegas. This is not your world, so I will excuse you for the mistake, but let me explain. Omegas are not treated badly here. They are exalted above the rest of us. Treasured, if you will. We offer them an escape from the Badlands. Not the luxury that they’d find in the royal city, admittedly, but a fair life. One that makes them happy. They are free to work and build. They are fed and all their needs are met, the same as any human’s. And if they choose, they can be made Elite. But I assure you it is never done by force. What would be the point? We can make them beasts, as you call them, but they wouldn’t tolerate us if they didn’t respect us.”
What the fuck. My mind spun with this new information.
“Are you telling me there are omegas here who aren’t mutated?”
“Yes,” Renaldo laughed. “Plenty of them. They’ve made lives here. Mated with our humans. They are family.”
No fucking way. My gut screamed that this human was a liar, but the words wouldn’t breech my snarling lips.
Tavia kept her face blank as her gaze swung to me and then to Charolet. I was aware of the way her breath chugged in her chest and wondered if the news felt to her as it did to me. Like a sledgehammer to the sternum.
After several tense moments where I couldn’t read her, she turned back to Renaldo.
“I want to speak to Jacoby.”
Chapter Eight
Tavia
Renaldo’s terms of endearment were the first clue he was a liar. That, and all the horrors I’d seen with my own eyes in the Badlands when the mutants attacked. If Dagger had done something about the missing Weren when I reported the situation to him, we could have saved all these omegas from this fate, half shifted and forced to defend the humans in this ruined city.
“We will get Jacoby for you, sweet Tavia.” Renaldo held out his arm to us, oblivious to my seething.
It was on the tip of my tongue to remind him of my status, and that a simple act of cooperation, no matter his intentions, wasn’t enough to win me over. But I was trying my damnedest to honor my agreement with Dagger to trust him. Years of politics and diplomacy existed between the royals and the humans. One wrong word could make this entire mission blow up in our faces. Which would only make things worse for my friends in the Badlands who were suffering despite the change that my sister and His Majesty promised was coming.
I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I caused an omega one more moment of anguish. We’d all had enough.
“We weren’t expecting company,” Renaldo continued, his gaze landing squarely on Dagger. If he held any contempt for him, he masked it well. “But my staff will bring you a carafe of our finest wines, and anything else you desire.”
Charolet scoffed. “Wouldn’t be surprised if I woke up from a blackout after drinking that stuff.”
Yeah, I wasn’t touching it. I paced the room that was lined with windows, overlooking a boulevard that once was grand. Twilight had fallen over the city, and a few broken neon lights twinkled. It was pretty, even if it was sad.
It didn’t convince me anyone here was living prosperously.
For the first time, it occurred to me that I might have to fight for Dagger. The men here might not see me as worth taking. They had plenty of omegas. But an alpha...they could conduct an entirely new set of experiments on him. Word that the king had shifted spread through the Badlands, but had it travelled outside the city? Did these humans know that alphas were capable of being in their wolf form?
Would I fight for Dagger? His gaze was mostly on the window, but it didn’t rest anywhere for too long. I wondered if he could feel his animal inside him, and what it would be like if he could run with mine.
Free.
I shook that thought out of my head.
It was taking too long for them to bring Jacoby. When I’d asked for him, Renaldo didn’t even blink. If I had money, I’d bet it on the fact that the human leader had no idea who I’d asked for. That familiar pang in my chest crept back in. No status or fancy leather fighting outfit could protect me from that. Danger was everywhere.
“Tav! Wait a minute, what do I call you now? Princess Tavia?” Jacoby entered the room his arms open wide to give me a hug, but he stopped short before he reached me, his jaw dropping. “What the hell are you doing dressed like that?”—his shocked expression fell on Dagger and Cassian— “With them?”
“We came to save you.” It sounded ridiculous, now that he was in front of me. The good news was, he looked amazing. He’d put on a few pounds since he’d been...brought here, and there was color in his cheeks I hadn’t realized was missing. He wasn’t gray anymore. We’d all been so sick and broken. And when he came into the room, before he realized who I was with, his eyes had twinkled like the hopeful lights in the broken city. “Can I talk to you...alone?”
“No,” Dagger snapped. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
Jacoby scoffed. “You don’t have to let this jerk talk to you like that anymore, Tav. You’re more powerful than he is. Your sister is queen.”
“He won’t hurt me,” I said to Dagger. “We’ve been friends since we were little kids.”
“You’re asking his permission.” Jacoby glared at Dagger. “Like he’s really going to fight for an omega after he let us live in a hell on earth for years. Nothing would’ve changed if Zelene didn’t risk her ass to go
to that party.”
Surprisingly, I wanted to defend Dagger. To tell Jacoby that things were different now. Except everything he said was true. This fight Dagger had to handle on his own.
The truth was, things weren’t all that different. The Badlands was still a disaster. People were still hungry, despite our promises. If they had hope, it was thin.
“And let me tell you another thing, Dagger. This woman is one of the fiercest warriors I’ve ever met. She doesn’t need you to defend her honor, or whatever the hell you think you’re doing. She’d kill you and not even bat an eyelash.”
Again, I’d argue, but it was all true. I’d always done what was needed to survive.
Dagger’s mind was clearly blown. Mine was too. Did he really think I wouldn’t kill for my people? He had killed for his. There was no way, as the general of the Badlands, that he didn’t know what I’d gone through.
“Charolet and I are going to talk to Jacoby. Alone.” I stepped toward Dagger, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him. My wolf wanted to know what his muscles felt like under the leather. My wolf should not be having opinions right now, because that meant…
I could not go into heat while we were away from the safety of the bunkers. As awful as they were, they worked.
Dagger gave me a single nod. He rocked on his heels, his hands knotted behind his back.
“You asked for my trust, and I hope that means I have yours in return,” I said softly. The tension between us had never been thicker, but it was totally different than it had been since we entered the keep.
I turned to Charolet, and took her by the arm as we followed Jacoby. He walked through the building with confidence, like he had run of the place. He brought us to another room lined with windows that overlooked another derelict building. This one had broken statues and a fountain that had run dry.
He leaned against the window and shook his head. He looked at Charolet and nodded toward me. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah.” Her surprise mirrored mine. Jacoby didn’t see our arrival as a show of power. He thought the alphas got the best of us, again. “This was our decision to come here.”
“Your mom said you got captured,” I added. “She came to me, upset. She’s worried they’ll turn you into one of those mutants.”
Jacoby laughed. Actually, laughed. “I came willingly.”
“What?” It didn’t make any sense. “The mutants...”
“The guards were coming to save us, Tav. We were so fucking scared that everyone was out to get us we couldn’t even listen to reason. That there was another way.” Jacoby took a deep breath. “We suffered for years needlessly. When the King took an omega as his mate, it sent huge red flags to the humans. That’s why they invaded the day of her crowning ceremony. Because they thought the union put us in even more danger.”
“But they destroyed the Badlands,” I breathed. “Maimed and harmed omegas themselves.” It didn’t make sense.
Jacoby nodded solemnly. “The price of war, Tavia. There are always casualties. Always darkest before the light.”
I closed my eyes for a long blink. Was this what the alphas fought on their battle fields, some alliance with the humans? If Jacoby was right, we’d all played into their plan perfectly. We were so eager to prove ourselves as equals that we never stopped to question their motives.
“Tell my mom I’m coming for her soon. I had to do this because she can’t keep fighting in the Badlands. Her body is failing from so many years of hard work. I felt like a failure, not being able to give her a better life.” His eyes shone with unshed tears. “She deserves to grow old gracefully. Comfortably. Play with her grandkids.”
“Do you have a mate?” Charolet asked, her face brightening with the possibility.
The light returned to Jacoby’s eyes, and I felt something I never expected to on this mission. Envy. “Not yet, but I’m working on it. I’m actually dating. It’s nice. It’s not like the Badlands, where male wolves take their women by force when they go into heat. Speaking of that, you need to get out of here.”
My heart slammed against my chest and my hormones flared. In seconds, he’d be able to see the sweat trickling down my temple. The desperation in my eyes.
“The humans have machines that help trigger the heat. They made them to help us breed.”
“The mutants,” I said between clenched teeth.
“They’re stronger than all of us. Even stronger than the alphas. And they live a good life when they don’t have to fight. Unlike those in the Badlands.” Jacoby shifted his stance. “Tav, you’ve got to go. I can feel the need rolling off you. You’re going into heat. I wish I could say I could help you, but you came here uninvited. There’s no telling if the humans induced it, but I’m not sure I can keep you safe.”
“Thank you.” I turned on my heel and walked as fast as I could down the hallway. I wouldn’t run. I’d been humiliated enough. That wasn’t Jacoby’s intention, but his explanation about the humans meant I was wrong about the threat to the Badlands. No wonder Dagger hadn’t listened when I tried to bring the missing omegas to his attention. He must have known. He knew and he still brought me here, all dressed up in my military costume, and let me look like a fucking fool.
And he asked me to trust him. I was actually starting to like… no. I definitely couldn’t think about that right now.
“Tavia.” Dagger jolted to attention when I appeared. “What happened?”
“Bring me back to the Badlands. Now.”
Chapter Nine
Dagger
Tavia’s scent smacked into me with all the force of a desert gale. Anger and frustration and need. Which my body interpreted as sultry and fragrant and so sweet. I immediately knew something was wrong. It was a mistake to let Tavia speak to the male without me, but her eyes had begged for my trust in the matter and I’d wanted to give it to her.
Give her everything, my wolf roared inside. And my cock was in full agreement, going steel hard with the first breath of her new scent.
Shit. This couldn’t be what I thought it was.
I’d smelled omega heat before, but only faintly, as it drifted on the hot breeze in the Badlands. The females were always careful to be in the bunker during their cycle, away from male wolves.
Tavia’s scent was unique to her, but the effect it was already having on me was the same.
Omega heat had the power to drive an able male mad with desire. Something the female betas couldn’t do. I didn’t know if it would have an effect on the humans here in the stronghold, but no doubt the mutant Elite would react. They would want to mount her, as I did now. They would want to drive their knot in her until she was claimed with their seed.
My vision turned red.
The idea had me wanting to sweep Tavia out of here as fast as my feet would let me. I’d kill anyone who even tried to take what was mine.
And she was mine. There could be no more denying it. She had to learn the truth. I had to tell her, and then we’d both have to accept it. At least until her heat was over.
The alternative was both of us going insane with need.
Goddamn it. She was going to end up hating me even more than when we started. The foreboding feeling lodged in my gut like a boulder.
I followed my omega down the hallway back to the great room. As we walked Charolet filled me and Cassian in.
“We have to get out of here. Fast,” she said, her voice shaking. “Jacoby said they have technology that can trigger our heat.”
“The mutants?” Cassian asked. “Are they here voluntarily?”
She nodded. “He says they are. They want to become stronger. Stronger than an alpha. Those were his words. Not a bad idea, really,” she muttered.
Cassian stopped walking at that news, but I couldn’t. I had to keep up with Tavia. She was heading straight for the mutants.
We entered the main hall to the same scene we’d arrived to. The Elite surrounding the three human soldiers. The hulking beasts were the result of ro
yal failure, and I knew it. We all knew it. These were our people, and we’d ignored their pleas until someone else decided to listen. What this meant for King Adalai and our pack, I didn’t know. It didn’t even matter. Not right now, when my female was in danger.
I watched the Elite closely for any signs that they scented her heat. The longer we were here, in closed quarters, the worse it would get.
“We will leave now,” Tavia told Renaldo, but his narrowed gaze had my hackles rising.
“So quickly, Ambassador? I’d love to give you a tour of our facilities. Introduce you to some of your kind. This place is nothing fancy. Not like Luxoria. But you might find it to your liking.”
“No, thank you,” she pushed through clenched teeth just as I opened my mouth to object.
Renaldo angled his head to the side, frowning, and the mutants began to fidget and snarl. “Tavia, it appears you are in need—”
“She needs nothing from any of you,” I snapped, stepping in front of her.
“—of a private bunker,” Renaldo continued as if I hadn’t spoken.
“I need to leave immediately. That is all,” Tavia snapped. “Get me out of here, Dagger.”
The Elite began to stir, their rumbling response to Tavia’s heat making the hall buzz. I turned to usher her toward the doors, letting Cassian protect my back.
“No,” Renaldo boomed. “If you go out there like this, you’ll have every wolf in the place chasing you. The Elite can only stifle their reaction to an extent. We must get you to a safe place.”
“I will keep her safe.” My voice came out hard and garbled, and Tavia shot me a look.
“The Badlands are the only place safe,” she said. “I’m going there.”
“Tav, wait.” Charolet pressed in close. “What if we can’t make it across the desert in time?”
His Defiant Omega (The Royal Omegas Book 2) Page 4
