Eve sat unmoved.
“You and I are no different.” Eve watched as he regained his composure.
“Explain,” he rose and poured a drink, downing it. He poured another. “Care for something, Omega?”
“Eve, if you will. Do you have moonshine?”
The Alpha tipped his head back and roared his laughter, downing his second glass. “I do not.”
“Then I’ll have water. My last estrous left me parched.”
He stilled at her words. “When was that?” he asked.
“Three days ago. I have two months, three weeks, and four days until the next. That is the time that I ask you to give me to court you. If we are incompatible, I will leave, and we can both resume our lives.” She accepted the water he offered, sipping it.
“I think not. I think you will not be leaving,” he responded, arms crossing over his chest.
“Know that you can’t keep me, that is all I will say.” She looked at him, smiling sweetly.
“Explain to me how we are the same, Eve,” he said, watching her intently. "I am interested in this theory of yours."
Smiling again, she started, “We are both driven by biology to mate during my estrous. You could no sooner walk past a female in estrous than she could walk past your dripping cock. You say I am a slave to it, but so are you. Neither of us is free. We can both fuck betas for random pleasure, but when estrous comes, only an Alpha can serve. And serve, he does.
"For days, he is trapped between her legs and can think of nothing else. Even good men would rip an Omega apart with their cocks still in her to get a piece of it. That is not freedom. That is not mastery of one’s self. We are both slaves to our dynamic. In truth, Alphas aren’t meant to rule anyplace outside of the Omega nest, and even that is up for debate.”
“That’s insane. Alphas rule the world; we are smarter and stronger than any Beta. They can’t do what we do.” He watched her intently for her response.
“Betas ruled long before the Alpha dynamic was known. Unbonded Alphas are erratic, single-minded, and aggressive, therefore not fit for leadership. Bonded Alphas are worse. Your job is to serve the Omega, and the Omega’s job is to serve the world and breed for you. Period. For days at a time, the Alpha must tend his Omega, or they both suffer. Surely you know this.” She kept her voice calm in the face of his mounting anger.
“Alphas rule all. That is the way of it. Period.” He sat behind his desk and reached for his phone.
“Very well. I will go. Thank you for your time.” Eve rose, wrapping her scarves around her unusual hair.
“I accept your proposal. You will not be leaving.” He questioned his sanity as the words left his mouth unbidden.
She shuddered in relief, showing the first hint of emotion, her shoulders relaxed. “I hope neither of us will be disappointed with this arrangement. Once you sign here and here,” she said, pulling a document out of her pack and handing it to him, pointing at the highlighted signature lines. “You can show me to my room, so I don’t take up any more of your time.”
“Sign what? You have no legal rights. This document is not binding, Omega.” He leaned forward, his lip curled in a snarl, and his eyes bleeding to dangerous.
“Eve, if you will. Are you not a Marine?” she asked.
“I am The Marine, Semper Fi, little girl,” he said, relaxing back and fingering his empty glass.
“Honor. Courage. Commitment. Have the words the Southern Alphas live by changed?”
“Be very careful, or I will arrest you for Omega trading and wait two months for your estrous.”
She chuckled inwardly. He could do that, but she wouldn’t stay arrested long. “You could, but you won’t,” she said, keeping her face carefully blank.
“And why won’t I?” he pulled the papers to him, glancing them over.
“Because you are a man of honor, you are curious, and I have done nothing wrong.” She watched as he gripped the paper, growling out his signature underneath her own.
He signed the second copy and slid it back over the desk. “I’m sure I won’t be disappointed,” he said, opening the door for her. “This way, Omega.” His grin was feral as he led her through the building and back to the elevators, practically clapping his hands with glee. He was already taking her in his mind, his cock finally starting to rise at the thought of it. Choice was an illusion, and she had none. Or so he thought.
He locked her in his rooms with the loud slamming of the door and a soft snick of the lock. Laughing, he headed back to his office, feeling very satisfied with himself and his duplicity. It wasn’t illegal to lock an Omega up; in fact, it was encouraged. He was doing his civic duty.
“Corporal,” he snarled, pacing his floor and glaring at the more normal-sized Alpha that stood at attention in front of him. “Find where this Omega came from. I want to know everything about her and get me everything you have on the Seventh District. Rand Taylor is the Alpha in charge up there, set up a meeting with him. Now!” He roared; the man closed his eyes at the direct order. The Alpha’s orders were tough to ignore and impossible to disobey.
“Sir, what is her name, Sir?” the smaller man asked.
The Alpha growled and not in the way that makes Omega knees shake. “Her name is Eve. While you’re at it, get me any information available about red-headed Caucasian women.”
“Sir, there are no red-headed Caucasian women. That coloration does not exist, and I will need more than the name Eve to go off of, Alpha, with all due respect.” He kept his voice firm but modulated so as not to set off the larger man.
“That coloration most certainly exists, I just saw it,” he muttered, scrubbing his hand across his face. “I will come back with more information.”
He stalked out the door, back to the elevators, and up to the highest level. When he opened the door to his rooms, she was not there. With a roar loud enough to be heard in District One, he went in search of her.
Chapter 3
Eve chuckled to herself when she heard the roar, even as her feet shook underneath her as he charged off in search of her. As soon as the elevator dinged his departure, she had removed tools from her pack and calmly let herself out of his room. Not that his rooms were terrible. They were not. A large bed was crisply made, and a small table sat in front of a window that overlooked the mountains. The bathroom was functional; the space was utilitarian if nothing else.
She knew he would try to lock her away and had anticipated much worse behavior from him if she was honest. She even knew he would violate their signed contract, which expressly forbade him from locking her up. She knew he would do so because other than a glance, he had not looked at it. He would regret that at some point, she was sure.
She had found descriptions of the capitol building in old books at the university she attended and had poured over them. She knew there were large living quarters on this floor somewhere, and she had set off immediately to find them.
The master's quarters contained four large rooms, including a kitchenette and a large bathroom, both of which were done in masculine colors and patterns long out of date. A closed door with a lock on it led to a smaller room and bathroom that had a beautiful view of the city and the mountains beyond from a huge picture window. Sliding it open to air the space out, she slipped the small cage containing three soft, gray birds under an eave. By the time the Alpha found her, she had unpacked her bag, refreshed her pine tar and floral tea, emptied and repacked the cup in her vagina, and was waiting for him in a chair by the smaller bed in the room she claimed for herself.
“What time are we going to dinner?” she asked, watching the heaving, angry male through thick red lashes.
He watched her serene face, the black of his pupils slowly constricting down to reveal the bright green of his eyes. Drawing in as much air as he could, he tried to scent her, his nostrils flaring in frustration.
“At some point, I will need to go shopping for clothes. I brought very few things, and I’m not sure what women in this dist
rict are expected to wear,” she said, her mouth quirking up just a touch at the corner.
“You are expected to be naked! Omegas do not need clothing in the presence of their Alpha!” Something in the other room fell with a loud thunk at his roar, and his Comlink signaled immediately. The vein on the Alpha’s neck bulged and pulsed, causing Eve to think that it might just burst and kill him.
This was going better than she dared to hope.
He growled at her, low and steady, then turned it into a purr that rattled deep in his chest. A lesser Omega would have fallen on her knees and taken him into her mouth. Eve was not a lesser Omega. Her eye fluttered briefly, and nothing more.
“What?” he screamed into the Comlink when his growl did nothing. “Everything is fine. Have my belongings moved into the old Governor’s suite. Immediately,” he said more calmly, his full lips pressed into a thin line. “And stay away from the Mistress’s suite, or I will kill you myself.”
Standing to face her, he added, “Dinner is at seven. I will have something appropriate sent to you.” He slammed the door again, cursing when he realized it had no lock, at least not from the outside. She got up and engaged it loudly from her side of the door and went to clean up again with the sound of his rampage for entertainment.
Alphas hate to be locked out.
He refrained from kicking the door in, which surprised her. Her research had suggested that he possessed an extreme amount of restraint for an Alpha. She was glad that was the case. Should he strip her down and rape her, her plan would fail, and she would be forced to return to the woods and die alone. Too much was riding on her success; she hoped she had chosen wisely. Choice might be an illusion for her, she knew that, but she also knew that freedom was an illusion as well, for both of them.
True to his word, a long, soft blue dress arrived on the arms of a beta woman in a service uniform. She knocked once and kept her eyes lowered when Eve opened the door. The woman scurried in, changed the bedding into something that smelled freshly washed and dried, and was a bit more modern. She gave Eve a Comlink with one number on it, stated her name was irrelevant but that Eve should call if she needed anything. In the bathroom, she left a variety of products for teeth and hair before dragging in a large basket overflowing with pillows, soft furs, and dreamy fleeces, leaving it by the bed.
Eve hummed happily when the woman was gone and stared at the basket. Nesting material. The Alpha had sent her enough to make an enormous nest. Her best nest. Her one true nest. Stopping her thoughts in their tracks, Eve forced herself to back away from the basket even though her heart ached to roll in the furs and rub the fleeces between her legs to scent them before using them to build a place for her and her mate.
Locking herself in the bathroom, Eve removed the cup from her vagina, pouring the slick down the drain. She showered, scrubbed her skin and hair until it gleamed, and redid the process of placing the fresh pine tar filled cup, drinking the tea, and filling her nose. The one small exception was the tiny drop of her scent she put behind her right ear, the one he seemed prone to smell.
She brushed her red hair to a brilliant shine, applied just a hint of lip stain, and slipped on the light blue dress that covered her from neck to toes, knowing no woman in the district dressed this way. She caught the faint scent of Alpha on the clothing and almost laughed out loud.
He had rubbed his cum on it, and the scent filtered through the pine tar in her nose. The pine tar and flowers were stronger, so the smell did not trigger her slick, but she caught it all the same. At that moment, she knew he was already hers.
At six fifty-nine, there was a sharp knock on her door. Rising, she opened it and immediately growled at him, her action practiced and primed for his arrival.
“Bathe the scent of Beta Whore off of you before you take me to dinner!” she snarled at him, threatening him with her teeth.
She left the shocked Alpha standing, once again, in front of the locked door, his growl reverberating in his chest. He had fucked the Beta this morning and forgotten about it. Apparently, Miss. Calm, Cool, and Collected wasn’t quite so collected as she tried to be. He rubbed his hands as he walked away from her to shower and change, thinking that the Omega was already his. Contract be damned, he would have her.
Chapter 4
When he came out of the shower, the door between their rooms was ajar. He slipped into a pair of clean dress blues and watched her, unnoticed, as she moved blankets and pillows just so, in a pattern only she knew, to make her nest. She hummed softly in contentment through half-lidded eyes at the task, and he wondered about her.
It was a well-known fact that not all Omegas nested. Some theories suggested that a forced Omega would not nest, nor would she properly bond with her Alpha in the way nature intended. It also took longer for a forced Omega to take an Alpha’s seed. This was thought to be one of the reasons behind the low birth rates of late. Unbonded Omegas had become rarer and rarer over time, causing the treatment of them to deteriorate in certain areas.
He had never bonded an Omega and had only fucked a few older ones in so-called estrous houses. These were Omegas who sold themselves either to pay off a debt or to gain protection as they neared the end of their fertile years. It was not an uncommon thing, but he didn’t relish going there and chose to fuck a willing Beta or his hand instead. He had never knotted an Omega. Not once. He did not want to force this one, but if he had to, he would. Despite what she thought, she wouldn’t be walking away in two months, three weeks, and four days. He didn’t want to force her, but he wasn’t above it either. He would prefer her willing, but she wouldn’t be leaving Greenville.
That was the only reason he hadn’t ripped her clothes off and fucked her in his office. Yes, rape was a crime, and yes, in theory, it was punished, but the truth of the matter was, if he could figure out how she cock-blocked his growls, purrs, and scent, he could have her legs spread willingly in seconds. Although oddly enough, even though he had told his dick there was an Omega in its presence, it had not responded.
Whatever she had done to block her biology had also blocked his. That couldn’t be allowed to stand. No pun intended.
Her nest was beautiful, and he longed to roll in it and cover it with his cum. The sight of it brought his cock to full attention, even though he had emptied his balls on the dress she now wore. He could scent himself on her, and it calmed him marginally.
An unbound Omega could not just waltz through the streets of the city. No way. There would be a riot. Her creamy skin and her long, silky red hair might cause one anyway. He had never seen a woman like her. He doubted anyone had. She was exotic. Rare. She had offered herself to him, and he would have her. Whatever stupid mating ritual she was seeking to perform, he would wait her out.
His cock strained to get to her nest.
Then she raised her eyes to his, catching him watching her nest. His breath came fast and heavy in his chest, his growl coming from his throat without a thought.
“Ready?” she asked, blinking slowly at him,
Damn, was he ever ready. “Yes, allow me.” He opened the door, placing his hand on the small of her back and ushering her through the halls and down onto the streets.
“I’ve heard that Greenville makes the best steak and grits the New South knows,” she said, accepting his arm and tolerating his constant soft purr as he might not even realize he was doing it.
They walked together, surrounded by the red haze of the sun as it neared the horizon. It’s said the sky used to be a beautiful blue color, but now it was merely white like one low cloud hung there that would not dissipate. The sun could be seen from behind it in its red raging glory.
Temperatures had soared after much of the atmosphere was ripped away by radiation and fallout from other bombs. The mountains had protected her district, but the same could not be said for this one. Even at this time of the evening, it was well over one hundred degrees.
“Tell me about your home, little Omega,” he asked as they walked, keeping one
eye on the top of her head and the other on every other person on the streets as they were now staring at her. He had concealed pistols with extended magazines under his shirt, just in case.
“As I said, I’m from West Virginia.” She kept her eyes lowered and did not meet any in the crowd. Despite her brazen attitude with the Alpha, she knew proper Omega etiquette.
“You mean the Seventh District,” he corrected.
“Yes, of course,” she chuckled, sending a thrill to his toes. “The Seventh District, in a place called Elkins. It’s a small town in the middle of the mountains. Most of those areas were largely unchanged even after the Great War.” Each time her legs moved, the scent of his cum reached his nose. He had marked her for himself, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about it. It might not have been his wisest move. It was driving him crazy.
“They can’t be untouched. Dynamics emerged after the War, surely that caused change and upheaval,” he said, guiding her around a large group of young Alpha males with a glare of warning in their direction.
“West…The Seventh District has always had Alphas and Omegas. The War just made their body types more genetically accurate, but the emergence of dynamics hasn’t changed all that much for them.” Eve glanced up into the eyes of one of the young Alphas, quickly dropping them. The group began to tail them.
“Explain,” the Alpha said.
“I don’t see how that needs explaining. The people of Wes…the Seventh District lived harsh lives, especially in those places off the beaten paths. There are still hundreds of thousands of them living off the grid there. Alpha, Omega, Beta. It doesn’t matter and never has. Nothing much changed. Women do what needs to be done, as do the men, regardless of what dynamics suggest, their priorities are survival.
The Alpha turned, picked up the closest juvenile, and sent him flying with a roar. “Mind your manners, cub,” he growled a warning before turning back to Eve and retaking her arm. It trembled beneath his hands. “You’re safe here. You’re safe with me.” His growl changed to a purr, and he felt her relax. A feral grin crossed his face and was gone. “Continue.”
The Omega Rule (Omegas of the New South Book 1) Page 2
