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.