“Why me? Why choose me as your mate?” A shudder of nervousness runs down my spine. The hair on my neck prickles and stands up. It shouldn’t be important to hear his answer. It shouldn’t matter what his reasons were to bond with me. And yet it is. Something primal inside me insists that I force him to admit what I’d already sensed. “Tell me.” I hold his glowing blue gaze.

  A myriad of expressions flit across his face. For a second, I sense that vulnerability that I thought I’d touched, that I’d felt when he was deep inside me, when he’d insisted that I say his name.

  It is then that I realize that behind that charade he projects to the world he is as lonely as me…and I am sure he is going to finally tell me something that is real, that matters.

  Something that will give me a reason to push aside everything else that binds me to the outside world and gives me the space to finally be myself, to accept the bond that tugs and pulls at my gut and is worming its way into my soul.

  He straightens his spine.

  His shoulders stiffen.

  His features form into a mask of indifference. Once more he is the General, the leader of the insurgents, the alpha who killed his own father and took over.

  “Because I need a mate by my side, to win the respect of my followers. To show the old guard that I am serious in my claim to being their leader. To cement my position of power.”

  “So it is to further your own needs?”

  “Obviously.” He angles his head.

  His gaze narrows and he searches my face. Does he expect me to react with surprise? Or perhaps he wants to see some other emotion; one that will set right everything that has happened.

  “No.” I gulp. Is all of this a ploy for progeny? My palms fly to my belly, and I want to tear them away and tuck them at my sides; but I don’t.

  “Yes.” His voice is soft but firm. “I want to control, command, dominate and use you.”

  My nerve endings stretch. My core trembles, and I fight the need to cover myself. To throw myself at him and ask him to follow through on his words.

  Then, “I want to touch you, hold you, kiss you, and protect you.” He frowns as if his words puzzle him. “To keep you safe so that someday you may carry my child.” His gaze drops to my stomach and stays there.

  His voice cuts through the thoughts skittering in my head. A child. Someone of my own. Someone born of my own flesh and blood. It pulls at that nurturer I’ve hidden deep inside of myself, that I’ve tried to drown out all of these years under the voice of rebelliousness, under the need to be independent.

  And I am still all of that.

  Only, I am also an omega. A fierce provider, someone who was born to procreate. And the thought doesn’t fill me with horror. Not even the fact that it is this monster…this alpha who could have already impregnated me, and that he’d done it without sharing his intentions with me. That he’d done it in a cold, calculated manner. All of it…he’d planned all of it. I sink against the back of the chair. “You’d been looking for an omega for this reason.”

  “Not any omega, but one of superior breeding to ensure my future generations can weather everything that the future is going to bring. Imagine my surprise when you sweep right into my clutches? One sniff of your scent and I knew your genes were exemplary. Learning that you came from the royal family of Russia only sweetened the deal further. And, of course, then there is your cunt.” His gaze slides down to the apex of my thighs.

  I resist the urge to squeeze my legs shut. Try to pretend that hearing him talk about that part of me is not making my flesh weep with need. That his gaze sweeping over me does not encourage moisture to trickle from my core.

  “Your sweet pussy that made it abundantly clear that it ached for me.” He raises his gaze to my face.

  Those molten eyes deepen until they seem to be almost clear pools of spring water.

  A mirror in which I can see myself reflected.

  One that I want to shatter, but which I know is going to tear me apart instead. My stomach twists.

  “I don’t want you.” I force myself to keep my features straight, to keep all emotions from showing on my face. To clamp down on the lust that pushes at me and thumps at my temples. “I don’t want you…” I shake my head. “I don’t.”

  “So you keep saying.”

  His jaw firms, and I am sure he is going to close the distance between us and take me and throw me on the bed and bury himself in me. And I want him, too…with every fiber of my being. I tense my body, grip my forearms so my nails dig into my skin. My toes scrunch into the floor, and I wait…and…he swivels on his heels and stalks to the door.

  I watch, not sure what’s happening.

  A part of me already aches that he is leaving. While my core throbs with unfulfilled lust and my lower belly pulses with readiness, my mind says this is the right thing, that he did not force himself on me. That he did not seduce me to give in to him. There’s a ball of emotion in my chest that’s growing larger by the second. The breath shudders out of me.

  He pauses with his fingers on the door handle.

  Every part of me tenses up again.

  He turns and fixes that glorious blue gaze on me. “When you face up to the fact that this is not one-sided, that you want me, that you need me to break you, that you revel in it, that more than that, you are but this…an omega who wants every depraved thing that only me, only your alpha, can give you. That only I, Zeus, can fulfill you. When you finally accept that and ask me to rut you…only then will I mate you again.” He shoves open the door, which slams shut behind him.

  30

  Zeus

  I’d walked out of there and that was not what I had intended. I’d wanted to try to be civil, to stay with her, make sure she was okay after the last few days. And that thought itself is so unnatural. What does it matter how she feels? She is my hostage. The daughter of an enemy who’d walked into my palace with the express need to hurt me. Why did she agree to do that?

  I’d never bothered to ask her of her intentions.

  I didn’t need to.

  The look on her face when I had called her out on her own identity was proof enough. Besides, I am judge, jury, and executioner. I don't need to explain my decisions to anyone, and certainly not to an omega.

  And yet that part of me that seems to come alive when I’m around her, insists that I give her the benefit of the doubt.

  Why is it that the sight of her green eyes, wide and with tears shimmering in them, haunts me? That scent of hers, that familiar, honeyed, sugary essence clings to my every pore, tugging at my nerves, while the mating cord in my chest thrums with discomfort.

  A feeling of sadness seeps through the bond. She is hurt and lonely, my omega.

  Well, she deserves it. Doesn’t she? She’d known what she was getting into when she’d flounced into my lair. Surely, she hadn’t thought I’d go easy on her. She couldn’t have possibly known that I’d spare her…and yet something inside me insists I should have treated her with care.

  That I should have asked her first, given her a chance to defend herself. Right… Next, I’ll be asking her permission before I mate her. I have already done that…in a sense. I’d told her I was going to wait until she came to me. That until she really wants me, I won’t take her again. Fuck this! I am losing my mind and all over a timid omega, over a pair of green eyes that haunt my soul, over a sweet cunt that grasps my shaft and milks it as if it has been designed for me. Whose womb throbs in readiness, and I know that she is the one who is meant to birth my offspring. Did I just think that? Am I am waxing poetic about her…? Do I still have my balls? No fucking way am I letting a female get the better of me.

  Striding out of the palace into the courtyard, I stop at where my troops are practicing.

  “So our mighty leader arrives,” the hulking alpha lurking in the corner of the courtyard drawls. “I take it you found the omega satisfactory? Given we haven’t seen you here for a few days. Most unlike you, mighty Zeus, the Bastard of the East End.”

  I swerve toward him.

  Jerome sniggers, then the fool saunters out into the center of the court to stop in front of me. “Yet by the glowering darkness on your face it seems perhaps she is not to your satisfaction? Care to pass her over perhaps? Maybe what she needs is a real male to satisfy her.”

  Blood thunders in my temples, and red sparks flash in front of my eyes. My fingers twitch, and the next second, I find myself hauling Jerome up in the air, his legs suspended off the ground. A fight is exactly what I need, and this…this sniveling excuse for a man will do quite nicely for getting his head pounded into the wall.

  I stalk toward the wall, carrying him along with me, then slam his head against the hard surface, again and again.

  Blood sprays out, and bits of his flesh fall to the ground.

  There is the sickening sound of his skull cracking, but I don’t stop. All I can think of is no one dares talk about her like that in front of me. No one dare look at her again. “She is mine,” I roar. “Mine.” I slam the man’s head into the wall with such force that it flattens all the way down to his neck. His body grows limp, and I throw the irritating burden to the side. Turning, I pound my chest. “Anyone else?”

  The soldiers have formed a wide circle around me. On their faces I see fear, desperation, also resignation. What’s missing is respect. What I’ve craved from the beginning.

  The need to redeem myself in front of the people who’ve made me their leader.

  I’ve wanted this, craved this power since I was five and had caught a glimpse of my father sparring with his troops right here in this courtyard. And yet every time I’d tried to live up to his expectations, tried to live up to my own dreams, I have failed. The only thing left for me is to destroy this town and show them once and for all who is the most powerful alpha.

  No one meets my gaze, except Solomon who stands there, eyes narrowed, a look of understanding on his face. I glance away.

  Ethan steps forward. “Want to take on someone your own size, Alpha?”

  “You have a death wish, Second?” I crack my neck from side to side. Truth is, that’s exactly what I need. A chance to pit my skills against someone who can hold his own, who will challenge me, push me, take my mind off the annoying, beautiful, alluring woman whose thoughts send a pulse of desire shooting to my groin. Yet who I’ve sworn not to touch, not until she asks for me to take her.

  Ethan’s lips pull up in the semblance of a smile. He has his armor on already. He holds up his sword and takes position.

  My gaze falls to it. “Barehanded. No weapons.”

  The color slides from his face. A nerve ticks at his temple.

  He is unsure of how he’ll fare against me without his favorite weapon. Good. When I was running wild on the streets of the East End, I had no access to fine weapons. All I had were my wits and my bare fists. Fighting freehand is what I still excel at. No one has defeated me, ever. Many have tried and been hurt.

  The same thoughts must have run through Ethan’s mind, for he nods and hands his sword to Solomon.

  He shrugs off his armor and lets it fall to the ground.

  I take off my vest and fling it aside.

  We walk to the center of the courtyard and face each other.

  The heat of the morning sun pours over us. People begin to stream onto the balconies above us.

  I bend my knees, raise my fists, and am about to charge forward, when a soldier runs into the courtyard.

  “The omega. She’s gone.”

  31

  Lucy

  The shirt I wear, his shirt, whips around my thighs. Reaching the other end of the building, I hear the shouts as soldiers pursue me.

  I still can’t believe he’d left the suite without locking it behind him, that there had been no guard on duty. Zeus was crude and an alpha-hole, but he wasn’t sloppy. Had he done this deliberately?

  Yet, this is too good an opportunity, and I have to take it, even if it means being caught and punished. I have nothing to lose.

  The sound of footsteps racing in pursuit thunders, and blood thuds at my temples; my pulse beats so fast that I feel dizzy, yet I keep going.

  I run through the gardens, to where the scent of the river floats to me. A cry breaks out behind me, and I pick up my pace.

  My feet skid on the stones, and pain rips up my legs. I bite my lip to hold back my groans. Stumbling over the uneven ground I reach the parapet wall and peer over the side. The water of the Thames churns below.

  My heart pounds. A chuckle rips out. I thought I was so clever to escape. Thought I would be brave enough to jump and leave the alpha behind.

  The mating bond in my chest throbs and a shudder of desire races down my spine. My throat closes. No. No. This is not happening. I cannot be bonded so closely to him that he can anticipate my fears, my uncertainty, even predict what I am going to do next. Once more I glance over the parapet at the river.

  My head swims, and a moan emerges from my mouth.

  I grab the platform of the parapet. Can I do it? Can I take this final step? Or am I forever fated to be here, bonded to a man I know nothing about? Who knows my identity? Who probably suspects that I had an ulterior motive to have come this far? He’d found out my real identity but he still doesn’t know the real reason I am here. This is my chance. This.

  My heart stutters. The mating bond pushes against my chest. He’s coming, he is. I don’t need to look over my shoulder to sense his presence.

  “Lucia.”

  His voice shivers over my skin. The mating bond stretches and pulls at me to turn around. I squeeze my eyes shut.

  “Don’t…don’t come closer or…” Pain floods down the mating bond.

  The fear that comes down the connection almost blinds me. It also confuses me. He can’t be afraid for me. He doesn’t care for me. But he’d walked away from me that morning and given me a choice. In this instant I know I’ve made a mistake. I’ve found the one person who finally recognizes what I am inside. Not any omega. Not a meek female. Not only a submissive. Someone who is his equal. Someone he won’t treat as another breeder, but one who he’ll want to please. He’d grabbed me from that room full of alphas, but he’d actually saved me from them. He’d taken me for himself, yet each time he’d also made sure to pleasure me. And his touch…his feel…his caresses. Desire tugs my groin, and slick gathers and drips from my core.

  “I am not going anywhere, Lucia.”

  Another pulse of heat trickles down the bond. There’s a yearning there. A need to fulfill, to take care of me that I had refused to accept. And now? It’s too late, it is. I turn to him.

  “But I am.” I smile at him. Tears prick my eyes.

  “Wait.” He flings out his hand and closes the distance between us.

  I push back against the wall. The breath catches in my throat. My hands slide on the parapet, and then I am falling, falling. I think I scream, but I am not sure. The wind gushes past me so fiercely, so strong that my eardrums seem to rupture. Then there is only silence and pain that rips through me as I hit the surface of the water and sink under.

  32

  Zeus

  “No!” My heart slams against my rib cage, and I race toward the parapet. I throw my leg over the wall, but arms seize me and yank me back. “Let me go,” I roar at the intruder.

  I scan the river, searching for her. There is only the churning, swirling mass of water that is the treacherous surface of the Thames.

  I can’t see her.

  There’s no sign of her.

  Another pulse of worry twists my guts. My stomach lurches, and my breath comes out in pants. My vision narrows. The hair on my skin pops. I grab the arms that restrain me and rip them off of me, then leap for the wall and jump over the side.

  Keeping my arms close to my body, I hit the water and go through. Opening my eyes underwater, I look for her. Nothing. I don’t see anything. There is a ball of fire in my chest, squeezing my heart. I fall inside myself and reach for the mating bond and find it quiet.

  So quiet.

  Fear shudders down my spine. Surfacing up for another gulp of air, I then dive below, my gaze scanning the space. And again. My arms are so tired, legs so heavy I find the current overpowering me. Know I must swim to the riverbank, else I’ll likely drown, too.

  Closing my eyes, I reach for the bond and stretch my consciousness out through it, searching, sensing, and all I find is white.

  A silent whiteness so blank it could be a canvas that will never be painted on.

  My guts twist, my stomach churns, but I can’t give up. How can I when the one thing that brought the color into my life is gone? Darkness closes in on me, the water tugs me down, and I try to push back, knowing I can’t give in to the tiredness, cannot let myself fall.

  Everything I’ve faced to come this far seems to hit me. Images of my father, my mother…my followers, the need to destroy the city…all of it is chased away, and all there is, is her.

  The sugary scent of her slick, the softness of her skin, the brilliant green of her eyes when she is aroused, the fear that rippled through her, the first time I’d seen her, her fighting me…submitting to me… The mating cord twinges, once, so faint I should have missed it except I’ve been waiting, waiting for that.

  My eyelids fly open, and I aim for the faint light that filters through the waves, sinking through the green depths, the color so like her eyes. I am going to see again. I will see her safe, I will find her, rescue her, bring her back, and when I do, I am never letting her go. Never again. I push back strongly and rise to the surface. When I break through, my lungs expand, and I draw in huge gulps of air.

  “Zeus.”

  I look to the other side to see Ethan waiting for me.

  It was him who’d tried to hold me back from jumping; no one else would have dared. Only he has the guts to face me, and I want to rage at him for trying to hold me back. Yet, when he wades out to grab my arm and hauls me to the shore, I don’t shake him off.

 

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