Omega's Capture, page 10
She flinched when he reached toward her, but his hand stopped just out of reach with palm up.
“Come with me,” he said, face expressionless.
“Where?”
He did not answer and simply stared at her.
Ianthe hesitated for as long as she could stand manage before finally gripping his hand with her own. His skin was a shock of heat against her palm.
Legion pulled her to her feet as he glared down at her. “I have something to show you.”
Chapter Twelve
Ianthe was surprised when Legion brought her to the locked door of the mysterious room that she had discovered in her earlier wanderings.
“What’s in there?” she asked, hating that her voice trembled.
Legion did not respond, but dropped her hand to bring an ornate key to the lock that secured the door.
“What are we doing here?” Her mind filled with lurid imaginings, thoughts of torture dungeons and windowless cells careened through her head.
“You’re about to find out.”
His hand on her back kept her from fleeing down the stairs. She was forced to watch as the door swung open on creaking hinges.
Whatever she had imagined was far from reality. Instead of chains and whips, dozens of super terminals filled the room in neat rows. The floor was made of gleaming white tile and a large fan whirred from the wall, blasting chilled air.
“What is this?”
“An empire.”
His hand on her back forced her further in the room. The heavy door shut behind them with a loud bang.
The intensity in his gaze made her uneasy. “I wouldn’t have thought an entire empire would fit into a single room.”
“So cynical for one so young.” He showed her further into the room with a large hand at the small of her back. The lift in his voice made his next words a question. “I assume you know something of my business dealings?”
“My sister called your business predatory.”
“I provide an essential service.” He gave a careless shrug. “And I expect to be fully compensated for it.
“We read on your CommNet profile that you practically hold the upper levels hostage over clean air.”
“But not you.”
“There is no clean air in the slums. What hold could you have over us?”
“Fair enough.” He brought her to a large bay of terminals with letters and numbers moving across the screens much too quickly to follow. “My entire operation is run from these terminals, these lines of code and bits of programming keeps all of the air processors in the city running.”
Ianthe was fascinated despite herself, although she did her best to conceal it. “And what’s stopping Central Command from coming in here and taking it all from you.”
“You imagine the existence of this hub to be common knowledge? For one, property laws in Pandora are stronger than you think. Second, I’ve automated the defense system and it would take an overwhelming amount of force to overcome them. Third, the system is encrypted and I am the only one who knows the passcode to unlock it. Finally, the Crown would have to made aware of this place in order to make any sort of move against it. Of the three people aware of this room’s existence, two of them are currently standing in it.”
Her gaze jumped to his, surprise etched onto her face.
“Why would you show me this?”
“You are my mate.”
His words sent a pang careening through her chest. She didn’t want to be his anything, even as the bond whispered reassurances in her ear.
“I see.”
Ianthe licked suddenly dry lips. She hated these moments when he seemed simply to want to talk to her. Talking with him, learning about him, all it did was confuse her more.
When he took her body, she could convince herself that it was only unwilling pleasure that he was able to make her feel. But silken words wormed their way into her mind.
She had to remind herself, once again, that she was not capable of feeling anything resembling love or caring for an Alpha. Especially a man like Legion, who represented the worst of them.
“Let me show you something else.”
Legion took her by the arm, leading her further into the room and outside the circle of bright light that reflected off of the hundreds of scrolling screens.
Another terminal sat in the corner. It was smaller and more closely resembled a unit intended for personal use like what she had in her own home. And also unlike the others, its screen was black.
“What is this?” Apprehension sang through her as she wondered what Legion was up to. He was acting wholly unlike how she’d seen him before, all solemn intensity. His gaze had not left her face since they entered the room.
“Sit.” Legion pulled out the chair in front of the black screen. He sat and scooped her into his lap. She tried to keep some distance between them, but he forced her back against him with a large hand around her waist. He must have realized that she was moments away from jumping out of her own skin.
His other hand activated the terminal so it came alive with a loud creak. This was an ancient model and wasn’t even connected to the CommNet, as far as she could tell.
She was surprised to see the biometric scanner attached to the machine. Legion pressed his thumb against it and the image immediately brightened.
Pictures flashed across the screen in thumbnail size, too small to make out detail. He touched one, and it expanded.
“This is my mother.”
Ianthe leaned forward, unable to contain her interest. “She’s lovely.”
“She was very opinionated and quite bold for an Omega. My father had trouble keeping up with her.”
“Your mother was Omega?”
“Of course,” he murmured, as if it should be obvious. “The strongest Alphas are always born of Omega mothers.”
A shiver of premonition moved down her spine as his voice reverberated through her back. She hadn’t thought much about children, what it would mean to have them or how she would feel about it. The entirety of her existence had been focused on surviving in the present. She had not put that sort of thought into the future.
Pregnancy was technically possible at any time for an Omega, but the chances were significantly increased during estrous. She had not fallen pregnant during that last cycle and would not experience estrous again for several months.
That fact filled her with relief. A child would bring a permanence to her situation that she desperately wanted to avoid. The delusional part of her still hoped that Legion would come to his senses and let her go.
Legion purred then, perhaps sensing her discomfiture. He enlarged another picture and another after that, images of his parents and himself at various stages of life. He hesitated at one and then continued to scroll, bypassing it.
“Wait. What was that one?” she asked.
“Which?”
He did not attempt to stop her as Ianthe touched the screen to return to the picture that had been skipped, then tapped to expand it.
In it, a much younger Legion stood with a woman that had not been in any of the other photos. The woman was young as well, but close to his age at whatever time it was taken.
“Who is this?” Ianthe asked.
“Nila.” Legion spoke without hesitation. “She was my previous mate.”
“Was?”
“She died in childbirth, only months after this image was taken.”
Ianthe turned to study his face, which remained entirely placid. “I thought it wasn’t possible to claim a second mate.”
“I never claimed her. She wanted to wait until our binding ceremony which was delayed until after the birth.” His purr had not ceased its steady rhythm against her back.
“What happened to the child?”
“Lost as well. It died before the naming rites could be performed.”
Unborn children were so often lost during pregnancy that it was considered ill luck to name them prior to birth. Most saw it as tempting fate to strike against them. Legion and his mate had likely never shared their child’s name with anyone else.
A curious feeling settled over her at the thought of his previous mate and child. Not jealously exactly, but the feeling was not entirely pleasant. Whatever it was, the emotion surprised her. She didn’t want to be feeling anything at all.
Ianthe turned away to study the picture again. Nila was beautiful, that much was obvious even in this single still image. But more than that was the expression of joy on her face as the woman stared up at Legion. There was no hint of the unease that Ianthe constantly felt, Nila had clearly understood her place and was content with it.
“Nila took pride in her dynamic.” Legion said, as if reading her mind. “She was registered before her first estrous and was eager to be mated.”
“So why didn’t you claim her from the beginning?”
“I was content to wait, at the time.”
She made a rude sound. Where had the courtship been for her? “You didn’t wait with me.”
“That should tell you something, shouldn’t it?” His expression became serious as he stared down at her. “I had thought that I understood the depths of wanting until I met you.”
The intensity of his gaze forced her to look away. “Do you still mourn her?”
“I regret her death. I sometimes wonder if something could have been done to prevent it. And I think about the child, what it might have become if given a chance at life.”
Losing a child was the most devastating thing that Ianthe could imagine. She didn’t want to hear anymore. “Why are you showing me all of this?”
“You complained before that you know nothing about me. I assumed it would please you to know more.”
As if it had nothing to do with his desire to manipulate her. He was trying to humanize himself, at least by some small degree. The effort to take advantage of her natural inclination to nurture was obvious.
She hated the pleased smile on his face that was reflected in the shiny surface of the screen, knowing he had accomplished what he intended.
“I’m sorry you lost her.” For more reasons than one. If Legion still had a mate, they likely would never have met.
And the bond whispered to her that she was meant to be with him, regardless of what had come before. Ianthe clenched her fingers on the edge of the table, tamping down the traitorous voice with an effort.
She wasn’t meant to be here with him, she reminded herself. This was all a terrible mistake. Eventually, he would see that. Particularly if he was used to a loving mate who reveled in her nature.
His hand tangled in her hair, pulling her head to the side so he could sniff at the sensitive skin of her neck. “You are distressed.”
“I’m not.”
“I expect you to have questions about my past, just as I’ve been curious about yours.”
“I don’t care what you’ve done before or who you’ve done it with.” Ianthe said, her words ringing hollow even to her own ears. “I didn’t choose you. I didn’t choose this.”
“Choice is an illusion.”
“No…”
His lips skimmed along her bare shoulder, sending frissons of electricity down her spine. She wanted to fight him, to resist, but all she could manage was a breathy sigh.
She stared at the frozen image of Nila’s smiling face as his mouth painted a fiery trail down her skin. Warring emotions filled her. There was the fear that was always present in the background of her thoughts, mixed with the unwelcome desire that he so easily summoned from within her.
But worse was the terrible relief she felt that the pretty woman was gone. That made her hate herself even more.
Whatever else he meant to show her was interrupted by the delicate chiming of a bell.
Legion pulled away and glanced down at the unit on his wrist, noting the time.
“That will be the doctor?”
“What doctor?” Ianthe pulled away as far as she could, her back to the terminal. “I don’t want to see a doctor.”
“You will submit to an examination or suffer the consequences. It will be relatively painless.”
Relatively? His words did nothing to soothe her nerves. “I thought you said no one was supposed to know this place exists.”
“Dr. Bartin is an old friend and is paid exorbitantly for her discretion.”
“I don’t want to be examined.”
“Be a good girl and I’ll reward you.”
She wanted to spit at him that he had nothing she wanted, but it was pointless to make him angry. He would get his way in the end just as he always had.
Choice is an illusion.
Ianthe stared unhappily up at the ceiling of the bedroom as she lay back on the bed, head slightly propped up on pillows.
Dr. Bartin was the same female doctor that Ianthe hazily remembered tending to her immediately after the end of her estrous. Legion may have called the woman an “old friend” but Ianthe was sure the death threats she remembered from their last encounter had something to do with the woman keeping her mouth shut.
And recognition of that fact only served to aggravate Ianthe more as the doctor stood between her spread legs, while Legion leaned watchfully over the woman’s shoulder.
The doctor’s hands were cool and her manner clinical as she conducted the intimate examination while Ianthe fought not to cringe away.
She tried to force her mind away, disappearing into her own thoughts until this violation was over. And deliberately paid no attention to the conversation happening over her head.
“No lasting damage was done during estrous. And the blood tests revealed no abnormalities.” The doctor directed her words to Legion only, as if they were discussing an inanimate object. “Your Omega appears to be in good health.”
Ianthe wanted to argue that last bit, but wisely chose to keep her mouth shut. It wasn’t as if either of them were interested in anything she had to say.
Instead, she forced herself to think of pleasant things like fields of flowers and impossibly blue skies.
Her responsibility was simply to endure, just as it always had been.
“So you foresee no complications with proceeding as planned.”
“Inducement always carries risks, of course, but no more than usual. Her hormonal profile has stabilized.”
Inducement?
“Go ahead, then.”
Dr. Bartin produced a long syringe filled with milky liquid. That was enough to pull Ianthe from her reverie.
“What is that?” she asked, looking from one of them to another. Her voice was reedy with apprehension.
The doctor ignored her and began to clean a spot on Ianthe’s outer thigh with a bit of cloth soaked in an astringent.
Legion glanced at her face before his gaze returned to where the doctors hands rested on her leg. “This is a stronger form of the same hormonal inducer that overcame the suppressants you were taking and brought on your last estrous. The drug is being administered via injection to accelerate its effect.”
“Why are you giving me that?” Ianthe scrambled back against the headboard, just as the doctor held the needle tip poised over her skin. They stood on either end of the bed, making escape impossible.
“Fertility is unlikely in the absence of a heat cycle. And your condition was too unstable last time for impregnation to be possible.”
Why did he make it sound like he was breeding animals?
“No, no, no…”
“Hold out your leg for the doctor.”
“Should I give you a moment?” Dr. Bartin asked, voice expressionless.
“No need.”
Ianthe wrapped her arms around her knees, clutching her legs close to the front of her body as if she could make herself small enough to disappear. “Please don’t do this.”
Legion lunged forward and gripped the back of her neck hard enough that it forced her body to go limp. His accompanying growl ensured submission. “Relax or it will only hurt more.”
Not waiting to be the told, Dr. Bartin quickly administered the injection into the tense muscle of Ianthe’s thigh. The small burst of pain from the needle was nothing compared to the ache in her heart.
Legion released her and she scurried back to the other side of the bed, putting more distance between them.
Tears burned in her eyes. “I won’t ever forgive you for this.”
“You will. When you first hold our child in your arms. Omega females are meant to bear children.”
She wanted to rail at him that he knew nothing about Omegas. Just because he’d found a happy breeder in his first mate did not mean that all Omegas felt the way that one did.
But she knew that any words she spoke would only come out in a sob so she simply glared at him as angry tears tracked down her face.
How many more ways would he find to entirely violate her?
Already, she could feel the growing heat under her skin. Fever was always the first sign of an approaching heat cycle. She had a few hours, maybe less, before she was fully in estrous.
Ianthe hunched into herself as the doctor quietly collected up the supplies strewn on the bed.
“Is there anything else that you require?” Dr. Bartin asked, glancing at Legion with an inscrutable expression. “That will be all. Thank you.”
“I hate you,” Ianthe murmured as the door quietly clicked shut behind the doctor.
He stood at the edge of the bed with his arms crossed over his large chest, but did not move to come any closer. “I’ll remember the sentiment when you’re begging me to mount you.”
She wouldn’t, Ianthe told herself, even though she knew that the high of estrous would rob her of anything approaching sanity. But she was in her right mind at the moment and perfectly able to tell the odious Alpha exactly what she thought of him.
And so she did, with screeching invective and using all of the nastiest language that she could come up with on short notice. She insulted his intellect, his grooming and then suggested at length that the nature of his birth surely involved some form of animal husbandry.
Legion allowed the tirade until Ianthe inevitably ran out of steam. She collapsed on the bed, sobbing, as she realized that her last chance at freedom was about to slip away. Regardless of what he might feel for her, no Alpha would ever release a mate who was with child.
