Alpha Siege (Omega Mates #1) - Pearl Tate Page 0,50

front of him, I drop to my knees and lean forward to put my face right in his line of sight. He’s acting defeated, but I believe he’s anything but.

I don’t have time to play games. He has to go back to the low dwellers as soon as possible. Once I send my report through the Hub that he’s in our possession, they’ll direct us to the closest underground access point equipped to handle his decontamination. “Does this have anything to do with the water flask in your satchel?”

For the first time, I can see his exterior façade crumble before his eyebrows shoot up. “There’s only one reason you’d know the significance of that.”

Straightening against the pier, he takes a deep breath as his eyes widen, darting side to side across the crowd all around us. Everyone’s come to see the convict whose bounty will bring us more provisions than ever before. I’m sure most of them are just as curious as I am about why exactly there’s such an enormous price on his head.

For the first time, our encampment has taken double precautions to make sure we haven’t overlooked any way that he could be stolen from us. Part of me wonders if I should have taken the time already to send the message notifying the low dwellers we have him in custody. The longer we’re responsible for him, the bigger the risk of losing him.

The needs of my people must come first. We need those provisions. They’ll make things much easier during the cold season.

But I’m curious about this female that he may have had an encounter with. His eyes lock on the crowd just over my left shoulder, and a small smile forms. “Ahh, there she is.”

I smell Sunny’s sweet scent as soon as the words leave his mouth, and my blood boils with her insolence. What’s wrong with her that she can’t obey me for any length of time?

Hopping to my feet, I hear him admonish me as I walk away. “Be easy with her. She really isn’t from here…”

Could this strange, high-ranking scholar—now a wanted convict—be telling the truth? There’s a part of me that suspected as much, but it’s just so unlikely. Clearly, he’s had his own interactions with a similar female. I must speak with him again, but some kneeling time against the pier will hopefully loosen his tongue and make him less cryptic.

Scholars are known to be as slippery as the words of our Holy Scriptures. Double meanings and old-fashioned, inconclusive wordings are just small parts of the confusion and incorrect translations the passages are often known for. I may follow the Words, but I’m not a zealot. That’s another thing I’m pleased with about my new mate. She clearly isn’t religious, and unless I’m in the vicinity, I’m sure she wouldn’t even perform her Devotions. That’s why I’m sure Truna was lying earlier…

I’m disgusted to see Sunny turn tail and run as soon as she notices me cutting through the crowd toward her. Will my little mate never learn? Now, she’s making me give chase, inflaming my own lust. This’ll make it all the harder when I punish her because I’ll need to deny us both. Or will I?

All kinds of devious punishments are already sifting through my mind. I don’t know who I’m kidding, though. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wished for this. My fingers twitch as I give chase, ready for the heady sting of her soft, supple flesh.

I must train her to obey her master. And that’s me. I alone will rule her, and guide her, and instruct her in the ways of our females.

When my hands clamp on her, I take us both to the ground, rolling onto my back to keep from crushing her. She’s squirming enticingly, like a tiny lat with its claws bared as I gather her into my arms with a laugh. Oh, my mate. If we didn’t have such a large audience, I’d be thrusting inside her tight cunt already.

Instead, I bury my face in her neck, scraping my teeth over her claiming mark as I growl, “Just what are you doing out of our tent?”

“I’m doing what any normal person is doing. Going where I please… when I please.” Her tone is haughty and taunting. She wants this then.

Eager for the burn both our bodies need, I bring my hand down hard on her ass as I sling her over my shoulder. The air slams from her lungs