Her Broken Alpha - Isoellen Page 0,62

he'd kept it because they liked how he ran things.

Maybe he'd been fucking stupid to think that. Maybe he was surrounded by males who just wanted to take him down and be top of the alpha pile.

The back of his neck felt twitchy. Something was coming—a storm. Just when he was at his most vulnerable with a young, pregnant mate.

Darre was crossing through the dining hall when Alreck approached him. Since the other man was often on the twelfth floor guarding Darre's private space, Darre assumed the man was off-duty. He took long steps straight toward Darre, determination in the set of his jaw.

"Sir." He tipped his head. "I want a chance to court a beta woman." Direct and plain-spoken in both words and personality, Alreck didn't waste time with ass-kissing.

"Nothing but trouble," Darre muttered, looking the other man up and down. Alreck was younger than Darre by several decades. The two long slashes down his face that bisected his eyebrow and cut down his cheek had come courtesy of the monster when Darre established his leadership.

The cocky boy had been mouthing off during the battle, called him a freak or some shit, so Darre had decided to make him a member of the freak club. Alreck turned out to be a decent soldier, however, who obeyed orders and kept everyone in his detail in line.

Clawed hand sweeping out, Darre gripped Alreck's neck, points to jugular, and pulled him in close for a sniff test. Surprise bloomed with fear, and then the sweet smell of full submission. Alreck's own inner predator had been tamed by a greater one.

He hadn't betrayed Darre and had no plans to.

Satisfied, Darre shoved him back a step and waited until Alreck met his eyes.

It took him a moment.

Good. All the better. There was a difference between a respectfully submitted alpha and a cowardly one. Darre had a lot of practice figuring out which was which.

Alreck had cleaned up Darre's office after too many meetings gone wrong to not have a healthy respect for what Darre could do when he was angry.

"Yes. Fine. In fact, you can have first pick and organize the mess. I have no desire to play matchmaker. But the rule stands: marriage contracts with willing signatures. You will have to seduce your female, if you can."

Alreck gave him a toothy grin. "Ladies like my scars. Makes them think I can survive and protect them. It’s not an issue."

"Tell Mac you have my orders, then." Darre considered the other man for a moment. "Alreck, something ugly is coming. I need you to have your most reliable men on duty. Loyal men, if such men exist in the district of the damned. You get me? I don't know which direction the threat will come from yet. It's not you. It could be someone else in my tower. Anyone else in my tower.

“Or it could come from outside. Or both. I don't fuckin' know, but I feel a storm coming." He paused to let the words sink in. "Don't tell Mac or Seta my orders on this. You get me? And if you see that old dog Nixon, I want to talk to him."

"He has his wife with him."

"Perfect. I want to see them both."

"Alpha, are you going to be housing drones now too?"

"Until I figure out what to do with them. And all those females get servant contracts, like they do in the other sectors. Ha, and I'll give that over to you too.” He barked a short laugh at Alreck's dismayed expression. "You can pass that chore off if you want, but you'll be the final authority and answer to me."

Darre watched relief play over Alreck's face, and Darre wanted to laugh again. He'd shocked the man enough, however.

Giving Alreck his leave, Darre ordered food from the kitchen before mountng the stairs. He discovered after the first flight that he could run up them now. Nothing hurt.

At the top of the stairs, the guards stopped him. He didn't remember their names but recognized their faces and scents. He gave the three of them a good smell before he said a word. He couldn't check every male who worked in his tower in one day, but by the rod, he would know that the males closest to his mate were not plotting behind his back.

This behavior wasn't too unusual. Everyone in the tower knew of Darre's bestial tendencies. The males submitted and tested true. No scent of deception-based fear. No sour lies.

"Alpha," the male