she’d been to the healer.
Traveling by air-bike was far faster and more comfortable than anything she’d ever experienced. Tucked in behind Rath, warm and comfortable, it was easy to forget he was her enemy, especially when he only had to smile or growl at her to make her melt. And if he bit her over her mark, she was his, totally. No matter how much of an alpha asshole he was.
Savannah hadn’t even realized how much she’d surrendered to him until today. It had been so easy to convince herself that he was different than the others. She’d created a fantasy for herself and managed to hold on to it until he’d put her on the back of his bike and taken her to the last place in the world she wanted to go. The citadel.
That’s where omegas went to die… or worse.
She shivered as the high walls came into sight, not wanting to cling to him but not having the courage to do anything else. Her eyes widened in fear, her tension mounting as the walls grew nearer, looming over them like a portent of doom. When they rode through the gates, she nearly stopped breathing, her heart yammering in her chest. Every alpha they passed turned to watch them. She felt their eyes on her and tried to make herself as small as possible. It wouldn’t work. She knew it wouldn’t work. Without the suppressants in her system, they would smell what she was.
Omega. Prey.
Rath growled, the furious sound blending with the rumble of the engine. “They will not hurt you, little one.” He raised his voice. “They best not even look too hard!”
Several of the aliens turned their attention elsewhere, but not all. A handful followed them. They were unkempt and unpleasant looking, and one of them had a malnourished and dead-eyed omega on a leash.
“Rath?” she whispered.
“I see them. They are L’crav. Beneath your notice.”
She wanted to close her eyes and burrow against his strong back to escape back into a fantasy that they were back at the house. That she was safe. But she’d long since left childhood fantasies behind. She wasn’t safe here, and she needed to keep her wits about her.
The alphas still followed them as Rath pulled the bike up to park it next to lots of others. Some of them still bore dust from outside. She studied them as he dismounted, wondering how difficult they were to ride. Perhaps she could just—
“Don’t even think about it, little one,” he growled, dark eyes watching her as though he could see right down into her soul. “You’d never get it out of the courtyard.”
He was right. For now. The streets were bustling and people—no, aliens—were everywhere. But if she could remember where these bikes were, she might be able to come back another time when things were quieter.
“As you say,” she murmured as he helped her to the ground. Her leg throbbed, but it was only a dull pain she could ignore easily enough. Strength mattered here. She would not show weakness.
“Where did you find that one?” one of the alphas asked Rath.
“Any more with her?” another chimed in.
Horror slithered down her spine and she stiffened in recognition. She knew that voice. She’d heard it somewhere before. It was like seeing a face from a nightmare while walking in the daylight. Savannah moved closer to Rath, who managed to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder even as he moved her behind him.
“She was alone in sector seven, and she is mine.”
He’d named a spot almost three days’ walk from where he’d found her. The lie made her feel a little better for some reason. Rath might be an asshole at times, but he was doing what he promised. He was protecting her.
“No one is allowed to claim an omega right now. So she’s not yours.” That familiar voice spoke again. She was almost tempted to peek out from behind Rath to see the face attached to the dark voice, but she decided against it.
“Mine!” Rath snarled, the words weirdly distorted.
That’s when it happened. He… changed. The man she knew was taken over by something else. A beast. His shirt tore at the seams, revealing the same hardened skin and swirling marks across his back she’d seen on his chest.
She stumbled backward, every instinct screaming at her to run and hide. But he shot a hand out, clamping hard fingers around her wrist.
“Mine!” he roared, his voice deeper than she’d ever heard it.