Page 201 of Ruled By The Alpha

“You and he were always at sixes and sevens—one in love while the other wanted to do battle.”

“I feel lightheaded,” I lied, and to give them their due, they did not question when I put my fingers to my temple in mock pain. I did not experience pain like others; I absorbed it, and by the blessing of my blood, diffused any lasting influence with the beating of my heart. “I should lie down.”

I left them standing there, dumb and concerned. My mother and brother. It made as little sense as the realization that my master had a face and name.

“Mistress Tenora? Are you well?” a scrawny beta drudge asked. She was one of the new intakes, and we did not trust her yet. None of us trusted betas until they had stayed a year and could curse their own dynamic under their breath, and mean it, with the same visceral disgust we possessed.

“Some tea sent to my room,” I said, too tired to order one of my own drudges carry out the task.

“At once, mistress.”

I paused at the entrance to the main rooms. I could return as I’d come, through the narrow corridors built into the walls, or through the wide, well-lit, and luxuriously appointed public halls. A heavy curtain hid the door and muffled the sound of music, laughter, and conversation. Normalcy lay on the other side of that door, and despite my makeup-free face and simple robe, I was tempted to pull the curtain aside.

The fabric was an old velvet, probably salvaged from one of the sofas or beds. I clenched my hand into a fist as I thought about how much omega blood had been bleached from the drab-colored cloth.

“This ends now, Magnus,” I whispered. “Whatever plan you might have, I am not waiting a moment longer. The omegas are no longer your slaves, and neither am I.”

Chapter 5

When I finished speaking, it was as if I truly felt the Mother entering my being. I slipped into the hall and was struck by how boisterous it was. Drudges and servants filled the space, laden with trays teeming with exotic foods and potent wines. Everyone was so focused on their jobs that they hardly noticed as I slipped along the wall.

I was seeing the brothel through new eyes and ears.

The walls needed to be washed, and smoke stains obscured the frescos that had been painted the year I arrived. Music from more countries than existed on a map created an oddly pleasant cacophony. The longer I stayed, the less real this world felt.

Kora stepped out of one of the private rooms, and when she turned in my direction, she looked right through me. In our world, no omega was above another, but I was her senior and worthy of her respect.

“Kora.” I stepped in her path, and she—

She walked through me.

“You’ve returned, then.”

I spun. Magnus leant against the wall. Even though he wore the same leathers as always, he appeared different. His hair was trimmed, and the wounds on his face were healing. I could begin to see how he could be beautiful—not just dreadfully handsome but truly beautiful in the way only some men could be.

“Returned?”

“I called and you came, as always.”

“Banish me, then.” I tilted my chin, a queen commanding her subject.

“I could never truly leave you. It is how we keep meeting like this.” He flung his arm out and a drudge walked through it. “Our dreams are at their most powerful when we share them with—”

“Do not say it.” My anger flared. I did not know the rules of this new world, and without knowledge, I was at a disadvantage. Then I gasped, revelation rushing through me like a dam bursting. Dreams were what we made of them.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I pictured a place where I knew the rules and he would be forced to watch, to listen, to be at my mercy. For there was a power a good whore had that no one could ignore: the power to enthrall.

I blinked, and we were in the great marble hall, the place of my fondest memories as a young woman—the place I had wished to return to when I had learnt of my status in the world of flesh and blood.

“You have brought us here. Why?” he growled.

“Take your seat and let me show you why we are here.”

I raised my hands above my head and began to swirl my hips. I gathered the thin cloth of my shift and lifted it until the hem brushed my nipples. Then I whipped it over my head and tossed the fabric to the side, where it fluttered to the ground.

Then, with a scrape of stone against stone, one of the giant statues lining the walls came to life. These were the ones Magnus had commanded to fuck me. They were my lovers, as familiar to me as my own reflection.

I returned my attention to Magnus, whose face stilled as one by one, these monsters made of marble dragged themselves free of their stasis, coming to life because I willed it.