Page 48 of Alpha Hunger

I tap my claws on the desk. Anna’s pupils dilated this morning, and soon the brown of her eyes will disappear completely. She should be nesting in my room. Why is this Omega not nesting? Has Betaren suppressed her instincts?

An incoming call interrupts my thoughts. I tap the com unit and mute my line, then get up and pace the room, every now and then scanning Anna’s screen. She’s making her own list. At the top of the screen, the list’s name readsAsshole list.

Well, this is interesting.

Asshole is the small opening from which human waste exits. It is also my favorite entrance point. I don’t mind being called an asshole, and clearly the list is for me, a copy of yesterday’s with a few tweaks. Despite the money problem I had solved quickly and efficiently, Anna is determined to disobey me.

Standing behind her, I run a finger down her shoulder, and she shivers, a moan escaping her lips.Mm-hm.I bend and rub my jaw over the skin of her neck, which she moves, giving me better access. My rattle is low and seductive, well practiced, and intended for my Omega. I smell her pussy releasing heat, and I reward her with a kiss on her neck for doing so.

Anna moans and closes her eyes, tilting her head back. The nipples on her perky tits grow erect. I rub them with my palm, and Anna’s legs part.

“My room is my space and you’d rather not nest there. This is your choice, and that’s fine.” I am now “fishing,” a human expression for looking for more information in an evasive way. I want to fish out a goldfish instead of a snappy Omega shark.

“I don’t think you understand anything about me.”

“Wrong. You don’t understand anything about you. There have not been any opportunities for you to be around Alphas.” And plenty of opportunities to be around people who understand nothing of Regha males, people who think they can cure Omega heats as if it’s a disease. She’s been taking Betaren for Serpent knows how long.

I leave for my bedroom and return with a pile of furs and blankets. In the office, I dump them on the floor in the corner farthest away from the window. A quick command, and I dim the lights, then stand back and think on how to best arrange the nest. Alphas don’t nest, and I’m a bit perplexed.

My Omega is broken, her instincts compromised, and she has no understanding of the heat until the heat hits. I also have no idea what those pills have done to her heat cycle, though I intend to find out. Before I met her, Betaren was just an annoying pest, a bug to squish, unworthy of my time. Now, it commands my attention. My Omega isn’t responding the way I need her to, and I must do all I can to fix it.

The red fur on the ground comes from a nesser, a large animal found in the mountain regions of Regha. Thick and warm, it should be at the bottom. I lay down the fur, fluff up the pair of pillows, throw blankets over them, wondering if she’ll want more blankets on the pillows or near her legs.Hm.The door slides open and closed.

I stand back to observe the nest. Primitive, but not bad.

Arkin stands next to me. “You nested?” He coughs, suppressing laughter. I wonder if he’ll take up a microphone and stand at the top of the Stronghold telling my Alphas their prince nested. I don’t give a fuck.

I have bigger problems. “It’s for my Omega.”

“Yours?”

“Mine.”

He glances back at Anna.

“Eyes on the floor,” I warn.

He chuckles. “Omegas nest.”

“I’m aware of that.”

He stares at me, a smirk on his face. I ignore him and cross my arms over my chest. “You came because?”

He taps his ear.

“Of course.”

Anna isn’t paying attention to either of us. She is staring at her work—I’m starting to hate the wordwork. We take the steps down to the space gate in the courtyard, where the Chief of the Telean Alliance awaits. Teleans and Reghans are similar nations of people living on different worlds. Teleans developed advanced technology and exchange currency. They’re a gray and slender race who believe themselves better than Reghans, much like humans do. Most Teleans think Reghans are a barbaric race, for we develop strength and honor, and live in tribes.

Dreikx wears a black body suit with pale blue lines. Captured and tortured for research purposes along with my aunt Sidone, Dreikx was kept in stasis. We recovered him during one of the Horde raids. Though he is about my uncle Loven’s age, Dreikx appears younger.

“Dreikx,” I greet.

“Prince Raven.” He nods and enters his transport pod, which is neatly parked on my lawn.

“Dismissed,” Arkin says to the Guardian unit responsible for guarding the space gate. They clear out along with the other Alphas and hounds. When the courtyard empties, I tap my com and open a channel for an announcement. “All clear for Silence.” I cut the connection off and join Dreikx inside his pod.

Dreikx sits at the helm. On the screen is a view of San Diego and a one-hundred-mile radius. In the upper half of the screen is the Stronghold, with the space gate pulsing bright red in color. Dreikx harvests the power of the gate. It is vast and free-flowing energy that can either destroy or provide prosperity for Earth. For the past five years, we’ve prospered. But so have the efforts to hide the Omega dynamic.

---