Page 64 of Alpha Hunger

“He’s sick.” My Omega peels the dead armor off my skin. “It looks like he’s shedding. I don’t know what to do. Where is the damn Horde?” Anna presses a palm over my forehead. She is now taking my temperature. My mother used to do this even though I have notemperature. My people are cold-blooded. “His skin is clammy. He should be cold and dry.” Anna places a chaste kiss on my forehead. “Everything is gonna be fine. Remember? You told me that.”

This is the worst day of my life. Had she not collapsed the moment she hit the pillow, I’d have explained transition to her.

A creak sounds. Something is opening and closing. It's not the door. Smells of human waste, and a person enters the nest.

“What in the world?” Anna says.

I scent Melanie before she speaks. “Gah, the things I have to do in the name of freedom."

“What are you doing here?” Anna asks. “Dad?”

Wheels turn. A thump on the floor. Ben got closer. I believe he crawled to me. Interesting. I smell his breath on my face.

“When Randy came to me with this crazy idea that my daughter can single-handedly take down the male whose father left me a cripple all because of pussy, I told him he was mad. But a million dollars is a million dollars.” He chuckles. “You understand, don’t you?”

Ah,now I understand the feeling in the pit of my belly, the one that’s been hounding me. Instinct. It wanted to tell me I should take care with my Omega.Omegas are death traps.I can’t count how many times my father has said this.If you do anything stupid, it will be for your Omega. Be careful of their power over your logic. Listen to your instinct.

Ironically, they have the same sayings on Earth. Here, humans say love makes a man blind. Finally, our people agree on something. Love.

“Oh no, Dad, what did you do?”

“I’m sorry, Anna. When we’re far away from here, I hope you can forgive me.”

I hear them before I smell them.

Under the ground, males rattle a Horde song. Carefully, I listen and note the uneven, broken sounds. Not the Horde. I am certain. Another Regha male unit trying to sound like the Horde. I listen more.Hm.Their breathing patterns are jagged, interrupted by gurgling sounds, a blend between Junior’s breathing and mine. Strange.

The rattling ceases. I try to move my body, but my muscles are locked. Venom drips on my tongue, my body’s natural response to the enemy. I will my eyes to open, but my eyelids are still heavy. The ground opens, and I fall.

Someone catches me.

Anna screams. Outside, Junior rattles. Melanie must've crawled into the nest from under the ground.Omega!I shout in my head. I want to come out of my skin.

“Hey,” Ben says, “where is—”

A pop sounds, then something hits the ground above me. Blood drips onto my face. I sniff. Ben’s dead.

Omega!

“Come with me,” the mayor says. “He wants you alive.”

The scent of Ben’s blood consumes my senses, and I can’t separate the smells of my surrounding. I can’t scent the males. There are many. The footstep count tells me at least a dozen. On silent feet, two of them carry me away.

Omega!

Dear Serpent, hear me and witness, I will leave no survivors, not even if they kneel before me.They should kill me now while they can. Because later, they’ll have lost their chance.

We turn right.

Yuck.My stomach rises. The stink of human waste makes me want to vomit. Alphas do not vomit, so I swallow whatever my stomach is trying to expel. No fucking way I’m vomiting. During Anna’s heat, I didn’t consume food, which is excellent right this moment, or I’d choke. Oh, but the smell of waste is gonna kill me. I might gag and die in a pile of shit. What a terrible way for a prince to die.

There’s a reason why Father advised against bonding on Earth. Before me, all the males who wished to bond crossed into Regha, where the pair was guarded during the process. The urge to bond my Omega during our coupling overrode everything else. My quarters high up in the Stronghold would’ve been a prime space for our activities.

But my Omega had a nest.

Her parents had plans.

There is nothing I wouldn’t have done to breed her. I know this like I know whoever plotted with those people knows nothing about me. The more time they give me, the stronger I grow. During transition, Father figured out that ingesting venom speeds up the healing process and, he believes, leads to sturdier armor. If these males knew this, they’d have already killed me. They know nothing of Sewa males.

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