Page 18 of Thief

If I lift my armor, my life is over, and so is everyone else’s. The Horde will find my bedroom, follow the passage to the sea, and know a boat has sailed. Horde leaves no stone uncovered. They will wait for the boat to return, then they will capture my mother and my girl and turn them over to the king. My mother will commit suicide and perhaps poison Kate.

I won’t challenge the Horde male. “Buying goods for the village.”

“What kind of goods?" He sniffs and brings our faces relos apart. “What is that smell?”

I didn’t have time to take a bath. I washed up as well I could. Though Kate’s pussy scent must be all over my face, and the Horde smells something sweet. I hope he can’t identify the scent. It is not an Omega’s scent, but the sweet tangy smell I can feel melting at the back of my throat. Makes an Alpha male wanna swallow, if only to taste more of it.

“Ka-te,” I tell him. “Telean candy.”

The Horde takes his hand off my throat but stays, gaze locked with mine.

It is my turn to show submission. And I do, because the alternative is unwise. I look away from him and at the pile of wheat to my right, my Betas shaking with fear next to it. I hate the Horde. “Take anything you need. A sack of Ka-te will be loaded into your transport. A gift for the Horde Alpha.” I want them out of here.

The male grunts and calls the others. Seventeen Horde males descend the steps, and I order my Betas to load the wheat into unlabeled brown sacs, as we do with all of our shipments. The Horde male circles me and sniffs, his nose working. “Where did you get this Telean candy?”

Is he stupid? “The merchant sold it to me.”

“How come we haven’t found any at his house?”

“Last batch.”

“Anything else you’ve bought from him lately? Perhaps an Omega?” He faces me, eyes calculating.

“No.” It’s the truth. I did not buy my Omega; I stole her.

He steps back, gaze measuring me. “A big male like you should be in the king’s service. Why are you not?”

Because I hate the king’s service males. “Every village needs at least one Alpha, and I’m it here.”

He grunts and walks away.

I sigh in relief and pack Telean candy into a sac I take upstairs and pass onto a Horde male. When I turn to go back in, the Alpha of the raiding unit stands in my way. “Come with us,” he says, as if it’s an invitation.

“What for?”

“You didn’t think we came here by accident, did you?”

I say nothing, so he continues. “The Beta female you sent inside the Horde house? We got her singing like a little bird. You’re a thief, and since the Horde is in town and we need food, you actually stole a shipment from us. Thank you for the candy, though. Loven loves sweet things.”

9

Kate

I dressed while Eron's mother paced the room. When the voices sounded outside, frantic, she called up the Telean tech from the ceiling and spoke to it. The walls shimmered, and she approached the window, her small pointy ears twitching. "This a hologram and blocks the view inside the room."

Since my heat eased up, I’m able to walk, instead of crawl. I approach her and look outside. Downstairs, huge Alpha males in kilts surround the house. My heart beats faster, and I have so many questions, but I dare not speak, because his mother keeps quiet, alert and worried.

Her worry rubs off on me like a living thing crawling on my skin, and I bite my thumbnail.

Five kilted Alphas separate from the circle they’ve made around the house. Eron walks out and claps his hands behind his back. Two of the five males step in front of him, three behind him. They’ve caged him, and they’re leaving with him. I think they arrested him.

“We’re left on our own.” His mother spins on her heel.

I watch the rest of the Horde mount their hounds and follow the five-male live cage around Eron, who keeps his gaze ahead, never once looking back at the house as they disappear around the back. I cross the room but can’t find the door to get out on the patio.

“We stay until it’s all clear,” his mother says. “How are you feeling?” She lifts her face and sniffs, her small nose wiggling. A knowing smile spreads over her face, while mine burns.

“Where are they taking him?” I ask.

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