Page 19 of Thief

“To the Horde stronghold.”

“But why?”

“I presume for questioning.” She looks at me pointedly. “He stole an Omega. We belong to the king.”

“But I’m not an Omega. I’m an alien.”

Her hazel eyes widen. “Shhh, child. Be quiet. They could still be in the house.”

I slap a hand over my mouth.

She nods.

We stay there—me standing, her sitting on the bed, though not for long. She gets up and straightens the sheets, starts folding and unfolding blankets, arranging them in different ways, and generally fusses over bedding. She curses and begins pacing the room again.

Her nervous energy gives me the creeps. “What now?” I whisper.

“Now we wait for theall clearand move into my boat.”

I have motion sickness. I could never make the school-bus rides, would get sick all over the floors. Mom had to take me to school by car, and I had to sit in the front seat. If we wanted to go somewhere, even for a thirty-minute drive, I had the front seat, or it was a big mess to clean up. Going through the heat and being sick to my stomach at the same time worries me. I bite my lip. “What if we stayed?”

Eron's mother looks at me as if I’ve grown horns. “There is no Alpha in the house.”

“Um… so?”

“We are at anyone’s mercy. Betas smell and feel Omega heats, and if they mount you—” She shakes her head. “Staying isn’t an option. Besides, the Horde will torture my son and kill him if they find out he’s been hiding me all these years and is now in possession of an Omega, alien or not. Pray the Serpent guides the Horde away from the merchant’s home, and that they don’t linger longer than a few days. Pray harder they don’t elect to stay in this house.”

“They can just stay in any home?"

She tilts her head, as if I'm not making any sense. “They are Horde.”

“Like a military unit or what?”

“Mm-hm. But worse.”

A soft knock sounds on the door. “Clear,” a male voice says.

The Omega breathes a sigh of relief and fists her hands, joins her fists over her chest, and lowers her head. “Serpent will protect us.”

Oh man, this is not good. While I didn’t want Eron around before, now I want him around. I need him to come back, and his mother isn’t making this easy. Her worry sweeps the room, and I sit on the chair Eron sat on, pulling my knees up to my chest.

“What happens if Eron doesn't return?” I ask.

“The Betas call the Collectors, and Collectors take us to the Omega compound. Though I’d rather die than go to the compound.”

“Why?”

“Child, I am too old to bear young, though that won’t stop the king from appointing me a pack of Alpha males. Seeing as I wish to have no more sons or daughters, forced pregnancy during my heat is inevitable. Stillborn babies and deformed babies that live for a cycle instead of many turns are guaranteed to come out of my womb. I won’t survive such an emotional burden. I am happy to take my own life instead.”

“Jesus.”

“Who?”

“Never mind. But there is a chance Eron will come back, right?”

“Only if they don’t know about us.”

“If they knew, they’d have taken us.”

---