Page 22 of Thief

“Yes, please.” Girl, bring the pitcher. When she doesn't approach, I get up. The sudden movement makes liquid heat spill down my legs. My face burns, and I wish everyone—besides Eron of course—would leave me alone.

“I couldn’t let you ruin us,” Indle says.

“Huh?”

Veme sips her tea. “King’s Valley. That’s where I’m from. A tiny little town, surrounded by a lush forest. My son buys joelos because it brings him joy to see me happy. He is that kind of an Alpha. In service to everyone weaker than himself.”

“You’ve clouded his judgment with your scent,” the Beta tells me and swallows. Rubs her throat. “We were gonna get married next cycle. Or the next. It was only a matter of time.”

“What?” I almost drop the cup. Fumble with it so it doesn't shatter. Eron was getting married.

The hound growls, shackles up, head down, tail pointing upward.

The Beta female scratches her throat, her chest, gasps for air.

“What is going on here?" I ask.

Veme sips her tea. “I am an Omega, not an idiot, Indle. I have evaded the king’s Collectors all my life. It is an offense you would think me stupid enough to allow you to serve us and leave this room, when you can scent the breeder's heat. It is even worse you believed you could harm the female who shall give me grandbabies, while on my watch.”

The Beta crumbles to the floor, scratching herself viciously. Blood wells up from the wounds her sharp nails dig into her chest. White foam comes out of her mouth, and she chokes on it as she attempts to swallow. She gasps and exhales and stops moving.

I stand there, not understanding what I witnessed.

Veme clicks her tongue. “Horley,” she says and gets up, carrying the pitcher back inside. She pours me a cup, steadying my shaking hands.

The hound approaches the seemingly dead Beta.

“Wait a minute.” I set my tea down. I walk to the female on the floor and check her pulse the only way I know how, which is by placing my hand on her chest. It’s not moving up or down. “She’s dead.”

“Very much so.” Veme clicks her tongue, and Horley closes his jaw over the dead female’s ankle and starts dragging her back into the room. He stops at the door and waits.

“Open the door for him, would you?” Veme says.

“What?”

“The door.” Veme points.

As if a robot has taken up residence in my body, I walk and slide open the door, then step back. Beta males fill the hallway. They part for the hound, and he drags the girl outside and leaves her there, to return to my side. His growl is low, almost a purr, his tail wagging. I believe he looks forward to a meal. Do hounds eat Betas?

A gentle hand lands on my shoulder. “The human breeder is a seer of her people,” Veme says behind me.

What the fuck? I give her the side eye.

Eron’s mother continues. “It is the reason the merchant kept her for so long. Eron enjoys her company, and she will make us rich. A vision has already appeared.”

Beta males move closer, but stop when the hound growls. “A seer. Are you sure?” someone asks.

“She sees the future, and the future told her my son will return. And when he does, I will request he spares no one involved in an attempt to end this female’s life.” Veme smiles. “Nolis, the breeder survived the poisoning attempt. If you would be so kind as to get started on the poles… We should need more than a couple.”

The Beta male steps forward. “I had nothing to do with the poisoning attempt.”

“But you didn’t stop it either.”

“I couldn’t have known.”

“But the seer knew. Which is why she is indispensable. Do you not agree?"

“Agreed.”

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