Page 5 of Thief

Charmer, this one. I clear my throat. Shrug. “Not ugly.”

He taps his lap. “Sit.”

I sit on the chair his mom sat on.

He glares.

I ignore it, intent on striking a deal with this somewhat reasonable male. “Why am I here?”

“Because you smell like an Omega, and I am an Alpha.”

“Omegas are the king’s property.” I keep chanting my mantra.

“But you are an alien. Nobody will suspect a thing, and there are no other Alphas on this property.”

“You and your mother live alone?”

“I don’t live with my mother.” He chuckles. “She sails.”

“What do you mean?’

He points behind him at the sea. “King’s property, remember?”

I nod.

“Mother lives on her boat and sails, never staying too long in one location. She will stay here during your heat, then leave for the seas.”

“Then your mother is an Omega.”

“Mm-hm.”

“And your dad?”

“Dead.”

The tone of his purr changes for a second, then goes back to the steady lulling rattle meant to soothe me. But I caught it. “My daddy died in a construction accident. Mom was left to care for the four of us. Three now, since I’m gone,” I say.

“Do you miss them?”

I nod. “I want to go back.”

The purr turns deadly. He doesn’t have to say it, but I know he’s angry I want to leave.

“It is because of the merchant,” he says. “Rest assured that, if the Horde hasn’t ripped him to pieces, I will.”

“I don’t care about him.”

“Sure you do. I would bring you his head.”

Thanks. I’m impressed.I gaze at the moving sky. “I will sleep with you. I will do anything you want me to do.”

“I know you will.”

“But then I want you to send me back.”

“While I’m doing whatever I want with you, you will not be thinking about going back. And once I’m done doing whatever I want with you, you will beg me to stay.”

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