Page 24 of Thief

I keep trying to talk to her, but she keeps quiet.

I have no idea if this is an Omega, and I can’t risk my life for a stranger Omega. I’ve already risked many lives by getting arrested. The great Serpent better look after my mother and Kate, because I sure as fuck can’t.

Just as I give up on talking to the female and sit back down, the walls shake. Dust and small rocks fall on top of me. Again, I get up and slide the tiny window. Outside, the dungeon fills with Horde males. They’re shouting and trying to break the cell wall, where the Horde Alpha locked the female. Interesting. I chuckle. He sealed the cell. Sealed dungeon cells aren't the same as locked ones. Sealed cells keep people inside until they've starved to death. Breaking the cell would be difficult. But the Horde sure is persistent.

I laugh out loud. I’m enjoying this. What in the Serpent's name are they doing?

“Boo.” A face appears before me.

I step back, and the male closes my window.

* * *

Time in the dark passes slowly. It could be spans before the window reopens. I don’t bother getting up. Not even when the door swings open.

“Come on,” a Horde male says. “My brother wants to see you.”

His brother. I’m going to presume this is Kinre, the Horde’s Second, and his brother would be Loven, the Horde Alpha. Great. I can’t wait. Let me hurry up and jog there. I stay sitting.

“Get up, asshole, and you may live through this.”

“Why? Is he in a good mood?”

“You could say that. Try not to ruin it.”

Groaning, I support myself on the wall as I get up. I stand for a second, blinking, to clear my sight. I’ve not eaten or drank water for what feels like a cycle. My vision is compromised.

Kinre taps his foot, then grabs me and practically drags me up several flights of stairs and into a room I could describe as a war room. The Horde hound insignia painted on the floor greets me, and I happily step all over it as Kinre walks me to the Horde Alpha leaning against the window.

Loven is a massive fucking Alpha, at least four relos wider in the shoulders than I, with biceps nearly twice the size of mine. Damn, what does this guy eat?

“Eron, is it?’

“Yes, Alpha Loven.”

He circles me. “Erect your armor.”

He’s challenging me? Ridiculous. He wouldn’t stoop as low as to challenge an Alpha. Maybe a pack of us, but certainly not one he’s starved in the dungeons. He’d dishonor himself. Puzzled, I erect my armor. No sense in angering him. I want to work fast and get back to my girl. How many spans have I been here?

Loven stands before me. Tilts his head. “Curious why a big Alpha like you never attempted to join the Horde.”

I hate the king and would rather die than fight my own people. The Horde is despicable. “Grew up poor.” It’s the truth. “Had to work for a living.”

“And what a living you’ve made, stealing from your neighbors.”

“I steal from the king.” Fuck. The moment it comes out of my mouth, I regret it. Must be the beating I took and the starvation that have messed with my self-control.

Loven smiles. “We have that in common.”

My hearing must’ve gone to hell too. “I don’t believe I understand.”

“I stole from the king.” His smile reminds me of Horley's before dinnertime.

I stand there, unwilling to speak. He knows about Kate, and he’s baiting me. Anything I say will send me to a pole, expose my mother, and definitely deliver Kate to the Horde.

Loven slaps my shoulder, then grabs the back of my neck. A spasm runs through my spine. I want to head-butt him so hard, it splits his skull. There is nothing worse for an Alpha male than to have another Alpha display dominance over him. But I have enough sense to know Loven is the Horde Alpha for the reason I am not. In a challenge, I don’t stand a chance. Still, his dominance rubs me wrong, and I rattle out a warning.

He doesn't rattle.

---