Page 23 of The Blind Hordesman

I dress and follow her, glancing toward the kitchen just so she believes I’m watching. I hear no voices, but scent Otekin, who stayed behind from the first baking shift. I scrub my face. “Do you really want to die?”

He knows I’m talking to him, and he approaches me. “Would it be worth dying for?”

“Probably.” I grab the back of his neck and press him against me. No Alpha likes this, and he rattles back, his body going taut. “You know you will lose. You and whatever pack you’ve formed for her. I beg you, don’t make me kill you.”

“You will not breed her. She’s a breeder through and through. You don’t need an Omega like her. Come on, Alpha, you know I speak the truth.”

“I know.” I squeeze his neck. One twist, and I snap his neck. His body hits the floor, and I walk around him and go outside, where I rattle out a battle cry. The males assemble. I sense their formation. Not quite a line, not quite chaos either. They whisper among themselves.

“Quiet,” I order.

After a few seconds, the shock of Otekin’s death wears off, and the males resume their breathing sounds, the coordinated ones where I can count them quickly. There’s one that’s not breathing like the others. On a field, if I hear this sound, and if I can’t identify the male, I kill him. “If you don’t breathe like one of us, you’re not gonna breathe at all.”

In affirmation, my males grunt.

I listen for Noslov’s pattern. He’s joined the assembly, and I have to wonder if Otekin was a part of the pack Noslov formed in preparation for taking Kiki. “King Tayseer said an Omega’s not responsible for the actions of Alphas. She is supposed to drive us to want to mate, fuck, and also fight. Be careful, however, whom you pick to fight with. Sometimes the Alpha is stronger. It is best to walk away. We have secured many Omegas on Earth. One for each male if they so choose. Is that not what King Tayseer drilled into us while we hung upside down on the poles?”

“Yes, Alpha.

“So why the fuck are you challenging me?”

Silence.

I walk the line, listening, scenting so I can pick out the males I sense might be part of this damn pack. I stop by Noslov, lean in, and whisper, “Are we clear that there are many others on Earth or even on Regha?” I will kill him. One gesture toward Kiki, and I’ll kill him.

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Dismissed.”

He doesn’t move.

I grab his throat. “Take Division Sa north. About fifty miles from here, take care of the supplies Dreikx picked up on the radar.”

“I don’t lead Division Sa.”

“You do now. Dismissed.” I release him and wait. He knows I hate waiting.

“Division Sa,” Noslov shouts. “Pack your shit. We’re moving on.” He steps forward and bumps my chest with his. “The imposter’s daughter is not for you. If she is made, she is sterile like all the others who are made. You need heirs.” He pats my shoulder. “Take care, Alpha.”

“You too. I mean it.”

He grunts, and we part ways. I’ve known Noslov for the better part of my life. Sending him away feels like I cut off my right hand. And I’d rather cut off my right hand than kill him. Perhaps Kiki is exceptionally attractive and has made him feel as if he could take me, that she would be worth it. No Omega is worth another Alpha’s life. Except the one I choose to breed.

Chapter 10

Kiki

I bake until five in the morning, till my eyes blur and my hips ache. I pass on the torch to an Alpha whose name I didn’t want to know. Nobody spoke to me. Nobody even looked at me. They barely acknowledged I stood in the room with them all night.

I wave good-bye and remove my apron, sling it over my shoulder, and head for my bedroom. The Hordesman’s hound springs up from his permanent watch space and blocks the hallway, black eyes locked with mine. I try maneuvering past him, but he won’t move. “Can someone get the hound out of my way?”

The Alphas stop working. They exchange looks. One of them shakes his head.

“Come on, the Hordesman can’t kill you all for talking to me.”

A few males snort.

“Can he?”

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