Page 5 of Own to Obey

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“Never enter her cabin again, Zoltan,” Kardos bit out as he entered the meeting room.

Zolt held himself still, a frown on his face as he watched Kardos. “Understood, my shinno.”

“How did you find it in the first place?”

“I assumed that you would take her to the part of the ship that most wouldn’t visit,” Zolt said. “And I followed the… sounds.”

Kardos came to a stop on the opposite side of the table. “And why the fuck did you think it was appropriate to enter andspeakto me when you came in?” he growled.

Zolt’s brows raised. “It has never been a problem before, my shinno.” His gaze remained firm. “I am unsure why it is now.”

Kardos almost roared at the man’s idiocy, but held a tight leash on his anger. He had already lost control once today and it wasn’t as though Zolt didn’t speak the truth. Sex in the Southern Isles tended to be indulged in openly before a pairing was made, and much of the time with multiple partners. Kardos had never cared before about anyone approaching him to talk while fucking before, but this situation was different. “She is an Omega,” he said, through gritted teeth. “And she is yet to adopt the Southern ways.”

“Understood, but…” Zolt straightened, his face smoothing. “I wasn’t expecting you to take her so quickly.”

Kardos bristled. He slammed his fists on the table between them, his eyes burning into Zolt’s. “That is not your fucking concern!”

“I have no real concern about it as such, my shinno,” Zolt said carefully. “But she is an Omega. I assumed you would share your plans due to her status and what she means for our culture. The rest of our brothers and sisters would want to know that you hold such a treasure.”

Kardos shook his head. “They will be informed of her presence soon.”

Zolt stared at him, his gruff voice embracing a tone of surprise. “It is unlike you to withhold information from the tribe.”

“It is,” Kardos said grittily. Zolt only knew about her because of the disrespect Zolt had suffered in the Western Lands—Kardos had negotiated for the Omega as payment for that disrespect. His people needed to know that Kardos would defend and protect the honor of his tribe. “But this is not just random information. This is about an Omega. An Omega who must learn her place before she is exposed to the rest of the tribe. It is likely she will not behave as she is supposed to. She has no knowledge of our culture, our language, people, nothing… There is much she must learn, and I don’t want anyone interfering before that happens.” He leaned forward on the table. “And listen well,” he said, his voice lowering, “I am the tribe leaderandshinno. I make the decisions that are best for this tribe. I have been keen to share all information in the past, but there are times when that cannot happen.”

“It is one of the things the rest of the tribe value most about your leadership,” Zolt pointed out, lifting his brows and tilting his head so his shaggy hair swung. “The tribe has always had its traditions, my shinno, but you uphold them more so than any of the past tribe leaders. You have shown that you value us. It would be a… disappointment to them if you were to withhold this information from them for too long.”

Kardos gripped the table, the hard wood digging into his hand. “I have to think about what's best for each situation,” he said roughly. “We are on a boat. We are already too far from land to turn back for any reason. Our ship is enormous and barely capable of running at the speed we wish to travel. And among our tribe of Alphas and Betas, mostly Alphas,” he added as a reminder, “we have one Omega.”

Zolt frowned. “You think Alphas will not be able to resist her?”

“It is possible.”

“I thought you said she was blocked?”

Kardos straightened so that he stood with his weight evenly between his two feet. The Omega being blocked didn't seem to impact his urge to touch her, his urge to scent her, or his urge to get inside her. She seemed to affect him even though she was blocked, and he wasn't sure how that was possible. Perhaps his attraction to her was simply because of her obvious beauty—he hadn’t been as interested in the other two Omegas he had seen in the Western Lands, just her. Regardless, he didn’t want any other Alpha taking such liberties with her. She was his responsibility. He would not be allowing any one of his men access to her so he didn't see the point in announcing her presence at all. “The knowledge of what she is may have more an impact than whether she is blocked and unable to affect them,” he muttered.

Zolt nodded. “Are you planning to tell the tribeswomen about her?”

“There is no need. She is simply a new tribeswoman to be trained. There is no need to say anything more. In fact, only Treska needs to know. She will tend to her.”

“I understand, my shinno.” Zolt straightened himself and picked up the schedule on the table. “I wanted to talk to you about workload. If we do not find a way to improve it, we will be on the ocean a lot longer than anticipated.”

Kardos leaned over the table between them, staring at the workload schedule Zolt had put together. “We are at full capacity? Do we have enough men to guard the Omega’s section of the ship?”

Zolt inclined his head, letting a gruff exhale. “We will travel slower, but yes.

“Good.”

“If they do not know what they are guarding or where exactly it is, they may let people through. “

Kardos nodded. “If everyone else is working, not many will be going to that part of the ship.”

Zolt nodded. “Yes, everyone has been given work. That is my concern.”

Kardos turned from him to think.

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