Page 6 of Own to Obey

Tribe Nyek were known for their stellar ships that navigated both ocean and sea with ease. They owned superior vessels and Kardos was immensely proud of that fact. None of the tribe’s ships had ever encountered any problem on the ocean due to poor design or crewmen. However, this ship required constant attention in order to run fast and strong across the White Ocean. A minimum crew was required if the ship was intended to be used past the normal expectations, and even though they left fifteen hundred men behind, there still should have been enough men to get them home. Unfortunately they had lost brothers in a war that had plagued the Western Lands and now there were not enough to power the ship.

He turned back to the table and looked at the map. Usually the journey between the Western Lands and the Southern Isles took four months. However, his ship could get them there in one month if they had the crew to maintain the required work. As it stood, he was eager to get back to the Southern Isles as quickly as possible. Although he was comfortable on the sea, he wanted to get the Omega on his land.

“Triple shifts,” he said.

Zolt frowned and looked at the schedule again, then nodded. “That could work,” he said slowly. “But it would mean barely any time to sleep. I don’t know if they could maintain that for a month.”

“They have to try,” Kardos said bluntly. “The quicker we get home, the quicker they can rest.”

Zolt nodded. “You also?”

“Yes. I will take my position shortly.”

With that, Kardos left the room. He headed back to the Omega’s cabin, his thoughts whirling as he tried to get control of the lingering urges caused by the Omega. He had been driven by a craving he hadn’t experienced before, but he couldn’t deny he had reveled in the rawness of it. What he didn’t enjoy was how things ended with the Omega. It was unusual for any real Isle man to not ensure a woman felt pleasure; in fact, it was something Kardos prided himself on ensuring, and it burned him to realize that she had been crying. If Zolt hadn’t interrupted, she would have ended up enjoying it. He hadneverhad to stop himself in the middle of sex before. It was unheard of for any Isle man not to finish, especially not when the woman was that incredible.

He’d also never felt the need to cover up a woman’s body before to prevent her from being seen by another man. Sex was considered a normal and healthy part of life for both men and women in his culture, but he hadn’t wanted even an inch of her viewed… he’d never felt that way before.

He breathed heavily as a realization came to him. He had to get her ready for his culture so things had to happen in the right order. His craving for her would be sated—there was no doubt about that—but now he had to prioritize adjusting her to a new life. After all, he was now the owner of an Omega. The one dynamic that no longer existed in his Lands. The one dynamic whose return to his Lands would change everything, for both him and everyone in his society. So he had to be careful with every step he took. She was too important.

CHAPTER TWO

SHAYA

Shaya lay on the bed, curled up and tense, her eyes still watering at the pain between her legs. As soon as the Alpha left the room, she released the sobs she been trying to hold in the whole time he was inside her. She knew it may have come to this, but she had no idea it would be so immediate. As soon as he'd gotten her alone and naked, he had used her the way her sister had warned Alphas used Omegas.

Her sister, Kyus, was the only reason she hadn't fought him wildly or tried to get away. When it came down to it, she had signed up for this. She had actually volunteered to come in place of her sister because she knew how much it would uproot and hurt her. Kyus had always protected her, looked out for her, and taught her everything she knew about life even though Shaya knew she was a burden. Her sister was a spy, traveling from one place to another and completing tasks and missions that put her in constant danger, but were immensely important to her. Luckily, for the last ten years, she had been able to secure property in a wealthy country in the Western Lands and infiltrate the higher society. That was how they lived the majority of Shaya’s life. Kyus then set up home with her soon-to-be husband, and Shaya was brought along as her servant, but Shaya knew Kyus was always taking a big risk by having her in her life. She had said plenty of times that spies should have no vulnerabilities, but she knew she was Kyus’. Shaya had never known how she was going to repay her sister, until now.

Her sister had been found out and discovered. She didn’t know how, but when King Malloron ordered the shinno to take her sister, it seemed like a punishment—worse than a prison sentence—and she knew she couldn't allow it to happen. She had seen Kyus with her future husband and knew she loved him. She couldn't let her be taken. So she had volunteered.

And the moment she had been led from the room, she decided that she wasn't going to be weak. She wouldn't let the situation break her. She wasn’t as strong as Kyus; she had none of her training or skill or intelligence, but she would be strong for her. She would make her proud. And that meant not allowing herself to be broken by anything that happened.

Slowly, she got up, wincing at the searing pain still clutching hard between her legs. Her body felt strange. She could feel the lingering remnants of the pleasure that had overtaken her before the brutal pain. The shock had been just as startling as the pain itself, but that was her own fault. She should have expected it. He had made her feel pleasure so that she wouldn’t fight him when he used her as he wished.

Carefully, she pulled apart the bundle of clothing to find a strange-looking fitted tunic dress made with coarse material, a fur overthrow, thick boots, and undergarments. She hobbled over to the washroom in the corner of the room and quickly washed before putting on the clothing. But once dressed, she couldn't shake the strange feeling that had descended on her. She was no longer herself. With these clothes, she abandoned everything that she had known from her life growing up—her life with her sister. With these clothes, she had no connection to anything or anyone she understood.

She sat on the bed, waiting for the Alpha to return and carefully wrapped her head back in the material he had pulled off. Her hair was the one thing that she wanted to maintain in honor of her sister. It had been the one thing Kyus had enjoyed spending time doing—caring for her hair. It became time they used to catch up on each others’ day. Kyus would tell her about her frustrations with the people of the Land and Shaya would talk about what she’d done in the gardens.

After her head was wrapped, she carefully examined the room. It was larger than she thought rooms on ships would be, and it had a tiny round window from which she could see the ocean. She stared out of the window at it for a long while, partly in amazement, and partly because she could still see what looked like the Western Lands far in the distance, getting farther and farther away. Never to be seen again.

Tears filled her eyes as she realized the true nature of her situation, but she blinked them away, sighing as the view of the Western Lands turned into a foggy mirage. She had no idea where they were going or what would await her when they arrived. All she could do was try her hardest to remain strong until they got tired of her. In a way, she was glad that the Alpha saw fit to use her straightaway. The worst of it was out of the way now, she knew what to expect in the future, and she would try her hardest not to break.

The door to the cabin suddenly opened and she spun round to see the Alpha entering. Every time he was in a room, the space felt charged, and she was sure it was because he was enormous. Muscles bulged from every part of him and were visible even through his clothes. Every heavy step he took seemed like it would make the world shake, and she had the urge to shrink away every time she was in his presence. He was the epitome of every giant and mean monster in the stories Kyus told her when she was a child, except he was extremely good-looking. That contrast confused her greatly, because in the stories all the good-looking people were kindhearted, but that was not the case here. The strip of sunlight blonde hair that ran along the top of his head beautifully matched his unique eyes. In the daylight, they looked turquoise but in the shade of her cabin, they looked almost teal. Either way, it wasn’t that she hadn't seen anybody with that kind of eye coloring before, it was the fact that his gaze was always fierce, and when his eyes were on her, it made her feel strange.

He closed the door behind him and walked into the room a few steps to stand before her. All the nervousness that usually filled her when she saw him came rushing back in a jittery, trembly cloud, but this time it was accompanied by shame. He had seen and touched a part of her that no one else had seen, that no one elseshouldhave seen yet.

He looked her over, nodding appreciatively at her new clothing. “Your tasks will begin immediately,” he said, his voice a rough rumble. “This will be the last time I will be speaking to you in your tongue. The Southern Isles will be your new home and you will speak the language. The best way for you to learn is to hear it regularly.”

Shaya stilled. That would definitely make things harder for her.

He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes lingering on the material on her head, but he didn’t make a move to remove it again, much to her relief. “Follow me,” he ordered finally. “And stay close.” He hesitated, then said, “Yamves ash,” as he beckoned her to follow.

Shaya nodded but he had already turned and exited the room. She hurried after him, keeping close behind him as he navigated them back through the quiet corridors. As they traveled farther away from her cabin, she saw other members of the tribe. They looked very focused, walking with purpose, their expressions serious and barely acknowledging one another other than a slight nod. This was different from how she had seen them before they boarded the ship. They had been laughing and jesting with each other, some of them even sparring with weapons as they stood on the port waiting for all the shinno's cargo to be loaded. Now they seemed like completely different people.

She watched the shinno's muscular back as he walked before her, wondering what awaited her when they reached the destination. She suspected she would be raped sooner or later but had no idea what else to expect. Although there wasn't that much information about the Southern Lands people, it was rumored that they were simple but extremely brutal and raw. They had none of the social expectations found in the Western Lands, choosing to live off the land and abiding their own unique rules of their culture. And yet no one knew exactly what that was. Although trading existed between the Eastern and Western Lands, the Southern Lands were very much set apart. Not much trading happened between them and the outside world, which led many to believe that they were less civilized. She hadn't given it much thought—there had never been any need to. Growing up she had thought that she would always be with her sister, and anything that she encountered Kyus would explain. But the exchange happened so quickly. She had no chance to ask questions, and she certainly couldn't ask any now.

Her best guess was that the Alpha who led the tribe, the shinno, would want to use her any way he saw fit and possibly pass her on to his men, which would be horrific. That seemed to fit the kind of behavior Kyus had told her about, however, it struck her as unusual that he had specifically wanted an Omega. Maybe there was something more that he needed her for, but that did not fill her with any kind of comfort. In the Western Lands, King Malloron, had wanted strange things for his Omega, such as a potion to affect their bond, which she found to be extremely strange. Her sister, Kyus, had been furious at the idea, saying that the bond between an Alpha and Omega should remain pure, and that if the king wanted to interfere with it, it meant he wanted to treat her badly. Shaya didn't have much to say because she had no idea about what was supposed to happen between an Alpha and Omega or their bond; only that claiming bites were initiated by the Omega.

The Alpha descended down a number of flights of stairs to a deck that was busy with activity and radiated an intense heat. She followed the Alpha as he led her to a stern-looking woman standing in the center of the deck. Just by her stance, the woman seemed as though she had more status than the others. She was most certainly older; her face was hard, with tough-looking skin and thin gray hair tied back into a braid. As he spoke to her, Shaya turned to look over the deck.

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