Page 32 of Shadowlands Omega

“I didn’t hear you come. You’re without horse.”

“I am,” he says again.

“You-you-you’re alone.”

“Yes.”

“D-do you have business in the village, my Lord?”

“My business, ordinarily, would be none of your concern. However, as you presently seem prepared to rape the business that I am here for, I shall enlighten you. I am here for the Omega.”

The Rider says nothing.

Lord Yaron asks, “Do you deny that you intended to rape the Omega?”

“No, my Lord.” He answers so quickly, with such honesty, it catches me off guard.

“And you were aware that the Omega was not to be touched, as per my edict?”

“I…” he starts, then seems to think better of it. “Yes, my Lord.”

“Very well. For your honesty, you will be offered a choice.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

A choice? He was going to let him…

“Agony, or a swift death. Should you choose agony, you will survive it.”

He takes a moment to decide. I don’t even breathe. I don’t understand what’s happening. Lord Yaron is socasual, it’s as if he’s asking the Rider to choose between a slice of pie or cake. “Agony.”

“Good. Then present for me. Like a good little whore.”

“Wh-what?”

Heavy fabric shifts, and I hear the sound of a latch released. I know that sound. Lord Yaron freeing his axe from where it rests beneath his cloak, across his spine. “Present for me. I will not ask you again.”

“I-wh-how-you…” He stammers again and again. I can hear the sound of his feet shuffling. I wonder if he’s going to try to run. I wonder ifIshould try to run, but the thought is immediately cut short by my overpowering will to live and the understanding that, if I run, the Shadow Lord will cut me down.

Don’t run,I long to shout at the menacing Rider, my feeble attempt to spare us all from the violence to come, but the words don’t make it past the gate of my teeth. Shuffling steps are punctuated by much louder footfalls. Thud…thud…thud…

“You will present for me like a good little whore, and I will impale you with this blade, just as you would have impaled my Omega.”

I’m going to piss myself as emotions clash over and through my body. A bitter, icy cold is what makes sense upon hearing what Lord Yaron has in store for the Alpha, but what’s strange is the heat that washes over me right after.MyOmega.

“N-no.”

“No?”

“No.”

Thud.

Lord Yaron comes to a stop. He’s close to me now. There’s another sound, this one more daring. A slicing sound. The Alpha, he wouldn’t, would he… He wouldn’t have drawn his sword, would he?

There’s a horriblethwackvery close to me and I dare a swift glance to the right and see Lord Yaron’s axe embedded in the dirt. It’s half sunk into the road, like it’s demarcating the boundary line between life and death. Beyond it, the Alpha holds a sword aloft while Lord Yaron now stands weaponless. I kneel, prostrated at the inflection point, waiting for my sentence.

“Is this your choice? To fight?”

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