Page 3 of Omega and the Beast
Her disdain for this offer could not have been more evident, yet he bared his teeth in a smile, enjoying her reaction. “I can see you’re overcome by my offer.”
Callista was frozen in place, unable to force herself to smile back, yet too smart to do something so stupid as deny his interpretation of her reaction.
He glanced up at the sun in the sky. “Would you like tomake us some tea while I take the necessary inventory of your father’s household? And I shall be happy to take any small requests you may have for the ceremony into consideration,” he added graciously.
“I am sorry, sir,” she said, finally finding her voice. “I’m busy in the back garden right now. I was there when I heard your knock…”
He looked down, his gaze slithering over her body as if it was already his to do with as he pleased, until he saw the dirt on her skirts.
“Ah, you are a hard worker, my dear. Something I always wanted in a wife.” He winked at her, and no longer frozen in shock, Callista managed to smile weakly. “Well then, I should be getting back to my duties. Perhaps tomorrow.”
Perhaps never.
Callista kept her smile pasted on her face as he turned to leave, waiting until he reached the gate to hurry around to the back of the house where she collapsed against the sturdy wall, panting for breath as the emotions she’d been holding back rushed over her.
Fear. Panic. Worry for her father.
Worry for herself.
Whatever had happened to her father, she had to believe he was safe somewhere. Delayed, but safe. She couldn’t let herself believe otherwise. However, his long absence had repercussions neither of them could have ever anticipated.
Marry Father Conal?
Impossible. The very thought made her body run cold. Even if she didn’t find him loathsome, it was out of the question, but she had no authority to refuse. Only her father could refuse a suitor and if he was… absent, she needed a man willing to stand as her betrothed, perhaps even willing to lie to the priest and claim a secret marriage, and who would ever do that? Who in the village would dare defy Father Conal? More importantly, who would do so without asking questions? And… And if it came to that, who was she willing to marry? Who could be trusted with her secret? Who would help her keep her Omega nature hidden away rather than turning her over to Father Conal for judgment?
Judgment. As if there were any doubt as to his verdict. Alphas and Omegas were inherently sinful creatures — Alphas killed, Omegas lusted, and neither could be controlled. Their perversions were the reason the Beast roamed the woods, or so Father Conal declared from his pulpit, and all the villagers knew it to be truth, or at least, did not dare to question him. Callista could not judge her neighbors too harshly; she had believed him until she’d discovered for herself that what he said about Omegas wasn’t entirely true.
But whatever else he said, Father Conal preached that sin was as weeds in a garden, and that only by plucking sinners up and casting them out could the crop flourish. And so there was only one outcome when an Omega or Alpha was discovered in their midst, and whether the Beast devoured them or they succumbed to exposure or misadventure, it didn’t really matter. Those sacrificed to the woods never returned.
According to Father Conal, this was why the village flourished when all others wallowed in lawlessness, famine and plague. He was so certain of it, that every three years, a lottery was held, wherein a young woman was called to be sacrificed to the Beast in the woods (although the daughters of Father Conal’s enemies had a way of being called more than others). But no matter what day it was, if the village knew her nature, they would turn her over to Father Conal, who would sacrifice her to the Beast. Callie would haveaccepted her fate if her name had been called in the lottery, as it was her duty to keep the village safe, but she didn’t want to throw herself at death if there was any other way.
But was that really what awaited her in the woods? Father Conal was wrong about Omegas, so… maybe what he said about the Beast, the Alpha in the forest, wasn’t entirely true, either?
Callista closed her eyes, taking deep breaths as she tried to calm her racing heart. Unfortunately, while Father Conal’s words hadn’t beenentirelytrue, there was quite a bit of truth to them. Her heat was awful. If a man other than her father had approached her while she was in her nest, she would have begged him to fuck her. To defile her. Just like Father Conal said.
Which meant there was likely quite a bit of truth to what he said about the Beast.
It left her with a choice. Should she wait here for her father to return and save her both from heat without suppressants and a forced marriage to Father Conal? Or should she brave the outside world and try to find him herself, risking not only the Beast, but a thousand other ways to die in the woods?
Either way, she knew Father Conal would likely appear again tomorrow… and the next day and the next… and at some point, her heat would hit. Then she’d be thrown into the woods, a sacrifice to the Beast, regardless.
Opening her eyes, she looked up at the sky where the sun was hanging low, though not setting yet.
She had this afternoon and tonight to prepare.
Tomorrow, she would leave to go look for her father. Truthfully, there was no other choice.
2
Callista
The first cramp hit midday,causing her to squeeze her legs together around her horse’s middle. Poor Beauty obediently leapt forward, and Callista had to rein her in hard to keep her from pelting down the road. She’d been moving at a decent clip since before dawn, but she didn’t want to wear out the poor horse.
“Sorry, Beauty,” she said, patting the horse’s side, trying not to let her worry overwhelm her.
It seemed her heat was coming on faster without the suppressants than it had the last time, and she wasn’t anywhere near out of the woods. At least it was the middle of the day.
The Beast was said to roam only at night, allowing safe passage to and from their village while the sun was in the sky. Her father had confirmed he’d never seen anything to suggest otherwise. It would be easy to think that the Beast was just another lie the priest used in his sermons to keepthe villagers obedient, save that the one time her father had come home at dusk, he’d been sure something had followed him at the very end. Something big in the woods.
