Page 5 of A Mate for the King
Chapter Two
Magic. All-Mother, magic was theonly explanationfor the electric blue light that had momentarily blinded him. The threat of magic worked to ground the alpha. There was no way he could give into his hindbrain now. Not when there was magic in the air. And not with a defenseless omega’s safety at stake. He would have to keep going forward, no matter how powerful or old the magic was.
Surging forward, Zehr burst out of the treeline and into a glen. No sooner had he cleared the last branch than he caught sight of the omega. All it took was that first glance for Zehr to jerk to a stop.
From that first step, he knew that everything was different. He wasn’t sure how, but he sensed the weight, the very stillness, that had descended on the glen and seemed to suspend time and motion.
Standing at the center of the grassy glen was a dark-haired omega female, powerful magic crackling over her outstretched hands.
The omega was a magic user.
But that didn’t mean the omega was safe. Not with the blood flowing from her right shoulder and staining the otherwise spotless white material of her tank top. He tried not to notice how beautifully it set off her brown sun-kissed skin. Now was not the time for that.
Forcing his gaze away, Zehr’s eyes darted from the omega to the clearing’s other occupant, another shifter, an alpha from the smell of him. It only took a second before Zehr knew without a shadow of a doubt that the alpha slowly shaking his head as if just struck was wholly responsible for whatever had prompted the blast of power from the omega.
The shifter turned to face Zehr, and he almost roared at the sight. It was the alpha who had leered at Zara not twenty minutes earlier. His baby sister had believed the alpha innocent but here the trash was, preying on an omega and proving Zehr right.
He hated bullies. Couldn’t stand them.
He didn’t care if the omega was capable of blowing him right out of the universe. He was going to teach the shit excuse for an alpha what happened when they preyed on omegas.
Letting out a deafening roar, Zehr stalked into the clearing and fixed his unwavering glare on the now backpedalling alpha. He could smell the fear rolling off the other shifter and a flush of pleasure washed over him. He was going to enjoy putting the coward in his place.
The other alpha tripped as he tried to put ground between an advancing Zehr and himself. Zehr kept advancing until he had successfully put himself between the omega and the shifter in front of him. Only when she was completely at his back did he stop moving, his eyes glowing amber as he stared the other alpha down.
“This isn’t what it looks like.” The alpha swallowed hard, words rushing into one another as he shot him a panicked look. “She wanted—”
“LIAR!”the omega suddenly screamed.“YOU’RE A LIAR!”
“You knew what you were doing!YOU BEGGED FOR IT!”the alpha hurled back at her, and it was only by the grace of the All-Mother that Zehr was able to restrain himself from snapping the alpha’s neck.
“Silence,” he snarled, eyes flashing. The sight made the alpha go still out of fear, and he stared at Zehr with wide eyes.
Zehr tilted his head slightly, looking back at the omega. “He hurt you?” he asked.
“H-he dragged me,” the omega said, clutching a hand to her shoulder. Her fingers pressed tightly to the wound to stem the blood. Zehr’s mouth went into a tight line at seeing her injury. Her chest, which Zehr tried to not notice was amply proportioned, rose and fell in short, shallow breaths as she stared wide-eyed at the two alphas.
“Chased me away from the camp an-and tried to mark me, alpha,” she said, voice trembling.
Zehr felt a flare of admiration for the omega. It would be difficult for any shifter to speak so soon of an attack, but for an omega? And one about to fall into a heat?
Nearly impossible.
The poor thing should be somewhere safe, with shifters she trusted, and given only the best of things. Not caused trauma by a beast of an alpha.
Zehr turned back to toward the alpha and a growl formed low in his chest when he noticed the smear of blood on the other alpha’s chin. Proof enough to back the omega’s story. It was all he needed to take action against the alpha.
“She wanted—”
Zehr caught him by his neck and lifted him from the ground. His fingers circled the alpha’s neck and dug roughly into that particularly vulnerable spot mates would bond, but now Zehr used it to remind the alpha of precisely whoTHEalpha was. The shifter shuddered and went still in Zehr’s grip, his head drooping and body going limp.
“She wanted nothing,” Zehr thundered, his voice echoing among the trees which still seemed eerily quiet. Not even the crickets moved as the tableau unfolded in front of them.
“You forced her.”
“Yes,” he gasped, eyes still averted.
“In my clan, we kill shifters like you.”
