Page 24 of A Mate for the King
Cora sighed and looked away from the trees, the straps of her duffle bag twisting in her hands as she battled to find the right words. It was harder than she had imagined.
Funny. She would have thought she would be shouting it from the rooftops, like any normal omega.
Too bad Cora had never been a normal omega.
“I know it’s going to sound…crazy, but my alpha...”
“The Fireheart alpha?” another familiar voice interrupted.
Unlike her pleasure at Maggie’s, this voice filled her with fear and dread, and she whirled around to face the speaker. She raised her duffle bag up to her chest and squeezed it.
The voice belonged to an alpha and elder of the Moonwater Clan, a shifter she had feared during her time as a clan member.
A shifter everyone feared.
Rork.
Even just thinking the name sent a chill of fear down her spine. Old habits were hard to break and she shrank from the alpha as he took a step closer. Maggie followed suit and soon the omegas were pressed close together as Rork sneered at them.
“I wouldn’t go so far as calling her his mate. Not yet.” A blonde stepped out from behind Rork, a woman this time but an alpha all the same.
Liliana.
Beautiful and just as cruel as Rork.
“Don’t think it’ll take?” Rork asked with a grin.
“Not a chance. Magic trash like her? She’s half-witch, after all…not fit to lick my boots, let alone Zehr’s.”
Cora bared her teeth. “Don’t say his name.”
“Cora…” Maggie gave her a worried look and put a gentle hand on her friend’s arm in warning.
“Or what?” Rork raised an eyebrow. “Not normal for an alpha to leave his new omega all alone like this after a heat. Do you think he’ll care if we have a little fun with you?”
Cora blinked, stunned.
Alphas antagonizing a newly mated omega was unheard of, but their treatment of her was beyond the pale. She had no idea what to say next, though Liliana saved her from speaking when she chuckled and pinned her with a cold stare.
“You know what else I seem to remember about new bonds?”
Rork grinned. “Please, do tell.”
“Distance breaks them down all the more faster. Something I think our almost-king would definitely know and use to rid himself of this witch.”
Cora’s fingers tightened on her duffle bag. That wasn’t why her alpha had left her. He had a meeting to attend. He would be back. She tried to talk herself down but she knew her distress was apparent from the way the alphas’ eyes lit up in excitement. This was sport for them, a hunt of sorts, and they sensed blood in the water.
All-Mother, why was her magic still missing?
What she wouldn’t give to let loose a blast of magic right into the faces of her tormentors. As a Moonwater clan member, she had never dreamed at using her magic to defend herself. The recharging period of her abilities was too sporadic and unpredictable to wield it as a weapon. But now she didn’t care.
Too bad she couldn’t get so much as a spark from her fingers.
“I have to go,” she whispered, blinking back tears. “Thank you.” She nodded at Maggie, who stared at her in astonishment. Cora knew the news of her alpha’s identity would shock her friend; it still floored her and it was her relationship. She wished she could explain to Maggie but there wasn’t time. Not with the pair of alphas advancing on her.
“Aww, don’t go, Cora!” Liliana stepped in front of her. “We did follow your little friend with the hopes of paying our...respects...to you and your new alpha.”
Cora jerked away from her and backpedaled, only to run into the hard chest of Rork, who laughed and leaned close, his breath tickling her ear.
