Page 75 of Filthy Royal

Unlike her, who’d known from the start that the match was fixed, and Thanatos would win.

Scarlett also knew what she’d just done was risky—and far from subtle—but she’d had no choice. She’d been given explicit orders.

“I’m being summoned. Please excuse me.” She slid past the stunned prince. “I—”

“No.” The Alpha seized hold of her forearm and spun her to face him, fangs flashing. Twice her size and strength, he dragged her toward the private rutting rooms off to one side. “I just lost a ton of chits because of you, and I plan to take my payment out of your hide. I’m going to bend you over and fuck you raw until your screams surpass even those of the hordes below.”

Sometimes, when you teeter so close to the edge, you fall over.

She tugged at the prince’s hold, the darkness rippling beneath her skin even as she fought for calm. “I must return to my Alpha lord. I—”

“There you are.” The heat at her back was her first warning.

The second was when the prince’s hand fell away, his lavender skin paling.

“You left your seats.” Her Alpha lord’s tone was sharp with displeasure.

He’d been one of the greatest fighters in the cages, a vicious warrior known for his brutality and skill. Now he was liaison to the Consortium board and in charge of every aspect of the eastern cage-fighting sector—including her.

She stepped away from the prince and toward Kadon. “I was delayed returning to you. Forgive me.”

“I see.” A slight pause. “Watching the fights is a definite adrenaline rush, don’t you think, Prince Jai?” Kadon’s tone was conversational; however, the threat beneath his words was unmistakable. “But I do miss the sensation of breaking bone. The whimper of my opponent. The sweet scent of pain.”

Scarlett held her breath.

Kadon was often referred to as the Golden Boy, the Golden Dome’s perfect Alpha, and thanks to their similar hair color, they’d been nicknamed the Golden Couple of the Golden Dome.

But things were seldom what they seemed.

“No need for that.” His crown teetering, the prince stumbled back a step. “You’ve already fought and won a stunning prize. A genuine treasure.”

“And she’s all mine.” Kadon yanked her back against him. “To the victor go the spoils.”

Scarlett barely stifled a hiss of pain.

But Kadon must have remembered the bruising because he stiffened against her.

The air thickened with tension.

Did he think she’d give them away? Spill her secrets to someone as weak and useless as a Federation prince and mark?

But it was the prince who struck first.

“She’s all yours,” Jai mocked, bolder now he was farther from the other Alpha’s reach. “Unless, of course, an elite Consortium Alpha with chits to burn visits the dome, and you wish to rut elsewhere. Then you let them touch her all they want. So why not me?”

Kadon stilled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. My omega’s not for sale.”

“Really? Then who’s the mystery bastard that summons her to Consortium headquarters every time there’s a major fight? And if not chits, what does he give you for the chance to rut between her legs? Because whatever it is, I’ll pay double.”

Scarlett froze.

Kadon growled. “You insult me with your offer. If I were you, I’d shut my mouth and walk away. Now.”

A few nearby heads swiveled their way; Kadon’s voice was loud enough to have drawn attention.

“Why?” The prince didn’t seem to care. “You think others haven’t noticed the driver hustling her into that luxury black-paneled shuttle? Or how she doesn’t return from Consortium headquarters until the next suns’ rising, her hair tangled, clothing torn, her skin pale and covered in bruises?”

Scarlett swayed as the flashback hit hard and fast.

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