Home > Ruthless King (Ruthless Warlords #1)(3)

Ruthless King (Ruthless Warlords #1)(3)
Author: Alison Aimes

Now, he was going to be the death of them anyway.

Because if Olan was the one found guilty by the Brotherhood, it would not be only him who was executed, but all of his household, including her mother and sister.

Not if Dahlia could help it.

She’d simply speed up her plans for escape. She’d run away from whomever she was to be given to in payment while her new owner’s guard was down and hadn’t yet realized she was less biddable than she pretended. With Olan distracted by the trial, his attention would be elsewhere, too. His careful surveillance of her mother and sister weaker than usual. There was still hope.

“In you go.” Her father’s impatient words cut into her schemes.

She hadn’t realized they’d reached the end of the ship’s corridor.

He gestured toward an opaque glass door as high as her knees.

Her heart slammed into her ribs.

“No.” She hated small, dark places. She’d spent far too much time floating in the deprivation punishment chambers her father used for those who displeased him, including omega daughters who did not obey fast enough.

“In!” He shoved her to her knees.

Panting, she looked inside. Oh, gods, it was so small, and it would shrink once she entered, the sensors in the walls conforming to her body and forcing her to remain bent over, her body in submission.

She forced herself to breathe. She had never allowed her father to break her, and she would not do so now.

She crawled forward—only to be stalled as thick fingers tangled in her hair and jerked her back out, her scalp stinging as she hung in her Alpha’s grip.

“One more thing.” He pressed his lips to her ear so his soldiers wouldn’t hear. “Do not tell that bastard anything.”

What bastard? She wanted to scream. He’d told her nothing more about her fate.

Olan shook her like a rag doll. “That damn gift of yours is broken. Make sure it stays that way. You cannot help being a useless omega whore who will spread her legs for an Alpha growl, but betray this family, and you will regret it. As will your sister. Not a fucking word of your family’s secrets to anyone. You already know what happens to snitches in our world.”

Before she could respond, he tossed her headfirst inside the darkened glass cell.

Her forehead hit the glass. Her palms slammed against the floor. The door slid shut, and the lights flickered off as the darkness closed in.

Her breath rasped in her ears, her mind screaming as the walls and ceiling contracted. The pressure on her back increased like a boot on her spine, shoving her to the floor. The sensation of being crushed was as terrifying as always. Thankfully, the ceiling stalled as her belly hit her knees and her body folded in on itself, pinning her in place. The omega submissive first position, achieved with or without her consent.

Her bowed position made it impossible to do anything but stare out at the spectacle beyond her cell. Floating overhead were twelve two-story windows arranged in a circle, each lit from within by a blood-red light that illuminated a massive throne—and the more imposing figure sitting within.

These males were the twelve most ruthless crime lords in the galaxy.

These were the Alphas who controlled the fate of every single inhabitant unlucky enough to be born into the rot and sin of the Anarcheim Alphaverse.

She’d never felt more insignificant than when bowed at their feet.

Drawn by an invisible force, her gaze rose to the window directly across the way.

Piercing amber eyes bore into hers.

Him.

The Ruthless King.

The title the Brotherhood had given him was carved into his throne and was reflected in every merciless line of his body.

Even now, after so many years, she recognized him. The boy was gone but not the mesmerizing power or the breathtaking handsomeness that had been his birthright. The scars on his neck, chest, and hands only added to his air of danger.

Gorgeous. Brutal. Huge. Red-Skinned. Horned. Nikolai Skolov was still the most beautiful Alpha she’d ever seen. With thick sloping brows, wavy jet-black hair, powerful onyx horns that curled behind his ears, a square jaw, and full sensual lips, his face was a masculine masterpiece. The five o’clock shadow that covered his stunning face blended perfectly with the rugged black skin designs on his cheeks and neck, a common trait of all Skolovs.

He was far bigger than he’d once been—larger than Olan—and his bulging arms, bare, sculpted chest, and carved abdomen were equally mouthwatering, framed by the dark fur pelt that hung off his wide shoulders and stayed strapped to his body by wide leather bands that crisscrossed down his taut stomach. The swirling skin designs that dipped beneath the waistband of his dark animal hide pants only added to his dangerous, barbaric look, as did the heavy, black boots that laced to his calves.

He was striking. Wild. Fierce. And for one brief, incredible moment years ago, she’d thought he might be her savior.

Until he became her family’s greatest enemy.

His lips pulled back into a snarl, his fangs flashing.

And she knew whatever was happening to her now was in no way better than the horrible fate she might have suffered as the prime omega of the eldest Verish son.

She understood, too, exactly why she was here and how futile it had been to believe escape might be possible.

She and her whole family were going to pay.

 

 

2

 

 

Nikolai’s claws dug into the arm of his throne, five thick grooves denting the metal, his balls heavy, his cock hard as stone.

Finally.

He only wished he could see her clearly as she bowed at his feet. Scent her. Touch her.

But the thick, dark shatterproof glass that separated all the Alpha heads was designed not only to protect from assassination attempts but to muzzle their senses and dampen their aggressive instincts, thereby preventing them from tearing each other apart. Though it barely seemed to be working now.

The gouges in his throne’s armrests grew as his claws tunneled deeper. The burn scars on his chest and arms pulled tight.

Soon.

His plans were so close to fruition he could almost taste victory.

Shoving his hand into his pocket, he fingered the chain tucked inside. His thumb traced the well-worn grooves of the necklace.

Soon.

“The meeting of the Brotherhood has begun. Alpha Nikolai Skolov and Alpha Olan Lundin, stand.” The disembodied voice of Inner Council Head, Valf Prendel, echoed through Nikolai’s sealed room, as it did for the eleven other crime heads staring out from their private chambers.

Nikolai stood, tearing his gaze away from the omega to stare at the smug, bearded face of his greatest enemy.

He could not wait to wipe that look from Olan’s face.

Actually, he could not wait to wipe out Olan altogether.

“You all know why we are here.” As Inner Council head, the Prendel crime head ran all Brotherhood meetings, his slime-based races’ love of efficiency coupled with an inability to feel emotion, making him the perfect bureaucracy head. “The feud between the Skolovs and Lundins has gone on long enough. Vendettas and discord are a way of life, but this grudge has boiled over into a galaxy-wide territorial dispute that has begun to impact all our profits. That cannot be allowed.”

Nikolai hid a smirk. There was nothing the Brotherhood hated more than a threat to their bottom line.

Prendel droned on, his green, gelatinous body oozing and contracting as he spoke. “So, the Brotherhood has determined that action must be taken.”

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