“I do not fear any human. I will not die. I will go and see if I can save your sister. But I want something from you first.”
She stilled. “You’re bargaining with my sister’s life? You are such an asshole.”
“Stop fighting your nature, Serena. That’s all I want. Surrender to me and I will do all I can to save your kin.”
He had her. He saw it in the sudden look in the backs of her eyes. A brief pang of… something filled him at using her sister, using her weakness, against her like this. Something that felt almost like guilt. He brushed it away. He didn’t feel guilty. He had no reason. She was an omega, his omega. It was what was best for her. He knew what was best for her.
“Fine!” she hissed, grabbing his jacket, her fists bunched. “Save her and I’ll do whatever you want.”
He covered her hands with his and then bowed his head to kiss her. “I will do all I can. How far away is she? What village?” He was already compiling a list of equipment he’d need to bring. “And we’ll discuss what happens when omegas keep secrets from their alphas another time.”
She gave him a look he couldn’t decipher. If he was feeling less generous given her submission, he would have said it was one of challenge. But he was prepared to be magnanimous given her emotional state. And… a sister. She had a sister who, despite her claims, very well might be an omega as well. If he could bring in another one, for one of his brothers…
“Bring your main pack,” she ordered him, the demand in her voice making him growl in the back of his throat and force down the need to remind her who was alpha here. “We’ll need your air-bike. It’s not far.”
He was already reaching for his pack when the impact of her words hit him. “Not far? You were captured several days from here. Weren’t you?” He snarled and yanked at the straps to his bag. “How many lies have you told me?”
She snarled back. “As many as I had to in order to protect my people. Speaking of which, I need something from you, too.”
“You’re in no position to make demands, little star.”
“This is a deal breaker. You cannot tell anyone where you’re going or what you see when we get there. No one. My sister would rather die than expose any of our people.” She tipped up her head to glare at him. “And so would I.”
He growled in the back of his throat, backing her up a few paces. She went, but only because he herded her with his larger form. The look in her eyes was as hard as that of any alpha he’d faced.
“What’s it going to be?” she asked, her voice soft but her eyes hard. “Alpha mine?”
She’d named him as her alpha. Finally. His growl stopped and was replaced by the soft rumble of his parth. “You will not die. I won’t allow it. I will not tell anyone what I see.” He thumped his fist to his chest. “You have my word.”
She sagged and exhaled in relief. “Okay. Hurry. We have to hurry. She might already be…”
He slung the pack over his shoulder and gathered her to his side with his free arm, holding her against his chest. “I will do all I can for her.”
An hour later she sat on the seat behind him as he rode his air-bike through a picket for an enemy camp he had no idea even existed. Especially since it was practically in the shadows of the damn citadel. Or at the very least within sensor range.
“It’s me,” she called out as blunt-nosed weapons swung toward them threateningly. “He’s with me. He’s a doctor.”
“Healer,” he growled in a low voice, so only she could hear.
“Shut the fuck up unless you want a gut full of lead,” she hissed back, nudging him in the back with her knee. He snapped his jaw shut and paid attention to their surroundings. It hadn’t escaped his notice that there were as many females as males among the rebels, and they all had the same hard-faced, flint-eyed look. He had no doubt that if he was on his own, he would already be dead. A shift of the wind around them brought several scents to his nose and he stiffened.
“Some of these females are omegas.”
“No, they are not. You’re mistaken. We’re all betas here. No matter what your damn nose is telling you.”
“Careful, little star. There are limits to my patience.”
She snorted. “Careful, Healer. You’re in my world now.”
And what a world it was. He’d seen several of the humans’ villages. This was something different. A military camp. These weren’t pockets of disorganized rebels. This was a xarthing army. No wonder Serena had made him swear not to tell anyone.
Tents the same color as the wasteland’s soil were set in perfect rows. They drove by a handful of vehicles, all of them clearly in use despite the fact there shouldn’t have been fuel or parts available. “How is this here?” he asked.
“It isn’t. It never was, and by sundown, it will be long gone,” Serena replied.
“I gave my word,” he growled.
“And no one here is going to risk their lives by sticking around to see if you keep it. This isn’t about your honor. This is about our survival.”
They traveled in silence for a short distance and then Serena spoke again. “There. She’ll be in there.” Serena’s voice was tight as she pointed to a larger tent marked with a dull red cross.
He nodded and headed that way. They were watched every step of the way, two guards at the tent’s entrance watching them with steely expressions. One was a male, the other a woman so tiny he wasn’t sure she was fully grown. Her grip on the big weapon in her hands begged otherwise, and he read his own death in her eyes if he so much as breathed wrong.
“How’s she doing, Tami?” his omega asked as she hopped off the back of the bike, leaving him to power it down. He gathered his pack from the back and followed a few paces behind her. Tami’s eyes flicked to him for a moment, and he had to bite back his growl. Beta, his arse. This woman was an omega through and through. Not the type he and his kind were used to, but she was definitely an omega.
“She’s in the main theater,” Tami replied. “Got hit by a prox-mine in sector Alpha-four. These assholes re-mined the northern approach to the mountain.”
“What was she even doing out there?” Serena muttered but then raised her hand. “Never mind. I already know the answer. Because she’s a stubborn fool who thinks she’s the only one qualified to do anything.”
Tami gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Like someone else I know. Rumor had it you were captured.”
“Rumor is wrong nine times out of ten. I’m here. Aren’t I?” Serena turned to him. “Come on, Doc. Your patient is this way.”
He followed her inside. The air was dim and thick with scents he knew all too well: antiseptic, blood, and the bitter taint of sickness. He noted infection too, a thick, unpleasant odor that clung to the inside of his mouth and nose. The contents of his pack were far better than anything he could see in use around him. Why were all these humans living this way? Omegas should have everything they needed to be comfortable and content. This was wrong.
The woman lying on what these humans laughingly referred to as the main theater, though, took his breath away. She was… identical to Serena. His gaze cut to the woman by his side.