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  I made sure every room on the lower floor was clear before I made my way upstairs toward the queen’s bedroom. I checked the strategy room first, ensuring that it was unoccupied as I had done with the rest of her chambers. It was simple in design, with a single massive round table at the center of the room, surrounded with only a few heavy wooden chairs. It was covered in maps, parchments, and unopened scrolls, evidence of the plans that were being put together on where she should attack next.

  Freya was quite the busy woman apparently. I had no doubt that she was already well on her way to make a name for herself as a fearsome warrior queen.

  I slipped down the hallway to see that her bedroom door was cracked open. I could see a flickering candle inside, still lit. Shadows played on the walls and my eyes turned toward the bed. Freya was sleeping, the back of her head facing me.

  Silently, I pushed the door open just a hair and she didn’t move. I crept inside, step by step and as her slow breathing continued, I moved along the wall, keeping my eyes trained on her. She still appeared to be asleep, so I kept on moving until I reached an armchair situated in the corner of the room and took a seat. I remained silent.

  Her hair spread like a fan across the sheets, a brilliant dark burgundy color that contrasted starkly against the white fabric beneath. The pace of her breathing changed slightly, as if she was pretending to still be asleep, and I stiffened.

  It was time to meet the woman I was tasked with subduing.

  “Whoever the fuck you are, you better have a good explanation as to why you’re sneaking into my bedchambers at this hour of the night,” she challenged, her voice quiet, but powerful. It sounded almost musical to me and I sat back, crossing my legs and enjoying hearing her speak for the first time.

  “I do. I’ve come for you, Freya,” I responded.

  She sat up in her bed, turning toward me so that I was able to get a good look at her for the very first time. There was a certain delicateness to her features that I hadn’t expected when I first heard she was an alpha. She wasn’t as small as most omegas and as her muscles tensed, I came to see how very strong she was. Her gaze glanced up at me, casting her astonishingly bright sapphire eyes and long dark eyelashes in my direction. She was clearly suspicious and quite angry to be disturbed at this hour. She looked ready to fight if she needed to. I didn’t blame her either.

  I was a big guy, built like an alpha, and I had quite nefarious intentions for her that involved not just breaking into her bedroom in the middle of the night, but forcing her hidden omega to the surface with my cock.

  “How did you get in here?” she blurted, and I smiled knowingly.

  “I’ve spent many days studying your castle, my queen, and it was easy to slip inside when no was looking,” I replied.

  “I don’t know you,” she said quietly.

  “I’m sure you don’t,” I replied. “I’m not from here.”

  She stiffened. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to place me, and her upper lip curled just the slightest bit.

  I wanted her to growl at me. I wanted that challenge and I wanted to be the one to conquer her into submission. I was looking forward to the moment that she realized what was really happening. Before long, her legs would be soaked with her slick and she’d be begging me for every last inch of my alpha cock.

  “Who are you?” she questioned, her words revealing just how tense she was. I took a moment to drop my eyes from hers to take in what I could see of her body, and I was delighted to find that she was only wearing a light silk chemise.

  That would be easy to tear from her body when the time was right. It would take hardly any strength at all to rip it to shreds and bare her to my gaze.

  I would look forward to seeing her naked and spread before me, showing me that pretty little cunt as she begged for my knot for the first time.

  I wondered if she was innocent. Was I about to be her first?

  When I finally lifted my gaze back up to meet hers, she looked furious.

  “What is your name?” she asked again, and I saw her fingers tighten beneath the sheets. No doubt she had a knife hidden beneath, ready to attack me if I made any move toward her. I didn’t, not yet anyway. Instead, I unbuttoned the cuffs of my cotton undershirt, rolling up the sleeves to reveal my forearms. She swallowed heavily, staring at my hands and I flexed them for her, watching as she shivered.

  Was my scent getting to her? Was her hidden omega fighting back against her dominant alpha?

  “My name is Aric,” I replied simply.

  “What do you want from me, Aric? Land? Prestige? Titles?” she questioned. She sat back against her ornately carved headboard, boldly displaying herself for me. She didn’t even make an effort to cover up the fact that her nipples were beginning to harden beneath the thin fabric of her chemise. Her brazenness was a turn-on, and I wondered if it would continue once I stripped her of every last piece of cloth. I would look forward to finding out.

  “No. I don’t want anything like that,” I answered.

  “Then what do you want?” she pressed. Her gaze hardened with a certain well-attuned wariness.

  “I want you,” I said, keeping my intentions clear and simple.

  Her nipples hardened even more beneath her chemise and she slowly lifted her hand, revealing a long sharp dagger that she’d had hidden beneath the covers.

  My cock hardened at the sight. I smiled.

  It was time to force her omega out of hiding. I was going to teach Freya her rightful place.

  Chapter Three

  Freya

  When I had gone to bed, I had no idea I was going to wake up to something like this.

  Worst of all though, my traitorous body was reacting to him too. I swallowed heavily, trying to push those feelings aside, but it was proving far more difficult than I realized.

  I had no fucking idea why my nipples were hardening into tight little peaks right in front of this man. I also really didn’t want to think about the fact that my core was clenching tight in a way I’d never felt before. I didn’t like it and it made me even angrier that I didn’t know how to handle it.

  I gritted my teeth and ignored the strange heated twinge rolling deep inside me. I ignored the fact that it kept getting stronger.

  He was a perfect stranger, an alpha no less. He looked like a Valgerthian, but the way he moved and spoke gave away that he wasn’t pretty much immediately. His eyes were a dark green, almost like that of the treetops in the forest. They peered back at me with carefully concealed darkness along with an alarming degree of intelligence. The sides of his head had been shaven, and his dark blond hair was gathered in a long braid that trailed down his back. His exposed skin was intricately marked with Valgerthian tattoos and even his hands were callused, all things I would expect from a warrior of my clan. It was more than clear that he’d done everything he could to slip into the city disguised as one of my people and it had worked so well that he was now sitting here inside my bedroom in my heavily guarded castle in the middle of the night.

  That took balls. Honestly, I was a little bit impressed at his audacity.

  His jawline was tense, his expression one of cocky arrogance that only an alpha was capable of and I stilled, studying him even more closely. He was gazing at me like a predator and my own alpha was bristling in defiance at the very clear challenge in his eyes.

  I growled, the sound just barely audible and he visibly stiffened, but he didn’t react. Not yet, anyway. Most other alphas would have already tried to put me in my place for a direct challenge like that. Alphas were hard wired to react to vying for dominance, and it surprised me to see that he didn’t rush at me immediately to subdue me for my insolence.

  “The last man that thought he could claim me for himself ended up dead. I plunged a knife into his skull,” I spat.

  “I know. King Vageir wasn’t an alpha worthy of a woman like you,” he answered evasively. He relaxed in the chair and I scowled back at him.

  “And you think you are?” I quest
ioned, pouring as much disbelief as I could into the sound of my voice. If he thought I was just going to pant and beg for him to fuck me, he had another think coming. Nothing would ever make me stoop to that level, least of all another alpha. Especially not him.

  He didn’t answer me. Instead, he just smiled knowingly and cocked his head to the side. His gaze dropped down to my breasts and I bristled with annoyance. I didn’t cover myself though. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

  “I have different ways of handling a woman like you that he would have, I imagine,” Aric said softly. His voice carried with it a hard edge laced with warning, but I did my best to ignore it.

  “You will leave before I kill you myself,” I threatened, and that ominous grin only grew even wider. He swallowed and I watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down before I flicked my eyes back to his.

  “I don’t think I will,” he responded.

  I growled in return, much louder this time. I wasn’t going to hold back anymore. He’d earned this.

  The vicious sound of his snarl echoed all around me and for a fraction of a second, my own alpha cowed. For the first time in my life, a tiny shred of nervousness emerged from deep within and I was so caught off guard by it that I just sat there in shock.

  “You will learn, Freya, that I am a very different kind of alpha than those that you’ve encountered before. Before the night is over, you’re going to learn something about yourself that you’ve never realized before and I’m going to enjoy every last second of being there when you do. I’m particularly looking forward to the moment when you fully understand what is happening to you,” he continued.

  What the actual fuck was he talking about?

  He was far too confident in himself and that was making me far more anxious than I wanted to be. I pulled in a shaky breath and I wondered if he knew what I was thinking, if he knew how he was inspiring a very unwelcome sense of unease inside me that no alpha had ever been capable of before. There was a deep-seated understanding in his eyes, and I was left with little doubt that he had a very good idea of what he was doing to me.

  He untied the cord at his chest holding his leather vest and I couldn’t stop myself from watching as it slowly peeled apart, revealing dark blond chest hair just beneath. I licked my lips before I caught myself and turned away. His eyebrow raised just the slightest bit and I was left with no doubt that he noticed my wayward gaze. I hated myself for giving into such a clear moment of weakness, especially because he’d seen it too.

  What was happening right now? Why was I reacting like this?

  I was an alpha. He was one too. If anything, I should want to fight him for breaking into my home and challenging me so directly like this. I should want to kill him. I should want to rip the eyes from his skull for thinking that he could overpower me that easily.

  I shouldn’t be feeling desire for him. I shouldn’t want anything from him.

  I looked away.

  He just sat there. Slowly, he shrugged off his leather vest, revealing the way the thin fabric of his shirt hugged the musculature of his physique. He finished unbuttoning the dark brown cotton shirt he was wearing beneath at a leisurely pace and I couldn’t stop myself from watching every second of it. Gradually, he exposed the chiseled muscles of his chest and my mouth watered at the sight. I had to tighten my hands into fists to keep myself from reaching for him.

  Then the scent of him met my nose. I breathed in the aroma of cedar, spices, and citrus, mixed with leather and masculine energy and it left me feeling insecure and far smaller than I ever had before.

  My body warmed. I took another much deeper breath this time, and a shiver raced down my spine as I tried to grapple with what was happening to me. My core pulsed once, then twice and for the first time in my life, I was horrified to come to the conclusion that my panties were growing wet beneath my nightgown.

  My chest rose and fell with nervous anxiety. I chewed the inside of my cheek as I stared back at him. I had to get a hold of myself and fast. I couldn’t let him know how much of an effect he was having on me. He folded his hands together, leaning back and studying me closely. His jawline tensed and I readied myself to fight.

  “Stand up. Show yourself to me, Freya,” he instructed, and my inner alpha reared her head at his command. It felt almost as though she’d stepped away for a moment, but now that she’d returned, I held onto her like a vise. I wouldn’t let her go again.

  “Get out of my room, you fucking pompous asshole,” I answered. Who the hell did he think he was to order me around in the city where I’d killed the king and taken the throne for myself?

  “I will give you one more chance to obey me, Freya. I won’t ask again,” he replied carefully.

  I simply snarled in response. He didn’t back down.

  “No one has ever properly put you in your place before, have they, Freya? No one has ever shown you what it feels like to lose control,” he said simply. I didn’t like the expectation in his voice. Like he thought he was going to be the one to do it.

  “I’m an alpha. I don’t bow to men like you,” I replied furiously.

  “Oh, you will. That I promise you,” he said, his tone far more menacing.

  “You’re full of yourself,” I scoffed.

  “Soon, you’ll be full of me too,” he chuckled.

  “Fuck off,” I scowled. I really didn’t like the way my core had twisted even tighter at the mention of him fucking me. I shook with my fury, just barely containing myself.

  My instincts seemed to be at war within me. On one hand, I wanted to eviscerate him and on the other, I just wanted to run. For the first time ever in my life, I wasn’t sure I could win the fight against another alpha and it left me feeling shaky and unsure of myself. And I hated it. Above all that, there was a tiny part of me that wanted him to subdue me and use me hard. That tiny piece of me wanted to be fucked and I hated that it even existed in the first place.

  “Is something wrong, Freya?” he asked.

  I seethed and my core twisted tight. A flash of pain tore through me and I pitched forward. Suddenly the air felt too thin and I panted, trying to draw more in and desperately failing. The room felt wrong. My sheets were mussed. The quilt was wrinkled, and the blanket wasn’t right. I snarled in his direction as I tried and failed to stop myself from fixing the bed. I rearranged the pillows, trying to make things feel like they should, and I flattened out the sheets. A silver glint caught my eye and I was reminded of my knife. I always kept it close by in case I was ever in need of protection in the middle of the night.

  Now seemed like a particularly good time for that.

  Aric watched me with an expectant curiosity as if my behavior was completely normal and not weird at all. He didn’t say anything more as he casually watched me make my bed to my liking. When I was finally satisfied, I stilled, flicking my gaze up to his as a sickening realization came over me. My mouth felt dry and I drew in a very shaky breath.

  I was nesting, something that omegas instinctually did in preparation for estrous. I wasn’t ready to accept what that might mean. I didn’t even want to think about it. Alphas didn’t nest. That couldn’t be happening to me. It wasn’t possible.

  He still looked at me like he understood. I hated that he was looking at me like that, like he knew me. As if he knew me better than I knew myself.

  Omegas nested because it gave them comfort and a place of their own making before they would lose control to their instincts to be bred. I wasn’t an omega. I shouldn’t be doing this.

  This wasn’t right. Something was wrong and I didn’t like it one bit.

  “It will be easier for you if you stop fighting, Freya,” he said quietly. I snarled immediately in his direction, my alpha directly challenging his and he rose to his feet. He didn’t make a move toward me, but I felt threatened all the same.

  I wanted to scratch his eyes out of his skull for thinking he could shove his massive cock into my body. He wasn’t going to claim me for himself.

&nb
sp; My fury boiled over and I couldn’t contain myself any longer. I burst forward, tearing off the bed with wild abandon as I threw myself at him with a snarl, the sound high pitched and explosive. He didn’t even move. He stood there, waiting for me to reach him before he quickly grabbed at my wrists and used his body weight to slam me back down on the bed. I yelped in surprise. I had seriously underestimated how strong he was. He pinned my arms above my head with one hand and used his other to press his fingers around my throat.

  I’d never been manhandled like this before. There was a tiny thrill that raced through me at the thought, but I forced it away and brought my knee up as hard as I could between his legs. With a grunt, he removed his hand from my throat and cupped at himself, trying to relieve the pain I’d brought down upon him. Swiftly, I brought my knee up for a second time, but he twisted his hips and I tried to break my wrists free from his hold. If he thought I was going to give in easily, he was going to learn that he was very wrong. I was stronger, taller, and faster than most omegas. I fought in more battles than I could count, and I would put everything into fighting back against this man and his brazen attempt to claim me for himself.

  In a rush, he sat down on the bed and pulled me forward by my wrists so that I landed on my stomach across his thighs. I squeaked, stilling at being forced into such a precarious position. I twisted hard and pushed up against the bed in order to escape, but his arm wound around my hips and pressed me back into place. An icy anxiety propelled from deep within me, edging over my skin, and I shivered hard, still trying with all my might to push myself off of his lap.

  “What the fuck are you doing? Let me go this instant,” I demanded with as much conviction as I could manage. Being face down over his knee was making me feel extremely uneasy, especially if I was unable to break his hold. I kicked my feet and tried to use the muscles in my legs to propel myself off his lap, but nothing seemed to work. Instead, his arm simply tightened around my hips and held me even more securely in place. I shrieked with fury and his palm pressed against my backside, making me still almost instantly.