Rose’s POV “Is your sister still a child?” The demand came out of left field and shocked me to the core. Had Lycan Adam managed to decipher the hidden meaning behind our texts? Admittedly, we hadn’t been very subtle. But why challenge me now? Had someone else seen them? I tried not to panic as I finished lacing up my corset. I was becoming adept at this ever since Jane had left mysteriously to “take care of something”. “In some ways. Why?” “Humpty Dumpty? Seriously?” “He was an old guy who brought us provisions.” “Don’t tell me, he had an egg shaped head?” “Yes, Adam.” I’d been instructed to drop the “Master” unless we were in a play situation. “Reminiscing takes her mind off our situation. Neither one of us expected to be sold by our own father.” I couldn’t emphasise that point enough. If it made him a target it was no more than he deserved. After all, overcoming him would be easy and then Lycan Adam could retrieve what he had forked out and seriously plan where to strike ne
Rose’s POV I would have waited forever if necessary. I still didn’t trust this guy; Alphas were notorious users. Now that I was back in the fold, so to speak, he was capable of anything. Reneging on a verbal promise for a start. Thinking about it, he’d only implied he’d get someone to look out for her and later threatened to turn her into a whore. Well, I wasn’t in a position to ask for anything in writing, was I? “Over to you, Con.” I stifled a gasp as the Beta produced what I knew to be Willow’s cell phone from his pants pocket. No-one else would have a cover with a unicorn nuzzling up to a bear, would they? I knew it must be here somewhere but to have it about his person … He used it to place a call. “Luna, have the Omega come to the phone, as we discussed.” “You didn’t say please,” a familiar voice replied. “Oh, very well.” My heart leapt. “Tell my brother he has terrible timing.” I pretended to be astonished. “She’s still with Simone?” “That’s Luna Simone to you. And ye
Rose’s POVIf it wasn’t for Connor’s messages, I think I would have gone mad. A little subversion was heartening, his especially so. We chatted on the phone, too, when he could ensure privacy, which wasn’t often. I was starting to like him a lot. He didn’t make me feel cheap.Calling myself Polly, being driven up there by none other than Gamma Hodges as part of a fake swap deal with a burned out Omega, I asked myself why all this subterfuge was necessary. Did the Alpha have an expert forger in his pack? Because it certainly wasn’t Joan.The only positive was that Annie with the sad face was getting some respite. In fact, as I found out subsequently, Alpha Sven didn’t want her around any more. So, between the two Alphas, it was a win-win.I was less sure about my fellow Omega and myself. We weren’t sluts, just abused by circumstance.I kinda liked that phrase and would have put it in my diary if I kept one.The pack official seemed friendlier this time around, telling me his first name
Willow’s POVThis wasn’t good. I’d been heading for the woods I grew up in, sometimes on foot, sometimes hitching a lift. I got lucky with my rides and not so fortunate when I was close to home.Dad was gone now, as well as Mom, and no sign of Millicent. Dean helped me dig a grave. It didn’t seem right not to wait for Rose but the body was starting to rot.We placed him beside the marker which bore our mother’s name, Hannah, and the dates I didn’t want to read.I’d all but lost my virginity in return for vehicles eating up the miles and was only too willing to stay with Dean and Nathan, who now had a place of their own. I assumed hiding me from the Alpha would come at a price and I wasn’t wrong, though neither of them had full sex with me and I began to wonder why.They had no right to sell me to that foreign rogue leader, the one who’d done for Daddy. At least, that was what he boasted often enough. Technically, my body still belonged to Alpha Lewis.I kept quiet about Alpha Horace.
Adam’s POVCall me crazy, but it just wasn’t the same in my playroom these days. Simone was no fun. She had stopped hurling abuse at me and given up all hope of rescue. The strange thing was I wanted rid of her. I had proposed an exchange for Rose, a Luna relative for an Omega slave, and heard nothing.Maybe she wasn’t with Alpha Lewis but instincts told me otherwise; he was there that night, after all, and hadn’t bothered to issue a denial when my terms were stated through the usual channels.Time to bruise my captive a little and send him the photo. It could be achieved with make-up, according to my sister, but I wanted to be hands-on with this and didn’t want to be mocked for using a mascara wand, though not on her eyelashes. I preferred the other kind to be pressed in a more intimate setting.If she really was with pup, Lewis’ sister wasn’t far along. Alpha Karl hadn’t sired any others as far as I knew and must be desperate to save his heirs. Funny how he hadn’t returned to Moonwo
Rose’s POV We played a game of what ifs, taking a chance that the Lycan King wouldn’t have ventured so far from his territory just for a no-account sub. My words. Because I hadn’t given him cause to believe I was ‘cheating’, which was a laugh in itself. I caught myself. When had I become so cynical? If he’d somehow found out where I was via one of his spies, maybe he would come after me. I was his property, after all, and giving me a false name and papers would count for nothing when he saw me again. What an elaborate scheme to come to nothing like this. I was pleased to have played my part in thwarting Alpha Lewis although, as the pickup ate up the miles, I became a nervous wreck. Between the pair of them, the Lycan King and my other false owner, it was a no-win situation for me. In the end we made it back to the castle unchallenged. I have to say I was slightly disappointed. Did I want to return to Adam? The answer I’d been avoiding was a resounding yes when we were confronte
Adam’s POV“I’ll deal with you later. Get inside.”Rose didn’t even reply in her haste to do my bidding, which was as it should be. The Omega smelled sweet, as always, but I didn’t want to be distracted.Taking Alpha Karl’s pack had been almost too easy. I didn’t want to tempt Fate or any of the moon deities. There’d been a worrying report about numbers. Had some of them escaped or fled before we attacked? Maybe there’d been an outbreak of some kind which would need to be contained.In hindsight I should have asked their Luna before traumatising her further. One last beating, though only to get my point across. And I’d avoided her torso.Maybe Alpha Lewis would know more, though if he was surprised about her pregnancy, what else were they keeping from him?I wasted no time in questioning my traitorous sub. Weighty silences were as oppressive for the one in command as they were for the guilty one, in my experience. And every second that elapsed on something which probably should have b
Rose’s POVGoddess knows why I reacted that way to what was only a light punishment, for him. I was just making matters worse both for myself and Willow. I missed her so. It was only the second time we had been separated after that worrying few weeks she spent in hospital. Turns out a simple operation to remove an appendix can have complications and it took the seven year old ages to heal.Of course, the Lycan King overcame me easily and his mocking laughter only made me feel worse. If I’d been aiming for his eye instead of allowing unbridled outrage to take over he might not have seen the funny side.What had I been thinking? Was I possessed?No, I simply resented the way he’d used me like a toy.Like a child I sulked, risking his wrath. “You provoked me.”Adam seized me by the throat. “Not cut out to be a warrior, are we? Cover yourself and shut your mouth. I don’t want another peep out of you.” He snatched up my thong. “It’s for Patrick,” he informed me. “He likes a souvenir. Somet