Page 21 of Desperate Omega

The voice speaking to me is deep yet soft, like my fathers’ voices, but different. It surrounds me like a blanket, filling my body with warmth and letting me know I am protected and safe. I feel like I could live inside that voice forever.

I open my eyes and look up at the face of the alpha who caught me. His strong jaw is lined with a short, black beard, and his dark eyes seem to pierce into me like a pair of obsidian-tipped spears. All around us, the ritual chamber is erupting into a chaos of growling, shouting alphas, but my attention stays locked on the face of the unknown alpha cradling me in his arms. His expression is a mixture of sternness and worry. It reminds me of the way my fathers look at me whenever I’ve done something foolish or dangerous.

“Are you okay?” he asks me again.

I’m still too breathless to answer. All I can do is silently nod my head in affirmation. Then I do the most childish, omega-ish thing imaginable.

I start to cry.

Maybe it’s because I’m shaken by my near death experience, or maybe it’s due to my embarrassment at becoming the center of attention all of a sudden. Probably it’s a little of both. All I know is, no matter how hard I try, I can’t hold back the sobs that are suddenly racking my body…

I wake with tears in my eyes.

I sit up.

I’m naked on the bearskin, huddled against Markus’s body for warmth. It’s already dawn, and the mausoleum is slowly filling with soft, morning light. There’s a stained glass window at one end of the corridor, and its colored panes are transforming the sun’s golden rays into rich shades of green and red and blue. It makes the place look a lot less terrifying than it did last night. Still, I can’t help but shudder when I think about the hundreds of dead ancestors tucked away in their little alcoves lining the walls.

Then I shudder a second time when I remember the dream I was having.

Usually my dreams are just a mishmash of nonsensical images, but the dream I was having just now was different. It really happened, nine years ago, and I just relived it in perfect, vivid detail.

Weird.

Then again, I guess it’s not hard to figure out why that night would be on my mind this morning. That was the night I decided I never wanted to be dominated by an alpha. It was also the last time I saw Markus, until last night.

Now everything has come full circle. I try to tell myself it’s just a coincidence, but I can’t help thinking it’s something more than that.

I look at the alpha lying next to me. He’s still fast asleep, and he’s still every bit as naked as I am. Oh yeah, and there’s one more thing we both have in common this morning.

We are both highly aroused.

Markus’s erection is still jutting proudly, every bit as hard as it was last night when I fell asleep beside him. The only difference is that his knot has faded, and his shaft is once more uniformly straight from the place where it emerges from his groin all the way up to that supple ridge that encircles his plump, pink glans.

My core flutters at the sight of that hard, naked arousal. I saw it all last night, of course, and felt it too, sliding against my bare vulva, but now in the light of day, I can really study it in all its rigid glory. All I can think about is how amazing it would feel moving deep inside me.

Hot slick leaks out of me, soaking the bearskin beneath me.

I let my eyes wander over the rest of him, drinking in his masculine beauty, admiring the symmetry and proportions of his muscles and the smooth perfection of his skin. A small amount of coarse, dark fur spreads across his broad chest and draws a sexy line from his navel down to the root of his manhood. I’m so entranced by the view of his gorgeous face and body that it takes several minutes of staring before I finally realize something is missing.

Markus isn’t pierced.

That’s unusual for an alpha his age, especially one who has been part of a pack. Typically, after a young male has completed his training, he will receive piercings on his body which represent his strengths as an alpha. An eyebrow ring, for example, can represent keen eyesight or an observant nature. An earring may signify that an alpha has a sharp sense of hearing, or that he is a good listener. A nipple ring indicates a courageous heart.

If Markus was once part of a pack, he must have received at least one piercing somewhere on his body, but I can see every inch of him now, and there’s not a single piece of hardware anywhere on him.

That means he must have removed his piercings at some point.

I should probably be wondering why he would have done that, but at the moment, my heat-stricken mind is more interested in wondering about where Markus used to be pierced.

It’s an excuse to explore his incredible body.

I bring my face down close to the side of the sleeping alpha’s head and examine the lobe of his ear. I can’t see any holes where a piercing might have gone through, but that isn’t surprising. Alphas are fast healers. If they take their piercings out, the holes will usually close up pretty quickly.

Still, I can’t help inspecting Markus a little more closely. The light in the mausoleum is too dim, I tell myself. I should use my sense of touch to check him.

It’s a thin excuse, but it’s good enough for my heat-addled brain.

I lean in closer, until my mouth is touching Markus’s ear. Then I draw his lobe between my lips and suck it gently. The alpha moans softly in his sleep.