To Seduce an Omega (6 page)

Daniel had apologized at leaving her so far from the market square and driven off. She hoped the trek didn’t make her knee didn’t ache for days.

When she finally reached the marketplace, her knee throbbed, and her limp had become more pronounced. She used one of the gold coins Titus had thrown at her to pay for a market stall, then spread out her wares. The general store had sold out of everything she’d made, and she expected her shampoos and scents to sell well.

A she-wolf strolled past, picked up a bar of homemade lavender-scented soap, and tossed a tiny coin on the counter. “Half a copper for every bar.”

Viola gasped. “A full copper per bar. I won’t take anything less.”

The woman’s shriek drew more Rock Prowler females, and every one of them grabbed at Viola’s wares. Much as they wanted her goods, they refused to pay fair prices. Instead, they haggled and offered less than she’d charged the general store.

She’d no option but to accept the meager amounts they offered despite the way that ate into her profit margins. Today’s sortie into the free market economy meant she’d have to work harder to survive. Leaving Rock Prowler territory became a pipe dream.

If she could flash from place to place, she’d have defied King Caleb’s decree and found another home. Anywhere would be better than this. But with no primal form, she wouldn’t survive the long march to leave Rock Prowler territory. With her twisted knee, the landscape—all steep moors, rocky outcrops, and limestone cliffs—caged her as securely as iron bars.

As she sold her last packet of herb, Zebadiah strolled out the great hall with Titus at his side. Fleur gripped Titus’s arm tight enough to constrict his blood flow.

Judging by the way Titus’s gaze darted about the market square, he took in every detail while he chatted with Zebadiah. Viola hated the way his gaze occasionally rested on Fleur, but part of her wished she hadn’t reacted so badly to his kiss.

Lost in a sea of unfamiliar emotion, Viola forgot he’d threatened and bullied her. Her need for sex burned inside her. Coming into season sucked, but sex with Titus would be the sweetest torment. In her dreams, his cock hardened every time he looked her way.
Yeah, skinny and crippled—not exactly an alpha’s first choice
. She longed to be the woman walking alongside him, her arm linked with his. His grip would be firm but gentle, and his lopsided smile would warm her in ways no other man’s could. Shoving him away when they could have enjoyed a quick fling seemed stupid in hindsight.

She’d never longed to take anyone to her bed before, but Titus had crashed through her defenses like a runaway horse and carriage. If she knew how, she’d do anything to change the terrible first impression she’d made. Not that it mattered when Zebadiah would gut any male who came near her.

Titus had already told her he intended to marry her half sister, but watching him flirt with Fleur hurt more than the ever-present pain in Viola’s knee.

Viola shaded her eyes with her hand and blinked hard as the sun dazzled her. That was why she had tears in her eyes. It had nothing to do with her attraction to a man who despised her. Usually, she accepted rejection—expected it, maybe—but having nestled against Titus’s broad chest once, she wanted him to hold her again.

Chapter Six

Titus’s kiss had left Viola angry and confused, but even when he’d accidentally knocked her to the floor, she’d felt safe around him. To have his arm around her waist or see him smile down at her the way he had at Fleur would be…something an omega wolf like her could never have.

She’d always believed in standing as strong as her broken body allowed, but Titus was a man she could depend on. He exuded alpha pheromones, tended the sick…and sucked up to her half sister. Viola should hate him for that, but thinking about him made her womb tingle and pussy damp.

Mooning after Titus was stupid at best, deadly at worst. He hadn’t encouraged her. Hell, he couldn’t have made his disgust clearer. Besides, from the looks of him, he lapped up Fleur’s attention.

Fleur enjoyed every luxury Zebadiah denied Viola, but Viola preferred independence and poverty to sucking up to the alpha who’d fathered her. The hardest thing she’d ever done was to stop ogling Titus.

Her gaze shifted to Zebadiah as he paraded around the market square. His velvet robe disguised his sloping shoulders, but except for a few extra pounds around his waist, he’d kept his figure trim. His voice still boomed out, but over the years it had become more querulous than caring. As a small child, she’d adored him, and in return he’d filled her days with laughter and hugs. Not so much now. Everything had changed when he’d banished her twenty-two years ago, really.

She couldn’t imagine him standing down as alpha, not when he strutted around the marketplace as though he owned it. Then again, as alpha, all the Rock Prowler territory was his to rule…and ruin. The Lykae king had decreed that.

Zebadiah took disrespect to a whole new level. The pack kissed his butt, or they suffered for it. Viola remembered how her mother had been excited over a Fae trade delegation’s visit, but after that initial glow everything in her life turned sour. Just after Viola’s sixth birthday, her mother disappeared, and her father had banished Viola to the mill a couple of miles out of town.

As a child, she’d never given that group of Fae traders a thought. As an adult, she sometimes wondered if her mother’s disappearance and the Fae’s visit to revamp their seven-year-old trade deal were linked.

Back then, she’d been terrified and already mourning her mother. She hadn’t understood what this move to the corn mill meant. For months, she’d stood at the window and stared down the road, waiting for her father to come and make everything right. It never happened, of course.

There were no gourmet meals, fine clothes, or servants to clear up after Viola, just Elspeth—a good woman who held Viola when she cried for her mother. Once she accepted that her father didn’t want her, she’d stiffened her spine and stopped looking down the road. She never cried for him after that.

Viola remembered her mother’s sweet singing voice and the way she’d swung her only daughter in her arms and danced around their apartments in that grotesque medieval keep Zebadiah favored. When she vanished, Zebadiah’s good humor evaporated into a perpetual frown. His judgments became harsh and cruel. Whenever he spotted Viola, he curled his lips and sneered as though he couldn’t stand to be in the same building as her. Even the same town was pushing it.

Then, just after she hit puberty—days after her twelfth birthday—the beating that ruined her life. Sometimes she dreamed of running through the forest while her mate hunted her down and claimed her. They’d turn human; then he’d shove her onto all fours and fuck her from behind.
Never going to happen
. Companionship and family were more things the alpha’s hatred had denied her.

Zebadiah’s eyes narrowed as he watched Viola on the eastern side of the market square.
Figures. Good to see you too, Pops
. He gestured one of his bodyguards closer and murmured something he didn’t want Titus or his daughter to hear.

Overmuscled and sweaty, Zebadiah’s personal army cleared the crowd from his path. Since most Rock Prowlers hurried to get out of his way, they didn’t have to work hard. The tallest of Zebadiah’s escort, the one with lank hair and long legs, peeled away from the alpha’s party and headed toward her. That couldn’t be good. A quick getaway was in order, but thanks to her knee, she couldn’t have run if she’d tried.

Viola froze as Lanky Legs forced his way toward her. “The alpha’s sent me to collect the first-time-seller tax.”

She stared at his chest, then let it drift up his chest, one muscle at a time. He stood almost as tall as Titus, but he didn’t set her hormones racing. Apparently she reserved her mating heat for the wolf currently flirting with Fleur. Ignoring the pain in her heart, Viola stood her ground. “There’s no such thing. Tell your alpha to get stuffed.”

Lanky Legs took a step closer, forcing her to step back or bury her nose against his sweaty chest. “There is now. Pay up or else.”

The
or else
terrified her. She doubted she’d survive another beating. Despite the day’s tiny profit, she’d have to pay. “How much?”

He leered at her, showing two broken and blackened front teeth. “Four golds and five coppers.”

Color drained from Viola’s face. “I can’t. I’ve barely covered the cost of the pitch, let alone my ingredients. I’ll have nothing left, not even my savings.”

His grin widened. “Not my problem, is it?”

Even as she cursed herself for a coward, she opened her coin purse and counted out twenty-five coppers. That left her two golds short of her target. She wanted to rage or rant at Zebadiah, but he’d only have his goon squad hurt her again. She dug deeper and pulled out the two remaining gold coins Titus had hurled at her. She was penniless, hungry, and her knee hurt like hell. Her day couldn’t get any worse.

As she trudged across the market square, her youngest half sister, Iris, darted between the stalls. “I saw. What did Pops do now?”

Viola shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Iris, don’t get into trouble because of me.”

The youngster thrust five gold coins in Viola’s hand, cast an anxious look around, and darted away. As she ran off, she called over her shoulder, “It’ll be worth it.”

The girl had a good heart, but if Zebadiah saw, he might turn on Iris the way he’d turned on Viola. She couldn’t stand the thought of that.

She felt rather than saw Titus’s gaze drill the back of her skull. When she turned around, he narrowed his eyes at her. She’d no idea what she’d done to antagonize him—except for biting his tongue, of course. Not that she intended to stick around to find out. If she set off now, she might make it home by midnight. Then, since she made a net loss on the day, she figured she’d better hone her trapping and hunting skills. Otherwise she’d starve.

Fleur reclaimed Titus’s attention. Her voice echoed around the marketplace. “We should take a stroll around the ramparts tonight and watch the sun set. There are lots of quiet places where we could get know each other better.”

Viola just bet there were. Her heart stuttered, and she had trouble breathing. When she cast a horrified glance at Titus, he grinned at Fleur like a loon.

His voice carried over the market square. “My pleasure, my lady.”

Viola didn’t know whether to beat on Titus’s chest or weep. He’d clearly forgotten she existed, but in view of his threats to bring in a new healer, that had to be a good thing, didn’t it? She should forget him too, but her raging hormones still insisted she slip into his bed and screw him.

He’d kissed her, then moved on to Fleur. Viola lifted her chin and tried to write off the desperate longing he evoked inside her. She remembered ogling Titus’s bare chest when he’d felled that sapling, and her body steamed with delight. Again, she pictured herself licking her way down his muscles, moving ever lower until…
No. Not happening, but…
Leaving would be easier if her pussy didn’t tingle and her body didn’t cry out for him to fuck her.

TITUS GROWLED SOFTLY. One top of everything else, the hedgewitch with the midnight-blue eyes extorted money from children. It didn’t stop his inner wolves from running untamed inside him. He hated the way his cock swelled and twitched every time he saw her.

Determined to disguise his body’s reaction to a woman he should despise, he offered Fleur his best smile. She moved closer and let her hip brush against his. Desperate to distract her, he tried to make conversation. “Tell me about yourself. What do you do for entertainment?”

He thought she looked angry, but again her features slipped back into her customary nonexpression. “I play the piano, and I sing. Sometimes I order a new dress. I’m quite boring really.”

Unable to think of a suitable answer, Titus would have walked on in silence, but Fleur’s empty prattle filled any awkward gaps in the conversation. This would have been easier if she’d kept her hands off him. Besides, her eyes weren’t deep-blue orbs that connected with his soul. Even when she’d come on to him, his body had stayed unresponsive around her. Flaccid even. Of course, when he glanced toward the hedgewitch, he turned rock-hard. He hoped Fleur didn’t think his erection was due to her charms, since he’d already decided nothing on the planet could make him marry her.

The hedgewitch, however… Something about Viola sent his dumb inner wolves into a mating frenzy. He’d not felt so excited or nervous around anyone since he lost Jilly. That made him feel disloyal to his true-mate—not that Jilly deserved his heart any more than a coldblooded healer who demanded cash up front.

Usually, Lykae stopped to chat or exchange gossip when they spotted their alpha. Even when pushed for time, Lykae would high-five their alpha and hurry about their business. Here, no one called out a greeting or passed on tidbits of good news. Titus had never seen such a subdued pack, but Zebadiah just beamed and kept walking. Overall, this outing left Titus with more questions than ever. The only thing he knew for sure was that the Rock Prowlers deserved an alpha who cared.

As they returned to the keep, Zebadiah shooed Fleur away and slapped Titus on the back. “I can see my Fleur’s taken a shine to you. Tomorrow, when you’ve spent more time with her, we’ll discuss the terms of our bargain. My Fleur is quite a dish, isn’t she? We should announce your engagement soon. Sleep on it, and you can decide tomorrow, but you should take that walk on the ramparts later.”

Titus would rather hack off a limb than spend more time with Fleur. After making a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat, he turned to leave. As he reached the door, the young girl he’d seen pay off Viola in the market square bounded into the room, nearly knocking him over.

He sidestepped, but her attempt to swerve threw her off balance. Titus grabbed her under the arms and swung her back onto her feet. “Steady there, little one.”

She blushed, apologized, then ran to her father’s side. “I’ve been to see Tansy, but she’s too drugged up to be any fun. She kept mumbling about giant cats. What happened to her, Pops?”