Page 16 of Their Alpha

“Fletcher tells me the two of you met at a homeless shelter,” he said as I crept to within his field of vision. He’d strapped his head into the chair before slipping his arms into the restraints, so he could really only look up.

“We did,” I said. For some reason, I didn’t mind telling him the story. “I…I had just escaped from my community. I didn’t know where to go. My cousin Elijah lived just over the hill with his husband, Barnaby, but they didn’t think it was safe for me to stay with them for long. They drove me into Barrington so I could stay with a friend of Elijah’s, but my—” I stopped my babbling, worried that I was saying too much too fast.

Artemis shifted his head slightly to the side, just enough so he could see me. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he said.

I swallowed and shook my head. He smelled so good. And his body was so exciting to look at. I knew it was my fault, not his, but his huge cock was hard and stretched up over his belly and the strap holding him down. He was breathing a little hard, too, but he still had an overall air of calm and control about him, not that of an alpha in rut who just wanted to fuck the hapless omega who couldn’t get away from him.

That was why I wanted to tell him.

“I was raised in a cult,” I said in a quiet rush. “The People of God on Earth.”

“I’ve heard of them,” Artemis said with a small frown.

“They have ideas about what omegas should be and do. When I started my first heat, I was given toan alpha. I didn’t want him, but I didn’t have any choice. It was awful.” I shuddered and sniffled, but quickly pulled myself together. “After, I was forced to marry him. But it was just a community marriage, not a legal one. The People don’t believe in earthly authority. For them, only church marriages count, not legal ones.”

“I think I’ve heard that,” Artemis said.

“Anyhow, he found me,” I continued. “He found out where I was. I managed to get away before he showed up to claim me. I ended up at the shelter when I got so hungry I couldn’t remember my name. That’s where Fletcher and I met.”

“Fletcher is a great guy,” Artemis said.

“He’s my hero,” I said with passion, eyes brimming with tears of love and regret. “He’s like the Sapphire Dragon Prince, Azurus.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Artemis asked.

His body was still relaxed, despite his erection leaking onto his belly, so I moved closer. I was close enough to touch him if I wanted to.

“The Sapphire Dragon Prince, Azurus,” I repeated. “From the fairy tale ofThe Captive Omega Princes and Their Secret Dragon Princes.”

Artemis shook his head as much as he could with it restrained. “I’m sorry, I don’t know much about fairy tales.”

“It’s my favorite story,” I said, suddenly full of enthusiasm. “Once upon a time, there was a faraway kingdom ruled over by a cruel king. The king had six omega sons, the princes, but he kept them locked up in the castle and confined to their bedroom at night. There was a prophecy that said the husband of one of the princes would overcome the king and rule in his stead, so the king never let the princes anywhere near alphas. Except when they werein heat, of course. He kept a stable of mute, ugly alphas on the castle grounds to service the princes during their heats.”

“What a jerk,” Artemis said.

I laughed, then slapped a hand over my mouth to hide the sound. I didn’t want to wake Fletcher. He needed his rest after everything he’d been doing for me. But also, I was shocked that an alpha could make me laugh.

“Yes, well, unbeknownst to the king, the eldest omega prince had a trapdoor under his bed that led to an enchanted world of jewels and magic. Every night, when the omega princes were locked in their room, they would escape into the magical world, travel through a forest of diamonds, sail across a lake of sapphire, and ride through a field of emeralds to reach a golden castle. There they met their dragon princes.”

“What made Azurus the Sapphire Dragon Prince so special?” Artemis asked. He was really listening to me. I felt like he was genuinely curious and not just coddling me to get his way.

“Azurus fell in love with Misha, the most timid of the omegas. Azurus was brave and had fought many battles and won. He fell in love with Misha at first sight, but Misha went into heat and the king locked him in a room with one of the alpha ogres. There’s more to the story than just that, but Azurus, in dragon form, scaled the tower where the king had trapped Misha, fought the ogre, and flew Misha to safety.”

I sighed at the end of the story. There had been times when I’d closed my eyes and imagined the entire thing with myself as Misha and Fletcher as Azurus.

“You’re an amazing storyteller,” Artemis said, bringing me back to the present.

“It’s what I do for a living,” I said before I could question whether it was too much information.

“Is it?” Artemis asked. His skin was starting to glow red, a sure sign his rut was picking up pace, but you never would have known it from the calm in his voice.

I nodded. “I’m a published author,” I said, still trusting him despite the way my blood was pumping harder and my hole beginning to leak. “I write YA Fantasy, and, well, I kind of support me and Fletcher with my books.”

“That’s amazing,” Artemis said with a big smile. “Are you the one who wrote the fairy tale about the omega princes?”

“Oh, no,” I said, laughing again. “That’s an old, old fairy tale. I used to read it when I was growing up, although the version we had in the community was definitely cleaned up from other versions I’ve read since then. The People don’t think omegas should have any agency at all in their own sexuality, like the real fairy tale depicts.”

“I’m sorry to hear you went through that,” Artemis said compassionately. When I tensed and inched back from him, he said, “Fletcher told me you…had a horrific experience with an alpha in the past. I think I’ve just pieced the whole story together.”

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