Savage Prince by Alison Aimes

20

“You ready?” Maxheim looked at her as if he hoped she’d say no.

She nodded instead.

“Fine.” He checked his comms. “Three minutes until we set down.”

“Got it.”

He scowled but rechecked the protective vest he’d insisted she don. He loomed over her as he tightened straps and fiddled with closures, despite the tension between them—and the audience at their backs: a ring of soldiers who’d joined them on a smaller shuttle as they traveled to Rav’s compound.

By silent agreement, she and Maxheim had put aside what was unfinished between them. At least for now.

There was simply too much else to do and too much at stake.

Plus, in a shift she hadn’t seen coming, she was heading with Maxheim to help rescue her friends; she wasn’t about to be a fool and anger him anew.

There was a great deal they’d need to discuss later, though.

Maxheim’s earlier words whispered through her. Don’t let that bastard manipulate you.

Was that what she’d let happen when she offered to exchange herself for her friends?

Think bigger. He’d said that too.

He’d suggested there was more to her than just destruction, death and self-sacrifice. Except he hadn’t even let her be in the same room as his brothers. More proof that her gift was too volatile, Maxheim too possessive. More proof that she would never make him a good prime omega, even if they didn’t have the multitude of other ugly complications in their lives.

Except the organ in her chest didn’t care.

It wanted her to find a way past the doubts and darkness so she could be the prime omega he needed. She just wasn’t sure how to achieve it.

“We’re almost there.” Maxheim’s declaration pulled her from her thoughts. He secured another strap on her protective vest.

Because he cared. Because he wasn’t like Rav.

Quiet descended.

Thanks to Maxheim’s trick with Rav’s beacon, tracking her ex-friend had proved incredibly easy. He’d flown straight from their confrontation to the compound on the third ring of Solaris where she, the young omega thieves, and the other slaves had always been taken when they weren’t working the auction circuit. She’d always thought the desolate, out-of-the-way place was Aldar’s hideout. Now she knew differently.

The good news was that she knew a great deal about their destination and had been able to brief Maxheim on all she was aware of, including the fact that there would be additional slaves and guards since the entourage taken to the Tarus auction was only a small fraction of those owned by Rav.

The bad news was she had no idea why Rav had fled there, or how long they had until he noticed their arrival. Maxheim had done something to muffle the beacon signal inside her tracker, but that too wouldn’t last forever. At some point, it would reappear, and Rav would discern her location—maybe even when she was practically on top of him—and he’d know he’d been followed.

She just hoped it would be too late by then for him to do anything but run. Though not until he’d given her the information about the twins and his employer—and left her young friends and the other slaves behind for her to keep safe.

Because no matter how much she hated Rav, she didn’t want him dead.

There would always be a part of her that would remember him as her childhood friend and another part that would never stop being grateful for how he’d help to keep her alive, even if she despised the way he’d done it.

It was confusing and messed up and painful, but so were her feelings for Maxheim.

“Did you enjoy your video visit with the omegas?” As if he sensed her thinking about him, the Alpha’s deep voice broke the silence, his intense gaze on the vest as he tightened yet another strap that was already well secured.

“Very much.” Even if her visit with the omegas was exactly why she was more confused than ever.

Each time she grew certain there could never be something long-term between her and Maxheim, he did something like he had with the omegas and made her want to think bigger.

“Do you think when this is over, I might do it again?” She kept her voice low. She didn’t want the soldiers gathering at the back of the gangplank to overhear.

“Of course.” Like her, he spoke in quiet a tone. “But I’m coming. If there are more tears, I want to be there.”

Stupid tears. They seemed to upset him more than her.

She’d just been so happy and relieved.

Because, true to his word, after they’d washed, eaten, and put on clean clothes, she’d gotten to see for herself that the omegas from the auction were being treated well. Even through the vid pictures from his wrist comms, it had been easy to tell. They weren’t in cells or pens or cages. They were sharing rooms—two or three to a space since the shuttle was not equipped to carry so many—and they’d been fed, given meds, clothes.

Like her, they seemed unsure of what to make of their new surroundings and, even more strange, the shocking sense of dignity being offered.

She’d done her best to calm them down. She’d told them what Maxheim and his brothers intended, and she hoped with every fiber of her being that what she was telling them was real.

Most were skeptical. A few were downright terrified. A few seemed to only want to go back.

Those were the ones who broke her heart the most.

But it also drove home that Maxheim was right. It would have been cruel to send them out on their own. They needed protection and time to heal. Some might never recover, even so.

It made her wonder about herself, reinforcing the power of Maxheim’s earlier words once more.

Was she also so broken that she didn’t even know how to escape the cage she’d been placed in, even when the bars were no longer there?

“They’ll be okay, Tess. So will you.” Finished with fussing with her vest, Maxheim now grabbed her hand.

As always, he seemed to know her thoughts. “Some of them, yes. But Al—Rav,” she corrected herself and wondered when she’d get used to the reality of who her real jailer had been all along. “He messed them up.” It was easier to speak of them than herself. “I don’t know if they’ll recover.”

He squeezed her palm. “Maybe not the way you would have liked, but the strongest will find a way to not only survive, but thrive.” Regret washed across his face. “Not everyone gets that chance, but I’m here to ensure you do. When I was ten, my father was killed. My mother became the propertied omega of a real bastard. It was a tough life for her, but I was too young and too weak to protect her.”

Tess held his hand even tighter. “But you’re not powerless anymore.”

“No.” His intense gaze bore into her, heavy with promise. “I’m not. Neither are you.”

Think bigger. She was going to try.

A gentle bump beneath her slippers and the lessening vibration told her they’d arrived.

“We’re here.” He blew out a breath. “You’ll follow my instructions.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t care if Rav emerges from a grate and swears you can save every slave in the galaxy if you go with him, you will stick by my side.”

“Yes.” He hadn’t asked it as a question, but she reassured him anyway. “Hopefully, my retinal scan will still work to unlock the inner doors of the compound that lead to the slave quarters. I’m going to be useful. You’ll see.”

After seeing the omegas on the shuttle, she was more anxious than ever to get the others from Rav and place them in the Skolovs’ care. No matter what the future held for her, she was confident they’d be safe under the family’s protection.

“You already are.” He pressed a quick kiss to her temple. “You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

“To myself, then.” Because Flora, Mauve, Betta, and Lottie were likely there too. Their heads filled with whatever lies Rav continued to tell them to gain their trust and compliance.

The idea sickened Tess.

“Then there’s only one thing to do before we go.” The fierceness of Maxheim’s tone pulled her from her thoughts.

He looked so serious. Her heart beat fast.

“I don’t fucking like it.” He was talking to himself again. “But it has to be done. Your protection matters above all else.”

Wariness slithered through her veins. He wouldn’t leave her behind now? He hadn’t been telling her lies the whole time? The terrible doubts raced through her mind, and she hated Rav anew for making her question everything.

“What are you talking about?” she whispered.

He spun her around. “Introductions.”

Rows of fierce-looking males crowded the disembarkation space.

She hadn’t realized there were so many. She’d purposely been trying to ignore them and, given Maxheim’s earlier declaration that no male would be setting eyes on her until she wore his marks at her wrist and throat, she’d thought it couldn’t have been more than five or six.

They’d moved so silently—and now they were everywhere.

Every nerve rushed to high alert.

Her gift sparked, dark tendrils snaking outward.

A few of the males growled.

“It’s okay, Tess.” Maxheim’s arm encircled her waist. “Breathe. Take control. You don’t have to be afraid.”

She hadn’t realized she’d backed up until he stopped her, his voice a low whisper against her ear. “None of these males would ever lay a fucking finger on you.”

There had to be at least fifty of them.

All huge, their bare chests were covered in the same markings that declared them loyal soldiers of the Skolov family, ready to spill their blood for their family and its leaders.

They might be wearing masks, but their energies surged with the same familiar brutal Alpha aggression and darkness of the males who’d been using her and the other omega slaves for years.

And she didn’t even have the bars of her cage to protect her.

Sweat dripped down her spine—and she hated it. Hated herself for even wishing for one second that she had the protection of those damned awful bars now.

“Maxheim,” she found her voice, “what is this?”

“The start of thinking bigger.” He raised his hand and addressed the crowd. “Kneel!” His command echoed through the space.

As one, the rows of males dropped to their knees, the force of the collective drop thundering through the room.

She sucked down a breath.

He hauled her tighter against him. “I’ll be brief,” he told the soldiers. “This is Tess. She’s mine.”

A ripple moved through the males, but no words. Only nods.

“She is under my protection at all times—which means she is now under yours. Anyone tries to lay a finger on her, kill them. Anyone scares her or disrespects her, kill them.”

Her mouth dropped open. The dark tendrils of her gift that had been snaking toward the crowd thinned before vanishing altogether, his public show of respect soothing something inside her, making her feel valued in a way she’d never experienced before.

“I expect masks and gloves worn around her at all times,” continued Maxheim. “Also, unless commanded otherwise, everyone keeps at least ten feet of distance. No one touches her. I don’t care if you see her stumbling, stay the fuck back—or I will personally rip you apart.”

He paused. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Alpha.” They shouted as one, a sharp bark that echoed through the space.

Her mind whirled. Processing what was happening seemed impossible. “This is . . .”

“Just the start, Tess.” He pulled her closer. “I told you before. I am never going to let anyone hurt you again.”

“But I thought . . . you sounded so against me meeting any other Alphas.”

He growled low. “Not because of you, Tess. The Alpha in me wants to fucking rip out every single one of their eyes for just looking at you.”

Her skin heated. His fierceness as sweet as it was terrifying.

He blew out a breath, did that kind of adorable chant thing where he said the words breathe and control to himself a few times, and then nodded as if it was all taken care of, his claws once more retracting.

“But,” he sucked down another deep breath, “the family and its soldiers are a part of our lives.”

Our?Her mind got so tripped up on how easily that word flowed from his lips, she almost missed the rest of the sentence.

“I can’t go around breaking the neck of every soldier who looks at you. Who’s going to help me protect you if I do?”

His thinking had a twisted, murderous sense of logic.

“And you can’t kick out that gift every time you get scared and send everyone into a fucking riot, ‘cause again, who will I find to help me keep you safe? So, we’re both just gonna need to suck it up and adjust.”

The guy just loved to push her to adjust.

But this time there was no resentment. Only wonder. “Thank you.”

Because, thanks to his extraordinary show of support and steadying influence, the wounds from Rav’s betrayal suddenly felt less deep. Especially when she realized that, thanks to the Alpha at her side, she’d controlled her gift—and the fear and rage that had always propelled it—better than she ever had before.

It gave her a sense of hope, of pride, of optimism for a different future than she’d ever had before.

Maxheim nodded as if her thanks was his due, but she sensed his pleasure beneath. “You got anything you want to say to them?”

She blinked. “Ah, no. Nothing I can think of.”

He nodded. “You can always do so next time.”

Next time? As if this was going to be a common occurrence.

She remembered when she’d first seen Maxheim and felt his power. She’d wondered what it must be like to be someone like him.

Now she knew.

Because he was sharing it with her and doing precisely what he’d said he would: extending his protection to her so that she was no longer helpless or alone.

Was this what he’d meant when he’d told her their objectives were not as far off as she believed? That she could find a sense of power and place, even a new purpose, without leaving Anarcheim behind?

The sense of peace she always felt when he was kissing her rippled through her now, bigger, brighter, fuller than it had ever been.

Her wrists and throat throbbed.

The connection between them was deepening with or without conscious permission.

But maybe that wasn’t so bad.

Ifthey could catch Rav without having to trade her, if they could find a way to appease the Brotherhood over what she’d done, maybe there was a way forward for her and Maxheim, just as he’d been saying.

Maybe she could bring more to his life than death and destruction and pain.

But first, they had to catch Rav.

Please, let them catch Rav here and now.

“You may stand.” Maxheim’s command to his soldiers pulled her from her thoughts. “Prepare for a fight, Alphas. We should arrive at Byrel’s compound soon, and we have no idea what will be waiting. But whatever happens, protect my omega.”