Corrupted (Alpha's Claim Book 5) by Addison Cain (read more books txt) 📕

“I ordered this installation converted the night I agreed to Chancellor Shepherd’s trade. Previously, this storage room was stocked with racks of aging red wines. As you must have noticed, Ambassador, the walls are solid—a meter of cement to maintain the optimum temperature with little intervention of electricity. Unfortunately, there is no plumbing, hence the bucket. A short-term solution should a complicated situation arise.”

And a complication had arisen, Jacques grateful for his foresight. Which was why he was Commodore and all who contested his rule were dead.

“Ambassador Havel, this was never intended to be your long-term home.” Yet it had been the perfect kennel for a foreign threat. “Merely a place of transition and transformation. Yet it seems you wish to stay.”

The cuff of Jacques’ fresh shirt was properly adjusted, the Alpha moved to correct the other sleeve. “You see, in Bernard Dome, on the rare occurrence of criminal behavior, the instigator is instantly euthanized—a humane process that has worked for centuries and led to a peaceful population. My city, it is a treasure of culture and refinement in this empty world. The perfect civilization: ordered, organized, maintained, and cultivated. Paradise at the price of a steady decline in the Omega population… until there were none to be found. Being Beta, you cannot imagine what it is like to be an Alpha missing his other half and living in a world where it will never appear.”

Just like every other encounter the males had shared since they both fucked an Estrous-high Brenya Perin into the perfection of a three-way pair-bond, Jules Havel refused to acknowledge his presence.

But that did not matter. The ancient fables were correct, and the Beta was fully bound.

“Brenya was in a room similar to this one for days after an accident almost took her from me forever. Quarantined after exposure when she fell down the side of the Dome and shattered her helmet. That is why the wound on her face healed so poorly. She had no medical care. I love that scar, the perfect reminder of the miracle that brought my Omega to me. It is a symbol of what must be done to weed out females who might potentially find their own miracle in monitored seclusion. Fifteen more Omegas have been discovered with this method in the last seven days. A percentage of the population that will bring so many hope and has freed me from any further association with Greth Dome, Chancellor Shepherd, or unenlightened foreigners.”

Sleeves perfected, Jacques finally ran his attention over the silent Beta and let out a sigh. “You have been given a great gift despite your threats to my people. Freedom from the tyranny of your past, an opportunity to contribute to greatness. A greater gift still in knowing a bond with a pure-hearted Omega. Considering the taboo even in mythology, not one in a billion Betas has ever known such a thing.”

At last, Jules, brown hair falling into blue eyes of unnatural brightness, deigned to turn his head.

Progress. So, Jacques got to the point. “You are making her sick by refusing to eat.”

His prisoner did not so much as blink. He just stared in the eerie way of the dangerous and the evil.

“I have been reasonable with you, Jules Havel. I invited you into my home, extending goodwill. Furthermore, I have kept to Chancellor Shepherd's request that Bernard Dome not interfere with Thólos.” As if Jacques would waste his people’s resources on a failed civilization that had birthed the very men who had turned and eaten it.

No intonation, no apparent interest in negotiation, Jules replied, “I won’t swallow anything that I have not seen Brenya Perin taste first.”

With a scoff, Jacques smirked. “I will not expose my mate to you.”

Those piercing eyes burned, saying in their unwavering stare that Jacques had fully exposed the female to him. That there was no part of her that he had not seen, no sexual act that had not been performed before him. That he had fucked her too. “Continue to attempt to feed me Beta rations, and she won’t be your mate for long.”

Enough of this.

“I saw the way you looked at her—at the state dinner, on your ship.” Jacques’ nostrils flared, his ire rising at the audacity of the cretin who had nothing to barter with. “How you salivated watching me claim the female who is mine. You even have my sympathy. One look and I wanted the strange girl too. Yet, I allowed you to taste her once... so that she could be safe from you forever. You will not enjoy her again. That will be your burden in exchange for your survival.”

As if he might see her through the ceiling, Jules turned his gaze upward. “The Omega told me why she stole my ship. Candid to a fault in her desperation to be free of you. I felt her grief to wake bonded to a male who disgusts her. Ever since, she has been calling to me, unknowing what she does. The female gets a little closer every day. A little more trusting. Imagine what I might do to her once it’s too late for her to retreat.”

The pure evil of Jules’ grin, the way those piercing eyes burned, Jacques wanted nothing more than to kill the dog and be done with it. Hating that he couldn’t… just yet. “I will have you sedated and fitted with a feeding tube.”

Piercing blue eyes returned to the Commodore. “You can try.”

The Beta had not eaten in five days, was no doubt weak from starvation, and very much in need of a serious beating. One Jacques could not administer without causing further distress to his mate now that he understood that her bond to the Beta was just as weighty as her bond to him. A minor annoyance that would be handled soon enough. “Consider it done.”

Unfolding in a graceful, sinuous motion, the Beta stalked to the glass between them. “I can