Rath (The Omega Collective #2) - Mina Carter Page 0,2

lifted a hand, about to brush the hair away from her face.

Then, unexpectedly, she opened her eyes.

The moon came out from behind a cloud, and for a moment he could see her clearly. Elfin features almost lost beneath the dirt and grime, her silver-blue eyes gleamed in the moonlight. She made a soft sound and shifted deeper into her makeshift burrow, but the drugs had dulled the edges of her reflexes.

“Hello, little one.” He crouched in front of her, blocking her escape. “You will come with me now.”

“No,” the word came out low and fuzzy. “Go away.”

He chuckled. “Not without you. You’re wounded and sick. I have soft blankets and a warm place for you to sleep.” He held out his hand. “Come. Now.”

Something flashed in her eyes, a moment of primal instinct. “No!”

He’d expected her to run, or cry, or try to hide. He hadn’t expected her to come at him with a blade. His surprise didn’t dull his instincts, and he dodged her wild swing easily, catching her wrist and disarming her in the same movement. In no version of reality was a tiny, drugged little human any match for him.

“No,” he said firmly, sliding the oddly curved blade away into a sheath strapped to his thigh.

She made a small sound, somewhere between pain and hopelessness, and he eased up on his grip before pulling her gently the rest of the way out of her little burrow. A small smile curved his lips as she tried to cling to the things she had, noting she fought hardest to keep the soft blanket. So he let her keep it, slinging the pack easily over one shoulder as he lifted her.

“Any more blades you’d like to try and stick me with, little one?” he asked with a slight growl.

“You took mine,” she muttered, her words slurring. “Gimme it back and I can try again.”

“You have no need for a weapon anymore. You have me.”

She gave him a sidelong look from beneath dark lashes but didn’t say anything.

The scent of her was intoxicating, branding his lungs with every breath and making him think things his little omega wasn’t ready for. Not yet. He’d have to wait, even if his cock was already hard enough to crush rocks and had been for days. The moment he’d smelled her the first time, he’d known she was his.

By the time he got her back to his lair, she was fast asleep. That suited him perfectly. He didn’t need any human, not even this one, knowing where he stayed. That information was too important. Only one other male knew this place existed—his brother, A’rett.

Rath endured the scans and security checkpoints he’d installed before finally climbing the stairs. He needed to get his omega secured as quickly as possible.

Standing at the threshold, he took a moment to look at the female in his arms. He was not the largest warrior—his bloodline had always run a little shorter than most of his species—but she was still tiny in comparison. His brow creased. She was too light and the pinched lines of her face told him she needed nutrition.

He walked right through until he reached the sleeping area and laid her down gently. The sedatives had a good hold on her now, so when she opened her eyes, she didn’t tense up or try to escape. Instead, she just looked up at him with those big soft eyes as a tear streaked down her cheek.

“Please,” she begged softly. “You don’t have to do this. You could just let me go. I’ll say I never even saw you.”

“I do have to do this. You are an omega. You need an alpha’s protection.” He thumped a fist to his chest. “You will accept mine.”

She shook her head and another tear fell. “I don’t want your protection.”

Stubborn. His brother had warned him about that. These humans weren’t like other omegas.

“The choice is not yours,” he growled, growing irritated with her foolishness. Kneeling by the bed, he reached for her leg to check her wound. He could smell the wrongness even from here. But before he could touch her, she squeaked again and scuttled across the soft surface of the bed away from him.

“Please, no!” she gasped, disappearing off the other side of the bed with a thump.

“Xarthing female! Did you injure yourself?” He strode over to her side of the bed, worry warring with annoyance.

She was huddled in the corner, her back pressed to the wall and her legs curled up