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PROLOGUE: THE WORLD AFTER THE CONQUEST

Ten years ago, the fabric between dimensions tore open without warning.

The rifts appeared simultaneously across major cities worldwide, disgorging creatures humanity had relegated to myth and nightmare. Dragons soared over metropolitan skylines. Kraken tentacles emerged from harbors and lakes. Plant beings erupted from parks and forests. Shadow demons poured from darkened alleys and underneath beds. Within days, the world as humanity knew it ceased to exist.

Scientists would later theorize that environmental destruction, experimental quantum physics, or perhaps simply cosmic chance had caused these dimensional tears. Whatever the cause, the effect was undeniable - monsters had returned to Earth, and they brought with them biological imperatives that would reshape human society forever.

The beings that emerged were not mindless beasts but intelligent predators with their own hierarchies, cultures, and overwhelming biological drives. Most significantly, they operated on an alpha/omega dynamic far more potent than the vestigial secondary gender system that had existed in humans for millennia. Upon arrival, these creatures - collectively termed"Primes" in official documentation - immediately detected human omegas, whose existence had been largely marginalized in pre-Conquest society.

Human alpha males were systematically eliminated in what became known as the Blood Week. Military resistance crumbled when Prime alphas demonstrated abilities beyond human comprehension - dragons that could withstand missile strikes, shadow demons who could move through solid matter, plant creatures who could control vegetation across entire regions. When the United Nations attempted emergency peace negotiations, the Primes made their terms clear: surrender all omega females for "integration" and eliminate alpha males who might compete for breeding rights.

Some nations attempted to fight. None succeeded. By the end of the first month, the Conquest was complete. A new world order had begun.

In this new reality, human omegas face a stark truth - their biology, once a minor footnote in human existence, now defines their entire future. The Primes operate under Conquest Law, which grants them undisputed right to claim any unmated omega they encounter. Resistance is futile; suppressing omega nature through chemicals only delays the inevitable.

For ten years, humans have lived under Prime rule, the world divided into territories controlled by different monster species. Dragons rule the Eastern Seaboard, their fire and fury reshaping cities into nesting grounds. Nagas control the Southern waterways, transforming swamps and bayous into breeding territories. Shadow demons command the urban Midwest, their darkness penetrating every corner of once-bright cities. Each Prime species has carved out its domain, establishing hierarchies where humans serve and omegas breed.

Some humans resist, operating in secret networks to smuggle suppressants, hide omegas, and undermine Prime authoritywhen possible. But their efforts are drops in an ocean of change. The world belongs to the Primes now, and human society exists at their mercy.

For omegas, life offers limited options: be claimed by a Prime alpha willing to provide protection in exchange for breeding rights, end up in government breeding facilities where personal identity is stripped away, or attempt to hide using increasingly ineffective suppressants—a path that grows more dangerous with each passing year.

This is the world of the Conquest, where ancient monsters rule with primal authority, where human omegas are prized for their fertility, and where the boundaries between captivity and connection blur with each passing generation of hybrid offspring. In this world, monsters and humans forge unexpected bonds, finding that even in darkness, connection can bloom—though never on equal terms.

For the lucky few omegas, captivity by a single powerful alpha might be preferable to the alternatives. And for some, against all odds, what begins as forced claiming may evolve into something neither species expected—something that might, generations hence, bridge the divide between conqueror and conquered.

This is where our story begins.

CHAPTER 1

THE OMEGA TRANSPORT

Amelia's POV

I grip the edge of my seat as the transport van lurches over another crater in the mountain road, sending fire through my restrained wrists. The metal cuffs have worn my skin raw hours ago, but that pain barely registers now. Eight years of carefully constructed identity—eight years of hiding what I am—gone because of one surprise body scan during a routine settlement inspection.

The vehicle sways dangerously as we round another switchback curve. Through the smudged window, jagged peaks loom against darkening skies like broken teeth. Unfamiliar territory. Hostile ground. I memorize every twist in the road, every distinctive rock formation, counting heartbeats between landmarks. The fourth escape attempt already takes shape in my mind, even as the failures of the first three burn like brands across my record.

In the front passenger seat, Captain Kain shifts his powerful frame. His ears swivel toward me first—that predatory awareness that never sleeps. When his yellow eyes find mine in the rearview mirror, there's nothing human left in that gaze.

"She's starting to smell different," he announces, voice carrying the distinctive rumble that marks all feline Primes. "Give her another shot."

The guard beside me reaches for the medical case with practiced efficiency. I've been counting doses since capture—they're running low on the emergency suppressants. Information I file away like ammunition.

"Hold still," he mutters, though we both know resistance is pointless with my wrists anchored to the seat rail.

The needle slides into my arm, delivering methylnortaxine and synthetic hormone blockers—the brutal military compound that wreaks havoc on omega biology but buys them twelve hours of compliant transport. Not the refined black market pills I managed for years, but the crude stuff designed for "assets" rather than people.

I let my eyelids droop, head falling forward as though the chemicals hit instantly. The key to survival isn't fighting—it's making them underestimate what you're capable of.

"That should hold her until transfer," the guard says, packing away the syringe.

He exchanges a look with the driver—relief mixed with nervous energy. They're afraid of these mountain passes as night approaches. The Convergence Peaks have earned their reputation, even among Primes who call themselves apex predators.

Three vehicles make up our convoy. The armored truck ahead, our van in the vulnerable middle position, another following behind like a predator herding prey. Six guards plus Captain Kain—excessive force for one omega, but my file bears the red stamp of "flight risk" for good reason.

Through slitted eyes, I study the dashboard instruments. Altitude readings, compass bearing, the glimpses of terrain I've managed to catalog. Approximately thirty miles intothe Convergence Peaks, halfway between Feline territory and whatever facility they're dragging me toward. The breeding centers, most likely.

The thought makes bile rise in my throat. I've treated omegas who escaped those places—witnessed the vacant stares, the surgical scars, trauma carved so deep words couldn't reach it. Places where omegas cease being people and become walking wombs to be studied, modified, bred until they shatter. Sarah Martinez had been one of them, barely eighteen when she stumbled into our clinic with infected bite marks and dead eyes. It took months of careful treatment before she could speak above a whisper. She never did tell us her omega designation number—the identity they'd branded into her shoulder.