Page 1

Chapter 1

The weatherin New Pixia had turned unusually warm for so late in the year. The deep aroma of the Grimault Forest blew across the town, entering open kitchen windows and curling under the noses of young pups, teasing them of a place they were forbidden to ever visit.

New Pixia was a small town. It'd only been founded forty-five years ago during the great expansion of the Xyletian Empire, when the Emperor had sent expeditionary forces and colonists to settle the vast tracts of untamed wilderness in the harsh regions of the western continent.

There'd been people living there, a few barbaric societies that had yet to catch up to the civilized world, and the colonists were given the go-ahead to push them westward into the primeval Wild Lands. The Grimault Forest marked that border. It was a dark place, thick and twisted with massive ancient trees that even the heavy logging machinery had trouble chewing through. It was the kind of place that could make even the most level-headed Alpha consider the possibility that the stories of evil spirits could be true.

Bryan Turner drew in a breath of the musty forest air flowing through the house and was immediately taken away, transported back to the dreams that'd disrupted his sleep for the past month.

Dreams... or nightmares.

They were always the same, always so incredibly vivid. The forest.Thatplace, which he'd named the holy ground--a circular clearing surrounded by a ring of towering gnarled trees strung with crimson fabric, like trolls holding the entrails of their kill. The men, faceless and numerous, encircled him, their naked skin luminous under the light of the moon. Then the three red priests emerged from the shadows, faces obscured by the robes draped over their bodies.

In every dream Bryan sat paralyzed, watching helplessly as the three Alphas advanced on him. That's when his body would thrum with a sensation he'd never experienced before in his waking life: lust. An unrestrained and completely bewitching desire to befucked.

Then every man's monstrous cock stood at attention, veined and throbbing, tips dripping with fluid. There seemed to be dozens surrounding him. Wicked grins spread on darkened faces, canines gleaming. Hands reached for him, tore his clothes from his body. He tried to scream, but instead a begging moan emerged from his lips. He couldn't possibly want this to happen, and yet his body responded to it. His cock was impossibly hard, his entrance soaking wet, dying to be filled over and over and over.

Most of all, he wantedthem. The red priests. But they never moved. And when the first cock was about to be thrust into his wanting asshole, that was always when he snapped awake, terrified, drenched in sweat, his cock throbbing and soaked with his own come.

Why was it that he couldn't orgasm any other way? For his entire adult life, Bryan had found arousal and climax to be an enigma. He'd never been able to make himself come, and his Alpha certainly couldn't. Not that Josef tried. Bryan was simply a sex toy to the man. As long as he was satisfied, that was all that mattered.

And of course, he wanted a child. But that hadn't happened, either. Three months of being mated, of having that despicable man's seed dumped into him, Bryan hadn't become pregnant.

"Traitors," Josef grunted to Dan Whitetail, who was the Minister from the neighboring colony of New Lykia. The two Alphas sat naked next to each other on the couch. Like Josef, Mr. Whitetail was a large man, and his bulbous belly hung down so far that the man could hardly make out his own privates anymore. They were both old enough to be Bryan's father, as were most of the Ministers throughout the Xyletian colonies.

"Yes, indeed," Mr. Whitetail replied, leaning back into the couch and tilting his hips in an attempt to make his cock stand taller.

"Ludicrous," said Josef. "It's a doomed mission, Dan. No one can defeat the Empire." He gestured to Bryan, who was kneeling on the carpet in front of them like a good Omega mate was expected to. "Come on. Get to it. Do our guest first."

Wordlessly, Bryan moved forward. He would get this over with as quickly as possible, and he knew he could. He knew what Josef liked, and Mr. Whitetail had been over enough times that he'd learned his preferences, too.

The man groaned as Bryan took his stubby cock into his mouth. With no relish he performed his duty, sucking him down, cleaning his smelly member with his saliva. He reached over and stroked Josef at the same time, twisting his hand in the way that he liked.

"The Emperor is dead, Josef," Mr. Whitetail said between satisfied moans. "The capital is in the hands of those two traitors, and from what I've heard, they have agents all across the Empire who are independently taking control of territory. It's not good."

"And what are you implying?" Josef demanded. "That the Empire will fall?"

"I'm saying that we must prepare for the worst. The war may come this side of the world. Ahh,fuck." He tilted his head back. "And I might come already."

Josef grabbed a handful of Bryan's blond hair and yanked him off of the man's cock. "No, dammit. We're just getting started. Mine,now." He pulled Bryan's face over and jammed his dick into his throat. Bryan gagged but held it together, blinking away tears. He was afraid to further displease the Alpha--there was too much on the line.

"Don't tell me about war," Josef said. "You're so far east that you've forgotten about the damn threat from the forest. We have to deal with suppressing those barbarians. You'd think by now they'd get the idea that there's no place for them here. But no. We push deeper and still find their damn villages right there, just beyond the border." He grunted. "Fuck. Enough of this. Bryan, present yourself."

Bryan did as he was told, backing off and getting down onto all fours.

Josef sniffed. "You let me have a go at your Omega last week. Why don't you go ahead and fuck Bryan, Dan?"

"Oh, with pleasure."

"Use a sheath. Wouldn't want you to get him pregnant. Though I'm beginning to doubt he's even functioning. Any longer and I might just have to return him."

A sudden panic struck Bryan. "No," he begged. "Please don't. My family needs the money, and--"

"Then you better hope you get pregnant soon. One more month and no child, and the deal is void."

"It'll happen," Bryan said. "The healers say it can take some time. I promise, it will happen, so please don't break the mate contract."

Josef grabbed Bryan's face and leaned in close. "It better happen." He pushed him, sending the Omega to the floor. "Enough. You're making our guest feel uncomfortable."