Page 5

FIRST CONTACT

Amelia's POV

"Choose," he says simply, yellow eyes holding mine as lightning illuminates both our faces.

The word hangs between us like a death sentence. Choice—what a joke when I'm suspended in a monster's tail, bleeding and burning alive from the inside out while a storm rages around us.

Another wave of heat tears through me without warning, more vicious than anything before.

I convulse in his grip, a scream ripping from my throat as my body betrays me completely.

Slick gushes between my thighs, soaking through what's left of my uniform.

The emptiness inside me clenches desperately, demanding to be filled by the alpha whose scent is driving me to the edge of madness.

"Fuck," I gasp, doubling over as cramps seize my core. The clinical part of my brain—the nurse who's seen omegas die from rebound heat—knows exactly what's happening. Temperature spiking. Heart rate approaching tachycardia. Hormonal cascade accelerating toward system failure.

I'm dying. My body is literally consuming itself, and this monster knows it.

"Your system is in cascade failure," Vex observes, voice rough with something that might be hunger. His nostrils flare as he breathes in my scent, pupils contracting to razor slits. "You smell like desperation and need. Like an omega who knows she's running out of time."

"Go to hell," I spit, even as another wave of heat makes me writhe in his grip. The tail around my waist tightens, not enough to hurt but enough to remind me exactly how powerless I am.

He laughs, a sound that vibrates through his chest and into my bones. "Hell would be leaving you to die unclaimed. Is that what you want, little nurse? To convulse yourself to death on my mountain?"

How does he know I'm a nurse? The transport, probably. Medical personnel are valuable breeding stock.

"I'd rather die free than live as your breeding bitch," I manage through gritted teeth.

"Would you?" His free hand cups my face, claws pricking against my skin with just enough pressure to draw pinpricks of blood. "Because your body is telling a different story."

As if summoned by his words, another surge of heat crashes over me. This time I can't bite back the moan that escapes, my hips grinding involuntarily against nothing as my omega biology screams for what he could give me. The betrayal of my own flesh makes rage burn hotter than the heat itself.

"Your cunt is dripping for me," he growls, breathing deep of my scent. "Your body knows what it needs, even if your stubborn mind refuses to accept it."

The crude words send a bolt of unwanted arousal straight to my core. I hate him. I hate what he represents. But my treacherous body responds to his dominance like it's been starved for exactly this kind of brutal honesty.

"You're a monster," I whisper, even as my nipples harden beneath his predatory gaze.

"Yes." His thumb traces the blood he's drawn on my cheek. "And you're prey. But you're also dying, and I'm the only thing in these mountains that can save you."

Lightning flashes again, illuminating the impossible choice before me. Submit to the monster or die writhing in agony as my own biology destroys me from within.

"What happens after?" I force out. "After you... claim me?"

"You become mine." His tail constricts slightly, making my breath catch. "Your body, your heat, your submission—all mine. You'll carry my mark, bear my offspring, serve my needs."

The blunt declaration should terrify me. Instead, another gush of slick betrays my body's response to his dominance. The omega in me recognizes an alpha powerful enough to survive what's coming—the violent claiming my heat will demand.

"And if I refuse?"

His gaze doesn't waver. "Then you die. But not quickly. Heat-death is agony—hours of burning from the inside while your mind fragments. I've seen it before."

Thunder crashes overhead, punctuating his words with nature's violence. My wound throbs, blood mixing with rain and slick as my body continues its betrayal.

Another wave builds, and this time I feel it—the moment when conscious choice starts slipping away. My vision blurs at the edges, rational thought fragmenting as biology takes control.

"Tick tock, little omega," Vex murmurs, his voice a dark caress. "How much longer do you think your mind will hold out against what your body needs?"

The answer terrifies me: not long.

I look up into those inhuman yellow eyes—predator's eyes, killer's eyes—and make the only choice that isn't really a choice at all.

"Do it," I whisper, the words tasting like ash and survival. "Claim me."

Something dark and hungry flashes across his features. "Say it properly."

Heat builds to a crescendo that makes thinking impossible. "Please," I gasp, hating myself for begging but unable to stop. "Please claim me. I need—I can't?—"

"You need my cock," he finishes, voice rough with satisfaction. "You need me to fill that empty cunt and knot you proper. Say it."

The words should shame me. Instead, they send another wave of desperate arousal through my overheated system. "I need your cock," I whisper, each word a small death. "Please."

"Good girl." The praise makes my core clench with need. "Now let's get you somewhere I can properly ruin you."

He lifts me fully into his arms, and despite everything—my fear, my rage, my humiliation—my body melts against his heat. The solid strength of an alpha who can handle whatever violence my heat will demand.

As he carries me deeper into his domain, one thought cuts through the biological haze: I am Amelia Miller, and I will survive this claiming.

Even if I have to become something else to do it.

"What's your name?" he asks as we move through the darkness.

"Amelia," I manage, my voice already thready with need.

"Amelia." He tastes my name like he's planning to devour it. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you in."

The promise should terrify me.

Instead, as another wave of heat rolls through me and my body prepares for the violent claiming to come, it sounds like exactly what I need.