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CHAPTER TWELVE

~Arcay~

LENDEL HURRIED AWAY , taking my order to Jursin to have the human crew released. The human omega would remain here with me. Now that our deal was sealed, he went back to washing himself with little fuss.

I took him in. I was mentally prepared for the human’s body to be different from my kind. I was even prepared for the chance I may initially find him unattractive. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make to have an omega of my own. But when he peeled off the wet fabric stuck to his skin to reveal a lean and toned body, my pulse quickened. His gaze flashed over to me as he continued to lather himself, but I could not tear my eyes away from him.

His body was beyond attractive, and the need to touch it grew in me breathtakingly fast. More toned than Aldarian omegas, who tended to be delicate, Clay had wide shoulders and limbs shaped with muscle. To my surprise, I found that I preferred it. His skin was smooth and pale, and the same dark hair that grew on his arms also spread across his chest in soft wisps beaded with water. I wondered if the extra hair served a purpose or if it was purely decorative. Surely such sparse coverings would not be useful for keeping warm.

He finished and cleared his throat.

“Now what?” he said.

The translator by the pool translated his words, but I did not need it. My knowledge of Panlin was basic but sufficient, as long as the replies were kept short.

“Wash,” I said.

Clay submerged himself, washing the last of the foam and creams away, and then waited, watching me with wary eyes.

“Out,” I said and climbed from the pool. Water puddled across the floor. Kesk would clean it when we were finished.

Clay climbed out of the pool, slowly, reluctantly. As he emerged, I saw that the soft hair trailed in a line from his navel to gather around his genitals. Fascinating. Unfortunately, I only caught a glimpse of his length before he covered himself with his hands and stood before me dripping water. It ran from his hair, the brown strands flattened against his head, and trailed down his neck and chest, over his hips, and the length of his legs. I watched the droplets fall, mesmerized until he hunched and shivered. He was cold.

“Come here,” I said, moving to stand by a small alcove.

He edged away, unsure, his bare feet leaving tracks of water on the floor. “Why?”

“You are cold. You need to dry.”

His eyes searched the room, but didn’t find what they were searching for and came back to rest on me.

“Here,” I said again, more sharply this time. Attractive as he was, he was trying my patience.

He flinched when I took him by the shoulders and moved him to stand in the small alcove. “Stand here,” I said.

I pressed my hand to the wall just inside the alcove, and the pale walls glowed a ruddy orange. As the warmth radiated around him, his muscles relaxed and his shoulders fell, but he kept his hands in place.

“Raise your arms, you will dry faster,” I said.

“I’m good, thanks.” He kept them stubbornly in place.

Why did he have to constantly defy me? An Aldarian omega would have complied without question.

I quelled my frustration. He was cooperating, to a degree. There was no point in fighting with him and making him more stubborn. And besides, the orange glow reflected enticingly off his oil-slicked skin .

When he was dry, I moved to the entrance to find that Lendel had already returned from Jursin and was standing with Kesk, each holding folded garments. I ushered them in and they stood on either side of Clay. Or they would have, if he did not sidestep quickly around them, like a flighty Kraat .

“What’s that?” he said, gesturing to the glinting gold folded carefully in their hands.

Lendel and Kesk looked at me, unsure how to proceed.

“My betas will dress you,” I said.

“Where are my clothes?”

“These are your clothing.”

“No, they’re not. Where’s my flight suit?”

“They have been disposed of,” I said. I took the garments from Kesk’s hands and held them out to Clay.

“I’m not putting that on,” he said, backing up.

“You will wear this or you will wear nothing,” I growled.

He hesitated, then snatched it from my hand, glaring.

The gold unraveled, creating a fan of glinting metal that he held from the fingers of one hand, the other still cupping his genitals. The chains swayed. “What the hell is this? How am I even supposed to—”

Lendel and Kesk stepped forward promptly, on comfortable ground again, and took it from him. They dressed him as he stood there, his jaw tight and brow dark. When the betas were finished, they stood back.

My pulse raced. Golden chains as fine as threads fanned out from a band around his neck down to his shoulders and trailed over his chest. A matching one sat on his hips, hanging low at the front over his navel, leaving a wide expanse of his flat belly and thighs exposed. The chains shifted against his body as he shuffled his feet, offering snatched glimpses of what lay beneath. He was a vision clothed in the finest omega mating garments with his skin glistening. Breathtaking. His blue-eyed gaze was defiant, challenging, and it only made my blood rush faster. I had to fight to keep myself under control, or I would have taken him right then and there.

Not yet. We still had another step to complete. Soon, but not yet. I dug my claws into my palms. Soon could not come soon enough.

***

ONCE WE HAD taken our places on the padded mat in the main chamber, Lendel and Kesk brought in the covered food bowls for the next part of the traditional bonding ceremony . Omegas were so scarce that a bonding ceremony had not taken place since I was a child, but I had studied the records in great depth and wished to honor the traditions. After all, this was the most important day of my life, and I wanted to do it properly.

The meal represented our life together, and how I would provide for him.

Clay sat cross-legged opposite me, the strands of his mating garment bunched tantalizingly between his legs and exposing the long stretch of his upper thighs, creamy-white and inviting. He watched the betas wearily as they set the bowls down on the dining mat, his blue eyes never leaving them. When they removed the covers with billows of scented steam, his throat bobbed.

At least he would not resist this part. And then we could finally get on with what came next. My pulse kicked. The claiming . When I would part those golden strands and—

I blinked the images away. Soon.

I picked up a bowl and brought the food to my lips, then gestured for Clay to do the same. He stared at the bowls like a hungry predator stalking its prey, as if waiting for them to move so he could pounce. The want was clear in his eyes. But instead of taking the bowl, he breathed out heavily.

“I want to see my crew now.”

“You agreed to stay.”

“Yeah, and you agreed to let me see them.”

The human was acting like a child. This was taking far too long; every moment I delayed increased the danger of him being taken away from me. I could see he was not going to drop it without a fight. I considered allowing him to refuse the food, just to spite himself, but he needed to eat if he was to be strong enough for the claiming.

I nodded once. “You may see your people once you have eaten.”

He eyed me, then slowly pushed himself forward, shifting off his padded mat and directly onto the serving mat. I wrinkled my nose. So unhygienic. Clearly humans were an uncivilized race and I would have to teach him. Still, progress was progress.

I passed him the flat bread and a bowl, and he peered at them suspiciously, sniffing them, before bringing the bread to his mouth and taking a cautious nibble.

“You use the bread to scoop the food. Like this.” I showed him and took a large bite, then nodded at him to do the same.

He dipped the corner of the bread into the bowl, coating it with a small amount of sauce. Raising it to his nose, he sniffed it again, not once taking his eyes off me. His nose wrinkled in a way that made me want to reach over and touch it, but I refrained. I could touch him all I liked once we were bonded. For now, I did not want to spook him and lose our progress.

Clay tentatively touched it to his tongue. His eyes widened and he hunched over his bowls, scooping up a huge amount of food and stuffing it into his mouth. He barely chewed before swallowing it down and taking another scoop. His manners were no better than his posture, but I was pleased he enjoyed it. He closed his eyes and made a deep noise of appreciation as he chewed. My stomach tightened.

He ate a few mouthfuls in quick gulps. Licking his fingers, he put the bowl down, even though he eyed it a moment longer.

“I want to see my crew now,” he said.

“Eat more,” I said.

“You said I could see them after I ate something, and I have. Now let me see them.”

“You have not eaten enough.”

It was time he started obeying me like an omega should.

He crossed his arms, making the chains on his chest clink and sway. “I’m not doing anything else until you let me see them. I did what you asked and ate the damn food. Now you have to let me see my crew.”

I curled my lip to show a glimpse of fang. “I do not have to do anything. I am the Second.”

His face darkened more, and with it my temper. I had had enough of this behavior, of him contradicting everything I said. We were running out of time and I refused to be challenged by an omega.

“There is no point in fighting me anymore, your crew have already gone.”

His dark expression was replaced with one of shock.

“What? You said I could see them before they left. You promised me.”

“I promised that I would let them leave unharmed, not that you would see them,” I snapped. It was technically true, a nod was not a promise. I did not care that it was petty, my temper was at its limit. “Now finish your food so we can complete the ceremony.”

His face drained of color. “What ceremony?”

“The claiming ceremony. We will mate and be bound together.”

He stood up. “I’m not getting bound to shit. If you can be a difficult bastard, so can I. I agreed to stay, I didn’t agree to be your mate, and I didn’t agree to do whatever you said.”

“I am your alpha and I can do as I wish. You are here now and you will stay here. Now continue to eat.”

If this was to be a battle of wills then so be it. I would not lose.

“No.” He narrowed his eyes and set his mouth in a grim line.

No one had ever infuriated me as much as this omega.

“Do as I say,” I snarled, pointing at the food.

“Fuck you.”

The last thread holding my temper snapped. With a growl, I grabbed him and jerked him into my lap. His legs wheeled as I wrapped one arm around his body, pinning his arms. With the other, I scooped some food and brought it to his mouth.

“Eat,” I ordered.

He kept his lips squeezed tight. I pressed my fingers into his jaw, squeezing until it opened. His lips parted and I pushed the food in, but he spat it out. He wriggled in my grip, his leg lashed out, and the bowl went flying. Food splattered across my face and arms.

I roared and jumped to my feet, knocking him to the floor. More food spilled. His eyes were wide and he flinched away from me.

No one had ever defied me in such a disrespectful way. Every muscle in my body clenched, cold fury pressing against the inside of my temples with an unbearable pressure. It took everything in me not to lash out at him where he lay on the floor.

I was a high alpha. The Second. No one treated me this way.

When I spoke, my voice shook. “I have tried to be patient with you, human, but you have disobeyed and disrespected me at every turn. If you wish to behave like a disobedient animal, then I will treat you like one.”

I moved towards him and he stumbled to his feet, trying to escape the storm of my fury. Before he could take even one step, I grabbed him by the neck and hefted him off his feet. He struggled, hands clasping at mine in a pathetic attempt to escape.

I had wanted to do the ceremony right. It was supposed to be beautiful for alpha and omega. This was the moment I had dreamt of for years, the moment I had imagined over and over again. And he had ruined it.

Fine. I would do it his way. To hell with tradition. To hell with civility.

I took him to my bedchamber, keeping him hoisted up in front of me. His blue eyes were wide as he gripped onto my arm and kicked uselessly. I burst through the door and threw him down onto the bed. He crashed onto it, the golden chains of his garment flying, bounced once, and landed in a heap.

I was tired of waiting and fighting. My patience had ended.

He scrambled around on the bed and stared up at me, tense with fear.

It was time to claim him.