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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

-Clay-

I SAT IN the corner of my small cell with my back against the wall, the metal collar digging into my neck. The door was made of some sort of clear particle barrier that rippled when touched, but didn’t give. I could still hear through it, and it seemed like smells could pass through it too. Every time a big Aldarian walked past, they would catch my scent and stop to stare at me. I was a fish in a bowl, being watched by a hoard of hungry cats. Many of them pressed their noses to the barrier and inhaled deeply, getting good lungfuls of my scent. Some of them spoke to me, by their tone and body language it seemed like they were trying to give me orders. Most of them spoke in their own language, so I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but every now and then I’d catch a grunted word.

‘Human.’

‘Omega.’

Eventually, I stopped looking out and turned to stare at the white wall in front of me.

Oh, and I was still completely naked. They hadn’t bothered to let me put anything on when they’d dragged me out of Arcay’s room and threw me in here. With my knees pulled up to my chest, I closed my eyes and imagined myself back on my ship, in my own bunk, in my flight suit. Or even better, my comfy sweatpants. The majority of the time I’d been on this fucking ship I’d been mostly naked, and it was really starting to get tiring. It seemed like dignity was just one more thing omegas didn’t get a say in.

I sighed and pressed my face to the tops of my knees. What the fuck was going on? One moment I was recovering from the best blowjob I’d ever had in my life, and the next I was being thrown in a prison cell to be ogled by anyone who happened to pass by. An omega window display.

Where was Arcay? He’d fought them hard when they dragged me out of there. So why wasn’t he showing up to save me this time? I hugged my knees tighter to my chest and tried to ignore the tremor that ran through them. I’d felt so bad seeing him like that, held down on the floor, desperately trying to fight back, to stop them taking me. Was he in some kind of trouble? Were they going to give me to someone else? I shuddered. Hopefully not that big one with dark hair from the biodome. Ulgar. He terrified me more than any of them.

Time stretched on and I wallowed in self pity, ignoring the hisses and grunts coming through the particle barrier.

I don’t know how much time had dragged past when a familiar voice snapped me out of my funk and made me look up.

“ Omega Clay. ”

Kesk stood outside the cell, bouncing on his feet, the translator in his hand. The small amount of comfort from seeing a familiar face and the translator was enough to get me up on my feet in seconds. Finally, I might understand what in the hell was happening.

“Kesk. What’s happening?” I asked. “Where’s Arcay?”

He smiled in a way that was almost reassuring. “ You do not need to worry. Arcay is going to sort it out.”

Thank fuck for that. Relief drew my shoulders down. “Sort out what though?”

Kesk hesitated. “Jursin has…decided you will be made available to all.”

The brief spell of relief disappeared.

“What?” Available to all? I didn’t like the sound of that.

“All unmated alphas will have a chance to claim you, it is Jursin’s way of making it fair. It is the way things used to be before the omegas disappeared. The alphas who wish to claim you will fight for you.”

I felt sick.

“Do not worry. Arcay is powerful, he will fight and win you back.”

“But he’s already hurt.”

I tugged at the collar around my neck. It was too tight and rubbed my skin whenever I moved my head.

“Why do I have to wear this? It’s humiliating. Can you get them to take it off?”

He shook his head. “ It is to mark you as available. It is usually attached before an omega is given a mark, to prevent alphas from doing so before the tournament.” He frowned. “ But Arcay has already marked you. It is…confusing. No one knows what the proper way to go about this should be. There has never been an omega from a different species before, and never one marked before the tournament. Surely his mark will scare away most alphas because of his status as the Second. We are hopeful none will dare challenge him.”

I hoped he was right. Although hadn’t three alphas already challenged and fought him for me? It hadn’t seemed to put them off. I chewed my lip. Movement over Kesk’s shoulder caught my eye. An Aldar stood some way back weighing me up. Ulgar. He eyed me hungrily, predator stalking prey, and I knew in the pit of my stomach there was no hope of Arcay remaining unchallenged.

Once Kesk left again, I curled back into my protective ball, new dread churning in my stomach. What if everyone challenged Arcay? He couldn’t fight them all, he was already injured and hadn’t had a chance to go to the infirmary yet.

What if Ulgar won? My stomach twisted more and I pushed the thought aside. I hadn’t spent much time with him, but I knew Arcay wouldn’t let that happen. He’d beat them all or die trying. Fuck, what if he did die? Yeah, he was a bit of an asshole, but the thought of being stuck here without him made me want to throw up. And after last night…

I was starting to think that maybe he wasn’t all that bad, after all.

A commotion outside made me look up. Two big Aldar were clearing the area, holding huge spears and fierce expressions, forcing onlookers away from my cell. When it was clear, they came to either side of the particle barrier. One of them touched the wall and the barrier disintegrated with a fizz of static. I looked between them, staying in my protective huddle.

One of them said something and gestured impatiently with his spear at me.

That meant it was time to go I guessed. Hands covering my crotch, I pushed myself up awkwardly. I didn’t want to give them any ideas. They both glared at me, but neither seemed like they were going to attack me. Maybe they were already mated.

One of them gestured again and grunted for me to come out. After that, they took up position on either side of me and led me away. As we walked, Aldar stopped and stared, and I felt like a criminal being marched to my execution.

“I don’t suppose you have any spare clothes I could wear?” I asked one of the glowering giants.

He completely ignored me, the only sign he heard anything at all was a small curl of his lip.

“Ok, never mind.”

Eventually, we passed through an archway into a dark room. I squinted in the sudden gloom, scared of what could be waiting in there for me. From the way the sound of our footsteps bounced off the walls, we were in a small passageway or tunnel. After a short distance, it must have opened up into a bigger space, because the noise of our feet disappeared. I strained my eyes in the dark, trying to see what lurked beyond. The guards didn’t seem to have any trouble seeing, and one of them grabbed me by the shoulder when my bare toes caught on something and I stumbled. I grunted, feeling his body against mine for a moment until he pushed me back upright. It was only when I smacked my shins into something that I realized we’d stopped.

“Ow. What—”

A hand landed on my shoulder, spinning me around and pushing me down to sit on the object’s padded surface. Some kind of chair? The pressure left and they both moved away, leaving me alone in the darkness.

My skin prickled and I blinked rapidly. After a moment, my eyes grew accustomed to the dark, enough to make out the dark shapes hovering a few feet away on either side. It shouldn’t have, but it made me calm down slightly. Something brushed against my side and I yelped.

Something soft pressed into my hands. Fabric. Clothes? I fumbled with it and it unfurled into something resembling a robe. I found the big opening and pulled it over my head. I didn’t know if I had it the right way round, but I was just grateful to have something covering my naked body. The soft fabric against my skin made me feel instantly better. I wanted to thank the unseen person who’d given it to me, but they’d melted back into the darkness where they came from.

Feeling slightly more confident, I looked around, attempting to figure out where I was, and if any danger lurked nearby. In the darkness, more shadows started to come into focus. I squinted, trying to figure out their shapes. Glints of pale yellow light hovered in the air, like a sea of stars.

My stomach dropped.

They were eyes, reflecting the light like cats. Hundreds of them. I was surrounded by Aldar on all sides, and they were all deathly silent, waiting and watching in the dark. I froze, as if keeping still would stop them from noticing I was there.

A sudden beam of blue light speared me directly from above, burning my eyes, and I raised my hand to cover them. A murmur filled the room and my skin crawled under the attentions as if I was physically being touched by hundreds of people. I sat frozen, unable to breathe, the dazzling light making it even harder to see what was around me. Suddenly I missed the partial privacy of the small cell, it was better than this.

A voice boomed out of nowhere and echoed, making me jump. The words didn’t make sense, but the attention that had been so heavily on me finally shifted, and I followed it, relieved that I was out of the spotlight for the moment. Another light snapped on, illuminating a wide platform some distance off in the sea of darkness.

In the next moment, Arcay stepped out, and my heart stopped. He was wearing nothing but a swath of shifting fabric around his waist. He held a long, golden spear that glinted in the light. He looked like a vengeful god, but the bandages I wound around him were still in place. His eyes locked onto me and didn’t leave, intense and possessive, and I felt my breath speeding up in a way I didn’t want to think about at that moment. We were two islands of light in the darkness, connected by a fizzing electricity that arced from his eyes to mine. I couldn’t have looked away if I wanted to.

Please don’t die.

Without taking his eyes off me, he raised his chin and spoke loudly in a voice that echoed around the room. At first, I thought he was talking to me directly, but then I realized he was addressing the room as a whole. Heart pounding a mile a minute, I realized what he was saying without having to understand the words; he was calling on anyone who wanted to challenge him to step up. The echoes died away, replaced with a thick silence. Was everyone holding their breath, or was it just me?

Don’t challenge him. Don’t challenge him.

The silence stretched on and my heart started to flutter with the hope that he might actually go unchallenged. Maybe Kesk was right, his status was enough. Maybe this was all over already.

A murmur of noise rippled out in the darkness and, far to the left, another light snapped on. I flinched, finally breaking eye contact with Arcay as we both whipped our heads towards it.

No.

Ulgar stood, bathed in blue, wide and strong. His gaze shifted from Arcay to me and I shivered.