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Lodan ran a hand through his hair. Shit. Every time he was around her, she drove him crazy. The way she argued with him. The way she told him how much she hated him yet grabbed him for more.

If he’d ever considered taking an Omega as his own, he’d always pictured a shy, pretty girl. One like him, speaking more with actions than words. With Kassandra, she’d never be shy. And she certainly wasn’t quiet. If an Alpha got her under him, he’d feel like a king.

He swore, and the guards outside the tent glanced at him.

Xander rode out of the forest back into camp, mud flying from his horse. He reined to a stop and dismounted. “We found their camp, but no one was there, only a few supplies. We took them and their horses.”

Lodan nodded. “Good.”

“Their shields bore the mark of the imperial army. These weren’t random soldiers.”

“Deserters, probably, after the king fled.”

“With that many skilled warriors, Thoas and his band may not have survived,” Xander said. “If you hadn’t joined them and foiled the attack …” He shook his head.

Xander didn’t need to finish his sentence. Lodan already knew. If he hadn’t listened to Kassandra, a group of his best men and Greta would be dead. Thoas was a great commander, and he and his men would have fought valiantly, but a surprise attack in a dense forest when they were dramatically outnumbered? Fatal for almost anyone.

“How did our scouts miss the camp?”

“It’s this damn fog. I patrolled late last night and didn’t hear or see anything either. How did you know they were there?”

He paused for a long moment. “The Omega warned me.”

Xander put his hand on the hilt of his sword. “She speaks with spies? How?”

“No. She had a vision. And she warned me, she warned us, against her own people.” He frowned and rubbed his mouth. She’d been vague about whether she’d recognized that the men she’d warned him about were her fellow kinsmen. If she knew, would she still have helped?

Xander’s arm fell back against his side. “A soothsayer? Really? Are you sure she wasn’t trying to get you to enter the forest so her people could kill you?”

The drizzle switched to rain, beating steadily along his face and dripping into his eyes. “She’s had no contact with the Sardi to coordinate something like that.”

Xander stared at the healer’s tent. “Could we use these visions? You can make her tell us where her brother is.”

His jaw clenched. Anger punched through him, but he forced himself to relax. What did he care if Xander wanted to use her? Wasn’t that what he was doing? “She said she has no control over when the vision comes or what she sees.”

“And you believe her?”

He didn’t bother answering the question. “Keep our patrols close to camp until the fog clears. And when Greta gets better, she does no more foraging.”

“You can tell her that order yourself. I don’t dare.” Xander wiped his brow. “Will she survive?”

Lodan sighed. “We’ll have to wait to see. Set camp back up, we’ll spend the day here and see if Greta improves.”

Xander growled. “That’s another day the king and his party escape farther into the mountains. And possibly forge an alliance with the Dorians.”

“I’m aware. We’ll give her a day to recover, maybe two.”

The two Tyrrhuscan Omegas descended from their caravan, wrapping their cloaks around their faces. The male swept his gaze over Xander while the female caught Lodan’s eye and smiled. He ignored her. She laughed at something the male said, then they turned and walked toward one of the cooking fires smoking in the distance.

Xander jerked his chin toward them. “Those two have the choice of any Alpha here.”

“I suppose.”

Xander’s shoulders sagged, and his gaze fell to the ground. “I’m the last one he’d choose.”

Lodan’s brows rose. “You’ve had no luck?”

“I’m too scarred and too ruined for an Omega,” Xander said. “I don’t know how to talk about anything other than war. Not the kind of thing an Omega would like to hear.”

For the past fifteen years he and Xander had focused on battle. When there had been time for Omegas, as far as Lodan knew, Xander had never partaken. Before their conversation last week, he’d never even discussed being interested in one. “We used to have conversations about things other than war.” Back when their village wasn’t a heap of ash. Before they’d lost everything that mattered.

Xander grunted.

“Scars tell your story. That’s not unappealing.” After he said it, he realized he was repeating what Kassandra told him earlier. Yet he didn’t want her to know his story.

He rubbed his hand over his mouth, touching the scar on his upper lip. Seeing the part of his past when he met Chiron was one thing, but she didn’t need to touch any more of his scars and see other parts of his past. Especially not how he’d gotten this one.

Xander sighed. “You think that’s a great way to start a conversation? ‘Oh hey, Cian, let me tell you how I got this scar cleaving a man in two.’”

“Maybe you can put a better spin on it than that.” He clapped Xander on the back. “You have winning attributes. I don’t know what they are, but you must have some.”

Xander smiled. It was the first time he’d seen his friend smile in years.

“That’s his name? Cian?” Lodan asked.

Xander glanced at him. “Yes. The male Omega.”

Lodan nodded. “I’m sure you’ll think of something to talk to him about.”

Xander rubbed his mouth. “Maybe I’ll look at your poetry book. There must be something in there an Omega would find interesting.”

Instantly Lodan thought of Kassandra, reading the poem while naked. “Put some extra bedding in Greta’s tent for the Omega.” He’d let her stay with Greta. For a little bit, anyway.

Xander cocked a brow, then nodded. “Yeah, I’d change my mind about bedding her, too. It’s bad enough she’s a Sardi, but she has visions, too.” Xander shook his head. “Now we know why a Sardi princess was locked away in a temple.”

Lodan scowled. While he didn’t want her to see his memories, her visions had nothing to do with his reason for keeping her away. She was his enemy, his prisoner, but she’d saved his men. It changed things, but he wasn’t sure what that meant yet. Until he did, he didn’t mind having a little space to think. And since his ability to think flew away in the breeze the moment he touched her, the time apart would help him mull all this over.

“Have her fill in for Greta as healer and let her walk around camp. No more kitchen duty. She’ll be at my side when I’m not busy. Keep the guards on her, but give her a little more freedom.”

Xander scowled. “We need a healer, but does she need more freedom to do it?”

Lodan didn’t answer. How did he explain that hearing Kassandra discuss being locked up in the palace, then in that horrible temple, made him want to slaughter someone? On her behalf.

She’d been locked up most of her life, let her have a bit more freedom in his camp.

They spoke of a few more camp matters, then parted, Xander leaving to take care of his horse and Lodan moving deeper into camp to tell everyone to set things back up while Greta recovered.

Thoas sat near one of the fires, wrapping his thigh in linen. When he noticed Lodan, he stood and put a fist to his chest in salute.

Lodan nodded. “The leg alright? You need to rest?”

“It’s fine.” Thoas’s gaze drifted to the tent behind Lodan. “If you want me to take it easy, I can take over guard duty on the Omega.”

Lodan clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ticked. The Omega smiled at Thoas when she’d treated him. “No need. Go help the cook prepare rations.”

Thoas grimaced. No one liked helping the cook, but Thoas didn’t argue. He nodded and limped away.

Kassandra had worked in the kitchens every night the past week and hadn’t complained once. Jason had complained, of course, but not anymore than he did about anyone helping him.

As he approached the cooking fire, he spotted Xander talking to the male Omega, but as he got closer, they walked away together, not even noticing him. The female Omega remained, and she pouted up at Lodan. “I’m all alone now.”

He glared at her. Was he supposed to respond to that?

She tossed her hair. It was shoulder-length and shiny, not tumbling down her back like Kassandra’s. Despite his comments to Kassandra about cutting her hair, he liked long hair. He liked wrapping hers around his fingers to hold her head in place while he bit her neck and made her shudder.

“Do you remember my name?”

“Did I know it?”

She sniffed. “It’s Briseis. Can I walk with you? I have some ideas for how you can make camp more tolerable. An Omega’s touch and all.”

He waved his hand. “Fine.”

She rubbed against him, her breast brushing his bicep. A plume of her arousal floated in the air. His cock, so eager earlier, didn’t so much as twitch. “We need to increase the entertainment at the evening meal. We’ve been doing a little music, but we could really perform something nice. I mean, you won the war, so let’s celebrate.”

They’d won, but the war wouldn’t be over until the king was dead and Lodan had taken his revenge. Then he would truly celebrate.

She glanced around her. Men had already started putting the tents back into place. “Are we staying here for the day?”

“Yes.”

She clapped her hands together and looked up at him, smiling. “Tonight is the perfect night for it. May I set up a celebration performance?”

He shrugged. “Set up whatever you’d like.” Would Kassandra enjoy a diversion? Was this what Omegas really thought about? He glanced over his shoulder. Wrapped by fog, the tent where she tended Greta had faded into a soft blur.

“I’m quite the accomplished musician. I’ve composed a few songs, and my voice is lovely.” She squeezed his arm. “I’d like to sing for you, especially . ”

“The men will like a night to feast and enjoy themselves.” He gave her a nod, extricated himself, and walked away.

“Sit with me tonight,” she called after him.

He ignored her and kept walking.