Born Claimed: A Dark Omegaverse Romance (Broken Angel Book 2) Read online

  “I came in to warn you this morning. If you didn’t have your legs propped over your ears, you might have heard the sound of the explosions,” Severin snapped.

  “The culprits, dammit! Who are the fucking culprits?”

  Severin hid his smile behind a twitching lip. “The Ouroboros traders,” he said, low and grim for effect.

  “My sister’s alphas? How can that be? They were under strict observation.”

  “I told you to move them out of the city, did I not?” he asked.

  The plan had been to move them to a high maintenance facility, one far away from the freedom the cities allowed them to partake in. However, she’d insisted the transport driver only move them at night. Of course, that had now seemed to backfire.

  “Somehow, I have a feeling this is all your doing,” she muttered.

  “They are ruthless, those alphas,” he said. “But do not worry, my kitty-cat. I have men scouring the streets for them. It won’t be long until we have them in our clutches once again.”

  The best part? Severin lied. He’d paid to have the bombs set and detonated, orchestrating the whole narrative. Why? Because an audience needed a good story with a hell of a lot of drama, and the ruler of the free world needed to believe that freedom was one step away from its destruction.

  At the very least, it would get the bitch off his back…

  Chapter Three

  “Why didn’t they kill me?” she asked

  Hands ravaged Rae’s body, hands unisexual and alien. Bending her knees against her chest, she tried to cover her breasts, falling back to kicking the shins of the guards who held her down.

  “Someday, you will be judged. All of you. You will be killed. My alphas will tear your limbs off. They’ll make you beg for your own passing. Surely, you must have realized this by now,” she panted.

  The guards laughed. The one to her right smacked the back of her head. “As far as we’re concerned, Severin saved you from that thug, Cassian. And now, we are on the right side of history.”

  “I took his life. No one else can take credit for that,” she said. “And as far as thugs go, you might want to take a peek in the mirror.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the guard chattered. “But what will the people see on their television screens, eh? They’ll see the minister rescuing you from drowning. They’ll feel that lush swell of pride flood their hearts as Ruby stands on the podium to declare you queen.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “Two years is a long time. You have kept them waiting.”

  “Just be a good girl and give us your milk, whorebeast.”

  They forced a set of plastic pumps around her breasts, scraping the edges against her skin until it chafed. She was freezing and in pain, but the more she struggled to get away, the more they beat her into submission.

  “Stop! I can’t do this any longer!” she squealed. “You will not take any more!”

  One guard leaned forward and opened his foul-smelling mouth. His teeth were cracked and sulfur yellow, his tongue closer to purple than healthy pink. “Then, the children won’t feed. They will die of starvation. Is that what you want?”

  Another guard cackled and spat at her cheek. “The queen is an evil little bitch, ain’t she?”

  All of the guards looked the same, ugly and despicable. She recoiled in disgust.

  “She has quick fantasies of letting her children starve. Off with her head.”

  “Off with her head, indeed!”

  “No,” she whined. “I’m just so tired. I don’t think I can give you another drop.”

  Rae collapsed near the golden throne and did not dare move any closer to it. The dim candlelight tantalized her eyes with the rich velvet rugs. She had never seen such a beautiful place in her life, but she was sure that she’d regret the thought later.

  Soaking wet from the coronation, the water poured down her naked body, she held her breath until she felt swift pressure build within her lungs. A hurried cry left her as soon as the black dots of exhaustion swirled in her vision. Solid footsteps echoed behind her, forcing her to stop and turn her head.

  “Guards, you may let her rest. She has given the adequate ounces of milk. Any more will simply draw out blood,” Severin said.

  Rae was thankful, but she would not give him any more respect. “What are you doing here?”

  “You don’t need to practice your breathing anymore, dear,” he hissed.

  A rush of cold wind ran over her body. Despite his counsel, she took another deep breath and twisted her arms over her erect nipples. Closing her eyes, she imagined the freezing water pulling her body under, the cables twisting inside her open vagina, sucking out the viscous slick for God knows what.

  “I won’t let you drown me again,” she said.

  He furrowed his hand into her hair and squeezed. “Why don’t you do what I say?”

  Forced to exhale, she allowed her saliva to fall from her lips. Like the dew from a mourning flower’s first awakening, the speckled red drop extended toward the floor. More blood. Quickly, Severin caught it on his boot

  “If you must know, I do not trust you,” she said.

  The brutish commander’s lip twitched. “You play the act of a bad girl well,” he replied.

  Slowly, she removed her arms from around her breasts and lured her spine backward into a perfect arch. She knew what to show the alphas in charge, and she expected him to try and rape her. What he didn’t know was that when she was removed from her caged womb, she vowed to bite his dick off.

  “Yeah, well, maybe I am a bad girl. Maybe I’m worse than you think. The people must adore me for my behavior,” she taunted.

  “Get up, you slut,” he muttered. “You should be fully aware by now that I’m not interested in your dried up cunt.”

  As dry as those oceans…

  She obeyed, but every movement was drawn out slowly to lay him on the brink of madness. As she stood, she thought of every insult she could hurl at him. Despite his competence, he was a pathetic, thin man with no regard for her wellbeing. He was no evil genius, but he had succeeded well enough with his twisted plan to keep his jesters engaged.

  “A ruler shouldn’t have to command when so many are willing to obey without question,” she said. “Oh, that’s right. I am technically your queen. Am I not?”

  “You are figurehead, a brittle top for the mantelpiece. We keep you to remind them that their suffering is not in vain,” he said.

  Rae’s sight darted toward the door, but two guards in leather harnesses sat poised like jackals ready to subdue her rebellious movements. “You will not put me in that… thing again,” she growled.

  Ignoring her, Severin placed both palms against her ribs. The warmth spread throughout her body, allowing her some peace, as well as doubt to his intentions. “Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do. Pain is a reality we must all face, and Cassian instilled a lot of fear in the world. I cannot have another insurrection on my hands.”

  Rae may have been naked and vulnerable, but she suddenly felt her anger get the best of her. She grabbed the front of his black turtleneck, forcing him close enough to smell her flowery scent. Strangely, he did not react, the second time she’d noticed his lack of lust for her.

  “You don’t want to fuck me,” she said. “This is a first.”

  “You aren’t perfect to all men,” he said. “Is that so surprising? Now, let my shirt go. It was just ironed.”

  Rae unpinned her fingers from the soft fabric and squealed with laughter. “You don’t like women… The only thing you lust over is power. You are using my sister, aren’t you?”

  Severin forced his thumb into her throat. She coughed and collapsed into his chest, only for him to squeeze harder. Teeth clenched, he lowered his lips near her ear and growled, “Keep your voice down, or I will crack the cartilage. I do not lust like you animals because there is a plan bigger than any cock, more appealing than any soft cunt, and I abide by its rules. I am an explorer, a man whose purpose was to lead the right peop
le toward the center of it all. You know nothing.”

  He let go, and she hit the floor like a bag of bricks. Rae gasped for air quite loudly before vomiting clear liquid. Finally, her tears fell, and the gasps turned to shrill cries.

  “I am getting the sense that I have the ability to debate my terms,” she said through tight and controlled sobs.

  “You will get nothing from me or your sister. She does what I tell her to do. Now, stand the fuck up.” When she did, he placed his finger underneath her jaw. “Chin up, dear. Good, good. Now, if you’ll follow me into the other room, we will dry you off and dress you in your gown.”

  He led her through a door behind the golden throne of rule. The room was small and dark but held a lone window she could peer out of despite it being a bit too high to jump from. It was, at least, something to keep her mind occupied.

  In the back was a large and sturdy bed. Over it, a large canopy shrouded the light from hitting the sheets. It was so comfortable looking.

  Propped open near the bed stood a wooden wardrobe with careful etchings of regal horses and galloping deer. Hung inside was the most beautiful dress in the world.

  Rae couldn’t hold her sudden excitement back. She wanted to run and wrap her arms around the red-and-gold satin, to feel the rough and the weak combine into one grand display of power and competence. It was unlike her to become this engaged with something of her enemies’, but how could she turn down something she enjoyed.

  “Oh, if the alphas could see me in that dress!” she exclaimed. “They wouldn’t know what part of me to take first.”

  Severin pulled her arm back, and she spun into his chest. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. You may be queen, but that doesn’t mean you get to live out your wishes,” he sneered. “Besides, it’s about time I let you know that your men have been hanged.”

  “You didn’t…” Then, once it really sank in, her heart seemed to explode within her chest. “You… you… cuckolded bastard! You despicable piece of dog shit! I will tear you to pieces!”

  Rae lashed at the commander and forced him to the floor. Using the strength of her knees, she coiled around his neck like a snake and began choking the life out of him. His shallow cries meant nothing to her, and the icy pain from his tearing and needling fingernails was as dull as ant bites.

  “I will kill you!”

  If it weren’t for her biting cries of anger, no one would have heard the commotion. And his wimpy attempts at howling like an enraged alpha must have echoed throughout the whole building. For when her teeth dug into his index finger, the guards ran to his rescue. The door flew open with force, and she knew she’d feel some level of abrupt pain with whatever they had to give her.

  “You fucking bitch!” he cowed. “You bit off my finger!”

  Rae held the taste of iron against her bottom lip before slowly letting the liquid fall onto his face. She closed her palm around the sagging skin until he was covered. Before the guards could touch her, she lashed back and grabbed one of the silver poles that held the window shades in place.

  Naked and acting like a savage, naked animal, Rae swung the pole violently in front of her, growling much like the alphas did when they took her the first time. She remembered their traumatic touches, and how they shaped her to understand the world. They loved her, but now they were apparently dead. She would kill everyone in sight for their crimes against her, the queen and the rightful ruler of the free world.

  “Don’t come any closer,” she grunted, her hips thrusting back to stand firm.

  Severin cursed and held his gnarled stub of a finger close to his abdomen. His face turned maroon, and he looked on the verge of passing out. At least, he was doing a great job at accelerating the drama…

  The guards had their assault rifles ready, but they must have been under strict orders not to kill her. Instead, they inched around her and waited for the right opening to strike.

  Severin rolled and screamed, “What are you doing? Subdue her at once!”

  Seeing their movements, Rae doubled down and went to other tactics. Instead of hurting one of the men, she swung the rod back and connected it against her nose. At once, tears swelled behind her eyes. Heat spread throughout the front of her face, and she could barely open her eyes enough to see, but she allowed herself one more blow before collapsing to the floor, blood leaking down her smeared face.

  “Severin!”

  Rae knew that voice. It came from her cunt of a sister. Her prim-and-proper footsteps echoed like heavy raindrops against the top of an umbrella. The men immediately dispersed along the walls of Rae’s room. One by one, they fell and bowed their heads.

  Ruby appeared and walked through the row of men avoiding eye contact with her. “Severin! What is the commotion I am hearing?”

  Severin made no attempt to stand, but he cleverly tucked his hand into his pocket. “The queen has taken a liking to violence and unrest,” he said. “I could have her executed for this.”

  Face dripping her life onto her creamy skin and the exquisite floor below her, Rae stood and panted through the throbbing sinus pain. “Good. You can hang me where you murdered the loves of my life,” she said.

  Ruby snuck a peak at her body. A look of distaste formed on her face. “What on earth is the omega talking about?” she asked him. “Go on, I’m waiting for an explanation.”

  Severin opened his mouth, but Rae stepped forward and forced Ruby to see her. “You can refer to me as the queen,” Rae said.

  A wavering smile formed on Ruby’s face. “Enough of this. I want everyone out of this room at once. Leave me with my twin.”

  Finally, Severin found the energy to stand. He stamped his foot and puffed out his cheeks. “I need to prepare the queen for her first address to the public.”

  “The address can wait, and so can the people,” Ruby said.

  Shaking with tyrannical rage, Severin removed his hand from his pocket and showed the commander his mangled stub of a finger. “This is who you are protecting? A monster with sharp teeth?”

  “What do you wish to do? Oh, let me guess. File them down?” Ruby walked leisurely to the bed and satd. “We could go with your plan, but then she wouldn’t have the energy for the address. She must rest. You can’t have it both ways, Severin.”

  Huffing, the tired and hurt man stared and seemed to weigh his options more carefully than usual then stormed out of the room. The guards followed and closed the door. Thank the heavens, the men were gone.

  “I should bite your finger off, too,” Rae said.

  “You’d do better shooting me between the eyes. Word to the wise, if you’re going to injure an enemy, make sure they’re dead, deaf, or dumb,” Ruby replied.

  Rae exhaled sharply and nodded. “You’re right. I should have bitten his tongue off. That man squeals louder than the omegas in Cassian’s facilities.”

  Ruby actually laughed at the joke, which surprised Rae. Still, there was the sense that they came from two completely different worlds. At the end of the day, their disagreement would shape the future of the New Republic. They had to be very careful with the words they chose as bullets.

  “Where are the bodies of my alphas? I understand I am under your control, but at least let me have a funeral for them,” Rae said with growing tears in her eyes.

  There were moments in her day where she could try and forget the hurt of separation. Her babies were gone. The men who had allowed her to grow had been killed. Whenever reality came rushing back, the ghost pain hit her heart harder than she anticipated. She didn’t expect anyone to care, so she sucked in her pride and blinked to avoid spilling any more tears.

  Ruby didn’t reveal her emotions. She kept them locked tighter than a clam with lockjaw. The wisdom of the new leaders would be conveyed with the guise of being immune to sadness. It must have been Severin who taught her how to behave like that, and she played the part well.

  Patting the bedding, Ruby called her to sit next to her. In her hand was a silver brush. “A funeral m
ight be in the cards, but you must learn to behave,” she said. “Can you behave like a good girl?”

  Rae sat, but she did not allow any point of contact between the two. Though inches apart, her sister took her shoulder and forced her to lean closer. “I can behave,” Rae said.

  Ruby dropped her chin and fixed her gaze toward her sister’s unkempt nest hair. Without care, she started to brush the knots away with violent strokes. She seemed to admire the layers of coiling mane that swam through the tough rows. “We will make a fine leader yet out of you.”

  “That is what I don’t understand,” Rae quickly replied. “Why on earth would you want me to be a figurehead for anything? I can’t lead. I couldn’t even mother my children.”

  “Hush. Taking them in was the only thing I could do for you. I know you hate me, but you’d be surprised to know that I vouched a great deal for you by making you the queen. They were going to kill you.”

  “You stole my babies,” Rae muttered through clenched teeth.

  A wickedly hopeful smile shaped Ruby’s face, and her cheeks turned pink with rare inner warmth. “And they are wonderful beauties,” she said. “I know it’s very early, but I have a feeling they’ll be speaking my name soon.”

  No matter how nice Ruby acted toward her, she wouldn’t forgive her sister’s actions. Instead, she would skillfully bury the anger and hatred and use it like an atom bomb. “Will I be able to see them someday?”

  Ruby did not answer this question. The children were not up for discussion, and Rae had no upper hand. “Your face is disgusting. I’ll order you a bath. Afterward, we can go out shooting.”

  “Shooting?” Rae squeaked, aware that she was coaxing her away from the important questions, but her only play was to suck it up and behave.

  “Hunting, dear. It will take your mind off things for a while. You deserve a break.”

  Ruby tossed the silver brush to the side and called for the guards. When they entered, she gave them strict orders to bring in the hottest bath imaginable with Epsom salts and herbs to soothe the cuts and swelling of her skin.

  Rae was to be treated like a queen, but only to stall her next rebellion. If she found out that the fathers of her children were alive and on the run, she’d find a new hope within her puny breasts. She’d stand and fight.