Crave To Conquer (Myth of Omega, #1)(22)

He had tried everything to get the barrier down, but it remained solid. At his initial yells and roars, his warrior guards had entered, fearing for his safety. They tried to assist him, but ultimately any man who entered the room became incapable of thinking intelligently. The Omega’s scent was so powerful that they became too distracted by her to do anything. He had already sunk his dagger into three of his men’s throats and ripped it through their trachea for watching her too long. After that, only Torin was allowed in the room, and he had the sense to keep his back turned to Cailyn at all times.

"You haven't eaten in three days, Drocco," Torin said.

Drocco kept his eyes on Cailyn. "Neither has she."

"You already know that the Haze blocks out her appetite for food—many of her bodily functions have ceased."

Drocco turned to him, his simmering emotions bubbling up. "I will eat when she eats. Have you come with any solutions or are you just here to nag?"

"She isn’t the real Miss Lefroy."

Drocco turned back to the writhing Omega on the floor. "Who is she?"

"I don't know yet. She seems to have come out of nowhere."

Drocco clenched his fists so hard, a shooting pain ricocheted up his arms. She had fooled him all this time. "Is she a spy from the Western Lands? Is she under orders from Malloron?"

"I don't think so. She hasn’t been taking information or reporting to anyone while she's been in the Palace," Torin said. "The Talent-crafters have confirmed that she hasn't been creating portals or using her Talent on any of the documents in the research room."

"That doesn’t mean she isn’t working for him," Drocco snapped.

"It is unlikely," Torin said. "She has been watched since she arrived. She doesn't behave like normal Western Lands spies behave."

Drocco exhaled harshly. That didn't mean anything. The fact that she used the Talent at all suggested she was sympathetic to Malloron's rule and influence, most Talent-crafters were.

"I would like to suggest that you don’t make any assumptions about her before you are able to question her," Torin said, evenly.

Drocco turned to him again, his eyes narrowed. "You presume to tell me how to deal with this situation?"

"You are in your rut, Drocco," Torin said slowly and clearly. "A true rut for a real Omega. You are handling it well, but you’re not thinking properly and we have already lost three men to that fact. There is much to learn from her."

Drocco closed his eyes and took a breath to calm his annoyance. Of course, that was true but why was Torin explaining the obvious? He opened his eyes. "This is the first real Omega that we have seen in the decades, Torin. Rut or no, I will be learning all that she knows."

"You are aware that she may know where the other Omegas are?"

"Do you think I’m a fool?" Drocco bellowed.

Cailyn whimpered and turned to look at him from the floor, her dress twisted around her marvelous body exposing a smooth breast. He stared at her, quickly losing interest in whatever he had been about to say to Torin.

"I'm just saying that this could be the exact push towards solving the mystery that the Lox need. Discipline is needed and I'm not sure that you will be able to withstand your own impulses. Our grandfathers told us about the preparation they went through before meeting their first Omegas. You have had none of that," Torin said. "I'm simply pointing out the importance of this. If you overpower her in your eagerness to—"

"I have not forgotten my duty to my army, Torin." Drocco interrupted, dragging his eyes from Cailyn. "But this Omega came directly to me. She is mine. Any impulses I have will be her burden to bear and she will take them like she is supposed to."

Torin held his eye. “Have you considered that maybe, if the barrier lasts longer than her Haze, she might create a working portal and escape before you get access to her?”

Drocco roared, a raging burn tearing through him at the very idea. He advanced on Torin, wild and ready to strike. “You had better make sure that doesn’t fucking happen!”

“Then let me bring in the crafters,” Torin said, unmoved by Drocco’s state. “Let them come in to help us get the barrier down. Let them help you to keep her. They are the only ones that can make sure she doesn’t get away.”

Drocco paused in his tracks, battling the fuzziness in his mind to think through the logic of the suggestion. In his fit of rage at the barrier between him and his Omega, he had ordered all Lox crafters to be quartered, hung, burned, have their cocks ripped off by horses, and then be fed alive to wolves. Of course, it was a ridiculous order and Torin had ignored it. Despite Drocco’s annoyance, some small sanity in him reminded him that they were the reason he had discovered her in the first place. They were loyal to him and would understand what she had done. She had already tried to create a portal before her Haze fully took over. He couldn’t let her escape.

“I’ll allow it,” Drocco said, through gritted teeth.

Torin dipped his head in a nod and bowed before swiftly leaving the room, careful to keep his back to the Omega.

The Omega watched him leave, and Drocco growled at her, a surge of something unpleasant and raw rushing through him. She shouldn’t be watching Torin. She hadn’t watched any of the other Alphas that had entered the room. Her stunning deep-gold eyes snapped back to him and she fixed herself on her knees, sitting on her heels, and lowered her head.