Crave To Conquer (Myth of Omega, #1)(38)

“Tell me how to work on our connection.”

The keeper nodded, seeming pleased with his answer. “You have to follow your instincts.”

“That is what I have been doing,” Drocco snapped. “My instincts are to torture those who have lied to me. I do not suffer those that try to deceive me, keeper. It is what has made me Emperor.”

“No. Not your instincts as a warrior or Emperor. Your instincts as an Alpha.”

Drocco stopped dead, snarling at the keeper. “Are you questioning my competence as an Alpha?”

“No, your Imperial Majesty,” the keeper insisted, wincing. “But you haven’t ever had to use those instincts in this way before.”

“I’m always using my Alpha instincts!” Drocco boomed. “I am a warrior and an Alpha and a leader. I’m all of those things equally!”

The head keeper sucked in a breath and thought for a moment. “When you are in battle and you fight an opponent, you pick up many things about him as you fight?”

“Of course.”

“This tells you clues about how to fight him, what his weaknesses are. And you follow those hints and feelings, don’t you?”

Drocco nodded.

“This is how you must be with your Omega. Let go of all the things she has done and the pressure of finding the others, and just follow the clues that your body gives you. Your instincts will tell you what she needs.”

Drocco thought for a moment. “Will this correct her behavior?”

The head keeper shook his head slowly. “It sounds as though your Omega does not have a submissive personality type, Emperor. If you want that, you will have to find one that does.”

“No,” Drocco insisted. “It is her. I know she is my destined mate.”

“Then her general defiance should be a source of joy for you,” the keeper said, his voice quiet. “Not something you want to correct.”

“I have found her defiance intriguing in the past but I don’t want it directed at me. We should be one; strong and unbreakable.”

“But you haven’t given her any reason to be on your side, Emperor.”

Drocco remained silent as he digested this.

“I suggest you consider if your preference for submissiveness is something you actually desire,” the keeper said, “or if it’s a stereotypical ideal that has been pushed onto you from past generations. You should not need to change anything about your mate’s natural personality to be happy with her.”

***

Drocco stared unseeingly at the research room from the chair he used to sit in to watch Cailyn. He sat there a lot in the past week since he had visited the Records Keep. He hadn’t spent any time with Cailyn in his bedroom and had only entered to bring her food in and put it on the table. He hadn’t wanted to see the bruises on her neck or deal with her remarks and tears. However, she hadn’t been eating. Bowls and plates of food had been left untouched, and he knew he couldn’t wait much longer to do something about it.

The head keeper had brought up some interesting points that gave him pause.

Drocco’s grandfather had been a formidable Alpha warrior who had revered his Omega and talked about her constantly as he became older and lonely. He said he had the perfect connection with her, and that she was what all Omegas should be—submissive and agreeable. Drocco had taken this to mean that all Omegas were indeed like that, and that any perfect Omega would be such. His father had died long before Drocco had any interest in asking about Omegas, so his grandfather and Torin’s grandfather had been the only direct sources he had. But how much of his grandfather’s explanations were the ramblings of an old man gone mad from his lost connection to his Omega? How much of Drocco’s understanding was tainted by his awe of such a great warrior and powerhouse of an Alpha? He couldn’t know.

In truth, much of the research he had collected had come from Alphas, some of whom had lost their Omegas. What if they only remembered Haze-affected Omegas because that’s what they were pining for? The Omegas had become a myth; beings that relied on the word of man to confirm their existence and nature, and yet the word of man was flawed and unreliable.

His eyes skimmed the room remembering Cailyn’s initial rudeness. He had been excited by that and had looked forward to dominating her. She had made him laugh with her displeasure at being called kitten… and he had laughed again at her boldness to lift her juicy pussy to his mouth to get what she wanted. Certainly, her boldness wasn’t actually a turnoff. But he needed a woman who would obey him, not argue and retaliate against him at every turn. Regardless if Cailyn was on his side or not, she did not respect him as an Alpha or an Emperor. How could she desire him as her Alpha if that basic respect was lacking? It needed to be corrected.

Drocco stood and began to pace. Clearly, the way he had been going about it had not yet worked but he refused to be at the mercy of her feelings. He needed to find another way. Doing what the head keeper suggested wouldn’t be difficult—he was an Alpha after all—but he was suspicious of how it might affect him. He had almost become addicted to having his mouth on her clit and if he followed his instincts, would he become weak? He would not be tamed by Omega pussy.

He glanced around at his research. He must be able to figure out a way to correct a wayward Omega using his Alpha impulses without losing himself in the process and without pandering to her emotions. He began to look through his research, reading the information objectively and connecting the ideas between various reports. He discovered Omegas strengthen their Alphas, not weaken them. He should be fine. Within a few hours, he had refreshed his knowledge and developed the stirrings of a plan.