Crave To Conquer (Myth of Omega, #1)(4)
Drocco’s attention peaked. “How do you know they’re alive?”
“There is nothing to suggest they are killed when they are taken or that they are killed at all,” the historian said, moving around the corner desk to a stack of parchment on a smaller desk next to it. “The late King of Ashens made agreements with all territories that exist in the Eastern, Western, and Southern Lands. Every city was searched peacefully and no bodies were ever found. There was also a sighting of a carriage filled with Omegas heading toward Neka twenty years ago. At the time, the witness thought herself mistaken but soon after, Beta males in the area claimed they could smell that Omegas had been there.”
“Why was this never made public?” Drocco asked.
“The ruler of Neka didn’t want to be accused of harboring Omegas and have his territory turned upside down by numerous rulers on the say-so of a few unreliable witnesses. So he suppressed the information.”
“Neka is now part of the Lox Empire,” Drocco said, his voice low. “He will have to answer to me.”
“That ruler died five years ago,” the woman said. “He was succeeded by his daughter.”
“It makes no difference,” Drocco said, dismissively. “She accepted his title so she must accept his mistakes.”
The historian said nothing. She stood by the smaller desk, a wad of parchment in her hands.
“Continue,” Drocco ordered.
“That is all I can say for certain right now, your Imp— Emperor.”
Drocco nodded. She seemed to already know more detail than he did. “You will work in this room and liaise only with me on this. Nothing is to be copied or taken from this room. Understood?”
The woman hesitated. “May I ask why, Emperor? It’s just that many of the records are decaying and if they were copied—”
“This information has been collected over the last eighty years starting from my grandfather’s time. It holds witness accounts, detailed descriptions, statistics and information that can no longer be readily found. It shall not leave this room. If you have a concern about a record becoming destroyed, you speak to me.”
The woman nodded. “Understood.”
“How long will it take you to compile all of this information?”
“Will I get any assistance?”
“No.”
She pressed her lips together, surveying the room. “Three months.”
“That’s too long,” Drocco growled.
“Then I need assistance. At least three administrators should lessen the workload and bring it down to one month.”
“You are aware that this information is highly sought after?” Drocco said. “I cannot allow it to fall into the hands of those that would make more significant progress than me.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Is this a competition for you?”
“It is a challenge,” Drocco said, sharply. “One that everyone else has failed.”
“You have already united the Eastern Lands under one name, how many challenges do you need to accomplish in your lifetime to feel complete?”
“Every single one that presents itself to me,” Drocco snapped.
The woman ground her jaw together, her eyes flashing. “Then give me three months. The Omegas have already been missing for over one hundred years. What is three months?”
A sudden shock hit Drocco like a pail of ice cold water. She was arguing with him. And what was more astonishing was that he hadn’t even noticed at first.
He moved to her in a flash, whipping up sheets of parchment in his wake. Planting himself in front of her, he trapped her against the desk, as parchment floated down around them. “You seem to have a problem understanding your place,” he said between gritted teeth. A hot annoyance buzzed within him accompanied by something he couldn’t quite identify.
She began to lower her head, but he grabbed her neck and forced her head up. “Oh no you don’t,” he murmured. “Do not try to adopt a meek stance now. You are one of those Betas who think you already rule the world but I can assure you, Betas will never get to that stage. I will find the Omegas we deserve, and a whole generation of Alphas will be born.”
She stared up at him with those bright eyes and he rubbed his hand over the smooth skin of her neck and lower jaw, so small he could easily crush it with a sharp squeeze. Her honey-colored skin felt like velvet and he found himself staring at it, a thrum of desire skipping through him. It had definitely been too long since he’d had a woman.
“You seem to be a challenge all of your own,” he mused. “You have an unruly manner, even for a Beta. I’m surprised you have been allowed this position.”
“I’m the best there is,” she said, her voice strained.
He realized he held her too tight, but squeezed her neck tighter before releasing her. She gasped for breath but didn’t lower her head.
Something about her was intriguing. Drocco looked into her eyes for any signs of submission, any hint of why he might be attracted to her, but there was none. He leaned into her, then frowned. Her scent was disappointingly bland. Still, part of him wanted to have her imprisoned and tortured, while the other part ached to bend her over and fuck her right there. All of him wanted to dominate her; have her recognize him as Alpha and submit accordingly. But any time he forced a Beta to submit as an Omega naturally would, it rendered them mostly useless for anything else. He couldn’t make use of her skills on the investigation if she was begging for his cock every hour.