A Gift for the Three Alpha's

Chapter Three - The Hunt

I woke to the sound of my door slamming open. No gentle knock this time, no warning. Kael stood in the doorway, his copper hair disheveled and his green eyes burning with something dangerous. He was breathing hard, like he had been running, and his scent filled my small room with smoke and wild hunger.

"Get up," he commanded. "Now."

I sat up quickly, clutching the thin blanket to my chest. The new servant dress they had brought me yesterday was draped over the chair, just as revealing as the torn one from before. "What is happening?"

"My dear brother Darius has decided you need proper training," Kael said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. The sound of the lock clicking made my stomach clench with dread. "And he has given me the honor of beginning your education."

I scrambled to my feet, pressing my back against the wall. "What kind of training?"

Kael's smile was all teeth and predatory intent. "The kind that will teach you exactly what your body was made for." He began to advance on me slowly, like a wolf stalking cornered prey. "Darius thinks you need to be broken properly. Made to understand your place."

"I understand my place," I said quickly, trying to keep my voice steady. "I am here to serve the royal house."

"Are you?" Kael stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his massive frame. "Because yesterday, you did not seem very submissive. You looked my brother in the eye like an equal. You studied our military maps like you knew what you were seeing. That does not sound like a properly trained Omega to me."

His hand shot out and grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. His fingers were rough with calluses from sword work, and his grip was just tight enough to remind me how easily he could hurt me.

"Tell me the truth," he said softly. "What are you really?"

My heart hammered against my ribs, but I kept my expression innocent. "I am exactly what I was sent here to be. Nothing more."

"Liar." His thumb brushed across my lower lip, and I could not stop the sharp intake of breath at the unexpected gentleness of the touch. "Your body tells me one thing, but your eyes tell me something else entirely."

Before I could respond, his other hand fisted in my nightgown and yanked hard. The fabric tore easily, splitting from neck to hem in one violent motion. I gasped and instinctively tried to cover myself, but Kael caught both my wrists and pinned them above my head against the wall.

"Much better," he said, his voice rough with approval as his eyes raked over my naked body. "This is how I want to see you. No barriers, no pretenses."

I struggled against his grip, but he was far stronger than me. "Let me go."

"Why? So you can put on another mask and pretend to be something you are not?" His free hand traced down my throat, over my collarbone, coming to rest just above my breast. "Your pulse is racing, little liar. Are you afraid of me?"

"Yes," I whispered, because it was the truth. But not for the reasons he thought.

"Good. Fear will make you honest." His thumb brushed across my n****e, and I could not suppress the gasp that escaped. "Your body is already being honest with me. Look how you respond to my touch."

He was right, and I hated him for it. My n*****s had hardened into tight peaks, and I could feel warmth gathering between my thighs despite my mind's fierce resistance. My Omega biology was betraying me, responding to his Alpha dominance in ways I could not control.

"Please," I breathed, not even sure what I was asking for.

"Please what?" His hand cupped my breast fully now, his palm hot against my sensitive skin. "Please stop? Or please do not stop?"

I could not answer because I honestly did not know. My body was screaming for more contact even as my mind recoiled from what he was doing. This was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to be seducing him, not the other way around.

"I think I know what you need," Kael murmured, his lips brushing against my ear. "You need to be reminded what happens to Omegas who forget their place."

His mouth moved to my throat, and I felt the sharp press of his teeth against my pulse point. Not breaking the skin, but the threat was clear. One bite in the right place and he could claim me permanently, make me his in ways that could never be undone.

"Do it," I heard myself whisper, and immediately wanted to take the words back.

Kael pulled back to stare at me in surprise. "What did you say?"

My face burned with humiliation, but something reckless had taken hold of me. "If you are going to claim me, then do it. Stop playing games and just do it."

For a long moment, he just stared at me with those burning green eyes. Then his grip on my wrists tightened and he pressed his body fully against mine, pinning me to the wall with his weight.

"You think you know what you are asking for," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "But you have no idea what it means to be claimed by an Ironfang prince."

His free hand slid down my body, over my ribs, across my stomach, coming to rest at the junction of my thighs. I gasped and tried to close my legs, but he used his knee to keep them apart.

"This sweet little p***y would belong to me completely," he continued, his fingers barely brushing against my most intimate parts. "I would use it whenever I wanted, however I wanted. You would have no say in the matter."

I was breathing hard now, my body on fire despite the fear coursing through my veins. "I understand."

"Do you?" His finger dipped between my folds, finding the moisture that had gathered there despite my best efforts. "You are already so wet for me. Your body knows what it wants even if your mind is still fighting."

He began to stroke me slowly, his touch light but insistent. I bit my lip to hold back the moan that wanted to escape, but he must have felt my body's response because his smile turned wicked.

"That is it, little liar. Let me feel how much you want this."

His finger circled my c**t with maddening precision, and I could not stop my hips from bucking against his hand. The pleasure was sharp and immediate, cutting through my rational thoughts like a blade.

"Kael," I gasped, his name falling from my lips like a prayer.

"Yes," he hissed against my throat. "Say my name. Tell me who is making you feel this way."

He slipped one finger inside me, and I cried out at the intrusion. It had been so long since anyone had touched me like this, and never with such skill. He knew exactly how to move his hand to make me writhe against the wall.

"So tight," he murmured appreciatively. "Tell me, little virgin, have you ever been properly f****d?"

I shook my head, unable to form words as he added a second finger and began to move them in a rhythm that had my entire body trembling.

"I could change that right now," he said, his thumb finding my c**t and pressing firmly. "I could take you right here against this wall, claim you so thoroughly that you would never forget who you belong to."

The door burst open.

"Kael, what the hell are you doing?"

Asher's voice cut through the haze of lust like a bucket of ice water. Kael's hand stilled but he did not pull away, keeping me pinned against the wall with his body.

"I am following our brother's orders," Kael replied without turning around. "He said she needed proper training."

"This is not training, this is assault." Asher stepped into the room, his blue eyes blazing with fury. "Let her go."

"Why? She was enjoying herself." Kael's fingers moved again, making me gasp despite the humiliation of being watched. "Were you not, sweet Lyra?"

I could not answer, could barely think past the pleasure he was building in my body. But Asher must have seen something in my face because his expression turned thunderous.

"Get away from her. Now."

"Make me, little brother."

The challenge hung in the air between them, and for a moment I thought they might actually fight over me. Then Asher did something I did not expect. He drew his sword.

"I said let her go."

Kael's hand finally stilled completely. "You would draw steel on your own blood? Over an Omega w***e?"

"She is not a w***e. And yes, I would."

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a blade. Kael's body was taut with violence, and I could smell the anger rolling off him in waves. But after a long moment, he stepped back and released my wrists.

"This is not over," he said, his eyes never leaving mine. "We will finish what we started."

He brushed past Asher and stalked out of the room, leaving me slumped against the wall trying to catch my breath. My legs were shaking so badly I could barely stand.

Asher quickly looked away as he realized I was still naked. "Are you hurt?"

I grabbed the torn nightgown and tried to cover myself as best I could. "No. I am fine."

"You are not fine. You are trembling." He moved to the chair and picked up the servant dress, holding it out to me without looking. "Here. Get dressed."

I pulled the dress over my head with shaking hands. The fabric felt rough against my oversensitive skin, and I could still feel the ghost of Kael's touch between my legs. My body was still wound tight with unfulfilled desire, and I hated myself for it.

"Why did you stop him?" I asked quietly.

Asher finally turned to look at me, and I was surprised by the pain I saw in his blue eyes. "Because what he was doing was wrong. No matter what our brother ordered."

"But I am just an Omega. My feelings do not matter."

"Your feelings matter to me." The words seemed to surprise him as much as they surprised me. "You are not just a thing to be used. You are a person."

I stared at him in shock. In all my years of planning for this moment, I had never expected to find compassion among the wolves. It made something twist in my chest that I did not want to examine too closely.

"Darius will be angry that you interfered," I said.

"Let him be angry. I will not stand by and watch you be brutalized for his amusement." Asher moved toward the door, then paused. "Lock this behind me. Do not open it for anyone but Elena or myself."

"What about your brothers?"

"Especially not my brothers."

He left, and I quickly turned the lock behind him. My hands were still shaking as I sank onto the bed and tried to process what had just happened.

Kael had almost claimed me. If Asher had not interrupted, I had no doubt that he would have taken me right there against the wall. And the most terrifying part was that I had wanted him to. My body had betrayed me completely, responding to his dominance in ways that went against everything I believed about myself.

But I had also learned something valuable. The tension between the brothers was deeper than I had realized. Asher was willing to draw steel to protect me from his own family. That kind of division could be exploited.

I touched the hidden pendant beneath my dress and tried to refocus on my mission. I was here for revenge, not romance. These men were my enemies, no matter how they made my body feel. I could not afford to forget that.

But as I lay back on the narrow bed and closed my eyes, I could not stop thinking about the way Kael had looked at me, the way his hands had felt on my skin. And despite everything I knew about him, despite everything he represented, part of me wanted to know what would have happened if Asher had not interrupted.

That was the most dangerous thought of all.