Considering the subject matter, a straightforward approach would serve better than manipulation. After all, the Commodore had tried the simplicity of allowing things to run their course, offering dignity to a man who deserved none. It would have been a simple thing for Jules Havel to eat his meals, the Beta mellowing after digesting the proper dosage for a male of his size and strength. The secondary buffer—beyond the joint pair-bond—necessary.
The entire fate of Bernard Dome was at stake—not to mention the safety of Jacques’ precious mate.
And though he would prefer the ease of simply killing the man, Jules needed to be alive and well to serve his function. Protecting Brenya, and therefore all of his people, from Chancellor Shepherd’s threat of unleashing the virus.
But these exchanges were growing tiresome.
Or, lack of exchange, for a better word.
With Brenya back in their nest, knowing she slept fitfully without him, Jacques had rushed dressing to confront a burden, grabbing a midday coat instead of an evening jacket. The enlightening dinner he had just shared with his mate having changed everything regarding forward momentum in retaining her happiness.
It had made Jacques leave the peace of his bed to deal with a fiend where they would not be overheard by a sweetly chiming Omega soul.
Entering the viewing area outside the cell of his new rabid dog, Jacques adjusted his cuff. The male within undeserving of his full attention, considering his behavior. “Ambassador Havel, did you know there are no prisons in Bernard Dome? Until your arrival, they were unnecessary.”
The man behind the clear amorphous metal did not so much as turn his head to acknowledge that the Commodore had paid him yet another personal visit.
Jules Havel, mercenary and madman, simply sat on the floor and stared at the bleak, gray wall before him. His behavior predictable, boring even.
“I ordered this installation converted the night I agreed to Chancellor Shepherd’s trade. Previously, this storage room was stocked with racks of aging red wines. As you must have noticed, Ambassador, the walls are solid—a meter of cement to maintain the optimum temperature with little intervention of electricity. Unfortunately, there is no plumbing, hence the bucket. A short-term solution should a complicated situation arise.”
And a complication had arisen, Jacques grateful for his foresight. Which was why he was Commodore and all who contested his rule were dead.
“Ambassador Havel, this was never intended to be your long-term home.” Yet it had been the perfect kennel for a foreign threat. “Merely a place of transition and transformation. Yet it seems you wish to stay.”
The cuff of Jacques’ fresh shirt was properly adjusted, the Alpha moved to correct the other sleeve. “You see, in Bernard Dome, on the rare occurrence of criminal behavior, the instigator is instantly euthanized—a humane process that has worked for centuries and led to a peaceful population. My city, it is a treasure of culture and refinement in this empty world. The perfect civilization: ordered, organized, maintained, and cultivated. Paradise at the price of a steady decline in the Omega population… until there were none to be found. Being Beta, you cannot imagine what it is like to be an Alpha missing his other half and living in a world where it will never appear.”
Just like every other encounter the males had shared since they both fucked an Estrous-high Brenya Perin into the perfection of a three-way pair-bond, Jules Havel refused to acknowledge his presence.
But that did not matter. The ancient fables were correct, and the Beta was fully bound.
“Brenya was in a room similar to this one for days after an accident almost took her from me forever. Quarantined after exposure when she fell down the side of the Dome and shattered her helmet. That is why the wound on her face healed so poorly. She had no medical care. I love that scar, the perfect reminder of the miracle that brought my Omega to me. It is a symbol of what must be done to weed out females who might potentially find their own miracle in monitored seclusion. Fifteen more Omegas have been discovered with this method in the last seven days. A percentage of the population that will bring so many hope and has freed me from any further association with Greth Dome, Chancellor Shepherd, or unenlightened foreigners.”
Sleeves perfected, Jacques finally ran his attention over the silent Beta and let out a sigh. “You have been given a great gift despite your threats to my people. Freedom from the tyranny of your past, an opportunity to contribute to greatness. A greater gift still in knowing a bond with a pure-hearted Omega. Considering the taboo even in mythology, not one in a billion Betas has ever known such a thing.”
At last, Jules, brown hair falling into blue eyes of unnatural brightness, deigned to turn his head.
Progress. So, Jacques got to the point. “You are making her sick by refusing to eat.”
His prisoner did not so much as blink. He just stared in the eerie way of the dangerous and the evil.
“I have been reasonable with you, Jules Havel. I invited you into my home, extending goodwill. Furthermore, I have kept to Chancellor Shepherd’s request that Bernard Dome not interfere with Thólos.” As if Jacques would waste his people’s resources on a failed civilization that had birthed the very men who had turned and eaten it.
No intonation, no apparent interest in negotiation, Jules replied, “I won’t swallow anything that I have not seen Brenya Perin taste first.”
With a scoff, Jacques smirked. “I will not expose my mate to you.”
Those piercing eyes burned, saying in their unwavering stare that Jacques had fully exposed the female to him. That there was no part of her that he had not seen, no sexual act that had not been performed before him. That he had fucked her too. “Continue to attempt to feed me Beta rations, and she won’t be your mate for long.”
Enough of this.
“I saw the way you looked at her—at the state dinner, on your ship.” Jacques’ nostrils flared, his ire rising at the audacity of the cretin who had nothing to barter with. “How you salivated watching me claim the female who is mine. You even have my sympathy. One look and I wanted the strange girl too. Yet, I allowed you to taste her once… so that she could be safe from you forever. You will not enjoy her again. That will be your burden in exchange for your survival.”
As if he might see her through the ceiling, Jules turned his gaze upward. “The Omega told me why she stole my ship. Candid to a fault in her desperation to be free of you. I felt her grief to wake bonded to a male who disgusts her. Ever since, she has been calling to me, unknowing what she does. The female gets a little closer every day. A little more trusting. Imagine what I might do to her once it’s too late for her to retreat.”
The pure evil of Jules’ grin, the way those piercing eyes burned, Jacques wanted nothing more than to kill the dog and be done with it. Hating that he couldn’t… just yet. “I will have you sedated and fitted with a feeding tube.”
Piercing blue eyes returned to the Commodore. “You can try.”
The Beta had not eaten in five days, was no doubt weak from starvation, and very much in need of a serious beating. One Jacques could not administer without causing further distress to his mate now that he understood that her bond to the Beta was just as weighty as her bond to him. A minor annoyance that would be handled soon enough. “Consider it done.”
Unfolding in a graceful, sinuous motion, the Beta stalked to the glass between them. “I can tell by the fact that you stand this close to the glass that you truly have no idea of who I am or what I am capable of. The Omega is uncomfortable, because your botched attempts to poison me have failed, yet she eats. She sleeps. You are whining over an inconvenience to a woman who will hate you either way. And you are coming to terms with the fact that this situation did not unfold as you expected. The greatest mistake you have ever made was tempting me with a taste of her. And I will see that you pay for it.”
Something about the trapped Beta’s threat unsettled Jacques deeply—the honesty that rang through the tiny sliver of the man he could feel. The dead-eyed stare. “I could make your life here one of luxury. It is in Brenya’s best interest that I do so. As an act of good faith, I have let you watch me fuck her. What if I were also to have her used clothing sent to your cell so you can smell sweet slick? I will even send you a skilled Beta female to mount. She can simulate the experience. I am only asking that you eat and end this charade. I cannot let you starve to death any more than I can let you walk free as you are.”
“To be clear—” Jules smirked, languidly rolling a shoulder as if he were already amidst a flawless carnal experience. “—when I fuck Brenya Perin, I will show her heights your fumbling ineptitude will never approach. And after I have ruined her for all men, it will be my name she screams when you force your way into her nest.”
A very Alpha growl filled the air at such slander. It left Jacques swelling in stature, a snarl on his face. “You forget that I bore witness to how little finesse you showed when you rammed your Beta cock up my sweet Omega’s ass. I have tasted the pleasures of that hole since, so I understand why you roared and tore at her throat. We fucked her together, but you were something else entirely. Inhuman in your slathering cult language. It took five of my best Alphas to tear you from her after she had passed out. So many tranquilizers I am amazed you still breathe.”
And Jacques now understood why the pair of them had awoken in unison the following day. Their Omega-Beta connection ran on a very physical level. And that would be handled. Now that he grasped what he was dealing with, it would be handled immediately.
So he feigned, “Perhaps another day or two of starvation will make you more reasonable. Consider my offer. There could be a life for you here, once you fall in line. A new Beta every day to satiate your urges, as many males or females as you wish. Projections of Brenya to remind you of the gift I bestowed upon you.”
An image alighted on the glass between them, sparked into false reality by the translucent life-size three dimensions.
Brenya bloomed into clarity—shy, reserved, delicate.
Smiling at the projection of his mate, knowing the exact moment he had captured her perfection, Jacques reached out as if to touch Brenya, standing in the breeze of his balcony right as the perfect gust of wind softly led the hair about her face to dance. Her dress shaping to her form and highlighting exceptional breasts. It was the same projection that played over and over on his desk when he attended to his duties and could not be with her.
And he was sharing this to tame the rabid dog whose violence almost unseated Jacques’ knot as the link was forged.
“Isn’t she beautiful?”
The Beta had yet to glance toward the gift. So Jacques sweetened the offering.
Brenya resting, alone, in his bath. Milky water lapped at pert nipples, the Omega fingering her scabbed bite marks on her shoulder and neck, staring off into space.
Just as he suspected, the Beta could not resist a quick glance. Those unnerving blue eyes focused solely on the claiming mark that had almost ripped Brenya’s neck in half.
This monumental moment, the reason this projection has been chosen, offered Ambassador Jules Havel an opportunity to view his work outside of the rut. Physical proof that these games would end and he would learn his place. That vicious mark had purchased the Beta a life of unending pleasures… if only he would adapt to new circumstances.
“I will not be unkind to your position, Jules Havel. In fact, I am eager to indulge your cravings.”
The image of Brenya soaking in the tub melted away into a new scene. Gloriously naked, Jacques’ Omega straddled his lap, taking his girth, her pupils blown despite her ability to fully seat him in her cunt. Yet her body was dragged down, impaling her deeper still as Jacques maneuvered her at his whim. Though her hands tried to brace against his chest, all of her was bounced with his strength and her resistance—small breasts bobbing, hair flying, her mouth open as an unexpected orgasm arrived before he might knot. He drove forward and locked them together, her head lolling back to feel her Alpha bloom in the sweetest cunt. Eyes went wide, the Omega rolling her hips as if she might glean more as her belly expanded from his come as if her tiny body had not tried to unseat and deny an organ so large.
Jacques had been so proud.
Watching it, though he had viewed this moment dozens of times, made his cock pulse to life. Proud and throbbing against his trousers, his erection leaked, waiting to be choked and drained. Always ready for her, and Jacques had nothing but pleasure in knowing the Beta could see but not touch.
“You can feel when she climaxes, so you’ll know that once I return to the nest, I will take her in this exact way and prepare a new projection for you. There is no shame in pleasuring yourself, knowing such a generous gift will arrive. Eat, and I will see that you are furnished with a slick-drenched pillow from her nest and a Beta to fuck on it.”
