Page 28 of Marked Omega

“I’ll try not to bounce you so much,” he says.

His strategy to keep me from bouncing too much apparently involves squeezing both of my bare butt cheeks with his massive hands and holding me even more tightly to his shoulder. I can’t deny the sudden rush of arousal at having his fingers so close to my sensitive recess. But that doesn’t make me any less annoyed.

“I have two perfectly good legs,” I protest. “Besides, you’re wounded.”

“You wouldn’t be able to keep up on your tiny legs,” he says matter-of-factly. “And my cut is merely a flesh wound. It will be healed by day’s end.”

Addom’s voice hollers from ahead of us. Well, from behind me since I’m turned around backward.

“Quiet back there,” the leader shouts.

I pout. Behind me, Hasker shakes his head. He’s been glaring at me ever since we started running.

I have to admit, what Kadmon says is probably right. I don’t think I could keep up with these guys. They have huge strides, and they are keeping a swift pace, unhindered by the rolling terrain.

But the other thing he said. About his cut being a flesh wound? That’s insane. Even though it was dark in the forest, I could tell he had a deep gash on his other shoulder. It definitely requires medical attention. Hell, a normal guy might have bled to death by now.

Kadmon, however, is not a normal guy.

I glance across his broad, muscled back. Although I can’t get a good look at it from this angle, I can see the very edge of his cut, and it looks like it has already scabbed over completely and even started to shrink.

Incredible. I knew that Alphas were metabolically enhanced compared to uncontaminated men, but I never expected rapid healing on this level.

I used to think that I knew so much about the zone, but I’m quickly learning that things are very different from my expectations.

We come up alongside a river and follow its twisting banks.

“Well, how much farther do we have to go?” I grumble at Kadmon. “I don’t even know where you’re taking me.”

“I already told you,” he says quietly. “We’re taking you back to our dwelling in the city.”

I know I should leave things there. I should just be patient and see how this plays out. I’m totally at the mercy of the superhuman Alphas. But my temper is wearing thin. Maybe it’s from my nihiloxin cravings. Or maybe it’s just from being carried naked for miles like a caveman’s prize.

Whatever it is, I can feel my irritation boiling over. Besides, the Alphas have clearly made up their minds about what they plan to do with me. Nothing I do or say will dissuade them, but that doesn’t mean I have to take it lying down.

Okay, maybe that’s not the best phrase to use.

“But what city?” I blurt. “How far is it? And when can I go back home? I have a right to—”

“Enough!”

Addom’s deep voice booms like a cannon, and a flock of white birds burst from the tall grass nearby and flutter away squawking into the rising sun.

My body tenses, and my breath catches in my throat. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to keep complaining.

The Alphas halt. Addom grabs my leg and uses it to turn Kadmon around so that I’m looking directly at the lead Alpha.

“Listen to me.” His voice is husky. “Your never-ending questions are giving me a headache. You will be quiet. And you will obey your Alphas. Do you understand me, little omega?”

His face is frightening, his expression harsh. His nostrils flare, and his septum piercing gives him the look of a bull that’s about to charge. Stick a pair of horns on this guy, and he’d be a minotaur.

There’s no doubt that he means business. He will not tolerate insolence.

But I’m sick of being called omega. I’m a human, not some stray animal that these brutes have adopted for a pet. I’m a woman, and I intend to let them know it.

“My name isn’t omega,” I whisper harshly. “My name is Lily.”

Addom’s speckled gray eyes grow wide with surprise, but this soon subsides into raw anger.