For Marco, it wasn't enough to claim me. He wanted toownme. Every part of me. Body, mind, and soul. The moment I became willing, I would stop being a person and start being a resource. A possession. Just like the rest of his omega 'wives' as he so lovingly called us.
Marco used his nineteen other wives as currency. He leveraged, traded and promised them to strengthen his hold over Falcon City and the Bellini Crime Organization. Some were trafficked to allied crime families to seal deals and settle debts. Some remained under his roof, rotated through his lieutenants and enforcers as rewards for loyalty, silence, or blood spilled in his name. Access to an omega wasn’t just indulgence.
It was power.
It kept his men obedient and dependent. Where else would an alpha, dodging mandatory enlistment in Arca's military, procure a highly rare omega?
Arca hoarded them. Military conscription was requiredby law for all omegas. Command assigned them only to the most elite, highly trained, alpha soldier units. They weren’t paired for comfort or choice. Command paired omegas for reproduction and unit strength. Arca wanted stronger soldiers, tighter unit bonds, and better weapons.
Marco also understood that scarcity.
What began as a handful of trafficked omegas, small enough to be overlooked by Arca, grew into a dozen. Then nearly two dozen. Like Arca, Marco learned that controlling omegas meant controlling men. Desire became loyalty. Access became obedience.
And refusal became unthinkable.
That was why he couldn’t tolerate mine.
“My beautiful Lena,” he said softly. “Why do you insist ondoing this to yourself?”
I said nothing. I never did. Not anymore. Three years into this torture, I stopped speaking entirely, too afraid that if I opened my mouth, submission would slip out before I could stop it.
Marco crouched until he was level with me, his deep brown eyes locking onto mine with unnerving intensity. The scent of sandalwood enveloped me. Once it had been tempting, even mouth-watering. Now it conditioned me to expect pain and fear instead.
"I miss the sound of that pretty voice. I'm looking forward to hearing it again while you scream in pain and beg for my knot during your heat," he paused, eyes sweeping my body. "Or we could be done with all this."
His hand glided from my chin, lower, circling my breast, as my nipple pebbled under his touch. I flinched inward.
"Your body begs for me Lena, I see it respond to my touch. I know what you need. Give in, and I will make you feel so wonderful. You don't need to torture yourself anymore," Marco said, mistaking my body's reaction as arousal rather than repulsion.
“You’re already suffering,” Marco continued, his voice coaxing. “You don’t get anything for enduring it alone. No reward or mercy, only pain.” I braced as his thumb brushed my jaw again, almost reverent. “You could make it stop. You could let me take care of you."
His hand lingered at my jaw, his thumb soft against my skin. “Your heat lasts forty-eight hours, which you know. Two days of excruciating pain every month. Cramping so badly you can’t stand. Your body tears itself apart because it has no knot to fill your empty cunt.” His voice softened with something resembling pity. “No omega is meant to endure that alone. Not without medication, heat tools, or monitoring. Not for fivewhole years. Most would be dead by now.”
My breath hitched.
For a moment, my resolve wavered.
And for the first time, Itrulyconsidered it.
Not him.Neverhim. Just the end of this pain.
Then he spoke again.
"Let me own what’s already mine.”
Something inside me went cold.
Ownership.
My resolve snapped into place just long enough for me to spit in his face.
Marco froze. His expression then twisted with rage as his palm struck my cheek, fast and brutal, snapping my head to the side. Pain flared brightly, and I tasted blood.
His voice turned vicious, evil words spilling out that were meant to cut, humiliate, and make me feel small.
“You really think this ends any other way?” he snapped. “There is no future for you that doesn’t circle back to me!” His mouth twisted in disdain. “You endure because I allow it. You exist because it is my will. You are nothing without me.”
He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Every month you break a little more. I see it in the way you shake and in the way you hug your knees tighter.” A cruel smile curved across his lips. “You won't win by holding out, Lena. You just make it take longer.”
