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“I did not know—” His laugh this time was bitter, the mask cracking again. In the last few minutes this cold man had shown more emotion than I could have possibly imagined. “You think the worst of me at every turn don’t you? I asked you once to be my queen. And you threw it in my face. At every chance… Very well then. Name your price.”
“Whatever you have, I want none of it.”
“I’d have given you a crown to rule by my side,” he snarled. “I would have… But instead you and yours took something from me that is priceless. And now, to win it back, must I give you something of equal value? Was that your plan when you so readily accepted my terms? Seeking to fleece me? Punish me?”
“It? Tod isn’t an ‘it.’ And he was never yours. He was never mine but as sure as the night follows the day, he was never yours,” I snarled right back. Oh, how I despised this man as much as he hated me. How could we not after all we had done to one another? Yet some niggling part of me regretted this confrontation. Oh, how I wanted to stay at his side a little while longer. The suddenness of that traitorous knocked me backwards. Air caught in my throat choking me. I did not want to stay. He and Puck disrupted my life. Why, dear goddess, did I recoil at the thought of returning to that old existence? “There is nothing of equal value. I won’t trade Tod for money or my freedom.”
“Tell us,” Puck pleaded. I’d never heard an alpha beg before. But given the circumstances, it was the mark of a true alpha to protect those he cared for most, though I’d never tell him that. “Tell us where Tod is.”
I looked away. I’d always known how much they cared for Tod, protected him, treated him as if he were his own. After Sophia had died, he and Puck had adopted the little boy and made him heir to their fortune.
“Tell me,” he barked as he changed tactics. Did he think my will so weak that an alpha’s bark could effect me? Nevertheless a shiver ran through me causing my core to clench. He’d kept me prisoner for nearly a week. It dawned on me that it was a week without suppressants, a week closer to my heat, their alphas held an increasing sway over my omega nature. His growl deepened, became feral. “Tell me, Hippolyta.”
“No,” I gritted my teeth, willing my body to stop responding to him. Of all the alphas in the world, this one I feared the most, because of what he did to me. How he made me want to be a proper omega again because in him I saw a passion that matched mine. One who desired a family and stability—find a mate. Yet I knew if I returned to that world, I would grow to hate my mate, myself, and everything. I was not a proper omega. I was a feral one, an apex omega. “I won’t tell you where he is. None of my people will tell you either. Tod is cared for. He is protected from our world, from our warring kingdoms, and I will never, never—do you understand?—allow him to return. Perhaps you should let me go?”
“You think I care?”
“I think you care for your kingdom and its people. Do you want to anger a duke? Or Paxton and Fordom?”
“I’d take myself to Tyburn if it meant Tod’s safe return. Oberon, tell her.”
“No. Let her rot in that cage for a night and then tomorrow, her good sense will return. An exchange. Bring Tod home and I’ll let you go. A fair trade.”
16
Polly
Puck refused to look at me as he thrust me into the cage and locked me in. Not wanting him to have the higher ground, I knelt, wrapping my hands around the bars, my chin tilted. “So brave, locking me in like this. Rank hypocrisy. Tod has more freedom where he is than I do.”
“You’re a self-righteous bitch. You know that right?”
“It was the right thing to do.” I wouldn’t say more, though I could. For the first time I considered revealing Tod’s true parentage to someone. Puck, I knew, would understand. He’d not approve but he would understand my motivation. What held me back was the sneer that turned his face ugly with anger.
“That boy means everything to us. And you’ve put him in danger with your little stunt.”
“He couldn’t be safer.”
“He’s a child. A very clever child. If he has run off? If he has decided he doesn’t want to be held captive, what then? We all agree he might be an omega. What if he presents early? What if he escapes and presents and some disgusting person. Some alpha comes upon him. They won’t care for his age or the dirt under his nails. There are people who—”
“I’ll not regret what I’ve done. How many times must I tell you that no harm shall come to him while he is in my care?”
“I wish I had your confidence.”
“You might hate me for what I did but believe me I would never put that child in danger.” He stormed to where I knelt, pressed himself against the bars causing my breasts to brush against his iron-hard muscles. His hand snaked through and he fisted my hair, tugging it painfully until I gave in and allowed him to pull my head to the side exposing my mating gland. “What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Showing you that even you will bend for me. You could kill me like this I am sure. But nevertheless you’ve bent your neck. If he were to present, if an alpha were to find him, that boy could kill them, but if I can make you, a grown woman, submit…” His words sunk in, and, oh goddess, I wanted to kill him in that moment.
“Puck, he is safe.”
“I won’t believe you until he’s cursing at me like a sailor.” He thrust me away from him and left. The harsh scrape of the bolt being shoved home left me with my anger and a niggling fear I wanted to bury and ignore. Why did it feel that instead of being locked into a cage I had been locked out of something so much bigger?
That they would imagine I’d put him in danger was absurd. That they worried? I hated admitting it made me proud for I was the reason they had raised him until now. Deeper than that, a fear I had got it wrong. That they did care, perhaps had worked without my knowledge to bring Tod home.
Whatever their feelings, I’d not stay in this place a moment longer. Time to leave.
Once out of my cage, I rubbed the beeswax candle over my body to help mute and disguise my omega scent. There was only so much I could do but that and dressed in the breeches and shirts I had tucked away and my ratty, unwashed hair I pinned beneath a knitted Monmouth cap. I felt as prepared as possible for my getaway.
Breaking out was an all too simple matter. Out the window and down the drainpipes, I escaped through Hendricks’ rooms, to the cellar, and finally to the street from the area steps.
