Born to be Broken (Alpha's Claim #2)(24)

"Claire O'Donnell is not your friend." But he felt a spark of hope that maybe they were …  because he could smell traces of the Omega on the strange woman's clothing.

He closed the door and watched the woman look around, frowning when she saw no sign of Claire.

Maryanne dumped the bundle in her hands on the floor. "She left these clothes at my place. Feel free to thank me for returning your crap to you." Moving deeper into the apartment, her chocolate brown eyes looked straight at the pretty Alpha standing in the corner watching her like a hawk. "And what do we have here?"

Running a hand through his hair, Corday said, "That's my girlfriend, Monica."

"Nice try, Enforcer." Maryanne rolled her eyes. "But anyone paying attention knows Leslie Kantor's heart is pining for Premier Callas." Smirking meanly, the blonde looked at the woman and teased, "I slept with him twice to get out of jail time. He was awful …  You dodged a bullet when he shot down your marriage proposal."

Leslie's expression grew dark. "Who are you?"

Turning her attention back to Corday and ignoring the spoiled niece of Senator Kantor, Maryanne growled, "I smelled you in her apartment, I smelled you on her clothes, this room is saturated in her, but she is not here or with her pack …  so where is Claire?"

Corday showed his teeth. "What do you know of the Omegas?"

"Who do you think chose the location of their cozy new home? Claire?" Maryanne rolled her eyes when the man glowered. "Goddess save us, you really did think she broke them out all by herself … "

Aggressive Alpha females and dominant Beta males did not mix well, leaving the air full of tension and mistrust.

Maryanne had not come all that way to be disappointed. "I want to talk to her crazy ass. One last time, Enforcer Corday-that's right, I know who you are-where is Claire?"

Lip curled, shoulders tense, Corday hissed, "Claire is missing, okay? I don't know where she is!"

For a moment Maryanne looked worried, studied him as if there was more to the man's outburst. "I don't think you are lying." That left the most likely outcome. "Then she is probably dead …  or Shepherd has her again."

And that was exactly why Corday felt such desolation. "I don't think Shepherd has her." If Shepherd had her then the tyrant would know of his own location, the Omegas would be gone, and Leslie's access to their communications would have been terminated.

"You make a good point," Maryanne covered her doubt with a cocky smirk, "because if he did, you and I would both be strung up from the Citadel …  Unless, of course, we and her little pack of Omegas were offered in trade for compliant behavior. The little twit is stupid enough to fall for that, you know."

"She wouldn't go back to him." There was no way. Every feeling inside Corday knew better. He'd seen what the monster had done to her …  what she had been forced to live through. Touching where her ring circled his pinky he walked back to the door, opening it so his guest might take a hint.




 

 

Before she left, Maryanne faced Corday one last time. "I know her better than anyone else in the world. I also know she wanted to kill herself …  That's why I am going to pray that she did instead of considering the horrible alternative. Thank you for nothing, Enforcer Corday."

He slammed the door.

Corday turned towards Leslie, found the outspoken woman awfully quiet.

The strange woman's warning scratched at his composure. "If Claire is in Shepherd's possession, if she struck some reckless exchange for our lives, then he knows about you. If all this is true, then every piece of information you've uncovered is compromised …  useless."

Leslie looked about ready to break something.





Chapter 10


Claire was still sleeping, restless under the covers on the bed beside him. It had taken a great deal of effort to get her comfortable after Shepherd had found her holed up in the bathroom vomiting upon his return. Hours of soft touches, bland broth, and her agitated growls eventually turned to snores. Once Claire had finally lost consciousness the thread seemed to harmonize, leaving Shepherd able to work as he lay at her side.

Reports on Enforcer Corday's movements were less than pleasing. Svana was still holed up in his apartment, and irksome Maryanne Cauley had come calling, looking for Claire.

Neither woman's agenda was clear. Svana was toying with the resistance, for what purpose Shepherd was uncertain, but she was up to something.

In the years of their relationship, there had been no secrets, no dividing line between them. Ordering Jules to continue with her constant surveillance had been …  difficult. Studying her motives as he'd studied the senators, their families, their work, for years, troubled Shepherd greatly.

This woman was not that same revolutionary he'd loved with every last fiber of his being. Worse, not knowing where she'd stashed the contagion, having had all the usual places searched, made him uneasy.

She wanted to remind Shepherd that she had the power. Knowing he was watching her flit around the Beta's apartment was her less than subtle way of reminding him she was in control.

She played her games with the resistance. Leslie Kantor wanted them to find her valuable, even passing fragmented information that could potentially undermine Shepherd's control.

Svana was taunting him.

Why?

There was more to this than her anger over Claire.

So far just Maryanne Cauley had thrown the only wrench into her plans.

 … when he shot down your marriage proposal.

How did a woman like Maryanne possess information even Shepherd had never heard whispers of? Why did Svana just about reach out and break the blonde's neck?

Most importantly, why hadn't Svana noticed the immediate look of suspicion the Beta Enforcer had shot her way once those words were out in the open? 

Challenging was not the right word to describe the feelings embedded in the problem. Deeply, Shepherd wanted to trust Svana as he always had. But the little black-haired Omega curled up at his side …  one look at her, and Shepherd was at a loss.

Never would he trust Svana anywhere near Claire. That fact gave him pain.

And that, at its essence, was why Svana remained with the Enforcer. She knew Shepherd's abiding loyalty had been shaken and she taunted him by fostering a new champion; lightly touching the Beta at every turn, keeping herself beautiful and engaging.

Was she trying to seduce Corday, to flaunt her conquest?

Never before in his life had Shepherd struggled with so many questions. Answers had always been obvious, his course steadfast.

Now he knew he had to greatly alter the plan. He had to find the contagion and make sure it was beyond Svana's control. Stripped of her greatest advantage, he could reason with his beloved, maybe find her an Omega male so she, too, could be enlightened.

Their partnership, their rich history, need not be tarnished by his natural devotion to such a pleasing mate.

Reassured, Shepherd read the latest update again. There was something in the transcript that was intriguing. Just as Claire had explained; the once disposable minion, Maryanne Cauley, was fond of his mate.

In Shepherd's experience, Maryanne Cauley was very easy to control, a creature inundated in self-preservation. Shepherd could use her again, augment Jules's initial plan to win more than just Claire's complacence. She could be a valuable tool, and the selfish Alpha female would even be willing for the right price.

As Shepherd's plot developed, Claire grew restless in her dreams. Absently, Shepherd began purring, lightly tracing the furrow between the Omega's brows until it softened.

Before all could be made right, there was a list of issues that had to be remedied. The Omega was not showing any of signs of the affection she had displayed before their recent …  complication. In her waking hours there were no activities of nesting, not like before. Normal habits of a pregnant Omega must be encouraged, but she no longer touched her belly like she should-never acknowledged the child he'd placed in her womb, even though it was the cause of her almost constant nausea. Only in her sleep would her hand rest above the baby, and even then she looked …  troubled.

Claire also was incredibly disinterested in being touched, yet if he initiated, highly responsive to sex.

They were at square one.

Shepherd kept her in a constant state of the mating high, took her so many times her eyes remained half-dilated, almost as if in the first stages of estrous. It was necessary to keep her mending, to keep the bond fresh and unchallenged, and it soothed her. But she no longer whispered or called out his name, seemed half involved but eager for pleasure.

Pure escapism …

When the sleeping woman quieted, Shepherd went back to the latest reports. With only eight weeks before transport would carry those who'd chosen loyalty to his cause to seize Greth Dome, his new life was soon to begin. Svana's lineage and title would place her as the savior queen of what all intel confirmed was a highly repressed population. Transition would be relatively seamless. Of course, there would be turmoil and battles in those first weeks as the usurper regime was decimated, but Shepherd had a worthy supply of Followers to raise his standard, and the Greth government had no indication a nightmare would soon be crashing down upon them.