Born to be Broken (Alpha's Claim #2)(27)

Boneless, vibrating from the humming thread, Claire didn't know what to do. The feeling of his cheek slipped past her palm, the Omega wilting against the mattress.

"That was perfect." He kissed her slack lips, nuzzled her cheek. "You, Claire, are superior to any sky."

Her contentment shattered. With a growl guttural and vicious, Claire threatened the man still deeply knotted. "Do not ever call me that name!"





Chapter 11


The knot was fresh, the male's cock still filling her with a steady trickle of semen, his fingers still warmly enfolded with hers. Yet whatever tenderness the Omega had displayed as he led her down the path to orgasm had evaporated. Her small body was stiff, Claire's hips moving just enough to communicate her desire to reject his knot, even if trapped by it.




 

 

If Shepherd was angry, he hid it well. Looking at her with deceptive calm he spoke her name again. "Claire."

Her building rage blended with disgust, yet she mirrored his move on the board. In a tone so calm it was chilling, she explained, "Every time I hear you speak that name, I feel your Alpha beloved's hand crushing my throat. I feel her fingers scratching my insides. I see you, a monster who has the audacity to call himself my mate, stand by and watch. I hear you order me into the bathroom saying Claire …  a name you refused to acknowledge up until that enlightening moment."

Shepherd had to make use of this opportunity; he had to reason with her. "I did not witness her touching you sexually and only learned of it later. It will never happen again."

Incredulous, Claire's eyes went wide at his nerve. "And that makes it okay?"

The man tried again. "I am aware you harbor great anger towards me, hatred even, for what was done."

"I do hate you. I hate her. But most of all I hate myself."

Rocking his hips, pressing the knot deeper, he insisted, "Tell me the reason you hate yourself."

She held his eyes, hers violently raging. "We both know why."

But it needed to be said aloud. "Claire, your self-hatred stems from the fact that you recognized you had affection for me before circumstances caused you pain."

"Circumstances?" Claire laughed meanly, not at all impressed. "She has a name. It's Svana. What you did to me has a name. It's called betrayal."

Odd remorse burning in his consternation, Shepherd pressed his forehead to hers. "You have my fidelity now. I gave you my word. We could be content in one another if you would forget, and try again."

Claire saturated her reply with every ounce of disgust she could muster. "You are a very smart man with the skill to inspire others to follow you into evil, Shepherd, but your understanding of people is so primordial. You claim to love me, so answer this: had I fucked Corday while you were watching me in the warehouse, would it be something you would ever forget?"

The man's entire body went rigid. "No."

"So you see, it is impossible."

His eyes were full of a hundred things. "You will forgive me."

Her black brow arched. "Forgive what you can only call the circumstances that caused me pain?"

He knew what she wanted. Growling like a beast, Shepherd gave it. "I mated with Svana and dishonored you."

"You did."

"I did it to save your life."

Claire arched beneath him, wanting to get away. "You are lying."

His hands squeezed her fingers so hard it hurt. "I did it because I could not harm her; she is my only family …  Because I was concerned she would take you from me. I gave her the attention she came for to distract her, so you would not be considered a threat." Almost frantically he admitted, "The whole time, I was thinking of you." 

"That is disgusting."

Shepherd did not know how to answer such a thing, so he chose silence. While the knot persisted, he held her unwilling hands, he purred and nuzzled, but Claire had lost all traces of softness …  In fact, she only looked sad.

When at last his knot diminished enough for him to pull out, he did. "Get dressed." Shepherd stood with grace a man of his size did not deserve. "I will take you to see your sky now."

Claire had lost interest in going outside; she wanted nothing but sleep. "You don't need to waste the effort. I no longer want to see it."

Shepherd gripped her arm and pulled her to stand when she began to roll over. "You will put on a dress at once."

After cleaning up the expected river of semen that came from her womb, Claire grabbed her dress from the floor and pulled it over her head. The giant clothed himself and returned to her, holding out a blanket, waiting for her so that he could wrap her shoulders with it in place of a coat. There were still no shoes.

"Give me your hand," he grunted.

Claire complied and his massive paw closed over her small wrist, leaving cold metal and a grating sound of cuffs being fitted. The opposite end he fixed to his own wrist, Shepherd warning, "You will behave."

"I don't take forty-three lives lightly."

He lifted her into his arms. "Your recent effort has not gone unnoticed."

Once she was settled against his chest, they left the room.

Shepherd took her down an alternate path that ended at a service elevator stinking of his men. The door closed, the contraption jerked, and the long ride began.

He was taking her to the upper levels, a region she had only ever visited once a year as a girl. Or at least that's what she thought. When the door opened, a decadently decorated hall appeared. The walls were well-appointed, clean, and filled with soft crystal lights. There were no windows, and when Shepherd began to approach a sinister looking door, Claire began to think the male had tricked her.

He was going to punish her again.

He tapped a code into the door's console, the hiss of decompression letting them know it had unlocked. Shouldering it open, Shepherd took her inside. The vault closed, bolted, its click exceedingly final.

He set her down. Claire's feet were touching plush carpet that looked like it was out of an old-world picture book. There was golden wallpaper, paneling made from actual wood.

Mostly, there was glowing light.

Eager to reach the window, she stepped forward only to find her arm still chained to the man behind her. Claire was confused. "This is not outside."

Shepherd escorted her forward, his torso warm on her back. "I never agreed to allow you outside. I believe the arrangement was that I would allow for you to see your sky."

Technically he was right, and Claire knew there was absolutely no point in arguing.

The prospect the small room afforded was unlike anything she'd seen in a house; a vast display of rugged tundra. The window was an actual part of the Dome; if she touched the glass, she would be touching the only thing between her and hundreds of miles of snow-a thing forbidden.

Reaching forward, ignoring the uncomfortable handcuff and arm that followed to allow her movement, Claire put her hand to the glass and felt its chill. Wild nature was her view, in a warm room, where she was chained to an Alpha to ensure good behavior.

The room's furnishings had been removed, leaving only that beautiful rug and a single large chair. It was angled at the window, filled with a man who drew Claire into his lap. With the lights on, Shepherd's looming presence at her back was reflected in the glass, his attention acute.




 

 

Meeting his stare in the reflection, Claire admitted, "Men have been put to death for touching the Dome."

Shepherd answered, "Or they are thrown in the Undercroft for daring to look outside."

Why would they look, there was nothing but snow outside. Yet Claire found herself taken with the view, all that white, of distant mountains and jutting ice. The land beyond the Dome was glorious.

Shepherd's body was warm, the purr soft and continuous; the perfect recipe for her to ignore him, relax, and just saturate herself in something other than four concrete walls.

The man did not ruin her comfort by speaking or making demands, and Claire was grateful for it. He was deep in thought, staring at the setting sun, his Omega held hostage on his lap.

The dark came, bright moonlight on glittering snow, and Claire fell into a dreamless slumber-the first she'd had in many weeks.

The whole night passed before intruding light set the backs of her eyelids glowing red. She woke comfortable with only beauty before her. It was almost as if Thólos did not exist. She could sit there and pretend; she could forget the man cuddling her was evil through and through.

But the truth could not be ignored. Though she was warm and safe, her people were waking up with nothing to eat, with no power, with no heat. Outside of that beautiful room, behind that grand view, the world was falling to pieces.

Shepherd stretched, his large hand cupped over the place where his child grew. "You enjoy this room and the view; you are comfortable here."

Looking away from the window, she surveyed the empty room. "Why did you have the furniture removed?"

"I did not want you to wrongly cultivate hope that I might allow you to remain."

There was logic to his rationale. Had there been a bed and other objects for comfort, she would have longed for more than just his lap on that oversized chair. She may have even grown upset when he'd demanded that they leave. "I see … "