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  Torin hesitated for a long moment. He wasn’t sure he really cared anymore about why Victoya was here before. All he wanted was to keep her for himself, and there was no guarantee that would happen. But if information was already available, there was no harm in finding out. It wasn’t as though she wouldn’t eventually tell him, he might as well look over the information.

  He gestured for the man to come in and took the parchment from him. “Is there anything unusual?”

  The man shook his head. “No, she completed all of her duties to a good standard and many of the other servants really liked her. The only strange thing was that she requested to work in quite a variety of different areas in the castle.”

  “Why is that strange?”

  “Most servants like to stick to the same route, that’s all. She seemed to like to work all over the palace, and would sometimes swap shifts with other servants at very unusual times. But she was a good worker, we liked her.”

  Torin nodded. “Thank you. You may return to your duties.”

  As the man left, Torin spread the parchments on his desk and looked over them. They charted the shift schedule for the servants and also noted when the shift changed. Nothing looked out of place, but as he was about to roll them up, something caught his eye. Over the course of three weeks, Victoya had stayed on the same schedule every single day. She had swapped shifts with other servants to ensure that she stayed in the same area. When he examined the dates, he realized it was when the Lox warriors were undergoing significant training to prepare to go to the Western Lands. Drocco hadn’t been in the palace over the course of that time—he had been visiting Cailyn’s parents—so she couldn’t have been monitoring or watching him. Had she been interested in the army?

  He sat down at his desk and examined the parchment more closely, and as he did, a pattern emerged.

  The disappointment that gripped him was more powerful than he ever believed he could feel. He leaned back in his chair, almost numb with disbelief at the only possible conclusion of what Victoya had been surveying. Why didn’t she tell him? What more was she hiding?

  His anger rose quickly at the idea that the woman he was considering accepting as his mate, against all reasonable logic of what they both were, had hidden something from him that could effectively destroy everything they’d experienced together. He stood up abruptly. He had to know immediately what the fuck she had been doing in the palace.

  ***

  “Torin!” The delight in Victoya’s voice burned in his chest.

  Torin close the door to her bedroom and walked slowly to the center. She sat at the desk in the corner, packing away writing materials, her eyes shining as she looked at him. He forced all of his feelings for her down to the pit of his stomach and willed them away. They would not help him.

  “I’m so glad you’re here.” She took a breath. “I need to visit the Omega—”

  “What were you doing in the palace before, Victoya?”

  She froze, and then looked at up him quizzically. “What?”

  “I want to know,” he said as he stepped closer to her, “what you were doing in the palace. The exact terms of your mission.”

  She squirmed in her seat, her eyes dropping from his. “I told you that I don’t want to talk about that. You said I have been pardoned—”

  “I don’t give a fuck what I said,” he bellowed.

  She jumped and gripped the edge of the desk, her eyes widening.

  “This has nothing to do with you being pardoned. This is to do with you being my mate and lying to me about your purpose in the castle.”

  “I have never lied to you,” she protested.

  “No,” he bit out, striding to her. “You simply refuse to answer.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her from her chair. “Answer me now. What were you doing here?”

  Victoya pressed her lips together, seeming to find strength among the fear that was so clear in her eyes. “If you’re angry, you already know.”

  “I want you to tell me exactly what your mission was so there is no confusion about your deception,” he snarled.

  Surprisingly, the Omega shook her head, and Torin was suddenly incensed. He grabbed her neck, squeezing it tight, and caught her around the waist as she went limp. Her moan caused his cock to jump and he carried her to the bed and laid her down.

  She writhed, her hands on his forearm, but she wasn’t trying to remove his hand on her neck. In fact, she was stroking it as she moaned.

  Torin undid the buttons at the front of her tunic and slipped his hand in to squeeze her breast. “Tell me,” he demanded.

  “I was here for surveillance,” she breathed.

  Torin rubbed her neck as he undid the rest of the buttons of her tunic and threw it open, exposing her body to him. “And what were you surveying?”

  Her brows crumpled and shook her head as tears formed in her eyes.

  Torin growled at her disobedience and slipped his hand into her panties. He wasn’t surprised that she was already wet. He was fucking hard like a rock, though he had no idea why; something about this Omega made him act completely unreasonably. He massaged her clit as his other hand ran down her chest to grab her nipple. She gasped and rotated her hips up to meet his hand. He couldn’t help but lower his head to lick and suck her pert nipple as the scent of her arousal flooded the room. “What were you surveying, Victoya?”

  She breathed heavily, but blinked hard and lifted her head to meet his eyes. “I can’t tell you.”

  Torin growled in frustration and ripped her panties from her body. She whimpered as he spread her apart and lowered to breathe in that beautiful, delicious scent that never failed to drive him to utter madness. He licked and sucked her delicate, wet folds, feasting on her clit and savoring her taste. It was the most delicious thing he’d ever had in his mouth, and he moaned in satisfaction that the scent he had appreciated since that first moment he was about to kiss her, was now on his tongue, down his throat and all over his face.

  When her legs shuddered and her back arched, he kept his rhythm on her clit steady as she bucked her hips and screamed. When he realized it was his name that tore from her mouth, he almost came.

  As she panted, her legs spread wide, he rose, his eyes on her body, open and ripe for him. “I’m going to give you one last chance,” he said, his voice low as he unbuckled his pants. “Tell me now what you were surveying.”

  Victoya propped herself up on her elbows, holding his gaze, her eyes glazed with desire. Instead of answering him, she inched her knees wider in invitation.

  Torin grabbed her hips, dragged her to the edge of the bed, and slapped the inside of her thighs hard.

  She jumped and yelped in surprise, but slick oozed from her pretty slit.

  “Behave,” he bellowed. “Stop trying to entice me.”

  But that look in her eyes still told him she wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to know, and he couldn’t abide that.

  He slapped her again and again, alternating legs until those small pockets of jiggling fat on her inner thighs were a warm pink. Fuck, she was stunning. Her wonderful eyes opened up wide and she whimpered, her legs shaking as she kept them open for him, and her pussy glistening so wonderfully.

  Then he slapped her pussy, and the wet smack jolted through him. She cried out, but he didn’t care. He smacked her slippery pussy again and again, and soon his hand was smeared with the slick pouring out of her. She was fucking turned on and so was he.

  Torin told himself he wouldn’t succumb to her, but her scent tortured him. Her body needed his attention, and everything called to him to give it to her, but he couldn’t allow her to get away with not giving him an answer.

  He gripped her hip hard. “You will tell me now!” he bellowed. “Who?”

  She lifted her head, her eyes shining with need and her breasts heaving. Torin watched her plump mouth—all he needed was an answer from those lips.

  “It was you,” she uttered.

  Unable to help himself, he slammed in
side her in one hard thrust.

  The feel of her around him chased every thought from his mind. The only thing that existed was her slick tightness, her hands running over his arms, her cries filling his ears, and her scent all over him. He worked in and out of her in a furious, hard rhythm, groaning at the magnificent pleasure that shuddered through his whole body. He squeezed her stomach and played with her cute nipples, as she ran her hands over his chest. He lowered and latched onto a nipple, sucking hard as her body bounced with the force of his hips. Her moans and cries were just delightful. She behaved exactly as she should, allowing him access to every part of her, submitting herself to him, pleading for more, doing as she was told, and calling his name. When her fingers threaded through his hair, he kissed her, rough and claiming. Dropping himself onto her as his hips pounded her heavily.

  Her orgasm was the most beautiful thing he’d ever witnessed. It took over her whole body and made her shudder and scream and convulse, uncoordinated and wild. He couldn’t help but spurt into her after that, thrusting hard back and forth until his own powerful orgasm abated.

  She kept her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist, keeping him close and inside her like she had done before. But slowly, he came to his senses. What the fuck had he done? He had come to ask her about her conduct in the palace, and he had ended up fucking her into submission. This was the woman he said he would never hurt, yet he…

  He lifted up over her and examined her carefully. She was drowsy and sated, smiling at him as he turned her face to his.

  “That was incredible,” she murmured.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked.

  She shook her head and then tried to pull him down onto her, but he resisted.

  “You were here to watch me,” he confirmed.

  She sobered, the expression on her face straightening. Then she nodded.

  Torin tried to ignore the stab of betrayal in his chest. He had already known it. Her schedule in the palace matched perfectly with his routine. “Why? What were you supposed to do?”

  Victoya pressed her lips together for a long moment and then whispered her answer so quietly he almost didn’t hear it, but when he did the betrayal in his chest turned cold. “Seduce you.”

  The horror of her words seeped into him slowly. Sending someone so innocent like Victoya to seduce someone? What the hell were the Omega Mothers thinking? And then he realized the position they were in; he was inside her. She had beckoned him to fuck her and he had done it. It had been so easy for him to comply, in fact he had never been able to resist her.

  “Did you use any magic on me?” he asked, his voice tight.

  Victoya frowned. “When?”

  “At any time,” he barked. “Did you use magic in any way to try to seduce me? To try force me to think about you all the time? To make me come to the kitchens at all hours of the night to see you? To want to protect you?”

  She stared at him, her mouth open as her eyes flitted between his own. No doubt any answer she would give would be a lie.

  Disgusted, he withdrew from her and stepped back from the bed. She rolled over and sat up, trying to cover her nakedness with her arms.

  “Wait,” she began. “It’s not what you think—”

  “What I think is that you are a whore who has tricked me into falling for you,” he spat at her. “And even though your mission is over, you still couldn’t help but complete it.” He grabbed his clothes. “Tell me. Did you fuck any of the Alphas that pursued you also? Is that why Roclan was so angry you had been claimed?”

  Shock slammed into Victoya’s face and her eyes filled with tears, but Torin was beyond falling for her tricks.

  “I’ll be sure to tell them you are once again available,” he belted at her. “Clearly you are able to protect yourself much better than I thought you were.”

  Without waiting for a response, he left the room.

  ***

  Drocco stormed into Torin’s office. “When I told you to pick an Omega,” he fumed, “it was not so that your decision would interfere with my time with my mate.”

  Torin held himself still. “What are you talking about, Drocco?”

  “My mate has spent the last few days with your chosen mate because you upset her,” Drocco snapped. “You need to fix it.”

  “I’m afraid I cannot,” Torin said calmly. “I will take a new mate if you would like me to.”

  Drocco frowned. “Already? Why?”

  Torin placed his quill-pen down, reluctant to talk about how deep he had been fooled by Victoya but knowing that Drocco would be the only one who would not judge him. He told Drocco what had happened, and by the time he was finished Drocco was sitting thoughtfully on the other side of his desk.

  “If we are going to pardon her,” Drocco said after a moment of silence, “you cannot hold her past mission against her.”

  “She used magic on me,” Torin stressed. “And the way that I behaved when I went into question her…” He shook his head. “I would wager she is continuing to use magic on me.”

  Drocco shook his head. “No, that sounds normal.”

  “Normal?” Torin’s eyebrows rose. “Every time she wouldn’t do as she was told, I handled her inappropriately until I was fucking her as roughly as I could.”

  Drocco nodded sharply. “That is how Alphas tend to discipline their Omegas.”

  Torin blinked in surprise, and shook his head slowly. “I’m sure Alphas do not strangle their Omegas until they cannot even move.”

  “The pressure around their neck causes them to relax,” Drocco confirmed. “It is pleasurable for them and settles them.”

  Torin’s mouth dropped open, a shock hurdling through him. “That is normally what you do?”

  Drocco leaned forward on the desk, looking at Torin curiously. “How is it you behaved that way instinctively? Have you done that before?”

  “No,” Torin said bewildered. “I thought I’d gone mad.” He took a breath as a realization came to him. “This is more evidence that she has used magic. I wouldn’t normally act this way. No Beta would even know to do half of those things.”

  “Maybe some would,” Drocco said thoughtfully. “But it is something we can find out, if you are interested to know. The Records Keep will have information.”

  “No,” Torin said firmly. “It makes no difference—I can no longer claim her. She may be pardoned, but I can never trust her now.”

  Drocco sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I thought that once about Cailyn, Torin,” he said quietly. “And it tore us apart. Do not make my mistake. She is an Omega and she has somehow drawn out Alpha instincts in you. It is true that it could be due to magical manipulation, but you claimed this girl after telling me that she was of no interest to you. You fought Roclan for her. You have been interested in her since before you knew what she was and she satisfies something in you, even if you cannot explain it. At least get the full story before you decide to abandon her. You may never find anything close again.”

  Drocco’s reflective mood disturbed Torin to his core. It was rare for Drocco to ever share his thoughts about Cailyn, and even more rare for him to give Torin advice that included being lenient about magic. It was certainly worth considering. “I will think on it, Drocco.”

  Drocco rose from his chair and leveled Torin with a serious stare. “From my understanding, Victoya headed back to the Omega Compound this morning.”

  A slight panic gripped Torin. “For good?”

  “I assumed not, but now you have told me everything, I don’t know,” Drocco said. “All I know is I have Cailyn to myself for at least a couple of days. If it begins to stretch longer than that, then I assume she is not returning.”

  Panic spread across Torin’s chest and began to suffocate him. His thoughts raced as he tried to figure out why he suddenly felt distraught by the news that Victoya could have left the palace for good. He had left things badly with her, he knew, but he still expected to see her around. He didn’t expect he
r to be gone completely, out of his reach where he could no longer keep an eye on her. He took a breath as the realization hit. He still wanted her where he could protect her. Even if not from himself.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  VICTOYA

  “Torin has been asking about you everyday,” Cailyn said as they hugged.

  Hope lurched within Victoria, but she tempered it down. “What has he said?”

  Cailyn pulled away and smiled. “He has been asking constantly when you will return. He would not accept when I said that you may never return.”

  Victoya pressed her lips together as she tried not to laugh. “Why did you tell him that? You knew I was only going to be away for a week.”

  Cailyn shrugged indignantly. “He didn’t need to know that. He acted like an ass, so he can suffer like one too.”

  “He didn’t act like an ass, Cailyn,” Victoya said. “He acted well within his rights as somebody who had been betrayed and not told the truth.”

  “You said he behaved differently from how you’d ever seen him,” Cailyn pointed out. “It sounds to me as though he was angry and he was taking it out on you. I know you say you weren’t hurt, but I don’t believe you are telling me the full story. And I’m disappointed in him.”

  Victoya took a deep breath and headed to Naya’s crib. “He questioned me about what I was doing here before,” she said brushing her fingers through Naya’s soft black hair. “When I wouldn’t answer, he punished me… in a way I really liked.” When she lifted her eyes, Cailyn’s face was almost comical.

  “Torin was rough? Did he…?”

  “He made me submit—give everything to him,” Victoya said smiling. “And it felt like I was where I was supposed to be.”

  Cailyn blew a breath through loose lips, then laughed and shook her head at Victoya.

  Victoya laughed at her reaction. “It was a surprise to me too, but I loved it.”