Chapter 2

Terrified almond-shaped eyes widen as the tiny female lifts her gaze to mine. With long, straight, black-as-midnight hair framing her delicate, dirty features, the youngling looks like a miniature version of the omega I once planned to claim.

Retching pulls my attention to the pathetic mound of fabrics behind her.

There she is. The omega who shattered my dreams, but she's no longer the bright, innocent female I remember. She's pale and sickly. Weak and vulnerable.

The tiny version of her steps between us. My delight soars as the younger female sets her dainty features into a glower, squares her shoulders, and tilts her chin in challenge.

Hunger grips me. Lust pulses down my spine and pools between my legs. My shaft hardens. The urge to conquer, break, and mold the intriguing little beauty to my will roars through my veins.

"I've found you, Sera. Come out and maybe I'll let your offspring live," I snarl through my hatred.

Sera wraps her white fingers around her youngling's sleeve and hangs onto the filthy fabric as though her life depends on it.

Her soft, weakly whispered no vibrates with horror. After an audible swallow, Sera's listless voice barely filters through the noise above us. "Where's my Ru? What have you done?"

I growl and grip the edges of the closet's only opening. My gloves protect me from the jagged metal, but I would gladly tear my hands to pieces if it meant I could wrap them around Sera's throat.

"That traitor did what he does best. He caught one whiff of me and ran off. He left you, Sera," I say, letting my evil grin widen as the scent of feminine fear punches into my nostrils.

"Appa would never leave us."

The angelic voice carries a faint, bastardized version of her mother's accent. I sneer as pleasure runs through me.

"Are you willing to bet your life on him?" I sniff again and chuckle. "Better yet, are you willing to bet your mother and her unborn babe's life on him?"

She bares her teeth and hisses, solidifying her fate.

I must have her.

I wrench the weakened metal apart, peeling the rusty edges with ease.

"Now, omma!"

I duck through the jagged opening, wedging one shoulder through, and snarl as the tiny omega's voice sends an electrical charge through my veins. I glance toward them and snarl again.

Sera reaches under her pillow and pulls out a small black square. Alarm spears through me as her daughter drops onto the bed, covering her mother with her body.

Sera flicks the switch on the device and hides her face with her hands. Whirring sounds from the dilapidated generator beside me.

I push into the room before the machine explodes. Pain lances up my leg as fragments of metal embed into my calf. White-hot agony cuts through my chest and back as the edges of the wall shred my clothing and flesh.

Sera's daughter hisses in pain and shifts to block the shrapnel as a second, larger explosion rips through the generator. Chunks of debris punch holes through the wall and sink into the hull above the females. I roll to the side, evading the worst of the blast, and dart across the room toward them.

The pile of filth scatters as I yank both females across the floor to the far corner and shield them from the fallout with my body.

Exotic spices invade my nostrils as the daughter's hair clings to my face. The curve of her ass presses against my lower abdomen, and the urge to squeeze and explore rides me hard. Even harder is my cock as she wriggles underneath me, pinned between her traitorous mother and my bulk.

Chips of ceiling patter onto my back. The walls and deck vibrate harder as those in the pits above stampede toward safety. Their screams echo through the ship.

My ship.

I'll kill Ru for damaging what's mine.

His daughter struggles underneath me. Dark thoughts race through my mind, and I decide on a much more satisfying outcome than his death.

I'll take what he longs to protect and make her mine. I'll desecrate and defile his innocent treasure. Steal and hurt what he holds most precious. I'll warp and mold her to my will until her devotion for him crumbles to dust.

The tiny, curvy female on the verge of her first heat doesn't stand a chance.

I no longer yearn for Sera. She'll be nothing but a lure to bring Ru into my clutches.

His daughter, though? His daughter will be mine. My omega. My plaything. My revenge.

The worst of the danger passes. I lift most of my weight off them so they don't suffocate, but remain on top of the feisty female. In her fight for freedom, she pivots her legs toward the center of the room and her head toward the corner. She brackets her mother's head and shoulders with her forearms and braces her entire body as though she could prevent me from harming her dame.

I chuckle, enjoying the way she stiffens under me, and sink my fingers into her hair. She hisses when I yank her head back. The challenge in her glare as she looks over her shoulder incites the beast within me.

"You can't escape me, tiny one. You'll pay your father's debt any way I please, whether you want to or not," I growl into her ear.

Her lips twitch in hatred before tilting in a lopsided grin.

White-hot agony pierces my hip as she kicks backward and stabs me with the blade hidden in the heel of her boot.

Fury roars through me, erasing the pain. I grab her ankle, yank her off her mother, twist her onto her back, and pin her to the floor by her neck. It would be so easy to crush the delicate column of flesh.

"You'll wish you hadn't done that, tiny scorpion," I promise.

Her pupils shrink in fear as she wraps both hands around my wrist and tries to tug my hand away from her throat. I tighten my grip just enough to make my message clear before relaxing my fingers.

She swallows. I bite back a groan and resist the urge to thrust my hardness against her.

Three of my men filter into the room. I motion for the larger-than-average beta to take Sera.

"No! Don't touch her!"

The desperate anger in my tiny scorpion's voice amuses me. I squeeze and growl in warning. She wriggles.

I grind my hard cock into her soft belly.

"Be still, tiny scorpion, before I remove your stinger and take what you owe me right here, right now, in front of my men and your mother."

She freezes. Her pulse beats a frantic tattoo against my digits. The vulnerable innocence in her eyes fills me with intoxicating power.

With feral need pounding through me, I flip her onto her stomach and press my knee to her lower back. She kicks, but I catch her ankle and pull my knife from its sheath. After slicing the laces, I jerk her boot off her foot and toss it across the room before repeating the motion with her other boot.

Her balled fists and flashing eyes warn me of retaliation, so I continue my hunt for weapons. I lift her belt away from her back and sever it with a quick flick of my knife. She vibrates in indignation and fear, but I shuck every layer off her bottom half and cut a slit up the back of her three shirts.

A faded grey sports bra with fraying straps spans across her upper back. I stick my fingers under the material and poise my blade to slice through the fabric. Her knuckles turn white and red stains the floor as she presses her arms into the debris. A coppery version of her dark spices joins the scent of my blood. I snarl, cut her bra, sheath my knife, lift her by her throat, yank the material from her body, shrug my shredded leather jacket from my shoulders, and wrap it around her before she reacts. By the time she thinks to lift her arms, I've already wrapped the sleeves of my jacket around her and tied them together, pinning her arms to her sides.

The bottom hem stops at her upper thigh—her clenched knuckles peek from the fabric—and the lapels leave much of her cleavage on display, creating the most erotic picture I've ever seen, but it covers her important bits.

Until I toss her over my shoulder and the bottom hem rides up to expose the curve of her ass. She jabs her toes into my solar plexus, her surprisingly accurate aim and powerful force revealing the truth.

Like father, like daughter.

He taught her how to fight.

A thrill rushes through me, even as pure hatred freezes my soul.

He no doubt taught her every dirty trick imaginable, which shows how deep his betrayal runs.

Because I taught him everything he knows.

I'll enjoy breaking his daughter and molding her to my will. Nothing could be sweeter than defiling the offspring he sought to hide from me.

And if the tiny scorpion is as aggressive in the bedroom as she is on the battlefield, I'll savor every single moment of challenge.

I'll win in the end.

She's mine.