Chapter Three
Drazien
Humans built structures the same way they did everything else.
To impress each other.
Glass stretched overhead in sweeping arches that would have been a nightmare to defend, while walls designed to showcase the surrounding city left dozens of sightlines exposed.
The entire layout was visible from outside, each exit obvious and impossible to protect.
Any warrior with half a brain could identify the most important targets and eliminate them without even entering the room.
Fortunately for them, I wasn't working tonight.
The thought almost made me laugh as I gazed around at the milling bodies.
Humans clustered together in groups that shifted and merged like swarms of blood-thirsty lyrek, displaying their status through glittering stones instead of scars.
Words instead of weapons. The males wrapped themselves in restrictive jackets and pretended they weren't measuring one another while the females balanced on absurd shoes that limited mobility and exposed vulnerable joints.
Then they tried to claim they were the top predators on Earth. If so, our young could overthrow their entire planet.
A waiter passed carrying a tray of drinks. Three councilors reached for glasses before checking who was watching, sipping politely when others might notice, or tossing it back when they thought they wouldn’t be caught.
Predictable.
Every species had dominance displays. Humans generally preferred theirs less… physical than the Morrak.
I leaned against a pillar near the edge of the ballroom and watched them perform.
The gala was supposed to be a way to give us a choice over who we would be tied to for the rest of our lives, but they used it to help strengthen diplomatic relations.
The display reminded me why espionage on Earth was so easy.
Humans wanted to be liked, and they wanted it badly enough to ignore obvious dangers.
A hazardous flaw.
And a useful one, for me.
My gaze drifted across the crowd. Politicians, scientists, military officers… Earth’s entire infrastructure could be decimated by taking out this single room.
Then there were the selection candidates. Potential liabilities and unlikely to be assets in any but the obvious way. The future bait for the rebels.
I catalogued them the same way I would targets before a mission.
I’d read through all of their files, discarding the ones who would never work for my plan, but there were several possibilities.
Since the female would become my omega, I’d left myself the opportunity to make my final choice once I’d seen them in person.
I spotted the female in purple again. The smooth expanse of her shoulders drew my attention down to the swell of her breasts and my tail curled behind me.
She was the only candidate not part of some group, flitting along the edges like the runt of the litter, too weak to force her way in, although it didn’t look like she was truly trying.
She didn’t speak to anyone, drifting through the room in a way that made it seem as if she were mingling, but keeping herself apart.
A male had approached her at a refreshment table, eyeing her the way the varkuun eye a hunk of bloody meat, and the stiffness in her posture informed me he had been unwelcome. I’d taken a step towards them before stopping myself, but the male hadn’t lingered long.
Curiosity pulled me closer. Even though Humans didn’t have dynamics, they still had individual scents the way all animals did, but they were weak, and it was impossible to untangle hers from the others from so far away.
I wanted to know how she smelled.
I stalked the edges of the crowd, looking for an opportunity to corner her, but somehow she always managed to slip away.
Those unfortunate enough to glance my way as I approached offered artificial smiles and I grinned back, showing the tips of my teeth and watching how they tried to hide their shiver of fear.
I was a true predator, while they were prey pretending they were safe.
Each time I drew near my quarry, something prevented me from closing in. Another candidate would try to engage me, some Human who thought they were important would try to draw me into conversation, or Kael would pin me with a stare that said I had better behave.
My grin grew sharper. I knew my reputation. I was sent on the missions where people were expected to disappear. I always did my best to make it happen quietly, but sometimes there was collateral damage. Kael wouldn’t have chosen me to claim a Human, but Rhydek had requested I be allowed.
The problem was, Humans feared what they didn't understand. They wanted to pretend like they knew us, trusted us, but it wasn’t true, and I was different even than the rest of the Morrak. It was why the space around me remained clear, while Kael and Nyrel were treated like prize beasts on show.
And why the females sent to tempt me approached with practiced smiles and left looking unsettled.
I preferred it that way. Fear was honest. Impossible to fake, and difficult to hide.
But when the female in purple glanced at me, she didn’t seem afraid. She was uncomfortable, nervous even, but there was no fear.
And it wasn’t only me.
Her actions showed she felt as out of place as I. She held no common ground with the others at the gala, but I couldn’t place why she was an outsider amongst her own species.
That made her more interesting than she had already been.
She accepted a glass from a passing server and slipped through the crowd again, somehow avoiding every path that would have brought her within my reach. I was trained enough in evasiveness to wonder if it was deliberate, but even if it hadn’t been, it was effective all the same. Annoyingly so.
I watched her take a seat beside a display near the windows and pretend to study the information projected on it. The act would have been more convincing if her head had moved as the display changed, but her gaze remained on a single point.
My tail twitched as my eyes narrowed, and I slipped behind a group of Humans moving in her direction. She wasn't looking at the display, she was listening, and since she was conveniently near Kethral Nyrel, it wasn’t too hard to guess what she was trying to overhear.
The group I followed slowed, blocking my path to her, and she drifted away again before I could untangle myself from the resulting encounter. It was amusing to tease the Humans, but being continually distracted from my goal was growing tiresome.
Finding a hidden corner to observe from, I looked for the female again. My height gave me the advantage of being able to look over the heads of most of those attending, but hers helped her hide since she was shorter than most.
I finally found her drifting again, a distant look on her face. She didn’t linger anywhere or attempt to join the discussion, only pausing for a few moments at a time before moving on.
Like a scout.
Or a spy.
My muscles tightened as my focus narrowed. The thought should have been concerning, but instead, it made me want to know more. Her file had mentioned she was a soldier, something to do with trade analysis, but would the Humans share if one of the candidates was something more?
A ripple of movement drew my attention, and I spotted Councilor Richter striding toward her with the purposeful air of someone with an obligation.
The moment he spoke she stiffened like a child caught where they weren’t supposed to be, and when his hand closed around her wrist, a growl stirred in my chest.
The space around me brightened, revealing the way my kethra glowed. The reaction surprised me since my control was tighter than anyone I’d encountered. It had to be when my life depended on not giving away my position in the dark.
Richter’s grip wasn't harsh, he simply pulled her arm through his to link them, yet every instinct I possessed disliked seeing another male place his hands on her.
My gaze followed them as he led her through the crowd and I turned over what the reaction might mean. Despite her clear reluctance, the female complied without protest as he pulled her over to a group of other councilors.
No argument.
No visible resentment.
She simply matched his pace and allowed herself to be guided wherever he wished, appropriately obedient to the dominant male.
It was a useful trait. One many omegas possessed.
Many Humans seemed to mistake stubbornness for strength.
They challenged authority simply because it existed, creating unnecessary conflict where cooperation would have served them better.
Poise was a rare attribute, usually found only in more mature individuals with the experience to have learned the lesson.
But Elaina Voss either knew the value of restraint, or she was adept at hiding.
She smiled when introduced to various officials, listened with apparent attentiveness, and laughed politely when expected. Her performance was nearly flawless. If I hadn’t been watching her as closely, I might have believed she was enjoying herself.
But I saw the tension in her shoulders. The way her gaze drifted toward the exits.
She wanted to leave.
She wasn’t afraid, but she disliked the attention, yet she endured it anyway because the male at her side had decided she must. Humans spoke often of personal freedom, but the females chosen for these galas rarely demonstrated much understanding of the sacrifice it took to earn it.
This one did.
Richter moved her from group to group, presenting her like a prized possession. Each time another male's attention lingered too long on the swell of her breasts or the curve of her hips, irritation coiled tighter beneath my skin.
The feeling made little sense. I knew exactly why the Human males were looking since I had as well.
I wasn't blind. The dress showcased her assets with remarkable efficiency.
The purple fabric clung to generous curves that would be considered highly desirable by Morraki standards.
Softness indicated health and fertility in omegas, the ability to endure pregnancy, and it stirred the desire to breed her.
That thought earned a low growl, and my tail lashed once before I forced it still.
The possessive impulse hit with enough force that I nearly laughed at myself.
Having an omega to slake my needs was the bonus I would receive for completing this mission, but the idea of breeding had never crossed my mind before.
Yet every moment she spent smiling at other males sharpened my growing irritation.
A councilor said something that caused her to give what seemed like a genuine laugh, and my jaw tightened. Another touched her arm, and I had to smother the pulse of my kethra.
When an older Human male stepped closer than necessary and brushed the side of her breast while pretending to touch her arm, I started moving before I consciously decided to.
The crowd between us parted instinctively, for once not preventing me from reaching my goal, but the male escorting her began pulling her towards the exit before I reached them.
Thwarted again.
I stopped where she’d been standing, following her with my eyes as I sucked in a deep breath. The scent of something dark and sweet filled my lungs, laced with something green and herby. My amusement returned as I realized how well it complimented mine.
Shaevrin worked, even here.
Elaina wanted to be invisible. I could see it in the way she moved. She assumed no one noticed her, but she was wrong. I had, and the more I observed her, the more interesting she became. She wasn't like the others. She watched, listened, but kept herself apart.
It was a trait I appreciated.
I drew in her fading scent once more. Dark fruit and sharp greenery. A subtle hint of sweat and nerves. It was all weak, but it would grow richer as an omega.
Across the room, the female walked to the exit, unaware her fate had been decided. She was obedient, poised, and tempting enough to be my reward.
The decision settled into place, anticipation beginning to stir. She would be informed in the morning, and then my hands would be the only ones allowed on her. She’d be given the serum to become an omega, and then I could use her to lure out the rebels before claiming her as mine.