His Forbidden Omega (Beguiled Omegas #4)

Prologue

“Fucking hell.” Shiloh ground his teeth and pressed against the burning wound, crimson oozing through his fingers to stain his skin—and shirt—red. “Shouldn’t have worn white.”

Arguably, there were a lot of things he shouldn’t have done leading up to this absolute shitshow of a blunder, but here he was.

Bleeding out in the middle of…His brow furrowed and he took a closer look at his surroundings, noting the towering white piles carefully spaced throughout the box shaped sections.

He’d dropped against one of them in his haste to escape, the exhaustion getting too great for him to carry on any further. Now, the strong scent of brine and the tang of it on his tongue whenever he gasped was noticeable.

Salt farm?

With the luck he was having as of late, of course he’d end up in a literal hell pit with a hole in his gut.

The water he was sitting in was about an inch deep, not very troubling, but he’d most likely splashed some on himself when he’d fallen against the salt mound, which would explain the searing sensation where his flesh had been shredded by a singular bullet.

Actually, maybe he was lucky after all, to have only been hit by the one. There’d been several people shooting at him, after all.

The ambush pissed him off. The attacking group had successfully broken him away from the rest of his team in the chaos. Shiloh had held his own against them, but one bastard had gotten in a good shot, and he’d been forced to flee like a coward.

“Mother is going to love this.” The Dominus of the Eumia mafia was going to make this bullet injury seem like a cake walk once she got her hands on him. It’d end up being another mark against him in the long list of compiled reasons why she couldn’t leave her legacy to him once she’d passed.

Not a single maternal bone in that woman’s body.

Probably where Shiloh’s complete and total lack of empathy came from.

He snorted and rested his head back, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He couldn’t stay here for much longer without risk of discovery, but he’d lost a lot of blood, and the thought of moving alone had him wincing.

Damn the Graves for putting him in this position.

Or was it the White Frost?

His attackers hadn’t been wearing any signifying markers, and he hadn’t recognized any of their faces, so identifying which rival group they came from wasn’t possible. For now. He’d find out, and when he did, he’d make them pay several times over for making him look the fool in front of his family.

If his twin had been there, maybe things would have gone differently.

He snorted, picturing Sloane ripping into their enemies with her throwing knives.

She had a tendency to toss them and then drag them through flesh just to hear her targets scream.

Crazy omega got off on it. Out of the two of them, he was the better at playing pretend.

Just a close look at Sloane gave her away, but him?

Shiloh wore Normal like a second skin. He was the epitome of wolf in sheep’s clothing, even taking it a step further.

Manipulating the emotions of those around him to get his desired result was child’s play—literally, since it’d been his preferred game since he was around eleven, after Sloane and he had found themselves kidnapped with their father’s rotting corpse.

That’d been a trip.

Probably only a step or so above the one he was currently experiencing.

A familiar and entirely unwanted pang in his nether regions had him going on high alert and swearing all over again.

“Just when you think it can’t get any worse.”

What would his subordinates say when they found out about this? That the proficient prince of the Eumia had found himself not only bleeding out in the wilderness like a dog, but like a bitch no less.

As an omega who’d presented at the age of sixteen, Shiloh had experienced this very sensation four times before.

He’d been careful with it, taking his blockers, carrying around inhibitors like gum.

Of course, today of all days had to be the one where he’d left them behind.

The car bomb going off outside had understandably spooked his people, and he’d rushed them out of the hotel before he could grab anything.

Including his pills or his multi-slate, the body borne device that doubled as a portable computer and communicator.

When he’d presented as an omega, he hadn’t been disappointed. He saw value in that presentation. Strength. In many ways, it was merely another disguise. A shield against those who would underestimate him.

Being omega didn’t equate to weakness.

That day, the universe had gifted him the opportunity to hide in plain sight. The perfect disguise to hide his twisted and depraved nature.

Maybe today hadn’t been about luck at all.

Maybe this was merely the universe’s way of coming to collect for the favor he’d mistaken as a gift.

His heat built up, fast and harsh due to his age.

At eighteen, his body was still in its adjustment stages, which meant unexpected fluctuations of pheromones and an easily triggered disposition.

The men who had attacked him had possibly tried using their alpha pheromones on him, but they’d been a pathetic excuse for their presentation.

As a dominant omega, only the strongest of the strong would be capable of swaying Shiloh’s instincts. Dominants were rare enough it was unlikely for him to randomly stumble on—

Something in the air shifted, the smell of salt and ocean breeze tainted by a musky floral scent. For a moment, he thought perhaps it was petrichor, though it’d yet to rain, but when the smell strengthened, his defenses went on high alert.

Alpha.

A warning growl slipped past his lips, knowing it’d be futile to try and hide at this point. If he could smell the alpha, that meant Shiloh’s scent had already been picked up on. With his heat threatening to overwhelm him, it wasn’t surprising.

Omegas experienced heat anywhere from every two to four months. It was a state of extreme arousal meant to spur their species into procreation, a concept that might have been considered dated, if not for the current state of their planet.

The birth rates on Synastry were dropping, a fact hidden from the public. It was estimated that in five years’ time, it would be considered a legitimate crisis.

Didn’t mean Shiloh had any interest contributing to the solution.

Forcing himself up, he clawed at the salt pile he’d been leaning against, scanning his surroundings. Considering the salt farm was pretty flat, aside from the heaps of white, it didn’t take long to locate the potential threat.

Whether because of his heat or something else, the second Shiloh’s eyes locked with the alpha’s he felt sucker punched in the gut.

Which was bad for many reasons, not least of all the fact his gut was still bleeding all over the place.

If only his dick remembered as well as the rest of him did.

What started as another warning sound quickly shifted into a whine, and Shiloh bit down on his tongue to prevent himself from making another, even as the alpha crept closer.

The gorgeous, unreal alpha who seemed to have stepped straight out of Shiloh’s darkest fantasies.

Was he dreaming?

Hallucinating?

His hand pressed over the wound a bit harder, the pain causing him to nix that idea instantly.

This was real, which meant no matter how badly he wanted to claim the stranger before him, Shiloh was at risk. He had to pull his head out of his ass and stop this guy from getting any closer before—

“You’re injured,” the alpha spoke, stopping twenty or so feet away to stare.

“Stay back,” he warned, mind scrambling for a solution that didn’t end with him flat on his back, either from being murdered or fucked.

His breath caught in his throat and his dick throbbed and lengthened even more.

He should not have thought about fucking.

The alpha would no doubt tower over him by a good foot or so, and he was stockier, though his height helped keep him from looking bulky. Shiloh wasn’t into the body builder type, it just wasn’t his ideal, and this alpha, with his perfectly sculpted muscles in all the right ways was—

“You’re in heat,” the alpha said.

Oh.

The alpha was an idiot. That would certainly help cool Shiloh’s libido, for a little while anyway.

“Stop.” Shiloh retreated when the alpha suddenly stepped forward.

“I’m not going to take advantage of you.” His eyes swept past Shiloh, settling on the direction he’d come. “You’re running from someone. Let me help.”

“Like I’d fall for that.” At least they both thought the other was a moron. Put them on even footing if nothing else. “Go away. Before—”

“Any other day I might consider it,” the alpha replied calmly, “but not today. Whoever is after you, they’re almost here. You won’t last long against them, omega.”

“Let me guess,” he snorted, “I should take my chances with you instead?”

“I won’t hurt you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

The alpha grew silent for a second and then said in the same even tone, “You have two choices. Stay, and fend off whoever did this to you, someone who most certainly will hurt you, or come with me. Whether I turn out to be a friend or foe, see for yourself. What do you have to lose, really?”

Take the possibility for safety or risk it all on a known threat.

“The likelihood that you’re a good person is slim,” Shiloh stated.

“Why is that?”

“Because good people don’t really exist.”

“Maybe not in your world.” The alpha held out his hand. “But in mine they do, and I’m one of them.”

“Famous last words.” And yet… “I’ll enter full blown heat within ten minutes.

Can you get me somewhere secure before then?

” He would jump the alpha otherwise, and it didn’t matter how good this man believed himself to be, no alpha in existence could resist a dominant omega in heat.

“If we end up fucking, I doubt I’ll make it through the night. ”

“My hover bike is nearby. You’ll be safe, omega. Trust me.”

Shiloh was the notorious son of the Dominus of the Eumia mafia. He’d been raised on callousness and bloodshed. Had witness friend turn on friend. Brother turn on brother. You name it. Trust wasn’t in his vocabulary.

But as the sounds of engines in the distance reached his ears, Shiloh found himself doing the impossible.

He reached out for the alpha, and placed his fate in someone else’s hands.