Chapter One

Daisy couldn’t speak Klinok, and if the aliens spoke any English, they didn’t reveal it. They were talking and gesticulating among themselves as she observed from the clear box in which they had kept her since stealing her from her home planet along with her friend last week.

Thinking of her, she glanced over to Azaria’s box, finding her friend didn’t appear as fearful of whatever was happening, but Daisy knew Azaria was probably feeling it as well. She was more stoic and naturally able to hide her emotions better than Daisy. She knew her friend well enough, having grown up with her most of her life, to guess Azaria was as terrified as she was.

Azaria looked at her, and their gazes locked. They were able to communicate through their boxes, and Daisy considered that one small kindness from the aliens. The Klinoks also made sure they were fed regularly, but it was difficult to be grateful for the smallest of courtesies when they had attacked Paladin and dragged the two women from their home before the rest of the sisters at the Omega convent stopped the invasion.

“Whatever happens, you’ll be okay.” Azaria gave her an encouraging smile.

Daisy shook her head, fear nearly getting the best of her. “I don’t see how. They’re going to sell us. We’ll be separated and never allowed to return home.” Her eyes welled with tears, and she sniffed.

“You must be strong, Daisy. You’re stronger than you believe, so whatever happens, you must keep your eyes open and wait for an opportunity to escape.”

Daisy nodded, trying to look more confident in the idea. It was mainly for Azaria’s benefit though. She didn’t think she had it in her to survive this ordeal, let alone find a way to escape an Alpha or a group of Alphas. Since she didn’t speak Klinok, she couldn’t be certain of their intention, but they’d spent all morning prepping the two of them, including washing them through the box, and she had a feeling they were being put on display.

Omegas knew the risk of being sold to a group of selfish Alphas who would share her during her estrus with no intention of claiming her as a mate or caring for her properly. Daisy had always hoped it was an old wives’ tale passed among the sisters at the convent, but now she suspected there was far more truth to it than she’d been aware.

Whatever the two Klinoks had been discussing, they seemed to have settled it now. The larger one—which was difficult to discern, since they were a lumbering race at least twice the size of Daisy and Azaria, with gnarled gray or brown skin, depending on the individual Klinok—moved over to Azaria’s cage.

Daisy trembled as the smaller one approached hers, and he had some kind of tube in his hands. She watched with alarm as he pushed it into the airlock atop of the box. It was how they had distributed the cleaning chemicals earlier before sucking them through again with a vacuum system.

She trembled again, recalling how frantic she had been the first day of her captivity, to the point where she’d been panicking and trying to break through the impenetrable clear box. One of those Klinoks had approached and put in a similar chemical that had turned out to be a gas to put her to sleep. She was expecting the same thing, and she did her best to hold her breath while the pale lavender mist filtered in through the box, but she was eventually forced to breathe.

At first, she experienced no change, so she assumed it must be something different from the sedative they had given her the first day. That had acted almost immediately, instantly loosening her muscles and putting her to sleep in under a minute. She appeared unchanged, and she was confused. Glancing over to Azaria, her friend seemed to be in a similar state. She was outwardly as calm as she had been before they administered whatever was in the tubes.

There was an itching sensation settling over her body, and Daisy started scratching through the thin layer of the jumpsuit they had given her to wear after taking the heavier robes she wore at the convent. Even then, when they had insisted she change clothes on her first day, there had been an air of apathy about them. Daisy had never felt sexually threatened by the Klinoks, but she was still deathly afraid of them and their intentions.

Azaria was starting to squirm as well, and she was sweating suddenly. Daisy lifted an arm to wipe her brow as she realized she was also perspiring heavily. The itching sensation had turned to a burning, and she was shocked to feel a sudden jolt of arousal in her core. She shifted, needing something, though she’d never experienced anything like this before.

She moved her hand between her legs, cupping the heat there, trying to provide some kind of relief with the press of friction. It did little to relieve her, and she writhed and moaned, suddenly burning up. She must be running a raging fever, and she realized she was entering estrus.

Daisy had been through it before, but a blunted version. The Omegas at the convent took a low-dose suppressant that allowed them to have natural cycles and function without succumbing to the wild throes of estrus. The few she had endured since puberty had been much milder than this.

They sometimes required sequestering herself to ride out the worst of it with a couple of her favorite toys, but she’d never experienced this aching burn of desire before. If she didn’t have an Alpha soon, she was going to die. She just knew it, and she was still aware enough to realize the fever burning through her could permanently damage her physically if she didn’t find respite.

One of the Klinoks approached, heaving her box onto a wheeled stand with seemingly no effort at all. Daisy put her palm to the glass, and Azaria did the same. Her friend appeared to be struggling as much as she was, though Azaria still managed a strong smile, and her voice sounded confident. “Be brave and survive, Daisy.”

Daisy whimpered as she was wheeled from view of her friend, starting to lose herself in the heat of estrus without any cognizance of what was happening. She was vaguely aware of being trundled onto a platform, and as she looked around, she saw a number of human Alphas among the crowd, along with a mix of a few other aliens. She didn’t know if any other races had the same affinity for Omegas human Alphas had, and she was startled to realize she didn’t care who bought her as long as they eased this burning aching inside.

She whimpered at the thought, closing her eyes and trying to summon her strength. She’d never realized just how overwhelming estrus could be, and while she was disgusted at her lack of willpower, she was craving an Alpha even more.

She opened her eyes, fighting against the urges inside her, and her gaze locked with a tall Alpha near the front. He had white-blond hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and the impressive size and bulging muscles that identified him as an Alpha even though she couldn’t smell his pheromones with the box filtering out any scent.

She looked harder at him, feeling herself melt inside. She pressed her palms to the glass, mouthing, “Alpha.” She wanted him more than anything in the world, but the pain and burning inside was too much for her. She closed her eyes as she collapsed to the floor, writhing in search of relief.