Chapter 172
Tempest took a deep breath, taking in the night air.
Her body was still vibrating from the extra intense orgasm she just had with her and Dron’s little phone sex session.
She’d never been much of a phone sex kind of girl, but then again, she’d never had feelings for someone like the ones she had for Dron.
It was almost natural to come just from hearing him talk to her.
She’d needed that.
When the wrist device beeped to let her know that she was getting a call from Dron she all but ran out of the small den and around the corner. She was still on the ledge but out of sight.
It wasn’t until she heard a grunting coming from the other side that she realized Rynax must be coming back. She didn’t want to still be out there talking to Dron when Rynax showed up. He’d go on and on about how it wasn’t safe.
She was perfectly safe, but he was overly protective of her.
Tempest did her best to comb through the rat’s nest that was on her head before she pulled the cloak over her once again. She’d taken it off to sit on while she spoke to Dron.
She breathed in deep and exhaled, trying to calm her heart rate down. She was grateful that Gerax was asleep, or he’d have noticed a change in her vitals. And then probably come out to see what she was doing. That would’ve been embarrassing to say the least.
Tempest slowly walked around the corner and instantly could hear Rynax raising his voice. So much for beating him to the den.
"What do you mean she said she had to take a call? How could you have just let her go out there on her own? Why didn’t you follow her?" Rynax snarled at Aliq.
"She asked for privacy and told me she wouldn’t go far. I’m not going to go against her wishes unless it’s called for." Aliq snapped back.
Tempest knew she had only moments before it turned into another fight. She had to hurry up and get in there. There was no Crilium here this time to stop them if they decided to go at it again.
Quickly, Tempest turned the corner and walked into the den. "Sorry. I’m here. Everything is fine."
Everything in the small space changed at once. Rynax spun in place and glared at her. Aliq looked up at her, a bit of relief on his face.
Then in the blink of a second, it all changed. Aliq slammed his hand to his face, covering his mouth and nose while Rynax growled and crouched lower as if he were about to attack Tempest.
She backed up slightly, confused as to what the two of them were doing.
"I’ve got to go." Aliq mumbled through his covered face. Without so much as another word in Tempest’s direction, he all but sprinted out of the small den.
He actually scraped his back along the side of the wall just to keep away from Tempest.
"What is happening? What’s wrong?" Tempest questioned and took a step in Rynax’s direction. "Ry, talk to me."
"You’re doing this on purpose. To hurt me is that it? Make me out to be a fool? Maybe push me to the point of no return?" He squeezed his hands over and over, making them into fists before letting them go.
"Don’t you think that’s a little bit of an overexaggeration? I was just outside. I didn’t run off or anything like that." Tempest shrugged her shoulder. She knew he would be upset that she was out there on her own, but she didn’t think that he’d get this upset about it.
"Didn’t run off? Do you honestly think I care about where you went." Rynax took a few more steps in Tempest’s direction. For a moment she didn’t know if she should try to run or what. Was Rynax about to completely go out of his mind? She couldn’t understand the reasoning behind it. This was all just a little bit too much.
Rynax continued walking up on Tempest until her back was against the wall. She had nowhere to go, and as the seconds passed, she became more and more frightened.
"You’ve done this to tempt me. You know how badly I crave you. How strong my feelings are for you, and you come in here like this?"
Tempest pressed her head as far back against the wall as she could, doing her best to stay as far away from Rynax as possible. There wasn’t enough space.
Her eyes quickly darted in the direction of Gerax, he was still sound asleep.
"There would be nothing he could do to stop me. If I wanted to take you up on your offer, I’d rip that man limb from limb." Rynax snarled and dipped his head so he was nearly touching her skin.
Tempest could feel his entire body trembling. Was this really all from him being worried about her? Things weren’t making sense.
"Rynax, what are you doing? Please tell me what I’ve done." Tempest whispered, trying to keep her voice down and not further agitate him.
Rynax groaned and shuddered hard as he took a long, drawn out whiff of her. "I can smell you. You’re drenched in slick. Ready for me."
Oh...shit!
The lightbulb went off in Tempest’s head and then exploded.
She’d screwed up so bad.
"Rynax, no. I’m sorry. I forgot how sensitive your noses are. I wouldn’t have come in here like this. I’m sorry. I was on the phone with Dron—"
Rynax growled loud and hard as he pushed up against Tempest. The sound was so intense Tempest swore that it shook the walls. Tempest squirmed and tried again to move away from him. She would try to push him away, but she knew that wasn’t going to do anything for her. Rynax was too powerful. Too large. Too focused. All that would happen is he’d be able to get his hands on her.
"Rynax, please. I don’t want this. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lead you on. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen." Tempest whimpered.
"What in the world... what’s happening?" Gerax sat up groggily. He took a deep breath in and instantly snapped his mouth shut. His eyes snapped over to where Tempest was.
She knew betas weren’t supposed to be so intensely affected by her scent, but she knew Gerax still would be able to smell her and still want to mate with her. He would just have a better hold on his inhibitions.
Rynax continued to make deep growling noises, his body pressed against hers in a way that if she let it would feel too good.
Gerax slowly got up from where he was lying and walked in their direction, but he kept his distance from Rynax.
"Alpha, control yourself."
"What does it matter to you? She’s not yours."
"True, but she’s not yours either. You have no right to try and claim her."
Rynax snarled and turned his head so that he was looking over his shoulder at Gerax. Rynax had already lifted his arms to place his hands on either side of Tempest. She was blocked in.
"I have all the right to claim her. I’m the strongest alpha here. The best. She should belong to me!" Rynax roared at Gerax.
Gerax didn’t flinch, but he didn’t move any closer.
"Yes, here. But deep down you know the claim would be false. She is already mated to Dron. He may not be here, but she still belongs to him."
Tempest hated that she was being talked about as if she were a piece of property, but she wasn’t about to speak on the matter right then. She knew how precarious her situation actually was. If she made the wrong move, Rynax could see that as an invitation, and he would take her no matter what words actively came out of her mouth.
"He left her. He doesn’t deserve her. She was supposed to be mine. I’m here. She’s needy. I can make it better." Rynax turned to face Tempest again, a look of intense despair and desperation on his expression. "Let me make it better, Tempest. I can help you."
"Rynax, no." She didn’t add any more. She wanted to be clear. Wanted there to be no doubt. She didn’t know if she was getting through to him. Didn’t know whether he was already too far gone or not.
"You heard her decision." Gerax stated behind Rynax, he still hadn’t made any move to get closer to him. "She’s told you no. If you go against her wishes now, you’ll be breaking the law."
Rynax spoke again, but his voice was softer, there was less of a growl. "There is no law here. We are in the forbidden lands. I can do whatever I wish, and there is no one here to stop me."
Tempest was afraid of that. It wasn’t like she could just run to the high royals and demand that they take action against Rynax if he did something he would regret later. They were out here on their own.
"You’re right. I can’t stop you, but I will report you to every official back in Thraqe. I’ll put out a worldwide communique that you are an omega abuser. If you ever return home, you’ll be tortured and then thrown into the black cells. Any chance you may have had to find your own mate will be ripped away from you. You’ll be destined to be alone and in pain for the rest of your life."
Tempest had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from gasping out loud. She didn’t want that for Rynax. She knew this was all partially her fault. Knew that he couldn’t control what was happening within his body at that moment any more than she could control what happened to her body when she went into heat.
It was all biological.
Gerax continued, "And if you assume that you can just stay here in Skoq to live out the remainder of your life, I’ll be sure to tell Crilium and the rest of the alphas at the stronghold how you treat omegas. I may not have the strength to defeat you. But they do. You have to do the right thing here, Rynax. Let her go."
Rynax still didn’t budge. It was as if nothing Gerax had said made any difference to him. He would go through all that just for his chance to claim Tempest. She stared up into his eyes. She wanted to see the man she knew, not this savage of a man who would even think about taking her against his will. She knew Rynax, and what was happening to him right now wasn’t who he was.
Gerax finally moved a little closer, he lowered his voice to a soft whisper. "Rynax, look at her. She’s crying. You’re hurting her. Scaring her. This woman you supposedly care so deeply for is in pain because of you. Please, don’t do this. Let her go." He told him again.
Rynax blinked a few times quickly before his eyes slowly scanned my face. There was no doubt Tempest looked a mess. Everything Gerax had said was true. She was crying, big tears streaming down her face. She was shaking in fear.
Rynax strained hard, and Tempest could hear his fingers digging into the rock on the side of the cave they were in. He was trying so hard. "Take...her..." He said through clenched teeth.
Slowly, Gerax walked along the side of Rynax until he was able to get his hand on Tempest’s wrist. Rynax growled at the contact, but he didn’t move.
Tempest ducked slightly, and Rynax stood still. Gerax ushered her out from in front of Rynax. He pushed Tempest behind his body, and they very slowly backed out of the hunters’ den.
Once out on the ledge, Gerax wouldn’t even look at her. "We have to go down. We can’t stay here tonight."
"Where are we going to go?" Tempest asked slowly, wiping the tears away from her eyes. She felt so bad. She hadn’t meant for any of this to happen, but she felt completely responsible. Dron had warned her before about her slick and how other alphas would be able to smell it.
She wasn’t paying attention when she should’ve been. She was being selfish and only worrying about her own pleasure and her own release.
"I don’t know, but we need to give both Rynax and Aliq some space. I’m sure they are very uncomfortable right now." Gerax helped Tempest to the edge of the cliff and directed her on how to get down. He told her where all the footholds were, and it didn’t take them long to make it down to the ground.
It was dark. Too dark for Tempest to see any farther than a few feet in front of her face. She started the day excited about the journey to come, only for the night to end with her group fractured, all because of her need for Dron.
She didn’t know how she would fix this, but she knew she had to.
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⏸ PAUSE■ STOP