Disobedience and Devotion - Chapter 10

Warnings for violence. 

Word count: 9,680

Benjamin Lockwood’s exit brought the guests in close behind Kara, like chickens gathering in fear of a fox. They looked to Kara’s solemn face for reassurance, and Lena knew they expected her alpha to handle the threat in the old way, according to their laws and without any regard for the damage such a fight could cause.

“Clark Danvers, you cannot participate in this barbaric tradition,” Lena threatened with a trembling bottom lip, and a brooding scent that most omegas reserved for their misbehaving children.

Her face was still waxen from her near fainting spell, but she was still so bold as to fight against their customs and chide Kara for her ready agreement to take on Lockwood.

If Lena embraced her bad temper, then perhaps she could keep her guilt at bay. She blinked from a burning sensation in her eyes as her fright gripped her like a hand that was tight at her quivering throat.

“Please, the fault of this lies with me, and I will not have you punished for it,” Lena whispered, conscious of the guests still crowded around them. She placed a hand over Kara’s forearm in the hopes of stopping her as she walked off, but the alpha pulled away from her and showed no weakness in their present company.

The alphas that attended the party trailed after Kara, and their wives circled Lena as though to shield her from such unprecedented circumstances.

“Come Lena, let us sit down,” Sam whispered in her dulcet, quiet voice. “You must get off your feet.”

Sick though she was with worry, Lena refused the comfort of Sam and Nia, and broke through the barrier of omegas to chase after her mate. She took three steps before several sets of hands gripped at her arms to stop her from going any further.

“No, I cannot allow this!” Lena uttered. “They must see sense.”

“You mustn't interfere,” Nia warned, softer than warranted when Lena was putting up such a struggle.

Nia’s pallor was almost as ghastly as her own, and Sam encouraged them both towards some seats before one of them dropped from fright.

This was a nightmare of Lena’s own creation, which would have been avoidable if she hadn’t brought such scrutiny and attention to herself. All the countless warnings she stubbornly ignored were stacked up against her, and Kara would reap the oats she had sowed. They all would if the worst came of it.

“They must speak to one another, so that Clark is prepared for tomorrow.” Sam’s hushed explanation only served to frighten Lena all the more, and she fought to stand up while the omegas gathered closer with their contrite faces.

Lena felt as caged as the hens outside, yet not nearly as docile. With a steady breath, she hardened her jaw and channeled her mate’s strength and integrity before getting to her feet with a look so pointed that Eve appeared unnerved.

“I will not sit here prettily while my husband is being cajoled into a potential death sentence by a maniac. You may accompany me if you wish, but you will not prevent me from doing as I please in my own home.”

Lena strode through the omegas with quickened steps, lest they try to stop her again. The stench of aggression from the next room was far louder than the hushed rumblings of alphas, and Lena followed the reek to the parlor that was locked from within. She huffed outside the door with a good mind to make a ruckus, then chose to listen to their conversation instead.

“I’m telling you, Clark,” came the rough rasp of Mr. Edge, “Benjamin’s arrogance will be his downfall. He’ll come at you swinging like a man possessed. All you have to do is tire him out and the fight will be over in a matter of minutes.”

“Absurd,” grunted Mr. Baker, his words slurred from the ale he had consumed. “Lockwood is a scoundrel. He won’t fight you head on like an alpha. He’ll go for your sides and eyes.”

“I much agree,” Mr. Lord grit out, as if he wished to strangle Lockwood for his earlier remarks that would not be soon forgotten. “A man like that will fight dirty as a rule of thumb. His hatred will drive him, and you’d best be ready for it, Clark.”

Several alphas grunted in an agreement, yet it was Kara’s voice that stilled the beat of Lena’s heart. “I will face Benjamin at dawn and I will keep your words of advice in mind. I trust you that you’ll have the town square cleared, so we may keep this an honorable fight.”

“Honorable!” Lena screeched at the wooden door, aware of the thrashing she may face for eavesdropping on alpha business.

Her outburst put an end to their conspiring and Lena jolted when the door opened with enough force to rattle the hinges. She expected scorn from the men inside, hoped for it perhaps, for being looked upon with pity was somehow worse than all the ire she had ever faced.

Kara looked as stoic and strong as always, her eyes fixed on Lena without any trace of disappointment. The others could not bring themselves to look her in the eye, and gazed at her belly, at the life she very well may have to raise alone. It sparked a vulnerability so strong within Lena that her lip trembled and she covered her stomach with her gloved hands.

“Gentlemen, the celebration is over, I would like to be alone with my wife.” Kara ushered them out of the parlor and they in turn remained somber and respectful, a sight that Lena never thought possible.

They were barely out of earshot when Lena flung herself at her alpha, with both hands fisting in Kara’s jacket as a wail of anguish began in her throat.

Her distraught tears fell on Kara’s frilled necktie, and even though she believed herself undeserving of comfort, it was not denied her.

Kara stroked over the plane of her back and along the rise of her shoulders. She was shaking worse than a poor beast who had been left out in the rain and she was left twice as wet from how she cried.

“If only I could revise the acts which led us here.” Lena sobbed into her gloved hand until her nose and throat felt raw. “I would be your demure wife and never speak a word to anyone in this town — or I would have run back to my secret home in the woods instead on the night of my arrival. Perhaps I was right when I said that you should have chosen another omega.”

Kara placed a hand under her chin both to soothe and settle her, and Lena’s damp sorrow pooled in her eyes as she looked ahead at her mate.

“No,” Kara pronounced in a firm whisper, like it was an incantation and not a mere word. “No, Lena, you are and always have been the one for me. I have told you before that I have always been in awe of your brave spirit, but I dared not tell you the reason— that all my life I wishedI could be like you.”

“Why are you speaking to me like you think you might die tomorrow?” Lena whimpered in despair, and drew Kara’s hand closer so she could stare at it and observe its steadiness up close. “I won’t stand for this. Surely there must be some way out. We could leave. Pack up all of the servants in the night, and move to a safer place where such barbaric traditions aren’t practiced.”

“There is no place out there for us, Lena. Word of my cowardice would spread like disease, infecting every town we entered. I would not subject you to a life like that.” Kara’s solemn words were whispered, and while Lena grasped the sentiment, she rejected it vehemently.

“What life am I to have should anything happen to you?” Lena spat, the fierceness of her words the only disguise she had left to mask the terror that resided within her chest. “To be given to Benjamin so he may brutalize me as he’s wished for weeks now? Our child will never survive that. I may never survive that.”

The full extent of Lena’s horror finally took root, and she swayed, dizzy from the frantic and irregular beat of her heart.

Kara moved with purpose to sweep Lena into her strong arms, affording her the privacy of an embrace to weep. Each harrowing, gasping sob shook Lena until she relied on the alpha to keep her upright. She babbled incoherently into Kara’s shoulder, soaking the fabric with her tears as she begged and apologized and bargained with the alpha to find another way.

“If you have taught me anything, Lena, it is that strength is not always muscle and bone.” The tender caress of Kara’s calloused hand brushed away tears, and Lena gradually lifted her head to meet her mate’s soft blue eyes.

“I was forged as a child to be strong, but you were born with a fire that alphas only wished they possessed. It can never be extinguished,” Kara informed her with sincerity and combed Lena’s hair back with careful fingers. There was a sadness in Kara’s dark eyes, though not quite fear, at least not for her own wellbeing. “I will not let anything happen to you and our child, or the rest of our household. I may not be standing after this, but I will ensure that Lockwood will not be standing, either. Our estate will fall to our child, and you will be protected.”

Lena pinched her brows together petulantly, but she was too upset to maintain it for long. “I may not even give birth to an alpha, and did you forget how often you’ve needed to intervene on my behalf with the rest of the town?”

If the circumstances of Kara’s death did not destroy her, then Lena would find ruin at the hands of her enemies that would blame her for inciting trouble with Lockwood. She would be resented for the rest of her days, most of all by herself.

“If you fall, Kara, there will be no hope for me or for any of us. We all fall with you,” Lena softly intoned, and this time as the color disappeared from her face, her legs folded underneath her weight and the parlor became a void into which the light from the windows could not pass.

She would have dropped heavily upon the floor had Kara not been at her side to catch her.

As she swayed like a frond in the wind, Kara scooped her up and told the household that they would be retiring earlier than usual and wished to take their meals in the bedroom. The maids trailed after them with glass bottles of smelling salts and Lena came back to her senses in Kara’s arms.

Kara settled her down into bed and Nia came to check her over and to force her to drink some syrupy concoction that the kitchen sent up. Lena grimaced as she gulped it down, but it returned her strength enough to listen to Nia’s conversation with Kara.

“I’ve sewn you a gift. I planned to wait for a special occasion, but it seems like there’s no timelier occasion than now.” Nia produced a flat box and lifted the lid to show off the vest within it. She held the garment up after Kara had the chance to admire it. “This may be a bit too tight.”

The vest outwardly looked no different from the others that Kara owned, but there was a steel boning underneath that would confine her better than bandages.

In the face of such a dire situation, Kara appeared to shed more than her shirt in a hurry, without any self-consciousness she may have reserved for baring her chest while Nia stood anxiously by.

“There is no time to waste. If this requires alterations, then they would need to be done immediately,” Kara intoned in lieu of thanks, and motioned for Nia to aid her in fitting into the new garment.

It would grant her better movement and the ability to leave off her jacket for the upcoming fight.

Nia was careful with the fabrics and Lena watched while Kara adjusted her breasts so they would be restrained in a more compact manner. The vest itself created a stronger visage for Clark, sleeker than the bandages, though tighter on the ribs.

“How ever did you make this?” Kara asked, drawing her shoulders back to posture in the mirror at a sight none of them had ever seen before. She was every bit the alpha she had dedicated her life to becoming, and Lena experienced a fleeting taste of pride before the bitterness of fear coated her tongue.

“I tinkered with the idea of a corset in reverse. Of course I didn’t want laces to be involved, and rather than tightening your waist, I thought how marvelous such a garment would be to replace the bindings you use.” Nia’s soft demeanor brought a warmth to the troubled atmosphere and quelled some of their worry as she smiled sadly. “You never complain, but I know they must be uncomfortable. I had hoped this would grant you more freedom in your daily activities.”

Kara reached for the girl in a moment of emotion, her hand steady as she squeezed Nia’s in gratitude for the gift she was given. “Thank you. You have solved the dilemma I faced with requiring to wear my jacket tomorrow.”

“Does it pinch?” Lena asked when she caught the stuttered breath her mate sucked in.
 

If this had been any other time, she would have made a great fuss over how striking Kara was in the new vest, yet there was no joy in her tone, no pleasure in seeing Kara as the pillar of strength they were all praying for her to be.

“Only slightly, but it’s tolerable.” Kara’s weary shoulders remained squared, and Lena wondered how the weight of carrying everyone’s burdens never diminished the alpha’s integrity.

Nia excused herself, and Lena assisted Kara out of the vest just to drag her onto the bed half clothed.

“You need your rest to keep your wits about you in the morning,” Lena insisted with a stubborn jut of her chin that belied the fact she was in want of comfort.

She spared no graces as she turned to nestle into Kara’s arms, her warm cheek pressed into the sturdy muscle which tucked her all the more soundly against her mate. All of her petty whims and grievances were cast aside as she closed her eyes and listened to Kara’s quiet, even breaths.

“You’re calm,” Lena noted, envious of the alpha’s ability to stay focused and measured when all she wished for was to erase her past conduct.

“I’m reserving my anger for the man that deserves it,” Kara informed her with a quiet exhale.  


Perhaps Kara sensed her tension, or was tired of the distressed scent of her, because she entwined their fingers and placed Lena’s hand over her chest to command quietly, “Breathe when I breathe.”

Lena scoffed at the suggestion, yet found herself following every inhalation and exhalation until the loud fearful thoughts in her head became nothing but a hush. The world around her narrowed so that only Kara existed, and in their silence together, Lena found a sliver of peace that lulled her into a dreamless sleep.

She awoke in the early hours of night when Kara roused to prepare herself, and reacted with her natural hostility to mask her feelings of vulnerability.

“No, you tricked me. I did not wish to waste my time by sleeping—”

“And what would you have done, except lay awake in panic?” Kara questioned in return with a raised brow that enticed Lena’s feisty spirit into action.

Lena had fallen asleep in nothing but the shift that she often wore beneath her dress. She lifted the lightweight garment from her shoulders and wrestled her mate back into their bed.

“What if you were knotted inside of me at the time you were meant to face Mr. Lockwood?” Lena asked with a curious lilt to her voice and gripped at Kara’s hands while straddling the alpha.

Riding Kara to exhaustion would be ill advised, though Lena toyed with the idea for the sake of escaping her fears.

Her hands fit in the curve of Kara’s shoulders and she considered all the ways she could detain her alpha with her cunt.

Kara sprawled out in bed for but a moment before showing her strength and picking Lena up. “I imagine it would be hard to throw a punch at my opponent if you were in the way.”

Lena’s desperation shifted from pitiful wailing to obstinance when Kara sat her down and stood up to resume dressing. She refused to resign herself to hopelessness and heartache when she had only just begun to feel what it was to be cherished. “You will not leave me a widow with a child you have yet to meet, do you hear me?”

Kara paused in fastening the buttons of her shirt to cast a wry smirk Lena’s way. “You say this as if you can sway the fates in my favor. I assure you, I have no plans of losing today.”

“You assure me?” Lena hissed, the hem of her shift swishing as she stood up to face her mate with determination. “You will not fight today or any other day with that beast of man. I forbid it.”

“The laws are laws,” Kara stated blankly, the old rhetoric so ingrained that even then the alpha was unable to shake it.

“Then change them!” Lena shouted, no longer willing to sit idly by while the alpha put herself into danger all for the sake of laws nobody ought to honor.

“If I survive today, I might,” Kara muttered and stood before the mirror to pull her vest onto her shoulders and admire the shape of her chest. “I will change a good many laws, because my wife has a habit of breaking at least two or three every week.”

Lena stood up to seize ahold of the dress she had worn the day before without any cares about how she would look wearing such a crumpled bundle of fabric. She stuffed herself into it and pulled the ties as tight as she could without anyone’s help.

“I’m glad you still have a sense of humor, but I do not find any of this to be a joking matter,” Lena sulked and located her slippers, which she bent down to push onto her feet. “I am attending the fight, and the minute that Lockwood does anything disreputable, I will call foul play.”

“You know very well that omegas aren’t permitted at these events.” Kara spoke in a quieter, less jovial tone as she kneeled in front of Lena and lifted a slipper before she could get it onto her foot. “I made arrangements for you to spend the day in my library with Nia and Winn constantly at your side. You may not come with me, Lena.”

“I’ll dress as a beta and hide myself in the crowd.” Lena put her shoe aside to grasp both of Kara’s hands. “You know by now that I am a most stubborn creature, and you won’t persuade me to stay at home, no matter the argument. I will borrow a pair of Winn’s trousers and his cap and some of the dressings you use, and one of your old shirts—”

“Our baby--” Kara stressed.

“Everyone will just believe that I’m a plump beta,” Lena rebuffed and self-consciously clutched at the small crest of her stomach. “Besides, my waist is still narrow compared to the paunch I saw on some of the men at your counting house. They do nothing but eat pies all day.”

She hurried to discard the dress she had only just put on and dashed off to Kara’s closet to select a shirt and a jacket that was worn at the elbows.

Kara’s stoic facade slipped as disapproval darkened her features and the speed at which she moved to intercept Lena was shocking.

“Let that go,” Kara demanded and tore the jacket out of Lena’s hand to fling it to the floor with disdain. “I would like to think that being my wife would have imparted enough wisdom onto you to know that an old hunting jacket is not the proper attire for attending such a public affair. You’ll need a better one so you do not stand out in the crowd.”

Lena gaped at the alpha, much too startled to laugh around the lump in her throat, and she stepped back from the closet when Kara set about dressing her.

The shirt that Kara selected was loose around her shoulders and the sleeves hung halfway down her hands, so she folded the cuffs up. The trousers were snug around her middle, and the boots far too big, though nobody would notice as long as she took her time walking.

When Nia arrived with two steaming bowls of oatmeal and a tray of tea for breakfast, the poor girl was all but dragged into the mess before she could utter a word.

“Fetch Winn. He will assist you in outfitting yourself so you both may accompany Lena,” Kara rumbled and set the tray aside without any hint of an appetite.

“But the alphas—” Nia squeaked, far more sensible than Lena in her fear of being discovered.

“If we do not assist Lena, then she will run off the moment I am out of this house and I will not have her endanger herself at a time when I am unable to protect her. The three of you will follow after me in the carriage at a delay so as not to draw suspicion,” Kara asserted, her tone biting as she fixed Lena’s hair up and out of the way to hide it beneath a cap.

“You keep your head down and you stay at the back of the crowd,” Kara instructed, her tone no less firm, but certainly subdued as she took in Lena’s new appearance. “They will be rowdy. It is imperative that you brace yourself for the blood thirst. Should you find yourself amongst them, you’re likely to be struck from their jeering. I beg of you, for once, please behave yourself.”

There was no time for guilt as Kara kissed her all of a sudden. Lena swooned in surprise, her lips parting for the alpha’s tongue as she gasped. The rush of emotion which welled in her eyes proved difficult to see through, and when she finally blinked the room into view, it was to find Kara already gone.

Lena let out an undignified noise and rushed as if to follow her, though Nia restrained her around the waist.

“We must honor Clark’s wishes,” Nia reasoned, her gentle voice thick with worry as she ushered Lena down the hall to Winn.

In the short time that Nia dressed in some of Winn’s old clothes, Lena was no longer near tears. The fear which tightened around her ribcage like a corset was inspiring her to think fast.

As the three of them raced into the second smaller carriage, Lena asked the coachman to make a few stops.

“What is going on?” Nia hissed, her short nails worrying the thread of a coat button. She looked positively ill already and Winn fared no better. His pasty complexion was paler than moonlight and he bit at his lips to remain silent.

“If things are to ever change in this town, then we must force it,” Lena uttered, her eyes cast to the small window and the countryside that passed by in the beginnings of grey morning light. “We’ll see how quick to murder the alphas are when their own wives are also in the crowd.”

Lena’s ploy stopped them outside of Sam’s home, and the omega assured her she would pass on the message.

With their husbands already gone, each omega would hopefully disguise themselves in their alphas’ clothes and accompany Lena on this mad endeavor.

She stopped at the apothecary to regretfully inform Alexandra of the news and procured a bag of medicinal ointments and herbs that she would surely need to tend to any of Kara’s wounds once this horrid ordeal was over.

The town square was filled with every alpha in town. Some of the men and women appeared morose, though many were already releasing eager, wicked scents that reeked of aggression and delight. The stench was overwhelming, which fortunately worked in Lena’s favor. The alpha pheromones in the air would certainly drown out the delicate omega ones.

Wedged between Nia and Winn, they eased themselves into the growing crowd. Lena knew better than to go straight to the front and veered to the side when she glimpsed the sight of Kara. The alpha looked riled, her eyes blazing and lips curling over clenched white teeth. It took Lena a moment to realize that Lockwood was taunting Clark in the middle of the square, his unkempt and wild demeanor alarming to behold. He gestured with his hand the sort of profanity that scandalized omegas, and a few in the crowd snarled as he continued.

Lena sensed the growing unrest when the gathering of alphas stepped forward to form a tighter ring, and then Mr. Baker was issuing the rules of the challenge, of which there were very few.

No alpha was permitted to bring a weapon, and any call for it to stop from either party would result in that alpha forfeiting everything he owned. Lena’s stomach lurched when Kara set aside her jacket to roll up her cuffs, and Lockwood charged without warning.

Kara dodged Benjamin’s fist by weaving to the side, and jabbed the brute in the ribs with a punch that made him wheeze. The crowd fell into an expectant hush when Benjamin snarled at the smirk on Kara’s face. Their hatred permeated the air around them, though it was Benjamin who flung his fist first.

The blow clipped Kara’s chin, and he tried to land another, wildly swinging as she ducked and delivered an uppercut that rattled his teeth. He staggered back, reeling from the force, and kicked out to stop Kara getting closer. They prowled around one another, both posturing and puffing up while trying to maintain a safe distance as they eyed one another for weakness.

Benjamin opened his mouth with a cocky scoff, but nothing came out of it except blood when Kara smashed her knuckles into his lips and split one. They were frenzied after that. Benjamin let out a growl and grabbed for Kara’s right arm, his filthy nails digging into the skin, while he delivered a series of punches to Kara’s side.

Kara in turn snared him by the front of the shirt to smack her forehead against the bridge of his nose, the resounding crack inspiring cheers and hollering from the crowd as Benjamin soaked the front of his shirt scarlet.

“You will not beat me!” Benjamin roared, his hands latching around Kara’s throat as he screamed in her face, “I have nothing to lose, Clark, and your wife has made you weak.” His ravings were insane, though perhaps his madness aided his strength for his hold tightened and he laughed as he tried to prohibit Kara’s breaths.

Kara’s face reddened from the force of his calloused hands, flecks of spittle forming at the corners of her mouth as her fingers clawed at Benjamin’s in an attempt to wrench him free. The struggle lasted but a second, though it felt an eternity to Lena, who watched on in horror as Kara brought her knee up roughly between Benjamin’s legs.

Lena derived a twisted sense of pleasure from hearing his groan of pain, and his hands slipped just enough for Kara to gasp.

Kara brought her forearms down against Benjamin’s hard enough to break his hold, and then she surged forward with a vicious growl, grabbing at his shirt collar while she battered him with a closed fist.

“You fool,” Kara seethed, the rage on her face contorting it to reflect the monstrous urges of her alpha. “I have everything to lose, and that makes me fight harder.”

The sickening sound of her hand repeatedly connecting with his face stirred the crowd, and the levels of aggression reached disgusting heights when a few started to praise Kara for her ruthless aim.

Benjamin fell backwards, his feet scrambling in the dirt as he tried to push himself away from Kara’s reach. He lashed out, striking his boots into Kara’s shin, and tore himself free of her grasp with a snarl.

“You’ve always underestimated me,” Benjamin accused, his fingers raking over the ground to gather dirt and pebbles to throw at Kara’s face.

While the crowd was concerned for Clark, Lena kept her eyes on Lockwood. The distraction gave the beast time to retrieve something from his sock, and while Lena could not see what it was as Benjamin concealed it in his palm, her stomach roiled with panic all the same.

“The bastard brought a weapon,” Lena whispered and Nia tightened her grip on her arm in fear that she may faint.

“Clark will outwit him,” Winn whispered, though even his voice held a tremor as the two alphas punched and swung at one another.

Benjamin was an awful sight with a bloodied face and swollen lip, yet his energy never waned and Kara remained steadfast in her attempt to avoid his frantic hands. Once or twice a punch was inevitable, and when Benjamin struck her jaw with a victorious bellow, Kara grabbed him by the arm and used his momentum to knee him in the ribs.

He leaned into the attack, using his weight to try and force Kara down, and they rolled in a flurry of fists and gnashing teeth.

Twice Benjamin attempted to bite at Kara’s throat with intent to humiliate with a claim, and Kara used her knuckles to worsen the break of his nose. The howl of pain was met with laughter and Lena winced when Benjamin struck her mate across the face with a rough back hand.

Their noises were worse than any animal, grunting and snarling and snapping as the severity of the fight started to sink in. One of them would not be leaving the circle, and the second one of them tired, the fight would be as good as over.

“Bash his fucking head in,” Mr. Lord jeered, swinging his own fist as if to aid Kara in the next blow.

Other alphas began roaring advice, and Lena swooned at the barbaric enthusiasm that took over their sensibilities.

Benjamin tried to ram his shoulder into Kara in an effort to knock her down, and she maneuvered herself to catch the scoundrel in a headlock.

“You never should have challenged me,” Kara shouted above his grunts, squeezing her arms around Benjamin’s head until the purple of his lips began to tinge blue.

The crowd demanded more, and Lena wondered if perhaps Kara would have snapped his neck if not for the moment that their eyes finally met through the gathering. The horror in Lena’s eyes must have shocked Kara, for her grip loosened and she shoved Benjamin away with utter disgust.

Some alphas assumed that Kara was enjoying the brutality and wanted to extend it, and others were openly excited to see if she would toy with Lockwood before ending his life. None of them realized that Lena’s presence was the reason that Kara faltered, and Lena never knew how much that might cost the alpha until Benjamin let out a scream. “Have you not realized that I do not care if I die, so long as you do not live?”

The small blade which Benjamin had been holding glinted in the stark light of day, and if Kara had not been staring at Lena, she would have seen it.

The noise of outrage from the crowd broke through to Kara, but even though she swung around to grab Benjamin’s fist, that was not the hand that held the blade.

His grin was disturbingly sick as he stuck the knife into Kara’s side and pushed against the hilt. He held onto Kara, kept her close to see the pain radiate in her eyes, and laughed as her lips parted in shock.

“You have no honor,” Kara hissed, her hand securing around Benjamin’s to try and pull the blade free.

“But I will have your wife,” Benjamin declared, pushing on the hilt to keep the blade concealed between them with a deranged smirk. “And the bitch will obey me in every way. She will beg for me,” he mocked as he dug the blade in and his cruelty forced Kara onto her knees.

She fell in the dust beneath Benjamin, her face white with shock.

Lena’s feet moved on their own to weave in between the alphas who stood at the front of the line. She swept the hat off her head as the breath held in her chest from terror.

Kara’s shirt began to change color, spotting with a fatal red that caused Lena to shove harder through the observers.

She could have called out to the men and pleaded with them to bring an end to this madness, or she could have shrieked that Benjamin had violated all of the rules, but her instincts did not follow her own plan.  


“There is only one alpha I will beg for,” Lena announced, loud enough to be heard by the alphas in the inner circle as she addressed Kara. “You must get up. Get up now. Please, please. Before you saved me, I felt so alone in the world. I do not wish to be alone again—”

Lena stepped as close as she dared to venture and began to sob as Kara’s eyes shut and her chest no longer rose and fell. Kara’s face was ashen as Benjamin shoved the knife in further and spun towards Lena. She ignored the threat of him sneering at her and moved nearer still to her mate.

“I will listen to you, and I will give you many more children,” Lena promised with a pitiful whimper as Kara would not lift her head. “I know we’ve had our differences, but I swear to you I will be nothing but the most loyal mate. You cannot leave me like this.”

Her soft pleas and whines would not stir the alpha, and she was bold enough to bypass Lockwood and bend next to Kara.

“I love you,” Lena cried as she clasped at Kara’s bloodied hand and laid her head upon the alpha’s chest in desperation to hear a heartbeat. “Please. I’ve been fearful of saying it until now, but it was foolish of me. I wish to tell you how I feel every day — when we awaken beside each other, or after we’ve put our children to sleep at night. I wish to say it for no reason at all as we sit together in the parlor or our carriage — I need you and I love you.”

“What a vile, simpering creature you are,” Benjamin hissed, deriving great pleasure from her broken sobs. “I can have you hanged for being where you don’t belong.” He moved as if to kick her out of the way, and gasped when Kara suddenly grabbed his shoe.

“You cannot hang us all!” Sam yelled from the mob, discarding her cap with a dramatic flourish that the rest of the omegas followed. The shock drained Benjamin of his sense of victory and as he and the other alphas gaped at the audacity of the omegas, Kara got to her feet with a roar that would have dropped anyone to their knees in submission.

Benjamin stumbled back from the dominant pheromones unleashed in defense of Lena, and Kara moved to cloak her mate with a snarl that bared her teeth.

“You broke the rules,” Kara raged, pulling the blade out of her side just to brandish it for the crowd. “And for that you will pay.” She flung the blade aside and dived for Benjamin, hitting him so solidly that he dropped to the ground with a groan of distress and disbelief.

Faced with their wives, and unwilling to punish them all, the alphas turned their fury towards Benjamin, who realized entirely too late that the crowd was advancing.

Mr. Lord reached him first with a tight fist to the jaw, and Mr. Edge kicked at his stomach to keep him on the ground.

“Why, it seems the only bitch in town is you, Lockwood.” Mr. Lord sneered, relishing the way the brute tried to crawl.

“Not for long,” Mr. Edge intoned as members of the council grabbed Lockwood by the arms to drag him off as he wailed for mercy that would never be granted.

Others kicked viciously at Benjamin’s legs as he tried to flee their wrath, and Kara strode forward like she planned to join them.

“We’ll take it from here, Clark.” Mr. Baker announced, clapping Kara on the shoulder with utmost respect. ”Let your wife tend to your wounds and then join us in celebration of your victory.”

The mention of her mate cut through Kara’s blood thirst and she turned to find Lena trembling in the crowd.

“What were you thinking interrupting such a fight? You could have been killed,” Kara blurted as she rushed to Lena’s side, her dirty and blooded hands cupping Lena’s face as she looked her over in a frenzied panic. “Look at you, you’re shaking. Are you injured? Come here,” Kara instructed, her arms enveloping Lena in a protective embrace while nuzzling into her neck and the claim which resided there.

Lena clung to her alpha and reciprocated the affection with a small whimper as her hand slipped towards the injury and found it was not as deep as it could have been. The vest that Nia made was of thicker leather, and though Lockwood did all he could to twist the knife in, it had sliced in many places but had not touched any vital part of Kara.

“We must take you home and bathe these wounds so they do not become infected,” Lena uttered, though all of her other soft words were lost in the loud shouts of brutality all around them.

Her quiet I love you was no more than a movement of her lips due to the noise, and she broke away from Kara to march through the alphas.

“This is not the way.”  Lena shouted with authority, like it was her right to bring the alphas to heel. She growled at them, not just Lockwood, but every violent and foolish alpha who had ever disagreed with her or taunted her or threatened her.

“Don’t you see that this is wrong?” Her voice was louder as she turned among them and glared at Mr. Lord and Mr. Baker, who both had Lockwood by an arm. “The violence must stop. Our laws are over two hundred years old. It is time we revisit them formally and make changes to how we treat people — not just alphas, but also betas and omegas.”

Kara wandered up to her side and placed a hand on her arm, and Lena believed she would be encouraged to leave the alphas to their condemnation of Lockwood.

Winn and Nia came over as if to collect her, and she backed off with her head down in case her speech drew the ire of any alpha who might not forgive her for once again rallying against tradition.

“We will not uproot the very foundations of our lives simply because it upsets an omega.” Mr. Baker’s exasperation was evident in his sigh and he turned to Clark, as if expecting the alpha to side with him. “I understand that she’s pregnant, and of course that affects the mind, but we cannot entertain the notion just because your wife--”

“And yours,” Kara pointed out, remarkably calm given the state of her and the adrenaline that must have coursed through her veins.

Mr. Baker faltered as he peered over Kara’s shoulder to witness the mob of omegas and the betas that accompanied them, and a few other alphas who had stopped to watch what was transpiring.

“There’s not an alpha here other than Benjamin that would have liked to see me die, and I very likely might have if he had possessed a bigger blade.” Kara’s words stilled the crowd, and she stood taller, despite the wounds that continued to weep in a steady flow. “We owe it to ourselves to open a discussion of what we deem fit for our town. If we are to honor the laws by the letter, then every omega and beta that is here should be put to death. Which of you volunteers your wife and maids first?”

Remarkably, the poignant scent of anxiety was from the alphas and not the omegas, who stood defiantly in the town square with their heads held high. Lena gawked at her mate in hopefulness.

“Clark, we cannot abolish every law,” Mr. Baker whispered, his eyes fixed on his wife, as if he feared someone may drag her off at any moment.

“Nor should we,” Clark affirmed to settle the fear that gripped the alphas who might rebel at the thought of change. “Now, we can either round up everyone here and take care of them all at once, or we can agree that as the alphas, it is our duty to discuss which laws no longer suit our respectable town tomorrow.”

“Why tomorrow?” One of the omegas yelled, much to her husband’s chagrin.

“Today we will get drunk and rejoice that I am fortunately not meeting Death any time soon,” Kara announced, lifting everyone’s spirits with the prospect of ale and food.

“What about Lockwood?” Mr. Edge asked, his lips curled in disdain for the alpha that still even now tried to plead and fight in equal measures. “He deserves to die for all he’s done.”

“Exile,” Lena whispered as though afraid to speak too loudly, lest the alphas decide they would no longer listen and revoke their agreement. “We should exile him, so he may never bother anyone in this town again.”

“And should he return, he will be put to death,” Mr. Lord insisted with an arrogant lift of his chin.

That seemed to satisfy the rest of the alphas, who looked down on Benjamin with scorn, and they pulled him onto his feet to lock him in the stocks while they celebrated.

Kara led the crowd towards the pub with an arm around Lena’s waist. The noise of the alphas was ear splitting, but at least the aggressive pheromones were toned down as the omegas sidled up to reward them with affection for listening to their protest.

Their lives were finally going to change, and Lena waited until Kara got the chance to sniff a bottle of whisky before she grabbed it from her hand and all but pushed the alpha across the bar counter.

“Hold still,” Lena hissed, and upended the amber liquid to pour it liberally over the stab wound.

Kara let out a startled snarl of pain, and a few alphas laughed in camaraderie as Nia and Winn held Kara steady so that Lena could thread a needle.

She moved the vest up a few inches, and then pushed the sharp tip of the needle through Kara’s skin. The alphas cheered her on, and some of the omegas came forward to offer assistance and help Lena apply a poultice to aid in healing and preventing infection.

Lena would have liked to admire her work, but Kara had other intentions as she asserted herself as Lena’s alpha with a growl and wave of pheromones that instantly wetted her cunt. She whined when Kara kissed her fiercely with both hands roaming across her waist like the alpha might rip the pants right off her.

“I wish for some time alone with you.” Lena ended the groping by clutching at Kara’s forearms and arching an eyebrow that conveyed the need for privacy. “Might we take the carriage back together and send the coachman to fetch Nia and Winn after the festivities are over?”

She sensed the betas were enjoying themselves, and she smiled at Nia, who was raising a mug of ale to a toast in Kara’s name.

If Kara had any qualms about leaving the celebration, they did not deter her from drawing Lena close and pulling her by the hand through the open door.  


“I believe our coachman is drinking with the rest of the alphas, but we can steal a moment alone together in the counting house.” Kara attempted to lead her towards the stately stone building, though without a soul on the streets to observe their behaviors, Lena had other ideas.

They were rather near to the low wall where Kara had dealt out the punishment to Lena’s backside. She unbuttoned her shirt with a slow hand while Kara’s attention was still on the counting house. Pushing the curls back from her neck to expose her claim mark, she traced a finger over it while catching Kara’s eye.

“No one is around, Kara,” Lena muttered with a glance at the bar and then another towards the distant part of the square where the stocks were beyond range of sight. “What if you were to have me right here?”

Lena slipped her trousers down and Kara’s fingers went to the remaining buttons on her shirt. Her nakedness felt natural despite their location, and as Kara positioned her over the low wall, she had no feelings other than bliss. Kara enticed her to open her legs with a soft hand between her thighs and she moaned at the gentle petting.

Kara’s fingers spread her cunt with tender ministrations and Lena whimpered when the alpha swirled a single finger around her excited clitoris.

“I was not sure I would ever get to feel you like this again,” Kara confided, soft only in tone as the tip of her rigid cock prodded between Lena’s cunt lips.

They were out in the open, though after such wild events Lena doubted that the masses would do very little except avidly witness her take such an exceptionally large cock. Kara’s pheromones were richer yet no less delicious to inhale, stronger perhaps from the violence that occurred. Lena held them in her lungs when the alpha’s hands secured around her waist and she braced for the first powerful thrust that would jolt her forward.

With Kara’s alpha so riled, the fit was tight, and Lena whined, breathy and encouraging as her mate spread her inner walls with deft strokes.

“I never wish to hear you speak like that after today,” Lena reprimanded, as if she could dictate what worries would and would not reside within Kara’s heart.

She pushed her backside roughly into the alpha to dissuade any more talk of such upsetting things and groaned when the alpha retaliated with forceful bucks that caused her breasts to swing.

The cool breeze did little to dampen the fire of their loins and Kara’s grunts of pleasure echoed in the quiet square. She infused the breeze with possessive scents and her hands travelled up to take hold of Lena’s tender breasts.

“You say that like you plan to punish me for being honest,” Kara rumbled, thumbing at Lena’s stiff nipples until she gasped from the amorous attention.

“I would prefer that you would be honest with me in other ways,” Lena admitted and mete out something of a punishment with an internal constricting around Kara’s cock.

Her cunt controlled the rate at which Kara could thrust inside of her. It made no secret of the power she held, and her muscles were loath to relinquish their clench and cede to Kara’s dominant entry. When it took her by surprise, she sucked in a breath and moaned it back out again.

“And which ways would you prefer?” Kara asked, her lustful tone nothing more than a rumble of approval when Lena saw fit to let go of the wall in order to hold onto her backside.

To spread herself so fully was indecent, and yet the unhindered view it gave Kara was an act of submission that thrilled them both.

“If I have to tell you, it means nothing,” Lena expressed, her feisty attitude provoking Kara into releasing her breasts in order to take fistfuls of her backside to spread her further.

Both sets of their fingers bit into Lena’s cheeks as Kara’s rocking became rapid, and her keening moans increased in volume. Lena relied on Kara to keep her upright, since she could no longer brace herself on the stone wall, and whimpered when the alpha hooked an arm around her hip to reach her bare cunt.

“I would think an omega as smart as yourself would have known by now,” Kara taunted, her fingers settling on either side of Lena’s clitoral hood to rub the glossy bead.

Each passionate slam of the alpha’s pelvis ricocheted pleasure through Lena’s core and her cunt squeezed of its own accord.

“What should I have known?” Lena gasped, her thoughts foggy from the intense rutting. The rougher Kara handled her, the happier her omega proved to be and Lena knew she would gladly spend the rest of her life disobeying Kara in the smallest of ways to provide them both such excellent stimulation.

Kara nuzzled into Lena’s throat, her lips and tongue moving their way up to nip at Lena’s earlobe. “That I love you, that I have loved you for so long—"

Lena’s rapture tore through her with a cry so loud even Lockwood would hear it. The strength of her contractions rendered her speechless and she sagged forward at the mercy of Kara’s hands to keep her from falling. She expected to feel her cunt flow with seed yet Kara surprised her by retreating.

She only realized the alpha was on her knees when the silken warmth of her tongue glided between her sensitive folds to lap at her desire.

Lena folded herself over, leaning into the wall as she presented herself with submissive moans to Kara’s oral talents.

The alpha drew Lena’s secret pearl into her mouth with firm pulls that moved her lips over it in quick succession. The flutter of Kara’s tongue spread ripples of pleasure up Lena’s spine and she trembled, back arching and thighs tensing as the alpha groaned praise straight into her cunt.

Kara demanded her release as though she craved with a ravenous temper, and was not shy about pushing her tongue into the wet clutches of Lena’s entrance to feel the tremors of need inside.

“Oh, lick me,” Lena blurted between heavy breaths, startling herself at her vocal demands. She was on the precipice of such sweet ecstasy and her straining muscles contorted her as she groaned, “Please, darling, I wish to feel your devotion.”

Perhaps it was her honeyed words or the truth of her sentiments that spurred Kara into devouring her anew. The alpha suckled on her clitoris with such skill that the sky itself showed her stars despite the morning sun. Rivulets of slick soaked Kara’s chin and Lena lost all sense of self as her world became the tip of Kara’s tongue.

She whined as Kara pulled back, the warmth of her mouth a distant dream as Lena struggled for breath. It appeared the alpha was not done with her yet, and Lena’s surprise took form of a laugh as Kara lifted her into her strong arms. Their dalliance took them to the beautiful town gardens across the square, where posies and primroses bloomed. Kara knelt on the grass to lay her down and Lena raised up her legs with a coquettish smile.

“I’m inclined to believe that you are attempting to romance me,” Lena teased, the beat of heart a sign that it was surely working. “I expect you to play the part of my doting alpha from now on.”

“And you my loving wife,” Kara intoned with mischief in her eyes as she moved in between Lena’s open legs. The alpha evidently heard her confessions earlier and Lena opened her mouth to scold her for not reciprocating the sentiments immediately.

Fortunately, Kara never allowed a word to pass her lips, and while claiming her mouth with a searing kiss, she rocked forward to sink into Lena’s cunt.

The thick tip plumbed deeper than usual and Lena exhaled the softest moans into her alpha’s mouth. She cupped Kara’s face as they kissed, her palms drawing her closer to caress the array of bruises forming from her battle.

“It is my turn to take care of you for a while, my brave, strong alpha.” Lena whispered, her wanton scent wafting in the breeze as she secured her legs around Kara’s hips and locked her ankles.

At any other time, the suggestion of showing such a degree of tenderness would have been preposterous, and to do so now in such a public display could result in their undoing. These were risks that Lena was willing to take to shower Kara with the kind of love she had yet to know.

They moved together differently, not rough or quick, but with gentle undulations that held the alpha in the confines of Lena’s warm channel. She used the velvet of her cunt to trap Kara, snug and unyielding so that the brush of her lips over a bruised cheekbone could not be avoided. Her mouth gave little kisses, lighter than fairy wings, to Kara’s lips, brow, the tip of her nose and her chin.

Lena experienced the alpha’s struggle first hand with such delicate touches. The tension manifested in Kara’s muscles and turned them as solid as the stone wall she had rested on moments before.

She worried that she had done wrong by the alpha, subjecting her to the treatment that often omegas hoped to receive and sought to soothe Kara with the contractions of her cunt.

“I have upset you,” Lena lamented, the tremble of her voice filled with regret.

“No,” Kara corrected, her vulnerable, confused gaze searching Lena’s, though she did not try to break from their passionate embrace.

“Shall I continue?” Lena asked in a hush, twining her fingers in the loose blonde hairs at the nape of Kara’s neck.

To accept her love in such a manner went beyond what Kara was taught that an alpha should be.

The fragility of Kara’s acquiescence filled Lena with an abundance of emotion.

“Come here,” Lena coaxed in a sultry rasp, and brought Kara down to her breast. She stroked intricate patterns over Kara’s clothed shoulders and nosed her way into the slope of Kara’s neck.

She treated the alpha to languid licks along her racing pulse, sucking to elicit breathy groans. Lena would never dare leave a mark of her own, and to be trusted with such a position of power where it was possible that she could was a testament to Kara’s true feelings.

Lena may very well be naked and prone on the grass, yet it was she who commanded their pleasure right then. Each roll of Kara’s hips and every sensual meeting of lips was all part of a dance which she led, and Lena could not wait to return home to their estate, where she could undress her mate and explore her thoroughly.

“I love you,” Lena whispered, her breath tickling at the alpha’s ear so Kara would understand the intimacies of her body echoing the sentiments. Deep spasms were a prelude of the bliss to come, and Lena’s cunt was spread open with a gradual swelling of Kara’s amorous intentions. “Look at me, Kara. I wish your eyes on me as you fill me with your seed.”

Their quickened breaths were at odds with the slow rock of their hips and yet the connection between them felt indelibly different. Heightened to such a degree that sweat slicked Lena’s brow and the excretion of her muscles kept her cunt exquisitely tight. “You are the only alpha worthy of giving me children.”

That simple utterance brought Kara’s hips crashing into her, and the rougher penetration lasted but a moment before Kara’s teeth latched around the claim on Lena’s neck to stifle the sound of her euphoria. The alpha’s hips jerked, spilling warm ropes of seed into Lena’s demanding cunt which earned her a bliss like no other.

They were enamored with one another, swept up in a love neither expected, but had longed for their whole lives.

Lena moaned her appreciation of the rapid swelling within her cunt, and Kara nipped and groaned and nuzzled into her pale neck until the knot fully took hold.

“We best get somewhere safe, lest the whole town think of me as a harlot,” Lena teased when Kara reared up to admire the rosiness of her cheeks and the way her lips were darkened with the flush of satisfaction.

“How fortunate that I own half the buildings,” Kara murmured, making no move to get up as she stared down at Lena with open adoration. “Where would you have me take you next? The counting house, or perhaps the carriage?” she mused, carefully gathering Lena into her arms so that when she raised to her knees and then her feet, her wife was gently suspended with an incredibly full cunt.

“Anywhere,” Lena implored, besotted with her alpha, who was still strong enough to carry her without hindrance after such a fight. “Providing I get to stay in your arms just like this for the rest of my life, you may take me anywhere.”