The Archer: Lost Omegas Book 1

Opportunity

CYRENE

Have to get out. Have to get out.

She tried again to pull her foot through the metal shackle on her ankle without success. She had already tried pulling it from where it was anchored to the wall, and met with failure there also. She needed to get out of this cell. Swallowing her fear at the only option available to her, she looked around the cell for a rock. She would have to break her ankle to pull her foot free. The idea sickened her. But there was no other way. Better to be crippled than a prisoner. She found a piece of the stone wall was loose and was slowly able to pull the stone free. She looked down at her ankle and foot, bracing the limb in the corner. Praying for strength, she raised the stone high above her head.

A loud thud sounded beyond the door, stopping her. What the hell was that?! Is he back? Is my time up? Did I take too long?

She gripped the stone tighter, now preparing to use it as a weapon against the man. Soft, light footsteps approached the door.

"Cy?" a feminine voice whispered from the other side. "Are you in there?"

"Lena!" Cyrene exclaimed on an breathy exhale, relieved beyond words. Another moment, and Cyrene would have broken her own ankle to bits so she could escape. "What are you doing here?" The door to the cell opened easily, it seemed there was little reason to lock the door when the prisoner is chained to the wall.

"I'm the rescue of course!" Galena giggled quietly, grinning wide and holding up a metal key. "You didn't think I was just going to leave you here?!"

Cyrene said nothing, trying to keep her face expressionless, because in truth- she had. "What did you do to the guard?"

"Cambeul always loves the mead I make. I use it to mix with my elixirs. Helps cut the taste of the herbs. I collect the honey for it from the ground bees myself," she said proudly. "Just added a little poppy milk and waited around the corner until he collapsed." Cyrene figured that was the source of the thud she had heard moments earlier. Galena used the key to unlock the shackle. Doubt crossed her features for a moment, "I hope I didn't kill him- I didn't check!"

"You can blame me." Cyrene walked out of the cell, seeing the fallen guard lying face down next to the table in the hall. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. As soon as Cyrene neared the candle burning on the table, casting light on her body, she heard Galena let out a sudden gasp. Turning quickly to see what startled the woman, she saw Galena wide-eyed and covering her mouth with her hands, eyes fixed on her neck.

"Oh, Cy..." Galena started. "Your neck- he claimed you."

"Not all of me." She replied, continuing down the hall towards the main part of the castle, moving quietly, cautiously. "He planned on a forced pairing in the morning." She did not know the castle well enough to know the best way out. "Lena, you'll need to lead. I don't know the way."

She could tell Galena wanted to say more. Claiming bites were rare for Raposo, their people claimed mates through a pairing ceremony, which acknowledged the body of another as mate. Claiming bites were much more serious, and permanent. They bonded the spirit of one mate to the other's. When the Bond was complete, the mating mark would form- a scar that created a pattern unique to that individual. The Bond was unbreakable unless one mate died. The Claiming bites and Bonds are dangerous, complicated. Cyrene did not understand all the details, never having learned much about them, as they were rare and she joined the Skulk at a young age. She never thought she'd have the need of the information.

"Did you tell him you are omega? Or could he smell you? That's how the Lobo warriors collected the women today- by scent- they only selected omegas. They knew exactly what they were looking for," she whispered back, eyes focused on her bite mark still. Claiming marks from alphas were fatal to betas. Only omegas could survive their bite. Claiming bites from Omegas were accepted by either dynamic. Since most Raposo women took Rue, which disguised their dynamic, they would have to reveal their omega dynamic for an alpha to risk a claiming bite on his mate. Even then, it was a rare thing to see such a thing in Raposo. She knew the Commander had Bonded with his omega mate, but she knew of no other.