Raider's Treasure (Alpha Barbarians Book 1)

6

"Wait, wait! Why are they in there?" Lyric asked as she ran the few steps to catch up to the alpha and grabbed his arm.

Turning back to look at her before lifting his eyes to what she realized now was a cage, he shrugged his shoulders.

"For transportation."

Rolling her eyes and letting out an irritated huff, she tugged on his arm again as he tried to turn away.

"I know them. They are omegas from my village. Why are they in there?"

He raised his eyebrows as he looked down at her and said, "Would you prefer they walk? They haven't been granted clothing as you have, I think they would prefer it where they are."

Anger rising at what seemed to be his purposeful avoidance of her question, Lyric broke it down for him.

"Why. Are. There. Omegas. In. A. Cage?" she growled out, jabbing her finger at the wagon.

Turning to fully face her, she had to back away as he came towards her, trapping her between himself and the wall of the cage where the other omegas were.

"Because none of them were injured and needing special attention. Because they are my captives, just like you. Because they aren't the omega I have chosen for myself, so I do not care if they are seen as the chattel they are," he growled down at her, causing her body to tremble with something other than the cold.

"But...," Lyric tried to speak up for them again but was silenced by his rough growl.

"Unless you wished to be stripped and caged with them, you will remain silent," he whispered against her ear, the brush of his warm breath against her skin causing her to shiver harder.

"Now, come," he commanded as he straightened and turned to continue walking towards the front of the train that was now fully formed and waiting on its leader.

Shooting one last look into the cage, she hung her head and followed him. Once they reached the front of the line, they found another large alpha holding the bridle of two horses. While shorter than the one laying claim to her, he was a bit broader and much rougher looking. Speaking in whatever their native language was, the two talked for a moment before her alpha took the reins of a large, black, beast of a horse, and the other alpha left with the second one.

Looking around, Lyric wondered if he planned to drag her behind his horse just before the alpha grabbed her around the waist and lifted her onto the saddle. Squeaking as she gripped the horn with her good hand and wrapped her legs around the horse's chest, she felt the alpha's large body settle into the saddle behind her, pressing her uncomfortably against the hardened leather between her thighs.

Large arms caged her in between his chest and the horse's neck, leaving her nowhere to go, and no chance of slipping away unnoticed while they traveled. Biting back a growl, Lyric resolved to wait until the opportunity presented itself. He wouldn't be able to watch her forever.

Guilt briefly ate at her. She was planning to run off while others of her clan were locked in a cage. She could attempt to free them if she got the chance, but a group would be much easier to hunt down than a single person, and Lyric had doubts about her own ability to get away and fend for herself. A group of young omegas lost together with no real survival skills was a recipe for disaster, and a prize no alpha would pass up. They would have no chance.

Sighing, she focused on what was going on around her. Having spaced out while she was thinking about the others, Lyric had missed the alpha giving the order to get moving. They still stood in the same spot as he watched his people riding by, calling out occasionally to the ones passing. Once the last of the wagons had rolled away from where they had camped around the house she had been kept in, her alpha clicked to the horse between her thighs and nudged him forward.

Coming up behind the last of the wagons, a shrill whistle came from behind her head. Jumping and clamping her hands over her ears which had pain lancing through her shoulder, Lyric shot an angry look behind her, about to ask him why he did that so close to her head, when she saw something large and dark come running at them from the right.

Gasping, she didn't have time to warn the alpha before she noticed more dark shapes closing in from each direction. They were almost as tall as the horses, their heads coming up to the horse's shoulder, easily able to rip out it's throat or lunge up and reach the rider. Clenching her hands on the alpha's arms, Lyric whimpered and tried to make herself smaller, waiting for the animals to attack.

Holding her breath with her eyes scrunched closed, she waited. The chuckle she felt rumbling against her back brought Lyric out of her terror and she cracked an eye open to see one of the beasts trotting along next to the horse, a mere couple of feet from her leg. Flinching away, she noticed another on the opposite side as well. As she watched, two more passed them on the left, running towards the front of the line of travelers. Seeing that no one else seemed to react to their presence, she turned a questioning gaze to her captor.

"They are 'Nicaavet'. We breed them in the north to help with hunting and protection. They tend to bond with one person and are loyal to death. They are the reason your plan to escape will never work," he said with a grin, whispering the last part in her ear. "Once they lock on a scent, they never lose the hunt."

Eyes narrowing, Lyric straightened her back and pulled away from him as much as she could.

"Did you really expect anything less when you announced you were going to claim me? Was I just supposed to bow my head and say, 'Yes, Sir'?"

Grin spreading wider he said, "Well that certainly would have been nice. Most omegas would have responded that way."

Wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her back against him again, she could feel his erection pressed against her back as he whispered, "You will be thoroughly punished when you fail to escape, and I'm looking forward to it."

Struggling in his hold, he finally relaxed his arm a little and allowed her to lean forward. "I am not most omegas obviously, so why don't you choose one of them instead?" she asked.

"For precisely that reason."