BRUTAL CAPTURE
The Hunter King captures his Omega…
They call him the Hunter King. No one knows his real name.
He’s big and handsome, powerful and brutal.
And he’s just captured me.
Let me back up. I’m on an alien planet. I don’t know how I got here or who I am. I don’t remember anything but my name.Haley.
I’m the only human among many females who are part of the annual Moonlight Hunt. The warriors are the hunters. We are the prey.
It doesn’t take long for the Hunter King to catch me… and when he does, he carries me off to his secret lair. He says the same word over and over:
Omega.
I don’t know what that means. But I do understand when he growls the rest:
Mine.
Mine.
Mine.
ONE
Haley
I’m havingthe strangest dream. I’m lying on a dewy lawn, with moisture seeping into my skin from below. A fern leaf brushes my face. It’s nighttime but the sky is bright with the light of the full moon. No—fivemoons. Five? What the fuck?
I run a hand over my head and my fingers get snagged. My hair is tangled from sleep. Something bites my bare thigh sharply, and I swat it, but miss. Some sort of lightning bug zooms away—but it’s bigger and more wicked-looking than any insect I’ve ever seen before. And it was bright red, unlike any lightning bug I’ve ever seen.
I rub my leg. Whatever it was, that thing bit me, and it hurt. Which sucks, but what sucks even more is what the sharp pinch didn’t do.
It didn’t wake me up. I’m already awake. This isn’t a dream. This is happening to me.
Where am I?
I sit up, my damp limbs aching, trying to get my bearings. I’m wearing a transparent negligee, my nipples and areolas on display through the filmy white fabric. There’s a relentless pounding in my skull, and a bitter taste in my mouth. My lips are cracked, and when I rub them, I taste blood. I’d kill for something cold to drink.
A branch cracks, and I whirl around, my heart hammering in my chest. A ghostly shape pushes its way through the brush, and staggers to a stop next to me. The figure hunches over, hands on knees to catch its breath.
“Ulf,” exclaims a high-pitched voice. The newcomer’s wearing a pale, flimsy-looking robe that brushes the tops of her thighs. And nothing else. The robe is pretty see-through, like the one I’m wearing.
The woman pushes back her long hair to gape at me. Her eyes are a bit too big for her face. And her ears… have pointed tips. Like an elf’s.
Maybe I’m at some sort of costume party… and I drank too much? That would explain my woozy head. But that wouldn’t explain why she doesn’t sound like she’s speaking English—or any language I’ve ever heard.
“Um,” I manage. My lips feel too big for my face.
Before I can ask where I am and what I’m doing here, the woman leans in, her huge eyes wide.
“What are you doing?” she hisses. “You can’t stay here! The Alphas are coming! We must run!” Reaching down, she grabs my hand, wraps long, slender fingers around my wrist, and yanks me to my feet, nearly dislocating my shoulder. She’s a lot stronger than she looks. She tows me behind her and we go crashing into the undergrowth.
She’s tall, too, with at least a foot on me, and even though it’s nighttime, there’s something unusual about her. Her skin shimmers in the moonlight, looking… green.
I follow her, trying to match her long-legged strides, branches and leaves whipping my face, my chest, my legs. “What’s happening?” I say between pants. My words sound garbled to my own ears. Everything feels wrong.
