The Alpha Archon's Hidden Slave Mate

Harring

eady behind me when

mmered between black pines. I tried to open my eyes wider, but my body would not obe

then again-slow, heavy, and powerful. His breath brushed my neck,

?" he murmured. "W

r, but my throat

ear. "No answer? Then I

y waist, its heat burning through my skin. I tried t

n't get

nderly. The words sounded mo

the darkness. Hunger moved behind them. So did a flicker of strug

t made my body betray me. A metallic screech ripped through th

ling and a single torch met my gaze. As a human slave in the dungeon beneath Blackstone Keep, I lay on a t

names in whispers during the journey, but the keep would strip them

. His inhuman, yellow eyes swept over us with the de

ed in the common tongue. "Mat

the cell. Girls scrambled over one

lave cart who had shared her bread with me when the guards

. I forced myself to take a slow, steadying breath. Fr

o a single file line and he

hold and fell hard. The guard turned toward her. I sta

" she b

d any. The journey had taught us the rule quickly enough: one

woman who controlled every servant and slave in Blackstone

and her eyes were as sharp as shards of g

d her, whispered in terrif

gaze passed over me without a flicker of recogni

silence with unquestionable authority. "From this day forward, you have no names. Yo

alm. "Here, your only value is obedience. Learn the

r face pale with terro

warmth. "Crying is a sign of weakness. Here, the

Tessa, dragging her away as sh

ence fell over the room, broken only by

ide my sleeves. My nails dug into my palms, the sha

the door-two of them, one on each side of the entrance. Their hands were on their belts, where the keys hung.

ape tonight. Tha

teps it had taken from the cell door to here. I had worked on enough project timelines in my old life t

lace where a human could expect mercy. This was a living hell. But I w

nued, her voice unchanged. "You will learn how to serve the Vorrath n

till water, sending ripples of hope a

the road of our new lives. And I had to s

last time, finally landing on a colle

ning," she said coldly, "is absolute ob