Deviant Betrayal Read online

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Taking Control: An Alpha and Omega dark science fiction romance (The Controllers...

  DEVIANT BETRAYAL

  L.V. Lane

  Copyright © 2019 L.V. Lane

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-0-6485333-5-1

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the author.

  This book is intended for an adult audience. It contains dark romance and explicit sexual situations.

  Editing by Mostert-Seed Editing

  CHAPTER ONE

  After the shared-dream incident, I took a far greater interest in the nature of the tests. I had been invested before, but now, I was relentless. I recommended we use different test subjects…in the interests of providing a larger sample.

  And I performed private research, which I did not record in our database. Instead, I kept a brief summary of the details in my personal diary when in the privacy of my home.

  There were indications of other benefits, such as heightened mental acumen, and changes to the nervous system that I have yet to fully understand.

  Tsing thought the changes were temporary…but I believe this might not be the case.

  I believe the changes might ‘lock-in’ after a number of iterations, although I didn’t know how many it might take.

  And I didn’t yet know what the changes to the nervous system might do…but I thought they were related to the shared-dream psychic connection…and I thought they might lock-in, too.

  Doctor Lillian Brach

  I WOKE UP before them—squished in the best kind of way between their big, warm bodies.

  Deep, lush, and green, a forest had filled my dreams. Sunlight glinting through tall trees, and the faint drum of rushing water indicating a stream flowing beyond my sight. The distant yak-yak of forest birds, and warm air filled with the scent of eucalyptus.

  The forest was familiar to me; it was part of the shared dream, a place of safety.

  I smiled to myself; I couldn’t wait to tell them later. I had trusted them with my life and my body. Now, for the first time, I had two people whom I could trust with my biggest secret and the true nature of my singularity.

  They looked so peaceful asleep that I stared in wonder at them for the longest time after I wriggled out. Relaxed, younger…and dead to the world. I was impressed with myself for getting up ahead of them…it had been a very busy night.

  And I had loved every moment of it. When they were both with me, fucking me, surrounding me, touching me, holding me…I was safe.

  In a week, everything would change again, but for once, I felt good about it.

  Energized.

  So many obstacles had been overcome, and it was time to cross the last one.

  Slipping my robe on, I entered the lounge, and here I looked out across the city.

  I loved Chimera, the bustle and vibrancy, cultural diversity, and the rushing, intent people. It was funny how I hadn’t missed it until I returned.

  Tolis and that fateful night when I shot that poor soldier seemed long ago. I had been on a wild rollercoaster ever since…full of highs, lows, and thrills.

  It had not worked out so badly, I reflected.

  Only yesterday, I had discussed the project’s progress in Erison’s office, with Ryker a shadow watching from the corner. Subtle differences had been made to the room. A bold art collage on the wall to the left of his desk, and the tall-backed gray chair he had sat on. But otherwise, the spacious corner office with a small conference table to one side and a great desk from which you could view the research center gardens, was unchanged.

  It used to be my office, and while this loss had once filled me with ill-use, yesterday it instilled a notion that all was well in the world. For better or worse, I was an Omega. I was a week from going into heat. There was a real possibility I might be pregnant after, and that idea brought a sense of joy.

  The heat itself terrified me; it always had. But last night had gone a long way to settle me.

  My fears seemed foolish on reflection, as fears of the mind often were.

  Thousands of Omegas went into heat every day; they bonded, had children, and watched those children grow.

  I wanted that—wanted all of it—with both Ethan and Ryker.

  And it was here, waiting within my reach.

  It was time for me to take it.

  I left the apartment early—on my own. Ethan would be cross when he discovered me gone, but I figured there were limits to how much trouble I could get in. I had left them a cute note with a smiley face and kisses. If that didn’t melt their controlling hearts, nothing would.

  I wanted to prove to them that I was capable of being on my own sometimes. I had managed before they came along, and I could manage while they were in my life.

  And I was sure they both had things to do that did not involve constantly babysitting me.

  So, it was with a measure of independence, I went to meet with Tsing.

  I had crossed so many obstacles, and it was time to cross the last one.

  Erison’s driver collected me from the transport bay of my building and took me to meet with him at his home. I stared out the windows as the early morning sunlight cast reflections from the glistening skyscrapers.

  I was surprised he had changed the venue for the meeting. It was a hopeful sort of surprised because I thought it might represent further mending of our friendship.

  Erison’s home was as grand as I remembered it. His parents were both Thetas and their collective wealth substantial. Escorted through his home, I was delivered to the man in question.

  I found Erison on his terrace, seated at a table laid out for breakfast, overlooking the mountains. Face lit with a welcoming smile, blond hair swept back from his forehead, and those dark almond-shaped eyes alight. His home was extravagant, but he was a wealthy man and taste was subjective. Planters spilled exotic greenery and were interspersed with statues and other art.

  I smiled, taking the seat opposite as his housekeeper brought a fresh pot of breakfast tea, and placed it before me on the table that could have seated twelve people with ease.

  “I’ve decided to stay, Erison.”

  His smile waned. “Stay? I must say, I’m surprised at you, Lilly.”

  My smile faltered, too, and I busied myself pouring my tea. A faint fluttering emanated from the c
enter of my chest; I felt an odd notion that I needed to rub it. Was Erison worried I would try and take his position back? “My role within the program will change. I understand this.” I hoped my words would assuage whatever concerned him. I wasn’t sure what to say—or what I wanted to say. His expression became guarded, and his reaction confused me. I wanted his friendship again, and I’d been relieved after our last conversation cleared the air. Equally, I had no desire for pretense between us. “You said I was your voice of conscience once, that I gave you balance. I am an Omega, but I am still myself. It took me a while to realize this.” My smile was gentle encouragement. “I would have thought you more than capable of meeting my challenges, Erison. And I will still challenge you if you warrant it.”

  His laughter surprised me. It was tinged with coldness and set the hairs on the back of my neck rising.

  I had yet to take a sip of the tea. What was happening here?

  “Ah, my foolish little Omega.”

  I needed to run. The urge welled up out of nowhere, a premonition of danger that my singularity always made me aware of before the facts could fully present the cause.

  I started to rise, my chair scraping against the stone floor, the feeling of deception so strong I could not help but react. And my chest, right in the center, the fluttering shifted to a sharp ache.

  A heavy hand pressed me into the seat, and my head swung around to see a Beta. He was dressed in casual civilian clothes, but there was no mistaking the underlying strength. Another entered the terrace behind him, a relaxed stance that still emanated threat.

  My wrist was restrained easily by the Beta behind me, and he disconnected my tracking band.

  I blinked, and my heart rate surged erratically in my chest. “What are you doing?” I turned to find Erison with a smug smile on his face, one I was familiar with. It was a look of conquest, success, and my doom. “What have you done?” I whispered.

  “Complete,” the man holding my tracking band said.

  Complete? What was complete?

  “I don’t think you understand your situation, Lilly.” Erison nodded at the man behind me, and the restraining hand disappeared. My legs had turned to cooked noodles, and fear froze me in place.

  “They will assume you have run.” Rising from his seat, Erison walked to the edge of the terrace where he gazed down from the lofty vantage at the great city of Chimera. He turned to regard me. “I have a significant body of evidence related to your past heat suppressant activity.” Slow steps brought him to stand directly before me, where he studied me with an aloof superiority that made my skin crawl. “I have recently changed my surveillance operator, and they have only brought this to my attention today.” He smiled. “You did an excellent job of covering your tracks. Naturally, I was disappointed to discover this deception. I will report it immediately.”

  The air became unsatisfactory to my lungs and tightness caught in the center of my chest. “Will you kill me?” My lips trembled. I imagined him instructing his Beta henchmen to toss me over the edge. From this height, there would be nothing left to identify when my body connected with the ground.

  “Ah, no,” Erison said. “That would be terribly wasteful when I have associates who would be delighted to pay for such a prize. You will be going on a trip.”

  “Were you ever going to help me?” I asked. Was this his backup plan because I had chosen to stay, or his endgame all along?

  “I think me not answering will be more entertaining, don’t you? You will need something to ponder during the long trip.”

  “Where am I going?” My mind had shifted to high alert. I wanted to beg, to plead, to reason. None of this would help me. He was resolved and comfortable with his decision. When had he begun to plan this? How long did it take to prepare to abduct someone?

  “To Lyus,” he said.

  I could not form a coherent thought for the longest time, and then too many crowded forth in a rush.

  “They won’t believe I have run,” I said softly, although there were doubts in my mind. I had thought about running, long and hard. My leaving was surely as plausible as me staying. I might well have been leaving of my own volition today had I not fallen in love with my Controllers—both of them.

  Only I had never told them this, even last night, it had all been about my fears.

  Sickness roiled in the pit of my stomach.

  The two Betas were close, but Erison was closer. My life was over; whatever fate awaited me on Lyus would be worse than death. I had nothing to lose and only satisfaction to gain.

  He didn’t see the blow coming, and his nose gave with a crunch I felt under the palm of my hand.

  Blood gushed.

  His two Beta henchmen dragged me off before I could make the second blow and I fought furiously against their hold, screaming and kicking. They subdued me with terrifying ease, gathering my flailing arms behind me and wrenching them until the pain made my eyes water and the tendons screamed with the strain.

  I sneered at the man who had once been my friend. “You think Ryker or Ethan will believe you? They won’t. Especially when they see what I did to your face.”

  The hold on my arms tightened until an involuntary scream escaped my lips.

  Erison laughed, holding his nose with one hand and gesturing impatiently at the Beta not holding me.

  I prayed my Controllers would see through whatever deception Erison had laid out. Ethan had been investigating Erison’s activity for weeks. He had to be suspicious if I suddenly disappeared. He would search for me—they both would.

  But they also knew, despite their assurances, that I was still terrified of the heat. It was also possible they might think I had run.

  Erison slapped my face. A sharp, stinging blow that robbed me of breath. I tasted coppery blood, and I was still reeling when he struck me again.

  My head rang from the blows and a flush, pain consumed me, and tears blurred my eyes, but I spat at the monster. I had never experienced such visceral hatred in my life, had the Beta thug not been holding me, I was sure I would have snatched the blunt knife from the table and driven it into Erison’s pitiless heart. “They will kill you.”

  “They can try,” Erison said coldly, and with such conviction that my tenuous bravado collapsed under the weight.

  “Take the Omega away,” Erison snapped.

  CHAPTER TWO

  WHEN I WOKE up, there was a hairy arm in my face, which pissed me off.

  I shoved it away. “What the fuck! Keep to your side of the fucking bed.” I sat up so fast my head spun. Her blood was still inside me. I hadn’t come down from it for days, and it took some getting used to.

  Ryker chuckled—the bastard.

  I liked Ryker. More so when he wasn’t playing his manipulation games, but I didn’t like Ryker. I was confident he didn’t want to get up close and personal with me in any context other than with Lilly; he was just acting like a dick.

  My face must have been a picture because the bastard roared with laughter.

  I waved a tired hand, recognizing that I might have overreacted. Allowing Ryker to stay in our bed was a new experience for me, one that would take some getting used to.

  Her bed was soft and comfortable, so much so that I slept like the dead in it, and was covered in enough luxuriously soft bedding that I might be forgiven for confusing it with a nest. She had added a couple more pillows during the last week, and a soft, airy throw. She didn’t realize what she was doing, and I wasn’t going to point it out. My dick twitched at the thought of her nesting—no Alpha could resist that.

  Nest equated heat, and heat equated breeding.

  I wanted her to be bred by the end of the heat. I’d heard some bonded Omegas maintained a nest even when they weren’t in heat or breeding—the thought of fucking her in a nest at other times was—I needed to think about something else, or this was going to get awkward. Where the fuck is she?

  I listened for sounds of the missing person who should have been saving me from Ryker’s
arm—nothing. I dragged myself out of bed and padded through to the lounge where I stopped and frowned.

  “Lilly?”

  Nothing.

  “Where the fuck is she? She knows better than to leave.”

  “I was trying to sleep,” Ryker grouched.

  I checked the bathroom—she wasn’t there—then the rest of the apartment with a growing sense of concern. I came to a stop in the lounge again, staring out at Chimera’s most populous city glistening in the early morning sun. Beyond the city lay the snow-capped mountains. It was the kind of view only the most privileged people could afford.

  It struck me then that I had allowed her to retain a sense of continuity with her former life by living in her own, familiar home. I should have insisted on a new place, but my last operation had been frantic, and by the time I arrived on Chimera, all I cared about was getting her to a location where I could fuck her without interruption.

  My first week had passed in a blur. Between overindulging in Lilly’s sweet pussy and unraveling Tsing’s corruption, there had been little thought toward how I was going about her control.

  I prided myself on my control, and with hindsight, I had been negligent.

  Still frowning, I glanced down, and there on the coffee table was a hand-written note. As I picked it up, Ryker entered the room, fastening his pants and tucking in a shirt.

  “Gone to my meeting with Tsing,” I read. My lips twitched as I noticed the three little crosses at the bottom of the thick, textured paper, and unable to resist, I traced her beautiful swirling handwriting. I was going to spank her ass so fucking hard. My defiant little princess was probably hoping I would.

  I passed it to Ryker who chuckled. “I guess she must really like your belt. The kisses are a nice touch…I’ll head over to the research center. Tsing’s not going to do anything in a public place, but I don’t trust him, and he has all the hallmarks of a cornered rat.”