Born to be Broken (Alpha's Claim 2)

Corday showed his teeth. "What do you know of the Omegas?"

"Who do you think chose the location of their cozy new home? Claire?" Maryanne rolled her eyes when the man glowered. "Goddess save us, you really did think she broke them out all by herself…"

Aggressive Alpha females and dominant Beta males did not mix well, leaving the air full of tension and mistrust.

Maryanne had not come all that way to be disappointed. "I want to talk to her crazy ass. One last time, Enforcer Corday—that's right, I know who you are—where is Claire?"

Lip curled, shoulders tense, Corday hissed, "Claire is missing, okay? I don't know where she is!"

For a moment Maryanne looked worried, studied him as if there was more to the man's outburst. "I don't think you are lying." That left the most likely outcome. "Then she is probably dead… or Shepherd has her again."

And that was exactly why Corday felt such desolation. "I don't think Shepherd has her." If Shepherd had her then the tyrant would know of his own location, the Omegas would be gone, and Leslie's access to their communications would have been terminated.

"You make a good point," Maryanne covered her doubt with a cocky smirk, "because if he did, you and I would both be strung up from the Citadel… Unless, of course, we and her little pack of Omegas were offered in trade for compliant behavior. The little twit is stupid enough to fall for that, you know."

"She wouldn't go back to him." There was no way. Every feeling inside Corday knew better. He'd seen what the monster had done to her… what she had been forced to live through. Touching where her ring circled his pinky he walked back to the door, opening it so his guest might take a hint.

Before she left, Maryanne faced Corday one last time. "I know her better than anyone else in the world. I also know she wanted to kill herself… That's why I am going to pray that she did instead of considering the horrible alternative. Thank you for nothing, Enforcer Corday."

He slammed the door.

Corday turned towards Leslie, found the outspoken woman awfully quiet.

The strange woman's warning scratched at his composure. "If Claire is in Shepherd's possession, if she struck some reckless exchange for our lives, then he knows about you. If all this is true, then every piece of information you've uncovered is compromised… useless."

Leslie looked about ready to break something.Chapter 10Claire was still sleeping, restless under the covers on the bed beside him. It had taken a great deal of effort to get her comfortable after Shepherd had found her holed up in the bathroom vomiting upon his return. Hours of soft touches, bland broth, and her agitated growls eventually turned to snores. Once Claire had finally lost consciousness the thread seemed to harmonize, leaving Shepherd able to work as he lay at her side.

Reports on Enforcer Corday's movements were less than pleasing. Svana was still holed up in his apartment, and irksome Maryanne Cauley had come calling, looking for Claire.

Neither woman's agenda was clear. Svana was toying with the resistance, for what purpose Shepherd was uncertain, but she was up to something.

In the years of their relationship, there had been no secrets, no dividing line between them. Ordering Jules to continue with her constant surveillance had been… difficult. Studying her motives as he'd studied the senators, their families, their work, for years, troubled Shepherd greatly.

This woman was not that same revolutionary he'd loved with every last fiber of his being. Worse, not knowing where she'd stashed the contagion, having had all the usual places searched, made him uneasy.

She wanted to remind Shepherd that she had the power. Knowing he was watching her flit around the Beta's apartment was her less than subtle way of reminding him she was in control.

She played her games with the resistance. Leslie Kantor wanted them to find her valuable, even passing fragmented information that could potentially undermine Shepherd's control.

Svana was taunting him.

Why?

There was more to this than her anger over Claire.

So far just Maryanne Cauley had thrown the only wrench into her plans.

…when he shot down your marriage proposal.

How did a woman like Maryanne possess information even Shepherd had never heard whispers of? Why did Svana just about reach out and break the blonde's neck?

Most importantly, why hadn't Svana noticed the immediate look of suspicion the Beta Enforcer had shot her way once those words were out in the open?

Challenging was not the right word to describe the feelings embedded in the problem. Deeply, Shepherd wanted to trust Svana as he always had. But the little black-haired Omega curled up at his side… one look at her, and Shepherd was at a loss.

Never would he trust Svana anywhere near Claire. That fact gave him pain.

And that, at its essence, was why Svana remained with the Enforcer. She knew Shepherd's abiding loyalty had been shaken and she taunted him by fostering a new champion; lightly touching the Beta at every turn, keeping herself beautiful and engaging.