3. The Gold God

Kiran Cyrus bathed in the Crystal River that curved past Apollo’s Keep. His compound was a marvel crafted in his image—strong, large, and suffused with gold. It was far grander than the dreary bitch Selene Hilal’s equally dreary Castle Night. The moon and the night sky were beautiful, yes, but nothing compared to the brilliance of the sun and the day.

A group of female Betas and Omegas lounged by the shore in a gaggle, giggling to each other like mermaids watching an unsuspecting sailor. They were all scantily clad and gold-skinned, the sheen of glitter they were required to rub onto their arms and legs sparkling in the midmorning light. Kiran preened and growled at them, sending them into another fit of bashfulness. None of them had been bedded yet this week and were each hoping to catch his attention over the others—and when the time came where he would start to consider, their closeness with each other would turn sour.

Ripping someone’s throat out usually made him more aroused than usual. That happened this morning, so he was ready to play.

“Ladies, ladies,” he called. They all perked up like attentive dogs offered a treat by their master. It perversely thrilled Kiran. “Which one of you wants to be my snack tonight?” When they all squealed and raised their hands, he chuckled and swam to shore. “Whoever brings me an apple from that tree gets the privilege.”

He jerked his chin to the specific apple tree just under a hundred feet away guarding the gated entrance to the Keep. Kiran’s orchard only grew golden apples, and they were Kiran’s proudest possessions. The females all looked at one another to gauge competition. Wolf features started to emerge, canines began to length, and bodies started to move—and then it all burst into a mass of fur.

Kiran’s laugh was as rich as afternoon sunlight as the Omega females’ wolf forms bolted toward the tree, biting and snapping and snarling at each other. The Betas had to rely only on their human forms, praying that one of the Omegas would not eliminate them, whether crushed underfoot or through loss of limb, as they ran with all the strength their human forms could supply.

He watched with amusement as they fought, then brief rage as they reached the tree and jostled its branches to pluck apples, and then tightened anticipation as they raced toward him. None of them were in heats, and he was not in a rut, but he simply desired company for the night.

The Betas were left far behind and uninjured, but some of the Omegas suffered bites. The closest three shredded their apples as they tried to sabotage the others. Then the closest one managed to lose the two and skidded in front of Kiran, shifting into her human form and dropped the mangled apple on the rocky shore. “I win—”

Hot blood splattered across Kiran’s face. A moment later, the female collapsed on top of him. He caught and held her before she could be sent down the river, the other females yowling in distress. “What in the hell—” Kiran roared, spitting blood and water and hair.

“A heart for a heart,” a familiar voice snapped. Selene Hilal was standing above him with his female’s heart clenched in her fist.

“What the fuck are you talking about, woman?! Help me,” he snarled at the others, who scrambled to pull the dead wolf out of the water and away from the trespassing Luna. Kiran pulled himself out of the river and towered over Selene with teeth bared. He was gloriously naked, but in the midst of the death of a harem concubine, even that distraction was less important. “How dare you—”

“How dare I, you bastard?” Selene dropped the heart on the grass and jabbed a bloody finger at Kiran’s beautifully sculpted chest. “You killed one of my Omegas this morning!”

Kiran threw his head back and barked a laugh, the taste of blood warm and sweet and unavenged. “Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because you’re you.”

“As magnificent as a god, yes. A murderer…no. Why would I waste my morning traipsing to your damn castle just to rip a throat out and leave?”

Her midnight blue eyes flashed and she tilted her head. “I never said anything about a ripped throat.”

Kiran scoffed. “You know that’s how I kill anyone. And you know if I did kill any one of yours, I would have boasted about it. So stop accusing me and get off my property. Ladies?”

At the light question, the group of Omegas Shifted into their wolf forms in an instant, advancing on Selene without thought to her rank, snarling. She didn’t budge. Kiran knew the Luna could fight all of them and win easily, but it was still inflated his pride that he could have a small army ready to die for his sake at his command so unflinchingly.

“What are you afraid of me doing if you admit to killing my Omega?” Selene demanded.

“Well, killing one of mine! Oh, wait, you already did,” Kiran simpered. “The death is matched. You had your revenge, now get the hell off my orchard.”

Kiran shouldered past her, waving off his Omegas. They Shifted into their human forms again and clustered around him, shielding and clinging to his arms with whimpers about their dead friend even as he hoisted her over his shoulder. He would have his new Delta arrange for her body to be buried in the cemetery—the one that all eastern packs shared. A cross with her name should suffice. Maybe a call to her family.

“I’ll see you next week, Selene,” Kiran said over his shoulder. Oh, he could tell her family in person that their daughter was dead! It was a shame. She was one of many who begged to be in his harem rather than being sacrificed to it.

Part of him wished Selene would act on her temper just a little more. He wanted to shed more blood and Selene Hilal’s would taste even sweeter than a newbie Omega’s. Kiran wanted to fight and then fuck, and he knew she did too, but then again, females still had more smarts than any male. It wouldn’t be wise for an Alpha to attack another Alpha just days away from the Choosing.

He could still hear her chest heaving with breath. Why was she so angry? Gods, he hated her. After a hundred years, he liked her no more than he liked red apples. But Kiran had to admit, she looked delicious beneath that sheer slip.

Kiran didn’t kill her Omega, but he knew who did.