Raider's Treasure (Alpha Barbarians Book 1)

9

Her heart pounded in her chest as Lyric took in his angry expression, and her breath caught in her throat. She had been hoping that she could check on the omegas and get back to the tree without him noticing, but apparently her luck was out.

"I just..."

Raider's roar of anger cut her off and she cowered into herself, slick seeping from her core in an instinctive reaction to appease the angry alpha.

"I gave you an order and you blatantly disobeyed me," he growled as he began to pull her away from the wagon.

Stumbling in his wake, Lyric tried to stammer out an explanation, but he cut her off again.

"You will learn to obey me, Omega. You will do as you're told, or you will suffer the consequences."

Stopping next to a stump at the edge of the tree line, Raider turned to face her. Chest heaving from the panic and trying to keep up with his long stride, her shoulders hunched, and she ducked her head, not wanting to challenge him by meeting his dark gaze when he was this angry.

Taking a seat on the stump, he jerked her forward by the wrist he still held so that she stumbled over his bent legs. Placing a heavy arm over her back, just below her bandage, Raider held her where she was, folded over his knees.

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, she felt his warm breath gust against her cheek as he said, "You're lucky we are on the move, because if we were home, you would be getting punished with my knot instead of my hand."

Feeling a shiver run down her spine, Lyric wasn't expecting the hand that connected harshly with her bottom. Jolting forward, she let out a surprised squeak of pain before a second slap landed on her other cheek. Letting out a squawk of indignation, she began to try to wiggle from his lap, jolting her injured arm.

"You let me up this instant! What do you think you're... ah!"

Her angry hiss was interrupted by yet another slap to her stinging bottom.

"Struggling is only going to cause you more pain and prolong your punishment. You will submit one way or another," Raider said as he continued to rain down blows to her bottom.

Though her pants afforded her protection from the sting that would come from flesh on flesh contact, she still felt her cheeks heating. Already sore from the morning ride, it didn't take long before Lyric could feel her heartbeat throbbing in her upturned bottom. Tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes, and she held her breath to try and stop the sobs that wanted to break free. She could feel his erection pressing into her side and was ashamed at the wetness she could feel between her thighs. The embarrassment that came when she heard him scenting the air finally broke the dam in her throat.

The noise that came from her was a mangled combination of a sob and a moan, and it caused Raider to pause. He rolled her body to the side, but she kept her face turned away from him to hide her tears. When he pulled her up to sit on his leg, she couldn't fight the hand that gripped her chin and forced her to face him though.

Keeping her eyes lowered, she forced herself not to squirm or flinch away from his hold as he studied her face in silence. Brushing her hair back from where it had fallen out of her twist, Raider ran his thumb over her cheek and wiped away the wetness lingering there.

"There are times when your life will depend on doing exactly what I say, and I need to know that I can rely on you to do as you're told. Are you going to behave?"

His voice was a quiet rumble, and while she could still feel his hardness against her leg, he seemed much calmer than he had been when he found her, and not about to rut her on the forest floor. Still not meeting his eyes, Lyric gave him a small nod.

"Say it out loud."

Raider pushed her chin up higher until dark eyes finally met hers as she said, "I'll behave."

He held her gaze for a moment longer before releasing her chin and helping her stand from his lap. Glancing around, she realized they were the center of attention and she could feel her cheeks burning with a ferocity to match her bottom ones. The watching alphas seemed to find something else to look at when Raider's head swung around the clearing and he barked out a few harsh words. Grasping her hand in his rough one, he took care to walk slower than they had in his rush to punish her, allowing Lyric to move at her own pace instead of dragging her along behind him.

Raider was more careful about placing her on his horse's saddle this time, but her buttocks still hurt when it met the hard leather. Easing himself behind her, he adjusted her until she rested more against him so that there wasn't as much pressure on her bottom. Calling to the alpha that was apparently his second in command, the men began to move out, the wagons creaking into motion.

As was his usual, Raider waited until all of the others had passed before he brought up the rear, making sure no one was lagging. Gritting her teeth, eventually her buttocks became numb and she was able to ride more comfortably. The passing trees blurred together, and she found herself beginning to nod off again from boredom. A few of the men around them carried on conversations as they rode, but not knowing the language, she didn't know what they were saying. No matter if she stayed with Raider or decided to make a run for it after all, she would need to be able to speak with people to be able to try and make her way home.

Turning a bit so she could look up at the man at her back, she waited until his eyes lowered to hers before speaking.

"If I am to stay with you, will you teach me your language? Please?" she added meekly.

He stared at her for a few moments in silence before laying a hand on his chest.

"Bruegar."

"That's your name?" she asked as her eyebrows pinched together.

Shaking his head, he said, "Bruegar means leader, chief, first alpha."

Eyes widening, she realized she had heard the others referring to him by that but hadn't been able to separate it from the other words used to realize it was a title.

"Dreena," Raider said while laying his hand on her shoulder. "Omega."

Nodding, she asked, "What is horse?"

"Hollar. Hollaro for stallion."

He continued to teach her words as they rode, pointing to things as they passed. She tried her best to remember them all but was sure she had already forgotten half of what they had gone over. Raider seemed happy that she wanted to learn but grew impatient when he would point to something multiple times and she couldn't remember his word for it.
"As my mate, other omegas will look to you for how to act and may come to you with issues. How are you going to be of use if you can't remember the most basic of words?" he finally said, throwing a hand in the air in frustration.

"We just started a few hours ago," she shot back. "You can't expect me to learn your language in a day. It's not my fault you attacked my village and kidnapped me when we don't even speak the same language."

"No, it's your father's fault."

Gasping she turned to look up at him again, pulling her body as far from him as she could get in the saddle.

"What do you mean by that? How do you know who my father is?"