His Rebellious Omega (The Royal Omegas Book 3) Read online

  A mutinous omega will challenge this royal alpha’s loyalties…

  I might have a reputation around the Badlands as a troublemaker. I've spent years fighting for justice, but our new arrangement with the royals isn't exactly what I had in mind.

  For years, we thought omegas were being abducted and taken to the Human Keep. I’ve recently learned they’ve gone there by their own will. And they’re happy. I wonder if I’d be better off leaving the royal court behind and joining them.

  When Cassian catches me stealing a military vehicle to make my getaway, he should’ve thrown me into the dungeons and forgotten about me.

  Instead, he helps me. The alpha shows me a side of him that I’ve never seen before. One that I can’t live without.

  When we get to the Human Keep, we discover a truth that will change the lives of everyone in Luxoria. Will Cassian stay loyal to our covert mission, even if it could cost him his title and his life?

  His Rebellious Omega

  THE ROYAL OMEGAS

  Book Three

  By

  P. Jameson

  Kristen Strassel

  PJAMESONBOOKS.COM | KRISTENSTRASSEL.COM

  His Rebellious Omega

  Copyright © 2019 by P. Jameson and Kristen Strassel

  First electronic publication: November 2019

  United States of America

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any database, without prior written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quotations contained in critical reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this work may be scanned, uploaded, or otherwise distributed via the internet or any other means, including electronic or print without the author’s written permission.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover Design: Sotia Lazu

  Formatting: Agent X Graphics

  P. Jameson | Kristen Strassel

  www.pjamesonbooks.com

  www.kristenstrassel.com

  Chapter One

  Cassian

  There will be no victory for a troublemaker, no glory for the disobedient.

  I paced my quarters inside the royal castle of Luxoria as my father’s words rolled through my mind on a repeating loop. In ten minutes, I would make my way to the Badlands to stand beside Dagger and Tavia to kick off The Reconstruction. Together, they now served the omegas as their royal representatives and the first order of business was to begin rebuilding the damage done from years of neglect and the recent attacks from the humans and mutants.

  No one was sure how the omegas would react to the rebuilding process. Perhaps they would see it as a threat. Perhaps they would be grateful. It was impossible to guess.

  But that wasn’t what had me nervous.

  No, the cause of my current strife was a certain blond bombshell omega who was as appealing as she was unpredictable. A female so opposed to being in this city, much less the castle, that she took every opportunity to get herself thrown out. A woman who had been hurt for so long that it turned her into steel. She was a fucking impenetrable fortress, all locked up behind barbed wire and electric fences.

  She was more than that.

  I sucked in a hard breath and let it out slowly.

  Charolet.

  Charolet was a troublemaker extraordinaire… and she was my mate.

  I stopped pacing and closed my eyes, remembering the moment my inner beast knew she was the one who could bring my wolf out.

  It happened when King Adalai required me to accompany Dagger on a mission to save the missing omegas from the humans who we suspected had abducted them. Charolet and Tavia came along to give us insight into the omega mind and to comfort their people. But when we got to the Human Keep, things weren’t as we thought they were.

  The missing omegas were there of their own free will. They had willingly broke from the pack to ally with the humans. Worse, the humans had technology that could instigate an omegas heat cycle, and they used it on Tavia.

  We fled the Human Keep just in time, but when she came into her heat right there in the desert, Dagger claimed her. That left me and Charolet to defend them from the wolves and mutants that could scent her from miles away.

  I remembered that sweet, demanding smell Tavia put off. I remembered the way it drove my wolf to fight Dagger for her. How I wanted to kill him and mount her in his blood just to prove I was better. Just to have that slick scent painted all over me.

  But something amazing happened before I lost my mind and ruined years of supreme discipline.

  Charolet happened.

  Her lavender and honey scent, not heat soaked, not enslaving me, broke through my manufactured desire.

  Her smart mouth kept my mind busy. Made me think about how much I didn’t want to kill my friend.

  Her fiery spirit… turned me on in a whole new way.

  She had no idea how much she helped me that night, but I knew it wasn’t all one sided. She had become aroused as we argued. One small whiff was all I got, but it was enough to know she was mine.

  And enough to make her want to run.

  Oh, I knew she was up to something. There were whisperings throughout the castle that she wanted to leave and return to the Human Keep. She thought the omegas could have a better life there. Better than the king and their own pack could give them. The worst part was that she might be right.

  There was something odd about the way the humans so willingly gave the omegas everything they wanted. They practically lifted them up to god status. Made them as strong as any alpha. Stronger even. And all they wanted in return was for them to fight for the human cause. They wanted them to fight their own pack. The same pack that up until the king’s mating, had treated them as second rate citizens.

  Fuck, I knew alphas who treated their boots better than the omegas.

  And I’d been one of them, blindly following the law that kept us separated all those years.

  I followed the rules, to the letter, because I was taught to.

  There will be no victory for a troublemaker, no glory for the disobedient.

  No one was a bigger troublemaker than Charolet. The question was, would she cause trouble today at the ceremony? I’d been watching and there was no indication that she meant to ruin this celebration, but she was like a stick of dynamite from the days before the dust and solar flares. There was no telling when she’d blow or who she’d destroy in the process.

  I shouldn’t care. Mate or not, I shouldn’t care this much. But I had a feeling that if she hurt any of her friends with her disruptive behavior, she would feel it like a wound. The omega females loved each other. Love like I’d never witnessed before. Charolet wouldn’t easily forgive anyone who hurt them. Including herself.

  I wanted to keep her from that pain.

  I shook out my shoulders, trying to settle my protective instincts. They’d been on high alert ever since the trek through the desert to the Human Keep. Ever since I scented her arousal, and knew.

  Mine. Mine to have and keep and protect.

  Except that couldn’t be farther from the truth. My omega was determined to belong to no one. Especially not me.

  The clock above my desk sounded, bringing my attention back around. It was time.

  I straightened my uniform and left my quarters with exactly seven minutes to spare. I was nothing if not precise. It was the code I lived by. The code bred into me.
>
  Order. Obedience. Lawfulness. The alphas before me demanded it and so did I.

  The irony wasn’t lost on me that my mate shared none of those principles.

  Charolet was chaos, emotion, and defiance. The only rules she followed were her own. She should infuriate me.

  Instead, I wanted to tame her. Break her, but in the best ways.

  I reached the Badlands just in time to take my place beside Dagger as the announcement began. I found Charolet across the small stage with the other omega females, dressed in their finest. She stared at me, her eyes calculating, and not for the first time, I knew I had gotten it all wrong.

  It was her who would break me.

  Chapter Two

  Charolet

  There was no reason the royals wouldn’t hold a ceremony. As an omega, I’d been forced to participate in an exhausting number of them. A groan would always rise through the back hallways of the castle at their very mention. It meant more work, longer hours, and greater chances of not being able to satisfy the whims of His Majesty.

  No good deed went unpunished in Luxoria.

  I’d never forget that, even as I stood in a fancy gown, shoulder to shoulder with the omegas who also endured the alpha regime, as ambassadors to the new Luxoria. One where we were supposed to smile, nod, and forget the treatment that had been shoved down our throats like a cold shit sandwich. That part hadn’t changed.

  The only reason I agreed to attend this ceremony was because my best friend Tavia was in charge of the Badlands reconstruction. Our village had faced its challenges as long as I could remember, but recent riots and attacks had decimated the little we had.

  Alleged attacks by humans we’d been told were the enemy. We’d thought the humans were taking omegas against their will. But when I’d ventured to the Human Keep, the omegas were happy. Healthy. Better off than we were. Better off than any promise this latest ceremony had in store for us.

  Tavia stepped up to the podium. She was still wearing the Luxoria military uniform we’d donned to storm the human keep and bring back the abducted omegas. The uniform reminded me of broken promises. Otherwise, I would’ve preferred it to this ridiculous dress Zelene had asked me to wear.

  It was soft and clean, and that was nice, but otherwise, the frills were so not me.

  Tavia cleared her throat. Her lips wobbled, and I didn’t often see my best friend nervous. We’d stayed up many a night in the now abandoned shack we’d gathered in front of and talked about how we’d fix the Badlands. There was no one I’d rather have in charge of this mission than Tavia, but as she stared at the shack, I wondered how much of her vision would come through in this announcement. Especially with Dagger, the man she’d spent years hating before she joined him in his bed, beside her.

  “I want to thank everyone for coming out and lending your support. The alphas and the omegas who’ve moved into the castle understand how uncertain things are in the Badlands right now. We might be living on the other side of the wall, but it doesn’t mean that we’ve forgotten what life is like here. I know you have questions. Dagger and I will be here as much as possible during the rebuild, and we’ll be available to you.”

  She took a deep breath and the microphone sent the sound ricocheting off the shabby buildings that surrounded us.

  My gaze slid to Cassian. He’d been with us on the journey to the Human Keep. He stood beside Dagger, in his leather military outfit, with his hands folded in front of him. He’d been strong and steady, even when the trip went sideways. He caught me staring at him, like he had many times on our mission, and winked.

  I looked away. There was no way I would fall for an alpha. One of us had to keep their head on straight.

  “I’m aware that not everyone in the Badlands is interested in building a unified Luxoria.” Tavia continued, startling me out of my Cassian-induced haze. “I had my doubts too. But the alphas truly want change. I know how hard it will be to believe that until you start seeing improvements in your lives. We’ve brought you together to celebrate that these changes to the Badlands start today. Reconstruction starts now.”

  A crane truck rumbled down the dirt road. Many of the omegas gasped, grabbing their loved ones and backing away. All this giant vehicle symbolized to them was more destruction. My voice was lost in the mayhem. I wanted to tell Tavia that this was too much, too soon, but it was too late.

  The truck stopped in front of our old house. A few warning beeps were all we had to say goodbye before a wrecking ball smashed through the only place I’d ever called home.

  Chapter Three

  Cassian

  I watched Charolet as the crane truck destroyed the omega shanty in one swift hit. The unfortunate place she once called home went from barely existing in its dusty surroundings to a pile of rubble in a breath. Her face was a mask of horror and she cringed at the screeching of metal against metal. But what had my heart pounding double time was the way her expression twisted into sadness and loss. It was something I’d never witnessed from her before. Charolet was a spitfire, always ready to argue. She was a fighter, brave. I’d never seen her look… wrecked. As if she were the embodiment of the destroyed shanty.

  It didn’t last long.

  In the next breath, her sadness was replaced with anger. She looked around furiously, as if gauging what the peoples’ response would be. They were equally confused about how to take this destruction of their property.

  Why weren’t they cheering? Rejoicing over the rebuilding that would ensue?

  I squinted through the dust, trying to understand her reaction.

  What should have been a peace offering, a show of the royals’ commitment to the Badlands, seemed to have the opposite effect. It just went to prove how little we understood the omegas.

  I leaned in to whisper to Dagger. “Are you sure this was a good idea, tearing down their house?”

  His smile dipped a fraction. “Of course. They need to know we’re serious.”

  “They don’t seem like they appreciate the gesture.” I nodded to the crowd.

  “They will,” Dagger assured me. His confidence was unshaken, but I couldn’t stop glancing at Charolet and the contempt she held in her expression.

  I looked around him to Tavia, who suddenly seemed just as unsure as the rest of them. With shaking hands, she lifted the microphone to her mouth. “Do not mourn the loss of what was. Look to the future, and see what we can be.”

  As she spoke, more construction vehicles rumbled toward the Badlands. An entire caravan of them, carrying wood and steel and heavy equipment needed to begin rebuilding. While the crowd of omegas and royals watched, a large dump truck approached the rubble that used to be Charolet’s shack, and beta workers started scooping up the remains.

  The sheer number of laborers the king sent to the Badlands for this project meant that the broken shanty was cleared away in minutes. As the dump truck rattled away, one carrying supplies replaced it and beta workers began constructing the foundation for a new home.

  I scanned the crowd, realizing the attitude seemed to have changed. Weary omegas looked on with rapt attention as the rebuild took place right before their eyes. By the time the cement was poured and beginning to harden, cheers rose up from the people.

  “This is just the beginning,” Tavia promised, and King Adalai nodded his agreement. “Wait and see what we’ve got planned for the Badlands!” She let out a relieved breath and smiled up at Dagger. For the first time in a long time, the omegas were happy.

  All except one.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off Charolet as she watched the spectacle with disgust. She caught my gaze and held it, looking like she blamed me for something. I couldn’t imagine what. I’d supported Dagger upon returning from the Human Keep. Sided with him when the other King’s generals wanted to lockdown the omegas.

  Her gaze narrowed in warning, and a chill of challenge ran down my spine. I could see the calculation in her eyes. The way she wanted to buck and rebel against the kingdom. Her clever lit
tle mind was coming up with something even as she stared me down.

  I went to her as the crowd started to approach Tavia and Dagger, offering their encouragement for the changes.

  “You don’t like what happened here today?” I said when I was close enough to whisper.

  “It doesn’t matter what I like. I’m just an omega.” Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on me.

  “You’re not just an omega, Charolet. You’re an omega of power. You have influence here. And you look like you’re ready to murder someone and eat them for dinner.”

  “Pardon me, alpha sir,” she sneered. “But they just demolished my home.”

  “It wasn’t your home anymore.”

  She cocked her head, seeming even angrier. “You’re absolutely right. It wasn’t my home. It was my home when I shared it with four other omegas. When we were closer than sisters. When we survived on nothing but love and each other. And just like now, the castle took it away. I suppose now I’m truly homeless.” She pressed her lips together, gathering her skirt in her balled fists. “You know what they say when you’re homeless…”

  “No, I suppose I don’t.”

  She smiled but it was anything but friendly. “It’s time to find a new home.”

  With that, she turned and marched away. I watched her until she disappeared into the crowd. Her words were like an echo in my mind.

  Find a new home… home… home…

  I didn’t like what my gut was telling me. My little troublemaker was planning something big.

  Watch her, my wolf warned. It was time to get serious about my surveillance of Charolet. Not only because my inner animal needed me to, but because now… I believed she was a threat to the kingdom.

  Chapter Four