“No, Alpha,” I whispered hoarsely.
“Who do you belong to?”
“You, Alpha,” I sobbed.
Swiftly, he released my bonds and gathered me in his arms. He sat down on the bed and pulled me into his lap. I lay against him as my tears continued to fall, pressing the side of my head against his chest. For a while, he just held me. Neither of us said anything at all as I shivered against him. He wiped away my tears and in time, my cries quieted to nothing. My ass and thighs ached from his belt. My nipples and my pussy throbbed with stinging fire, but as I lay there something else began to throb to life.
My core started to twist with blazing arousal, tighter and tighter until it was a little ball of agony inside me. At first, I tried to ignore it, but before long my slick was dripping down my thighs. I anxiously realized that it was likely leaving a wet spot on his pants and I went to climb off of him, but he didn’t let me.
Instead, he made me stay for a while longer and I finally gave in.
Even though it had hurt far more than I thought it would, I understood why he’d been so harsh. He’d needed to be. If the Cult thought he was being too gentle with me, they could have him killed. They could decide to deal with me themselves and I wasn’t sure that I would survive that.
“I’m sorry, Alpha,” I whispered when I finally found my voice.
“I know, omega. I know,” he replied gently. With a hard sigh, he eventually pulled away. “Stand in front of me.”
I obeyed and climbed off his lap. He maneuvered me to stand in between his thighs. He reached to my nightstand and took the hairbrush I’d left there. I tensed, but then he began to tame my unruly hair with it. Slowly, he eased out the tangles and when he was finished, he wiped my cheeks free of every last tear with his thumbs.
“Come now. I’ve punished you as hard as necessary, but now we must attend dinner,” he explained softly.
“I’ll get dressed,” I answered quietly, and he shook his head.
“No. The Cult expects to see that you’ve been punished. You’ll be attending dinner with your bright red bottom on display so that my advisors can see that I properly punished my disobedient omega,” he continued.
I shivered and my nipples hardened into tight little peaks.
“Naked?” I whimpered.
“Yes, omega,” he replied. My eyes ticked up to meet his. He was entirely serious.
I chewed my lip, trying to figure out what to say.
“They would have shown you far more cruelty than I, my sweet omega. You will be welted from my belt for a few days, but those will fade. Their marks would have been branded onto your skin for a lifetime,” he said softly.
Why was he being so kind? I should hate him for punishing me so harshly, but I couldn’t. Not when I knew that every single word that he said was true.
“After dinner, you and I are going to talk about what you were doing in Neegan’s study. Until then, you will stay by my side. You will be silent unless I ask something of you. If someone asks you a question, you will look to me for permission to answer,” he warned, and I nodded my head.
“This isn’t for me. I would never silence you like that. It’s for your own safety. If you forget and speak out of turn, they could call for even more retribution for you. They could demand that I brand you or cut out your tongue or whip with for your insolence. It is very important you remember this. My world is a hard one, but you’re stuck in it with me now and I do not wish to see you hurt,” he continued.
“Yes, Alpha. I understand,” I whispered. I meant every word.
“Thank you, Ariana. We’re a team now and we have to work together for both our sakes,” he replied.
“Alpha?”
“Yes, little one?”
“Thank you for punishing me. I appreciate that it was you and not them,” I said quietly, unable to meet his eyes.
“It was my pleasure, omega. I very much enjoyed punishing you for the first time,” he replied. My pussy tightened reflexively, and my breath rushed out of my mouth. My core tightened even further and the fire that consumed all my sensitive places seemed to spread out across the rest of my body.
He stood up and reached for his belt. I flinched just a little as I moved out of the way, watching as he slid it back through the loops of his pants. He smiled when he saw me looking at him with trepidation and reached for my chin.
“I always wear a thick leather belt, omega. Keep that in mind the next time you think about doing something that might put either of us in danger,” he warned, and I shivered hard.
He knelt down beside me and picked up my slippers. I lifted a foot as he slid one on and then the other, looking at him quizzically.
“The rock floor is cold in places and your slippers with protect you from that chill,” he explained.
His unexpected thoughtfulness was unnerving, and I found that I couldn’t think of anything to say other than to thank him. He just smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair out of my face.
“You took your punishment very well, omega. Know that I’m so very proud of you,” he said, and my heart pulsed heavily in my chest.
He took my head and led me from the room. With every step, I could feel the stinging aftereffects of my punishment. I was so very sore and when I paused just long enough to glance at the backs of my thighs, I saw that they were striped red from his belt. They were a vivid scarlet against the paleness of the rest of my skin.
Magnar cleared his throat and I
