Page 5 of Choosing Her Alpha
She had to get out from under his thumb.
"What has put that look on your face?" Lilla asked. "It's not helping? Do you want the lye soap?"
Sasha looked up at her bright blue eyes. "That will put holes in the sheets, don't you think?"
"Better holes than that smell." Lilla wrinkled her nose.
Sasha laughed. "No, I think it's working. Thanks."
Driven by her madness, Maura planned to destroy Sasha and Dover's End, including all who lived here. She'd make them all vulnerable to Merrick's capricious nature.
Her father had envisioned a good life here. He used to talk endlessly about restrictive Administration laws in the other sectors, high taxes, and loss of freedoms, telling Sasha how she would help him build something better. He'd say, "We didn't go through the Great Desolation to learn nothing about the danger of power hungry dictators naming themselves king." He’d say the breeds didn't need a king who wanted to control everything and take everything. The strong should be free to lead the lives they saw fit.
He and his friends would gather in the bar and talk late into the night about building a better society, toasting their ideas with glasses of Dover's End gin.
That had been two years ago. Just two years.
Maura had hated that dream. Merrick only cared for money and prestige.
Sasha had to do something. She had to protect her friends. She had to decide her own destiny.
Chapter 3
Merrick was alpha of Dover's End, but he knew little about the running of it, which left Sasha the daily work of getting things done.
When she went to the money box to get credits for the next day's market trip, there wasn't enough to buy a loaf of bread. Merrick was such a fool, using Dover's End funds as his personal wallet. The place wasn't much of a pub if they had no alcohol to sell.
Sasha didn't want to confront him. A day where she didn't see Merrick was a good one. Days like this, when a situation forced her to seek him out, were bad days.
She couldn’t send a drone to face him; at best he’d ignore the waiting servant, and at worst, the servant would find themselves thrown from his presence for some imagined impertinence.
She hunted him down in one of the back rooms where he sat with two beta males and another alpha, watching one of the strippers dance.
For a beta, the woman was surprisingly curvy. It must have been a selling point for the males, because most of her dance was comprised of bending over and showing off her butt.
Sasha knew the hired women did something to themselves to make their female parts look more enticing. Not only did the girl have a round behind, but her slit also looked red, swollen, and damp. Sasha thought the girl might need to visit a doctor.
The dancer smelled like a regular beta wearing yeasty cinnamon perfume, a fabricated omega scent. Merrick's friends appeared to think the stripper was full of wanton lust for them. They eyed her lewd movements with unabashed attention.
Merrick was talking to them about getting past Alpha Warlord Constantine Kane's men at the sector crossing while they were absently rubbing at their pants.
That name sounded familiar. He'd given Sasha's dad trouble also, if she remembered correctly, hiring men to watch competitors at the borders and stealing shipments. The name was one her father had spoken of multiple times with frustrated rancor.
"His enforcers can't be bribed. They are all loyal and scared shitless of the man. I need to get to Curry or Pauldo," Merrick said. Since he'd had his time with a female just hours earlier, he was less distracted by the butt shaking.
"Pauldo is a no," the other alpha said. "The Warlord saved his kid's life."
"So, Curry?" Merrick asked. Nudging the man beside him, a very distracted beta who had released his cock from his pants and was stroking it in quick yanks that made Sasha wince.
"Curry is a possibility. He's not a fan of some of Kane's ideas," he said breathlessly. "But you gotta give him what he wants."
"Constantine Kane and his fucking honor." Merrick spat on the ground. "Arrogant Bastard. Someone has got to take him down. I’m tired of having to tiptoe around him."
"It won't be one of us. I've seen him fight," the other alpha said.
The beta who still had his cock in his pants spoke up. "He doesn't control everything. He's not the only big boss with a hand in trade. What about Ebbon Blaze? He's your best bet. Have you talked to him? You know how lax he is about Administration policies."
Merrick sneered. Ebbon Blaze was their very own sector Administrator, who only had half an eye on the job. He kept disappearing into the wastelands of the Un outside the 12 Sector's, looking for who-knew-what.
