Breeder by Cara Bristol Read Free Book Online

not understand why you travel this way. But as you will. I shall have the stable keeper unbridle the animals and tend to their needs.” He paused. “Tell me about the female.”
    “She is unbred.”
    Corren arched his eyebrows.
    Dak yanked up her shift, nudged her legs apart, and flicked at the ring between her legs. The sun felt hot against her exposed sex, the finger that brushed against her warmer still.
    Alpha was focused on her, his head bent, so he did not catch the animosity that flashed in Corren’s gaze, but Omra did. She swallowed.
    “A fortuitous find for you,” Corren said. Equanimity filled his eyes now.
    The Commander let her smock fall. “And for you. She will serve your physical needs when you require release.”
    “Thank you.” Corren nodded, but he did not sound at all grateful or appreciative, not to Omra’s ears anyway. “Now I understand why a courier delivered female uniforms this morning. I almost sent them back to the vendor, thinking it an error, but decided to check with you.”
    “The articles came? Good. That was fast.”
    “You are Alpha,” Corren commented drily. The familiarity Alpha allowed his beta heightened Omra’s respect for the Commander. Secure in his status, he did not dominate for the show of it.
    “Indeed.” Alpha’s mouth twitched as he exchanged a glance with his beta. He beckoned to her. “Come.”
    Omra scooted to the edge of the seat and jumped to the ground. She stumbled and would have fallen on the stone entry walk except that Alpha caught her elbow and steadied her. “This is my beta, Corren,” he informed her. “You remember what we talked about.”
    Obey. She nodded in comprehension.
    To Corren he said, “Her name is Omra.”
    The beta tightened his lips.
    Alpha arched an eyebrow. “You find her lacking?”
    “May I speak freely?”
    The Commander nodded. “Your opinion is worthy.”
    “She appears scrawny and weak bodied, and I predict she will be unable to bear the rigors of domestic labors, let alone produce your progeny.” He sniffed.
    Dak blinked. “You sound almost jealous.”
    Corren stiffened. “Would I care if you were to pat the beasts? I think not. But what am I to think when a breeder arrives snuggled on your shoulder?”
    “That it was long journey, and she grew weary.”
    “An indication of her lack of fitness.”
    Dak narrowed his eyes. “I conducted a thorough examination and determined she is healthy, albeit, as you say, scrawny. I suspect the BCF has not been feeding the breeders, and I have ordered an investigation. This one is quick in conversation, evincing no mental deficiency other than her femaleness. With respect to her ability to incubate offspring, she is superior to others because she has never been bred.
    “I have instructed her to obey you. If she misbehaves, call it to my attention, and I shall discipline her.”
    Corren’s gaze glanced off her bruises. “It appears she has already misbehaved.”
    Alpha touched the sudon dangling from his belt. “I did have to punish her once, I admit. But another inflicted those bruises upon her.” He tightened his jaw. “I do not condone striking females in the face.” He gestured toward the door. “Let us enter so you may show her the domicile.”
    When Omra followed the men inside, she gasped. While the upper surface of the dwelling had appeared nontransparent, from the inside, she could see clear through to the horizon. No wonder Corren had come out immediately; he’d watched them arrive, had seen her sleeping on Alpha’s shoulder. She tilted her head back and stared at the cerulean sky visible through the roof. At night, the purple moon would glow and the stars would shine. She pivoted, taking in the expanse, the rolling hills, the trees in the distance.
    The Commander’s domicile was, she suspected, a fortress with a view. She had read of reinforced reflective matter impervious to projectiles and suspected such material composed the upper half of the abode. The