His Outlaw Omega

smell my heat, this situation was a ticking bomb and the only certainty we had was that it would explode.
“If harm comes to her, I will kill everyone responsible. No army and no king will be able to stand in my way.”
Another slam of the door. This one rattled the foundation of the building.
When Solen turned around, his eyes were wild. Feral.
All too familiar.
My mouth went dry and fear rattled my body. We were safe, for now. The retreating army made a lot more noise than they had when they approached. Shame on us for letting our guard down. Solen wasn’t used to his safety being in question.
“You’re right,” he said softly. He’d used this tone with me before, when we were alone in the armory. I cherished those moments, because he made me feel like more than an omega. It made me wonder what else he could make me feel. I’d bet a hard man like Solen had a big, soft bed and… Another flash of heat surged through me.
Focus.
I managed a smile and rocked on my heels. “What was I right about?”
He let out a sigh. “My territory should be a safe haven for you, and I apologize it isn’t.”
I whistled low. “An alpha apologizing to an omega? We really are in a time of crisis.”
“Ashla.” I always loved the deep rumble of my name when it came off his lips. He didn’t say it often, which made it more special. “I admit my mistakes. We will find the source of this uprising, and who managed to infiltrate the castle. They will be punished. But first I have to make sure you’re safe.”
“Why?”
His forehead furrowed in frustration. “Because I know you didn’t give anyone those codes.”
“But I helped Charolet break into the armory to steal a truck.” And in the process, we almost got one of the King’s generals killed and narrowly avoided starting another war. Which wasn’t exactly true. The beta uprising had been caused by omegas they thought threatened their way of life. Like our being treated decently would take something away from them. I squeezed my eyes closed, reminding myself that a lot of good came out of Charolet and Rielle’s mission. They’d discovered the humans were altering omegas and turning them into fighting machines. My stomach churned at the thought of it. “Why do you believe I’m innocent now?”
“Never said anything about being innocent.” He had the nerve to chuckle. “I know I can trust you. You’d never hurt the people who matter to you. I have a bunker in a secret location. We need to get you there now. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“I meant what I said, before they showed up.” I needed him to know what he was. For better or worse, we were mates.
His adam’s apple bobbed. “An omega is taught to fight beside his mate.” The implication of his statement wasn’t lost on me, knowing his secret the way I did.
No matter what happened, Solen would fight beside me, and that was good enough for now.

Solen
Chapter Three
I wasn’t great with words. In fact, I was pretty fucking horrible at saying what I meant. Especially when it had to do with things that could unravel my life. AKA, feelings and shit. Matters of the mating variety. It made me uncomfortable to feel attached to anything because I knew how brutally things could be taken away. But the wolves at the door, threatening my female had made things very clear.
Ashla was mine. And telling her so felt like a necessity.
An omega is taught to fight beside his mate.
We weren’t fighting. Yet. We were running. Hiding. But Ashla was smart and she would know that when it came time to fight again, we would do it side by side. Whether we accepted each other or not. That was my badly spoken promise to her.
Beyond that, the moment was significant for another reason. It was the first time the secret she kept was vocalized between us.
I wasn’t an alpha like everyone around me thought. Like my soldiers and fellow generals thought.
I wasn’t even close.
We were far away from my outpost before Ashla mentioned the hastily uttered admission. The desert moon was high above us and moving faster toward the horizon than I wanted it to.
“You’re omega.” Her voice was steady as we sloughed through the sand. There wasn’t a question in her words. There was no meaning to them at all it seemed. As if she was stating it as a matter of record.
“Yes.” I’d never told a single soul, not in all my time in the castle. Not before that. Not ever.
“How did you fool the king for so long?”
An alpha was never unsure. They knew the answer to any question, and if they didn’t, they made it up. Why was the sky blue? I didn’t know but if someone asked me, I would say it was because the world needed a shield from the sun. And not a single fucking soul would question me.
But I wasn’t an alpha. Not by birth.
“Who says I fooled him?”
Ashla shook her head. “He doesn’t know. He was a different person before mating Zelene. There would have been no place for you or any other omega in his guard, so don’t pretend I’m daft.”
My lips twitched at the way she could sound so sweet while defending herself. Her tone was soft like a bedtime story, but her words were sharp like a whip. She was an interesting contradiction.
“It was…” I started to say easy, but in so many ways, becoming alpha wasn’t easy. It was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do, betray my people. “It was natural. My temperament was always that of an alpha. It caused me a lot of problems when I