The omega dropped to their knees, straddling his hips and his hands ripping at his pants. “No, stop!” August snarled, his arms pinned above his head from an Infected he couldn’t see.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you feel good!” The Omega purred, preparing to yank August’s pants down.

Suddenly, Merrik was on his feet, his palms slamming into the table. Everyone paused and Malakai leveled his son a hard, cold look.

“You gifted him to me, Dad. Do you think it would be so easy to bond when I’m not experiencing a heat? Are you so impatient that you don’t obey the laws of nature?”

Malakai waved his hand and the male’s holding him down released him. The Omega stood, a pout of disappointment on his face and August hurried to his feet, holding up his pants as he struggled to do them up once more. 

Malakai’s eyes settled on August and he pointed to the chair he had been yanked out of. “Sit.” he ordered and August hurried to obey. His heart was pounding, his fear palpable. It was just another reminder of just how small and insignificant he was here. 

Merrik didn’t sit until he did, and not without a pause. A glass of blood was set in front of him and he grabbed it, nearly downing it all in one sitting. August had to look away. Instead, he tried to focus on the food. Xander had promised that he would make sure he was fed but there was something screaming at him to take food when offered. Who knew when They would forget he needed to eat. He picked up a sausage link and chewed in gently while keeping his eyes down. His presence at the table became insignificant as Malakai took the attention.

“We have a new set of humans that are on the list of healthy humans to reproduce. The list will need to be looked over carefully before pairing. Remember, the best blood comes from those that are the healthiest. The blood banks have seen an increase in blood withdrawal which means our human population is healthy and strong.”

August was disgusted by this conversation. He set down his fork, the sausage threatening to come back up. They were nothing but cattle to the Infected. Life and death was meaningless to them. Just like how he was nothing more than a tool to Merrik. Forced or not, his future was already decided. If he could maybe find a way to bypass the system to change his ID chip…

His attention was returned to the conversation at hand. 

“Our relations with the Russian branch have increased dramatically with the arrival of Father Rin. We will continue to provide him the luxuries that are deserved of our Prophet. We are honored to have his presence with us. He has asked us to join him for a Cleansing this week and I expect all of this household to attend-”

There was a commotion from a different doorway and a shout before Cain and a group of males walked into the room. The red head was dragging a woman by the arm, her screeches echoing in the cathedral room as she fought to get free. 

August stood up so fast his chair fell over. Startled, Merrik stood as well, hand set in the center of his chest to keep him from doing anything. But he wasn’t paying attention to Merrik. No, he knew the woman.