Owned by the Alphas: Winterborn

MORDECHAI

Winterborns. I’d been trying for years to father a child with my wife, and she’d given me winterborns. I’d longed for a son, and now I had to surrender him to the harsh winter of his birth.

All because my wife was as inept at childbearing as she was at satisfying me.

I thrust myself into the mouth of a village woman, her name escaping me. All I remembered was the skillful way her lips and tongue worked on me.

She had a nice set of breasts, and had she been of higher status in our village years ago, I might’ve considered her for marriage.

But my parents had chosen Pearl, and so had I. I bet they were regretting that now.

Pearl was beautiful, no doubt. The Valarian line was renowned for its beauty. And her body had been a pleasure to use initially. She was good in bed, but she was needy. She enjoyed talking and cuddling, which made me nauseous.

So, I borrowed the wives of other men.

They didn’t mind, eager to please me. The men wanted their wives to be the one I chose to bed. And the women were sworn to secrecy.

So far, it had worked.

And I had remained satisfied.

It was against the village rules to sleep with other men’s wives, but as the general, the rules were more like suggestions. For everyone else to follow.

I grunted as the woman servicing me brought me closer to climax. I thrust harder, making her gag. When she tried to pull back, I held her head, forcing her to take me deeper.

“Fuck yes, take it all,” I growled at her.

She tried to, her eyes watering as she gave me a seductive smile. She fondled her breasts, moaning around me, and the vibrations were all it took for me to reach my peak.

I released in her mouth with a sharp thrust and a deep groan.

She swallowed it all, licking her lips seductively. I loved it.

Pearl didn’t swallow. At my request. I needed my seed to fertilize her barren eggs. But I wasn’t foolish enough to risk impregnating any of the other men’s wives. They were all whores.

Unfaithful, vile women, ripe with sin. Of course, I encouraged that. I knew who they were, and so did they.

And Pearl? She was the village darling. The one with the sweet voice and the sweet face. I knew my men coveted her. I saw the way they looked at her like she was a rare gem. I saw them adjust themselves in their pants. And I grinned, knowing how loyal she was, knowing they would never have her. She was mine, and I made sure they knew it.

But now she had birthed winterborns. It was going to take some damage control to ensure that didn’t reflect poorly on my ability to lead this army against the wolves.

The woman stood up and pulled her dress back over her shoulders, smiling at me.

“Return to the women’s village. Speak not of where you’ve been, understood?” I ordered.

She nodded quickly and scurried off.

I put myself away and walked through my hut in the men’s village.

Other men split their time between villages, still needing to reproduce so we could continue to outnumber the wolves. But not me. As the leader, the general, I needed to be in the thick of it.

Which is why Pearl always complained.

And why I always avoided her.

Admittedly, it did make her try extra hard to please me when I did show up, and I enjoyed watching that. Especially her dresses she made specifically for me, knowing how much I enjoyed the view of her breasts.

I pushed thoughts of my wife aside and moved out of my hut toward the war cabin. I stormed in, heading straight for the table surrounded by my men.

At least half of them were drunk on ale, with women in their laps. The fire roared and the food that had been served was demolished. They were content, which was why I had let them relax without me before approaching them. I needed them as amicable as possible.

Which is why the women from the widow’s hut were everywhere, working as I had threatened them to do, distracting the men.

“Men,” I said gruffly.

“General,” they replied in a sloppy greeting that worked in my favor.

“I know you have heard the devastating news about the birth of my children,” I began. The room fell deadly silent, tension prickling around me.

“The winterborns,” a brave soul said.

I nodded. “Yes. Pearl has birthed twins. A boy and a girl.”

A round of gasps echoed in the hut and I grimaced. It was shocking, even with distractions. We knew the stories. That Elias was evil, unhinged, and power-hungry. One winterborn had almost decimated the realm. Two of them? Extinction level event. We could not be the cause of something so catastrophic. Not after all the work my family had put into setting the humans up to be on top.

“I want to know what you would choose to do about this situation,” I offered the table up for opinions. It was easier to get my way if I let them voice their ideas first and manipulated them into what I wanted.

A round of ideas blew out of the drunkards’ mouths and I pretended to listen to each one. I nodded, agreed with bursts of justified anger. Then I quietened them down.

“I understand. This is a difficult decision. But I am willing to sacrifice my own happiness for this village. I have told you that before. It is why I am general,” I said and my men listened.

“You’re sayin’ you’d be willin’ to do what needs to be done?” Barry Bilington said. He was a hard guy to impress but after all the years I had been playing friendly, I think I had finally done it.

I nodded, pretending to be distraught by the idea. “I am. They were born from me. I take this as my curse and I apologize for the misfortune it may bring on us. But I am willing to be the reason the curse no longer plagues us. Our goal cannot be threatened. I understand that better than most,” I said, playing my martyr card with finesse.

The men cheered, banging their cups on the table, drinking ale with deep cheers.

“How will you do it? Pearl will not let you hurt those babies,” Dr. Shaan said from the corner.

Pain in my ass, that one.

“She will be heavily medicated. Drinking her tea to heal. And while she is out, we will give the winterborns back to the realm. We will leave them to the winter. Pearl will be told they never made it and none of you will tell her the truth, do you understand?” I ordered.

The men nodded and I knew I could trust them. They would die for me and my cause. I had trained them that way.

“We’re really doing this then? Just leaving the children in the snow? It seems a little…barbaric…” A small voice trailed off. A boy, only just nineteen, a newlywed from last year’s choosing. His wife was due next month like mine had been. He had been lucky enough to avoid the winter or it would be his kid I left in the snow.

I walked over to him, standing tall, the others quiet, the room thick with tension.

“Do you remember the stories you have been told about the last winterborn our ancestors faced?” I boomed.

The little boy shrunk back, nodding quickly. “Y-Yes,” he stammered.

“And you would risk bringing that carnage back on us after they died to make sure that wouldn’t happen again?”

“No-No. I just—they’re babies. They didn’t do anything—”

I gripped his throat in my hand, squeezing tightly so his eyes bugged. I leaned in close.

“I know what they are. And what they will be. And we cannot let them grow into that or we will be nothing but headstones and graves. Your child is due next month; wouldn’t you like it to live? Because if I let the winterborns live with us, curse us, then it will not,” I said, my voice demanding, threatening.

He shivered in my grasp, tears leaking out of his eyes.

“I’m sorry—”

I dropped him. “You will accompany me into the forest,” I snarled.

He scrambled to his feet with a quick nod.

I turned on my feet and went back to my hut where the twins were, the boy following me.

He was a pitiful excuse for a man, too soft. If I were to have a son, they would be strong, in body and mind. The perfect leader to take over the cause.

I took Lucas in my arms as the boy grabbed the girl.

Then, I led us into the forest. Some of my men followed with flame torches, the only ones I would trust. They knew who they were.

They lit the way as we braved the snow. I took us deep, making sure the cries couldn’t be heard.

It was freezing tonight, the winter harsh and biting. And the wolves, they were locked in the city. They thought it was a secret, but I had been watching them, my ancestors watched them. And every winter, they locked themselves in the city.

That was when we did most of our training. Most of our tunneling. Most of our forging. Our arsenal was growing, our gardens growing. We had so far to go, but we would get there. We just couldn’t risk it all by harboring winterborns from the wolves.

Or risking the winterborn curse on us.

I found an overhanging tree that was partly sheltered from the snow by the river that ran through our grassland villages. I looked down at my son, a pang in my chest making me angry all over again. All she had to do was wait one more month, and I could’ve had my son.

I shook my head and placed Lucas in the snow, bundled in his blanket.

The boy did the same, putting the girl next to Lucas.

He hesitated then closed his eyes, working up the courage I assumed. Like that was going to happen. He was definitely going to end up as collateral.

“Go safely into death. Travel quickly. Find peace. And may the realm accept you,” he whispered to the twins before standing up and backing away.

I swore to the realm that if that boy cried, I’d gut him.

I stepped back from the twins too. They didn’t even cry.

Wicked to the core already.

“Let it be done,” I said in the silent night, then led my men away from the winterborns, hoping that death would find them quickly so the curse they brought with them would spare us.