by L. V. Lane
The sound of heavy footfalls approaching from behind came before the scent. Both screamed Alpha—not the terrible female Alpha, but a male. His scent filled me with malaise. I don’t know how I knew, but I was certain he had been conditioned with my blood. Dark, unwelcome recognition hit me, and I could not help my recoil.
He noticed. I felt that he had noticed me and the heavy footsteps halted.
A growl shattered the silence, low and aggressive.
“Run,” the Beta whispered urgently. “He shouldn’t be here. If you can run, you need to run.”
The urge to run had eaten at me from the moment the Beta released the straps, and those words ripped the last of my restraint away.
I ran, stumbling, ragged steps that took me in a zig-zag path, hands and elbow connecting with the walls as I surrendered to the imperative to flee.
A roar was followed by a crash and a high-pitched scream. I glanced back.
With a flick of his wrist, the Alpha tossed the Beta against the wall.
I ran on, fear finding hidden reserves of energy as my foggy mind scrambled to orientate me.
Escape. I needed to escape. I tried doors sobbing and near-hysterical when they did not yield.
A shout came from behind, rapid footsteps chasing both of us. The double doors at the end slid opened as my palm connected with the plate.
Lights flickered on, the door snapped shut on the savage Alpha growl, and my wild eyes searched the stacks of crates for answers.
A heavy weight impacted against the closed door, and I jumped back, tearing into the piles, throwing them aside, and putting as many obstacles between me and the beast beyond the door.
I squeezed between crates into narrow gaps, seeking refuge, and insensible to anything but flight.
The door sprung open, and a sob escaped my throat as a huge hand closed over my upper arm.
Ripped from my hiding, I was tossed onto the floor.
“No!” I tried to crawl but, dazed from the violent impact, my legs and arms refused to cooperate with my command.
A fist closed over my hair. I screamed, feeling chunks ripping free as he dragged me onto my back. Then a heavy, suffocating weight came over me. Clawing at his face, I kicked and flailed with the last of my energy, but the Alpha was much larger, and I did not have a chance.
His nose pressed into the crook of my neck, and he inhaled deeply. I froze—his scent, and his unwelcome hands and body touching mine were sickening, but the thought of him biting me, of him taking my blood direct from my vein, was a violation of the highest order.
He bit.
I screamed. A blood-curdling sound that echoed off the walls and reverberated inside my skull.
He growled, and in another place, I could hear two Alphas howl.
“Get out! Get out!” My voice came through a tunnel, pitiful with sorrow. I was invaded. He was inside me, and his hideous gulping sounds broke me further apart, a piece at a time.
He growled against my throat, and my body responded by pushing out slick.
“No!” Tears poured. I was close to shattering. Helpless; I was utterly helpless.
The world started to flicker.
The ship—A forest—The ship—A forest.
Deep, lush and green, a forest had filled my dreams—it represented safety. Sunlight glinting through tall trees, and the faint drum of rushing water indicating a stream flowing beyond my sight. The distant yak-yak of forest birds, and warm air filled with the scent of eucalyptus.
The forest was familiar to me, being here was a lot like finding home.
Ethan’s face appeared before me. For one glorious moment, I believed him there with me. “Go back!” he growled.
Reality snapped into focus…in time to see the Beta strike the Alpha above me with a flat bar.
I screamed again as the blow ripped the beast from my throat, and I kicked and strained to break free as blood poured from the gaping wound in my throat.
The Beta struck him again.
The Alpha roared, head swinging and giving me a tiny opening in which to gain freedom.
The Beta struck a final time. His improvised weapon taking a high arc that gathered increasing momentum as my feet slapped and pedaled against the slippery, blood-bathed floor.
I staggered to my feet. The Alpha caught the end of the bar in his fist…and jerked the Beta forward.
The Beta screamed for me to run, but I didn’t want to run anymore. I wanted this to end—to end the Alpha who thought to take from me. Lurching forward, I slipped on my own blood before pushing up again. The sounds of the Beta convulsing as the Alpha choked him touched upon a place deep inside that demanded I help. The abandoned bar lay before me—flat but long, and when I picked it up, it had weight, but not too much.
I didn’t think, and the only emotion I felt was anger. Lifting the bar, I sent the end whistling. Daddy had insisted I take self-defense training, and although I had complained bitterly about it taking me away from my research, I appreciated it today.
It connected with the back of his knees, followed by a jab from the blunt tip dead-center of his monstrous back. Adrenaline, the remnants of the drugs, the flush, and an unearthly power lent a wild strength to the blow.
Discarding the Beta, who collapsed gasping to the floor, the Alpha swiveled toward me. I spun the bar again, so fast he did not see it coming, and it connected with a dull crack against the base of his jaw.
Power. I had felt it this time, a surge of electricity that brought a crackle to the air.
His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he crashed to the floor.
A faint hiss was my only warning, and I fell, like someone had cut the thread holding the pieces of my body together. The bar dropped. I heard it clatter as I followed the great, brute of an Alpha and tumbled to the floor.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
WE WERE CLOSING in on Lyus, and it was time for a meeting in the ship’s operations room—an empty cargo bay where we sat on weapons crates to finalize the details. Half the lights didn’t work, leaving most of the room in a state of gloom, while the bare floor was covered in a thick layer of dust.
Tomorrow, we would arrive, and I was ready to climb the fucking walls.
I didn’t even have Tsing as a distraction anymore.
Maybe it was time to test out my resuscitation techniques?
I might have been grinning because Ethan cut me a what-the-fuck glare.
“Reminiscing about Tsing,” I said, and we got back down to business.
Lucian had remained on Chimera, but he’d loaned Ethan a team of Alphas, plus the two Deltas, Hudson and the rest of his team bolstered the support. With Tsing out, we now had Salvation, the Uncorrupted, and whoever the fuck else had thrown their hat in the ring to deal with.
Our plan was simple, which in my opinion was the best kind of plan. By the time we arrived, the competition would have begun. Ethan had a contact there who would get him a fast track into the fight. The rest of us would recon to see if there was a way to extract Lilly before the event was officially over.
If it came down to a fair fight, my money was on Ethan. But who knew what the fuck might happen during the competition. This was too fucking important to leave anything to chance. From what we understood, the Uncorrupted had no ‘official’ presence on Lyus and were sending their Alphas in under the radar.
Their tactics might change if they suspected their Alphas were about to fail.
After the meeting, the rest of the team filed out, leaving Ethan and me alone to our thoughts.
I was feeling better since I’d killed Tsing. A lot better. The place in the center of my chest had been numb for a few days, but yesterday, after I killed Tsing, I thought I might have felt her again—briefly. We were close to her now. Our faster ship gaining on them so that we would arrive no more than a few hours after them.
My stomach turned over in an unfamiliar way, and I rubbed absently at the center of my chest. Ethan wasn’t coping well. It was one of the reasons I’
d taken him to witness Tsing’s end.
Ethan wasn’t the only one suffering.
That fucking dream.
She was running along a ship corridor, chased by an Alpha, and I couldn’t get to her, couldn’t help her. She was frightened, really fucking frightened. I wanted to end things when she was upset, but that dream ramped up my violence steeped imperative to a whole other level.
Then he had bitten her.
And I knew it wasn’t a dream. Power—I had felt power.
If that thick-necked Neanderthal was still alive when we got to Lyus I was going to gut the motherfucker and dance on his entrails while he slowly bled to death.
And I’d do it with a smile on my face.
I’d killed Tsing for Lilly; enjoyed playing with him, torturing, and hurting him. Relished every aspect of breaking down his sick mind, as he came to understand that I was delivering him in increments to his death.
Lilly couldn’t do something like that. She was sweet and although she could be bratty at times—and had left the fucking apartment without our permission—she was beautiful inside and out. I wasn’t beautiful inside, I was dark and ugly and dead, and until Lilly, not a fucking thing had moved me.
We were like two different worlds butting up against one another.
On my side the sea was calm and the weather fine.
On Lilly’s side, there were wild seas and storms.
I wanted to touch that world, to taste it and inhale it.
I didn’t understand it, but it was vibrant and made for compulsive viewing.
What would happen if we bonded? Would I infect her with my emptiness, or would she infect me? I didn’t know shit about dealing with emotions, but I wanted her, all of her. The wild emotions, the hot fucking, and the soft little giggles she made when my teasing found a chink in her perfectly constructed poise.
I rubbed the center of my chest where the dull ache emanated from.
That dream was fucking me up.
Was this it? Was I finally going nuts?
Ethan was staring blankly ahead with his hands curled in fists—I wasn’t the only one on the edge.
“So, on to the important stuff,” I said. “What’s the game plan for after, you know, you smite everyone who gets in your way on Lyus? I’m assuming I get her ass.”
“You’ve gone from operational tactics to who takes Lilly’s ass?” Ethan said in a slow way that suggested he was baffled.
He did uncurl his fists, though. “I’m just being practical,” I said. “I’ve had my fill of your bad-tempered shit over the last few weeks.” I began ticking off items on my fingers. “Don’t fucking spank her. Don’t fuck her unless I’m there. Don’t take her ass. Seriously, we need to have a game plan before we go into rut.” I pointed at his crotch. He raised both eyebrows in a where-the-fuck-is-this-going-now kind of way. “And besides, that third leg of yours is going to be a squeeze in her ass, heat or not.”
He growled. It was a pissed-off sort of growl, rather than, I’m about to beat-you-to-a-bloody-pulp sort of growl, so I felt safe to give an exaggerated roll of my eyes “This is why we haven’t broken her ass in yet!”
I thought I might have crossed the Ethan-line then, and although his expression didn’t change, I got a strong impression he was imagining killing me slowly—or quickly. Ethan was more the kill them quickly sort of guy.
“We’re going to bond with her, which means we’re going to bite her,” I continued to distract him from whatever torturous schemes he was planning. “Stuff can get a little crazy after that. Or so I’ve been told.”
He scowled. “You’re not putting your pierced junk in her ass.”
“Why not?” I asked because I thought his comments on my piercing was a positive step, and further, gave indication he was softening a bit.
“Fucking no.”
Okay, maybe not softening. “It’s not going to hurt her. She’ll be nice and loose while in heat, and you’ll both enjoy it.” I grinned.
He growled; it was the I’m-going-to-throw-you-against-the-wall-if-you-don’t-shut-the-fuck-up sort of growl.
I threw both hands in the air because I was never one to court caution. “See, this is why we’re discussing this now. Fine, I’ll take the piercing out before we get there.” A sudden thought struck me. “You do like me fucking her though, don’t you?” His eyes darkened. “And you like having her between us. Like seeing her tiny little Omega body trapped and helpless between us…Trapped, controlled, and helpless for whatever we want to do.” I added because I thought reminding him how she felt squished between us added a nice touch of emphasis.
He didn’t say a word, but his face said he liked the freaky stuff as much as I did. Even though he pretended he didn’t get off on watching me put my hands on her and my dick inside her. Alphas didn’t like to share Omegas. But we had no qualms about watching or fucking while someone was watching. Watching Ethan fuck her was almost as addictive as fucking Lilly myself. His big hands gripping her roughly while his cock split her tight pussy.
And I knew I had some serious problems because I also liked it when he made me wait.
I couldn’t take him in a fair fight, but fuck fair. When he made me wait, it was like I was teetering on a knife-edge—and then, when he told me I could have her, all that rabid anger shot straight to my dick.
He didn’t offer any comment, but his expression was fucking intense. I didn’t claim any skill in understanding the nuances of emotion, but Ethan’s were volatile and deep. He loved her, I realized. This impotence of transit was killing him. I didn’t understand how to love her or even what it meant, but she was mine, and I wanted back inside her magic fucking pussy. He tolerated me, would have much rather I’d never entered the picture. But I was here, and I wasn’t going anywhere.
“She’ll probably demand it,” I said. “She was aggressive before. I imagine she’ll be much worse in heat.”
His eyes flashed, and his nostrils flared.
“You like watching me fuck her, don’t you?” I pushed.
“I do,” Ethan admitted.
“I like watching you fuck her, too, especially when you’re rough with her. When you had me hold her so you could take the belt to her—” I cut myself off because Ethan was giving me his death-glare again.
“Let’s go for today’s practice,” he said.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
STILL REELING FROM the fucked-up dream, the last hours of the journey dragged. Ryker had tried to distract me for a while, but there was only so much relief to be gained from punching him. After, I returned to my cabin but had not managed to sleep.
It wasn’t a dream. The Alpha had bitten her. Bitten my fucking side.
I wasn’t alone in my dark thoughts, and restless I’d left my ship cabin and headed over to the bridge to find Ryker already there. I took the improvised crate-seat because Ryker had taken the pilot’s chair. After three days, the noise had left me with a permanent headache, while the lumpy chair he’d commandeered was the greatest source of comfort on this dilapidated ship. No words were spoken and lost in our own thoughts, we counted down the minutes until the screen indicated our arrival.
Lyus was as I remembered it. The spaceport was a dingy, stinky, thrown together set of shacks. Sluggish smoke rose to the indigo evening sky, and the beaten minions hustled, brows low and eyes suspicious. Hostile was the word that came to mind.
And freezing. It was absolutely fucking freezing.
“Fuck me, it’s freezing,” Hudson muttered, his breath making a cloud of vapor in the frigid air. The two Omegas were buried under layers of thermal wear, while the rest of us wore a mishmash of armor. This was not the kind of world you turned up to wearing fancy kit—attention was not a good thing on Lyus.
I cut Hudson a glare. Unfazed, he glared back.
My focus shifted north, toward the capital of Lyus, and where events in the Pit were about to unfold.
Finally, I was here where she was.
“I can feel her,” Eloise
said, and her eyes had likewise turned toward the capital.
I could feel her, too, and the knot in the center of my chest was like a vise crushing me. Close, I was so fucking close.
I stalked through the jostling crowds like I owned the place. Faces turned my way, then turned away. They had ripped all the Alphas out a decade ago, and the people were predominated by lower-ranking dynamics. The contest would have brought other Alphas in, but our arrival still caused ripples of unease.
The two Omegas were kept in the middle of our party surrounded by a wall of Alpha, Delta, and Beta muscle, and away from prying eyes.
Outside the spaceport, Dax waited to greet us with a convoy of five armored cars, and thirty soldiers, loaded to the hilt with weapons and armor.
“You never visit!” Dax said grinning as he opened his arms wide. I wasn’t about the hug the bastard. We had tolerated each other before I left Lyus, and I doubted he’d been sad to see me go.
My eyes narrowed in warning, he had always been a cocky son of a bitch for a Beta. He was almost as tall as Ryker, but whipcord thin. Bald-headed with a thick, brown beard, his face and neck craggy with lines from the harsh weather and the harsher life.
His arms dropped back to his side. “Still a miserable bastard, I see,” he said, smirking. Then his smile dropped. “They started an hour ago. We need to get over there before the first rounds are complete.”
“Have you seen her?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s there,” he replied, and his cold eyes said I wasn’t going to like what I found. “And security is tighter than a Gamma’s pussy.”
Jordan and Kade both growled.
Dax threw his arms up. “What the fuck? All I’m saying is there’s no fucking way you’ll get her out, but by all means, knock yourself out trying. But unless you find another way real quick, the only way you’re getting to her is by fighting. So, load up. We’re cutting it close.”
We did load up because I was impatient to see her no matter how bad. We bounced over rutted roads glistening with a thin sheen of ice, between crumbling buildings where grim-faced citizens hastened from one darkened alley to another. Lights were sporadic but gained in frequency as we drove. My heart had left Lyus a decade ago—my brother had died here. I swore nothing would bring me back, yet here I am.