by Piper Stone
Begging.
Pleading for their lives.
I’d found my way back to my family on one cold stormy night, three days after breaking free of my confines. Then we’d disappeared, running for our lives against every odd.
This had once been a beautiful country. Now it was a primitive state, a world of despair.
As well as greed.
Chapter Five
Scorpio
Mate.
My mate.
I growled, shoving aside my barbaric nature, finding another thought just as evocative.
“I will find a way to save you.” The memory was bittersweet, but I’d spoken the words to a young waif of a woman being held in the same prison I’d been tossed into like an animal. She’d caught my eye, her haunted eyes keeping me awake at night. I would never forget the way she looked at me, defiant even shackled in chains, dirt covering every inch of her shaking body. While all the other girls were screaming out in fear, she’d been able to garner a sense of rebellion, her cunning ways no doubt keeping her alive. That had been years ago, but I was positive this was the same girl.
I’d never seen her after that day, but she’d remained imbedded in my mind, a beacon of hope in a world of utter desolation. I shook away the visions, hating the fact the realization fed the distrust. I didn’t believe in coincidences.
Time was running out, a countdown of sorts. I could feel it in my altered blood as it pumped savagely through my heart. All the rumors and threats, all the brutal attacks on laborers had come to a head. Communication with the various huntsmen packs had been limited but telling. The huntsmen rulers had sent out dozens of groups, some collecting fertile women as well as others, men capable of continuing our cause. I clenched my fist at the thought.
We’d been given certain details for our mission, the higher ranks within our group of leaders holding the final card. They’d been powerful men in their time; masters of industry, assassins, top ranking military officials. And they all believed they had a better answer.
With what some considered the final war, annihilation of the unwanted would occur within weeks and all led by a master politician, a self-appointed fool. Chancellor Drake Harding had been nothing before the insurgence, a low-level politician with a penchant for self-proclamation. He’d managed to collect followers, thousands of them with his pontification. “I will give you a better life, one full of prosperity.”
Right. He wanted to rule a kingdom and he was well on his way toward doing so. What was left of humanity needed a leader, someone to believe in. Evil or not.
Stopping his advance could mean a bloodbath.
“You are strong, a survivor. You will change the world one day.”
My father had believed in me when so many others refused. His words were sometimes the only thing that kept me going. I doubted my father would believe the same thing today. Thank God he wasn’t around to see the significant change in me, the violent tendencies and hunger raging off the charts.
He would be ashamed.
The world ran on entitlement, women sold to the highest bidder. I’d seen it in action, had even escorted a group of girls to parade in front of rich men with fat bellies and even fatter wallets. They’d pretended they’d been the one responsible for their spawn, but the truth was much uglier. A huntsman had likely been required for impregnation.
I shifted my thoughts toward the woman, my cock twitching, my hunger increasing.
Mate.
The single word was primitive as fuck, yet necessary in a world where the majority of women of childbearing age were rounded up day after day, taken to some godforsaken facility in order to be able to produce the spawn of traitors.
The same traitors I’d sworn my life’s work into helping.
Until I’d learned the disgusting truth.
The gas had affected a huge majority of men and women, leaving them infertile. While I understood the concept of continuing life, the way the government had chosen to handle the crisis was horrific.
After I’d attempted whistleblowing, I’d been forced into confinement, shackled and beaten by the great soldiers, accused of vile things. Then I’d had a needle shoved into my arm, changing my life forever. I would never forget the glee on the fucker’s face as he pressed on the pump.
“You’re nothing but an animal so you should be treated like one. Look like one.” His words were frank, ugly. Then he laughed. I’d once called him my friend, a buddy I believed would die for me. Instead, he betrayed not just his friend but all of humanity.
No one was left unscathed.
“You’re going to be trained like a great circus animal to do exactly what we want. If you don’t follow the rules? You’ll be punished.”
Yeah, one day I was going to hunt the fucker down.
Sadly, here I was, responding to my training, countless hours of being treated like the animal they’d turned me into.
The swing I’d taken at the bastard had connected, shattering his nose and causing me hours of intense pain from a whip being sliced across my back.
But I’d do it again.
No man or government owned me.
But I had changed, both in body and spirit. I no longer looked like the man who used to stare back at me in the mirror. I was stronger, faster, more adept at certain tasks. Brawn had taken over where intelligence had once been. I flexed my hand, studying my fingers. Even they seemed foreign to me.
Escaping incarceration had been my first mission, accomplished in less than a week. I would have been freed eventually, but not without further indoctrination.
Now I was on the second mission, much different from the one the group of huntsmen I was leading believed us to be on. Yes, our assignment was succinct, but I’d been called aside. I was no longer certain what the hell I was doing any longer.
The prophecy. One of the leaders had spoken of this freely, stating a change was coming. The top rung of the huntsmen planned on taking over, destroying the existing government. They certainly had the manpower to do so.
I’d been tasked to perform a particular duty, one I was beginning to believe was impossible.
I thought about the hard fucking, the need for the girl overwhelming in every manner. I’d been programmed to take her whether she had a desire or not.
But she had.
Oddly enough, some sick part of my brain kept telling me that our connection had nothing to do with being a scientific experiment. Even the way she’d touched me had been different, curious and attracted, electricity skyrocketing. I could almost taste her lips, could almost grab ahold of her delicious fragrance. She was all female and my cock stirred just thinking about her.
She was beautiful with porcelain skin and eyes so brilliant in their vivid emerald color that I knew I’d manage to see her irises every time I fell asleep. Oddly enough, they seemed in sharp contrast to her thick ebony hair, the kind made for fisting during fucking. I imagined tangling her long, silky strands in between my fingers.
Dear God, I was horny. She was already like a fix for a drug I needed in order to survive.
I held up my arm, studying the tattoo in the limited lighting. My way of raging against the machine. After my escape, I’d found a street vendor, allowing him to carve into me with what could have been dirty needles with no anesthetic used, all in an effort to feel something other than rage. The whim had been stupid, could have ended my life and by God, I’d known better, but the outcome had given me a moment of peace.
On that moment I’d accepted the term outlaw, incarcerated because I refused to treat the lying sack of shit leaders with respect. I’d simply said no at a time when the slightest infraction meant standing in front of the death squad.
I’d broken free, leaving the fucking facility in the middle of the night. After weeks of pushing hard against what I’d been turned into, I’d been forced to accept the role of being a huntsman, both feared and revered by laborers and scavengers alike. Within weeks, I’d located several men I’d known from years befo
re, forming a bond of sorts. Then we’d heard the news, a society of huntsmen and their families growing in numbers every day.
There’d been no other choice but to join them.
And I was the alpha of this particular pack.
Sighing, I rubbed my arm, still able to feel the slight indentations from the artisan’s unskilled work. The two weeks of pain afterward had helped ease my conscience, but not my guilt. Now I was lying next to a woman who could very well be the enemy.
I rolled over, studying the curve of her body, the way her long hair fell across the pillow. While the warmth of her body had been comforting during the night, I’d kept my arm in a solid hold to make certain she didn’t try to escape. We hadn’t captured a prisoner during this particular trip so there were no cages prepared, only a few sets of handcuffs that would keep her locked down if necessary.
That was a last resort.
We were basically foot soldiers, security for the other factions hunting for female survivors. Mates. What the girl had said about us was true. We had strict orders from our leader, but our reasons were vastly different than what had been spread across the country. We had a purpose in mind, protecting what was left of the human race. I exhaled at the thought.
I’d marked her, filling her with my seed thereby accepting her as my forever. What a crock of shit. The woman would eventually try to gouge out my eyes, fulfilling one of her many threats. However, the action of taking her had been necessary. Maybe one day she’d come to understand the reason why.
And maybe hell would freeze over.
Alex Walters. I hadn’t wanted to learn her name under any circumstances, mate or no mate. That meant she was now a person, not merely a conquest for my people. I hissed at the thought. Hell, they weren’t my people, just a group of violent marauders who’d taken up together, much like so many had been forced to do over the years. The huntsmen were strong in numbers, creating a new world.
Or so I’d been told.
I didn’t trust anyone, including the majority of the men I’d spent the last several months with.
However, I was the illustrious leader, my position fought and won during a vicious battle of brawn versus intelligence. I was considered the alpha dog. My reputation was brutal, just like the girl who’d driven me to heinous acts.
She’d called me a monster, as well as other accurately stated words. I’d been turned into just that over the course of the years. Some might even call me evil. I did what I had to do in order to survive. I had plans of retaliation, but I was one in a sea of monsters. Would my pack follow me to certain death? I wasn’t ready to explore the plan as of yet. What could one man do against an army of soldiers working for a shoddy government? I’d lain awake at night with those very thoughts.
She had no idea I’d done everything so far for her protection; the single gesture of marking her with my scent might keep her alive. Still, that would remain to be seen. Some huntsmen were true savages. Besides, she’d be considered a traitor by some, a woman who could bring the wrath of the government down on us, worth significant money on the scavenger circle. The reputation of those who considered themselves a former portion of the Elite was not to be trusted.
And the girl was definitely of a different class.
The rulers of the huntsmen would decide what to do with her upon our return to society—mate or no mate. Their selective process was almost as brutal. Every group in society had been reduced to little more than animals.
My plans and desires to make changes, including advancements would only be considered if the leaders believed we would gain any power. Would we? Perhaps. I’d studied the groups of scavengers and knew that they wouldn’t survive for more than another ten, maybe fifteen years. Their molecular structure simply couldn’t withstand the continual changes caused by the gas. This was a dirty little secret that no one talked about.
Not the government.
Not the huntsmen.
And certainly not the laborers.
My previous work with the government had allowed me insight, terrifying in its own right.
The scavengers suspected their bodies were failing, which made them desperate and that much more dangerous. They would stop at nothing to garner a cure. I doubted there would ever be one, although the government was sitting on a goldmine of cures, vaccinations, and improvements to our way of life. But they were greedy, saving it all for their precious few.
The chosen. The Elite as they were called.
I had to wonder whether Alex fit into that category. She could read, a huge red flag. I had a feeling she could provide useful information for the cause. My plan included destroying the facility where they made the serum on the outskirts of Washington. Another dirty little secret and one I’d kept to myself. Would I tell the huntsmen leaders how it could be possible? Eventually, but I trusted no one so the timing had to be right. Their ideas were grandiose, involving taking over the entire city.
I thought about Alex, her presence within the camp somewhat disturbing. While we hadn’t been forbidden to take a mate, we also hadn’t been encouraged. That was left to other packs. I’d stepped outside the boundaries. With her as marked, certain protocol would need to be met. I hissed at the thought. I wasn’t into sharing by any means.
However, I would have no choice in the matter if I wanted to keep my status as leader.
The three other men hungered for her, a taste of her body their right in this primitive, broken-down world. Rules. I loathed succumbing to rules but a strict requirement to follow them had kept the huntsmen alive during the course of several bloody battles.
Every member had special attributes, but deep within, we were all truly savages, succumbing to our dark desires and needs more than fighting to keep intact. This camp was merely an offshoot of a much larger one, an expansive location nestled in the mountains, protected by a well-trained squad of former military men. We were all well organized and skilled; however, a woman like Alex wouldn’t understand the necessity for keeping our strengths secret.
But maybe I was selling her short.
Our larger facility was a true city, harboring some of the most skilled men and women left in the United States. While the women were omegas, they were as fierce as any of the other warriors, training occurring weekly. There were also vigilantes, those ready to kill for any reason. Perhaps I was more like them than I cared to realize.
I moved from the bed, peering down at her still sleeping form. She was unruly and undisciplined, but I gathered a sense she had her reasons. Still, I would accept nothing less than her complete obedience. She would be fucked by the others, a prize well deserved. But I would be there. I would take her. That was my right as her mate.
She would also be punished for any and every infraction. I had to keep the peace in the camp. I couldn’t show any sign of weakness, especially not with a woman if I wanted to maintain civility. She would learn to respect me.
As I stood staring at her, a sense of anger swept into my system. I didn’t need this shit. Not now. I started to walk away but the draw of her was far too powerful, the electricity we shared something unusual. I’d known plenty of women, but not in several years. A perk of my position was the ability to taste any who’d been captured by the various packs. I’d never found one that I desired.
Until now.
But the emotions crowding in pissed me off.
There was an ache in my heart I hadn’t experienced in years. Some would consider it a weakness. Hell, I sure as shit did. We had a mission to finish. Then there’d be another one. And another. The ultimate goal was still in the design process, the overthrow precisely calculated. The last thing I needed was to have a woman by my side. However, the girl was a fighter. That was easy to tell, her own skills at locating our secret stash giving every one of us pause. No one had been able to do that before.
Shit. What was I thinking?
She was beautiful, keeping my cock hard and my balls tight. I was forced to admit, I hungered for her. The scent of her s
kin. The way she felt in my hands. Even her defiant attitude was stimulating. I clenched both fists, controlling my needs. I would be forced to treat her as a second-class citizen, disciplining and fucking her as a necessity.
A far cry from my earlier life.
Learning to adapt had taken me years, hard core months of turning into the savage I’d become in order to survive. Seeing her with my books, her long legs crossed, the wisp of hair falling into her face had dragged out the monster in me. How dare she touch my things! I had so little left from a life I’d fought so hard to achieve, blissful happiness and success.
All taken away.
All destroyed.
I forced myself to look away, yanking off my shirt and finding one that was remotely clean. We’d be forced to move the camp soon. While my instincts were telling me that she was a lone wolf in her hunt, she lived somewhere around a group of people who could come searching for her, even though they had limited resources. Every huntsman in the camp knew the forest, almost every inch for dozens of miles. The pack leaders had spent years learning the various locations of human camps. While those who’d escaped the tyranny weren’t considered a threat to us in any manner, pinpointing their locations was necessary.
Where humans lived, scavengers came, hunting like the wild monsters they’d become. The fact we’d caught and killed a wild cat meant a band of scavengers was close. They never went anywhere without vicious animals by their sides.
I checked on her one last time before moving out of the tent. The angry clouds meant a storm was rolling in. I hated fucking storms, loathed the lightning and thunder. I headed toward the food tent, knowing my team would be waiting for a report. I wasn’t wrong.
“A good night?”
I glared at Montana before moving toward the primitive stove, grabbing a cup and the metal coffeepot. “She’s out cold and has been.” I noticed Diesel’s inquisitive look from his position on the end of the table.
“Oh, please,” Diesel said under his breath. “Maybe you were just exhausted from fucking her in the woods.”