46. Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Six
Emma
R onan grabs my arm and pushes me back toward the door we came through with the brutal, practiced force of a man who’s faced ambushes before.
“Emma—out! Now!” His voice is a bark of pure command, his body already bracing for the chaos that explodes around us, but Pack Carmichael moves as one, blocking my retreat.
Matthew lunges at us before I have time to think. James and Derek cut Ronan off before he can open the door again, their grins too wide, too hungry, pure malice in every line.
Ronan meets them head-on, his fists flashing, every movement efficient and brutal.
He lands a punch in James’s gut with enough force to fold him, then hammers an elbow into Derek’s jaw, the crack echoing off the walls.
Derek staggers but doesn’t fall; Ronan ducks another blow, blood already leaking from a split over his brow.
They’re vicious, fighting dirty, swinging for his face, kicking at his knees, trying to drag him to the floor where their numbers can break his strength.
Ronan is a wall, blocking and countering, grabbing Derek’s arm and twisting until bone threatens to snap but he leaves room for Matthew to grab my shoulders in a brutal grip.
His sharp, cold scent floods my nose, all rot and rage and old nightmares come for me in the flesh. He snarls in my ear, breath hot and sickening. “You thought you could hide, Omega? We’d know you anywhere. That scent, that fear. So delicious. You’re always ours.”
He yanks my wig off in a single, savage rip, the pins snapping, hair tumbling loose. His nose drags along my neck and I jerk back as far as I can in his unrelenting grip, bile rising, terror clawing through me until it’s all I can do to keep breathing.
Ronan’s boots scrape on the floor, the savage impact of flesh on flesh as he battles to reach me, but Derek and James are on him, pinning him back, raining blows on his ribs and head. He releases a roar of pure fury as he tries to claw toward me.
Matthew locks his arm around my waist, dragging me backward, my heels scraping, a scream tearing raw from my throat as he opens the door. Ronan breaks away for a heartbeat, eyes meeting mine, but before he can get to me, James’s fist slams into his temple, driving him down.
Matthew jerks me into the corridor, his fingers cruelly tight on my arm.
Every inch of my body twists with revulsion, but survival snaps me into desperation.
I drive my elbow back into his ribs, kick at his shins, claw at his hands.
I let my rage and terror loose; let him see that I am not helpless anymore.
I have everything to live for and he won’t take that away from me.
Surprise twists his features as I gouge his cheek with clawed fingernails, drawing lines of blood. “You little bitch!”
He drops me in his shock, and for a heartbeat I’m free, stumbling, mind screaming to run, but Matthew lunges .
I collapse under his full body weight. He clenches my hair as he slams me to the ground. My ears ring as he flips me to my back underneath him.
“You think you can leave us? You think you’re not ours?” He raises his hand and slaps me hard, the impact enough to taste blood on my tongue.
Trapping me beneath of the weight of his body, he shoves my dress up to my waist, his knees between my thighs. The sick bulge of his erection digs into me through his pants. He rises, hand working his buckle.
He’s going to rape me.
Right here on the floor of the corridor where anyone could see.
He’s too crazed to care, but even if someone did see us, the law would be on his side. He still owns me and can do whatever he pleases.
My fear trembles on the edge of panic, fury burning underneath.
I’m not going to let him take from me again.
I’m not powerless.
I’m not the same omega he imprisoned for years.
That omega had nothing to live for.
This omega does and she’s willing to fight for it.
I reach to my thigh, where my dress is already hiked up, searching for the gun Phoenix gave me. Matthew’s hands are greedy and rough. Too busy seizing, tearing, branding my skin with his madness.
My fingers close around the holster. I snap open the latch and wrench the gun free, my hands shaking.
“Get off me!” I choke out, the words raw and savage as I jam the gun up against his ribs, safety already flicked off. His eyes widen with a flicker of fear, the first and only time I’ve ever seen that emotion in him.
“You’re not touching me ever again,” I hiss.
Matthew throws back his head and cackles, the sound ricocheting off the marble and crystal of the hallway. His laughter is twisted, wild. Mocking me, belittling every atom of courage I’ve scraped together.
“Look at you,” he sneers, letting his hands drift up in a parody of surrender.
“A little cunt like you waving a gun like she actually means it. You don't have it in you. You’ll always belong to us. Stupid. Weak. Begging for our cocks and knots even when you fucking hate us.” He leans in, his voice dropping to a poisonous whisper.
“Go on. Pull it. I dare you. Or should I bark to remind you who’s in charge? ”
His gaze gleams with toxic superiority. For years, that flash of teeth, that hint that he could break me with one command, always meant the end.
If he barked right now, maybe I would freeze.
Maybe I’d fall back beneath his control.
But he hasn’t. Not yet. For all his arrogance, he’s still underestimating me.
My fear burns away, leaving nothing but rage and crystal clarity. “You want to know who’s weak?” I lock eyes with his. “It’s not me. It’s you, and Derek, and James. You’re cowards. Predators who get off on controlling others. You’re the real monsters.”
Shock flickers over his face, warping instantly into rage. His hand reaches toward his trousers zipper, “You’ll learn your place, you little bitch—”
I squeeze the trigger.
The report deafens me and the force slams into his side.
He topples off me, mouth falling open, shock etched deep, just as my alphas burst around the corner.
Asher leads, Soren and Phoenix right behind, panic and fury etched into every line of their faces.
Matthew falls to the floor next to me, his stiff cock obscenely framed by his open zipper.
Derek and James burst from the room, with Ronan hard on their heels. He staggers after them, blood trailing from a split brow, his jaw clenched in a furious snarl.
They spot Matthew sprawled on the floor, a crimson stain blooming under him. Derek’s eyes flare, feral and unhinged, and he lets out a guttural snarl. James, teeth bared, launches straight for me, blind hatred in every line of his body.
But my alphas are faster.
Asher slams into James, all fury and muscle, pinning him to the wall so hard the plaster cracks.
Phoenix barrels into Derek, both crashing to the floor in a chaotic tangle of limbs.
Soren rushes to my side, placing himself between me and the fight, weapon drawn and voice cold as steel. “They won’t touch you again, Emma. ”
James fights with a wild, animal panic, twisting and scrabbling against Asher’s grip.
Desperation beams in his eyes. He won’t go quietly, not now that he sees the ruin of his pack and the certainty of his fate.
His hand darts to his waistband, slick with sweat, fumbling as he rips free a small, black pistol.
The glint of a barrel catches the corridor lights. His gaze locks on Asher, pupils blown wide, teeth bared in a snarl. This isn’t surrender. This is murder, plain and simple.
“Asher!” For a single suspended second, the coppery taste of terror singes my tongue.
Phoenix swings his own gun up in one smooth, desperate arc, his eyes hard, mouth set, and pulls the trigger. The flash of light blinds me and the scent of burnt metal and cordite follows the boom of the gun.
James spasms. His finger convulses on the trigger, but his pistol never fires. Instead, he drops to the floor, the gun spinning out of reach. Blood pools beneath him, bright and spreading on the carpet. His chest heaves once, twice, then goes still.
Phoenix stiffens, shoulders trembling, breath choppy as he lowers his weapon.
Soren stays alert to any other potential threat.
Derek’s eyes flick from James’s lifeless body to Phoenix’s smoking gun and over to Asher and Ronan—both of them bloodied, bloody-minded, and closing in.
His breaths come in ragged pants, the last of his bravado stripping away, face ashen.
He knows—any fool can see it—there will be no deals, no sweet talk, no way out except through cold, hard justice.
But Derek’s pride is carved too deep for surrender.
He makes his choice in the blink of an eye. He sprints to the large window at the end of the hallway that overlooks the sparkling city beyond and hurls himself through the glass.
“Fuck.” Phoenix sprints forward, shoving broken glass aside to peer down. His voice is low and grim. “He’s dead.”
There’s a moment of shocked silence. The corridor is a wreck of broken glass, blood, and the dead monsters who ruined so many lives.
Asher’s hands find me, strong and shaking, framing my face as he pulls me from Soren’s hold and looks me over, frantic and thorough. His eyes are wild, dark with terror and raw relief, searching for blood, bruises, or any sign I’ve been hurt.
“Love. Emma, look at me.” His thumbs brush the streak of tears from my cheeks. “Are you hurt? Did he…” His voice breaks, fear too sharp, and he forces a steadier breath. “Tell me you’re all right.”
His hands skim down my arms, fingertips cataloguing every inch, every shiver. I shake my head, breathless, trying to manage a weak smile. “I’m okay. He didn’t get a chance. I’m not hurt, Ash. I’m not. I swear.”
Phoenix slides in behind me, anchoring me to reality when my world wants to spin off its axis. “They’re gone. Finally gone out of your life.”