Chapter 3
Erich
Ican smell them together behind the door.
And I hate it.
For eleven years, I’ve pined for Nyx. The Omega with blood-red hair and big dark eyes showed up in the system at thirteen, scared and quiet.
When I caught her scent, it was like a punch to the heart.
I was fifteen then, a disgruntled young Alpha with an “attitude problem,” but my curse made me an offensive prodigy, therefore valuable, so I got away with a lot of shit.
I may have stalked Nyx a little. Watched over her and made sure no one gave her problems.
But I never approached her. Not even when those chocolate eyes would meet mine, sometimes briefly, sometimes not.
I valued her life far too much to get close to her.
The two years we were separated, me here and her still at the juvie facility, were the darkest of my life.
Every day, I was like a caged animal, seething and pacing as I awaited her arrival. That was when I took to tats and piercing, finding a couple of Alphas who had the equipment and know-how, and who were certain they’d be auctioned soon.
I still have their tools hidden away in my room, a little shrine to their memory.
When Nyx finally did arrive, it was a balm for my rage. Her scent, her presence, even from afar, calmed me in a way I never realized I’d needed.
The day she was ushered into the academy, I stood on the third-floor landing and watched. The second she stepped through the door, her gaze shot up to meet mine. The look of relief on her face renewed my vigor for life, two years of pressure and stress lifting from my shoulders.
But then he showed up to escort the new entrants around the grounds.
Laurant.
The Alpha who sold out his own kind for his personal safety.
She looked at him with those big eyes, her breath catching in her lungs as she tripped over her own feet, and I almost cracked a molar.
Universe, not him. Not him.
I always knew that, despite the laws forbidding them, packs were a natural part of life. I believed in fate, mostly because I felt it. With Nyx. But to tell me I’d be pack brothers with a boot-licking traitor to our kind was a blow to the gut I was never prepared for.
And although he never acted on it—and I watched him long enough to ensure it stayed that way—I could see he felt the same way I did for Nyx, despite not knowing her nearly as long.
But he didn’t deserve her.
And yet, my inherent desire for Nyx’s happiness kept me from burning him alive.
When he told us at lunch a few days ago that he was going to be auctioned next quarter, part of me wanted to gloat; ask him how it felt to be abandoned by the people he sold his soul to.
But I couldn’t.
Nyx’s utter devastation seeped into my pores, wrapped around my heart, and all I could do was growl in anger. My Omega’s sadness made my rage build.
Unable to sleep tonight with so many unwanted thoughts floating around my mind, I traversed the guarded halls to Nyx’s room, wanting to be with her. Comfort her. And maybe, selfishly, be comforted in return.
But he beat me to it.
Their scents are strong as they seep from under the door, a mingling of autumn ozone and bluebells carried on an ocean breeze. Without meaning to, without warning, my cinnamon and clove scent rises to meet them, meld with them.
My fist wraps on the door, firm, but not too loud.
It swings open to reveal Nyx, eyes frenzied, lips parted. She grips my arm with more strength than I’d expected, yanks me inside, and shuts the door.
Her hand grips mine tightly now, her shoulders rise on a huge intake of breath. She opens her mouth to speak, when the world around us goes dark.
The unmistakable sound of a power-down rings in my ears before everything goes deathly silent.
Then, the halos around our necks die, and the control boxes fall to the ground in a chorus of clanks.
“Holy shit,” Nyx breathes.
“What the fuck is happening?” My free hand goes to my neck, which has borne the weight of that collar since I was twelve. The physical weight was next to nothing, but the oppressive weight…
“She did it.” Nyx turns wide eyes on me, then Laurant. “Mira. She found the rebellion. They’re here.”
“She’s right,” Laurant whispers, then falls silent for a beat, listening to something I can’t hear. “There’s a commotion downstairs.”
Elation courses through my body in a way I’ve never felt before.
The rebellion is here. Freedom is on the horizon, in life or in death.
I never imagined this day would come.
I squeeze Nyx’s hand before reluctantly releasing it. “If that’s true, we need to help them.”
“Yes,” Nyx chimes a second before the lights turn back on. “But first—”
She leaps at me, wraps her arms around my neck, and pulls my lips to hers.
Like an idiot, I’m frozen with shock until the voice in my head screams, She’s kissing you, moron! Do something!
I crush her to my chest, pulling her body off the ground in my arms, holding her as close as possible, one hand diving into her hair at her scalp and gripping tight.
My lips part, taking hers with them, and my tongue dips into her mouth with a groan.
She sighs, almost whines, as my tongue flicks against hers before they swirl and curl together in a sensual dance.
Something foreign washes over me. Something visceral and possessive. There’s movement inside my chest, like the creature there behind my sternum rears its head with pride. And lust.
I’d never imagined being able to do this with my fated Omega. Not in a million years.
And it’s over too soon, my breath stolen as she backs away and turns to Laurant.
Her hands find the sides of his face before pulling him to her, kissing him just as deeply.
With him, she rolls onto the balls of her feet, and he stands rigid far longer than I had.
She must take it as a sign he isn’t willing, and slowly backs away.
Fury that Laurant would reject our Omega boils in my blood, but before I can voice my rage, he grabs her arm, spins her toward him, and devours her lips.
I can’t take my eyes from them, though part of me wants to look away. The ferocity he uses to kiss her must be close to how I ravaged her mouth. Years of longing and resistance shattered with one touch.
When they finally separate, Nyx’s breathing is ragged as she says, “Stay safe. Stick together. We need to know what’s happening.”
The muscles at the base of my dick twitch.
I love a woman in charge.
When she turns for the door, I realize I don’t love the idea of her going out there first.
“Hang on.” I slip in front of her, right hand on the door handle, left hand held in a “hold” signal over my opposite shoulder. These things we’ve practiced time and time again to be the GBE’s perfect indentured killers would come in handy if things are going down how I think they are.
I pop the door open a crack and peer into the hall.
Movement, fast and erratic, meets my gaze, pounding footsteps, then a shrill scream.
I look behind me, both Nyx and Laurant’s expressions are grim and serious.
Nyx nods at me to move, so I do.
I fling the door open, my hands enveloped in flame as I step onto the runner along the hallway floor.
Students whiz past me, running for the stairs.
When a couple of Beta soldiers lift rifles and aim at their backs, a growl escapes my chest as I fling massive balls of fire at them.
Their screams echo off the stone walls, ceiling, and floor, as they burn alive, taking the long window curtains at their backs with them.
And I am at peace with their deaths.
“Hey!”
I turn toward the stairs to see Nyx’s friend, Arlowe, waving at us.
“Come on,” she urges. “We have to get downstairs.”
Nyx rushes to her from behind me. “Do you know what’s going on?”
Arlowe’s head shakes. “Not really, but my roommate’s friends came to get us. Said to be ready to kill.”
My eyebrow twitches. Already ahead of them there.
With Laurant behind me, we follow Arlowe and Nyx to the stairs, where we’re met by more than a handful of more soldiers, weapons readied and shouting demands.
“Fuck this noise,” Arlowe hisses, and in a puff of darkness, she’s gone. A deep violet shadow blooms over one of the soldiers’ heads, and for a brief second, Arlowe is visible within it, her hands grasping the soldier’s head. Then, she’s gone again in a blink, taking the soldier’s head with her.
His headless body drops, blood spraying in upward pumps a couple of times before pooling on the stairs.
She does it again, and again. Then, with a mighty roar, Nyx extends her arms and lets loose currents of blue electricity into the few remaining soldiers.
Before any of them had time to react, they’re all dead.
“Fuck.” Laurant’s tone is a fine mix of awe and disgust.
I’m with him on this.
Clearing my throat, I gesture to the blood-covered stairs. “Don’t slip.”
Stepping around bodies and over puddles of gore, we navigate to the second-floor landing where more chaos meets us. In my peripheral, there’s movement as a soldier takes aim. At Nyx.
I hiss, send a cone of fire his way, but he’s too far away.
Frustrated, I take a step forward, ready to throw the flames instead, when a hand is placed on my back. Immediately, my fire blast reaches the soldier, and he screams and hollers before falling to his knees in a blaze.
I look over my shoulder to find Laurant as he takes his hand back. “I…” He swallows. “My curse increased your range.”
“I noticed.”
With a narrowed gaze, I look from him to the struggle all around us. Students and soldiers fighting each other, bodies strewn all about. Thankfully, most of them are soldiers.
I grit my teeth and keep moving down the stairs behind Nyx when Arlowe retakes point.
If I hadn’t witnessed her move at a blink’s speed, I’d have told her to pull back and lead the way myself. But I had seen it, and now I know she’s a badass.
I also figured she’d just tell me to kiss her ass, anyway.
So, we all follow Arlowe down the stairs and into an absolute war zone.