Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Vinnie’s Study, Hades Estate, The Alpha Underworld
P anic surges through me at Vinnie’s voice.
The Head Alpha himself has caught us in his study.
This is a nightmare. The worst case scenario.
The mission has gone as wrong as it could have done.
I’m trembling, even as I drop into a fighting stance.
My adrenaline spikes.
Laurent slips both of the thumb drives out of the computer and into his pocket, before anybody can notice.
He truly has a magicians’ hands.
Instantly, Harbinger’s expression shutters. He straightens off the desk like he’s only been having a casual chat.
Vinnie doesn’t look tricked for a moment.
His sickening, angry scent of curdled milk is flooding the room. His expression is darkly furious, as he slams the door wider and stalks further into the room.
He’s only dressed in black, cotton pajamas.
So, apparently he gets sleepwear.
Vinnie is flanked by three Alpha bikers, who belong to his worst Hades squad. The squad are responsible for stalking and kidnapping the Omegas from Above.
They’re dressed in scruffy jeans, sturdy motorcycle boots, and a leather jacket with the Hades’ skull patch on the back.
I narrow my eyes at them.
We’re outnumbered by the most vicious members of the Hades pack. Plus, they’re carrying guns in their hands.
By the way that Laurent becomes ashen, darting glances between them, I bet that these are the bastards who kidnapped him.
Were they also the ones who hurt Laurent, when he was locked up here?
My hands curl into fists.
I’m impressed at the way that Laurent holds himself together, tilting up his chin in defiance.
All I know is that I’m going to get Laurent out of here somehow.
“Did you miss me?” Harbinger swaggers toward Vinnie, deliberately placing himself between the Hades pack members and Laurent and me. He’s also using it as a cover for Laurent to switch off the computer and stealthily slip out from behind the desk to stand next to me. Laurent and Harbinger appear to be able to work together as if by telepathy. “I can come back now and keep you company…”
I wince at the crack, as Vinnie backhands Harbinger.
Then Vinnie snatches Harbinger by the hair.
I hate that Vinnie is holding Harbinger harshly by the hair, when I’ve imagined doing the same move but in a way that brought pleasure to us both.
“Did you think that I was so deeply asleep that I wouldn’t notice how long you were gone?” Vinnie tightens his grip, and Harbinger winces.
Vinnie towers over the other Alpha. He’s the true monster and not Feral.
My mouth twists.
It’s Harbinger’s fault that our mission is ruined.
“I didn’t know that my bathroom breaks were timed,” Harbinger gasps.
Vinnie slaps him.
Harbinger has as much of a problem with his mouth as…well, I do.
“What about the drugged guards?” Vinnie growls.
Harbinger looks confused and then casts me an impressed glance.
I shrug, sheepishly.
Okay, we can share the blame.
Vinnie shakes Harbinger by the hair. “So, are you in league with an enemy pack? Are you in whatever this is together? Are you betraying me? Is she helping you?”
Harbinger rolls his eyes. “Are you kidding me? Her ?”
Why does hurt twist inside me at the cold way that Harbinger says her like it’s simply been a hopeful delusion that he has any feelings for me?
Was it only an act earlier that he cared about Laurent being hurt? Did Harbinger turn his weaponized charm on me simply as a way to get the codes?
Harbinger is a rogue.
A charming one but still, a rogue.
One who has been stupid enough to end up in debt to a psychopath like Vinnie.
Men like Harbinger may be gorgeous and charismatic but they’re still selfish. They look out for number one first. I should remember that.
After all, Harbinger came to the study to try and find the codes in order to escape.
It’s about saving his own skin.
Why should I expect anything different from a man like him?
My eyes flash. “Yeah, I’d never be working with a selfish jerk like him.”
Is that quickly buried hurt in Harbinger’s eyes?
I blink in confusion.
“See?” Harbinger’s gaze becomes even frostier. “She didn’t say a word, when you dragged me away in the tunnels. She’s nothing but an enemy fighter. I found these two Omegas in here. I don’t care about them. I was being a good pack member by investigating the noise that I heard. Look, she wouldn’t care if you beat me to death in front of her.”
He raises a challenging eyebrow at me.
I swallow, blanking my expression with difficulty.
Why did he have to say that?
“Lying fucker.” Vinnie snatches a gun from the Alpha next to him and holds it to Harbinger’s temple.
Harbinger doesn’t flinch, but I do.
I start forward, but Laurent clamps his hand around my elbow keeping me in place.
Before I can desperately plead for Vinnie not to shoot, Laurent shakes his head at me.
“Go on, put a bullet in him,” Laurent says, coolly. “One less Hades Alphahole for my pack to fight in the octagon.”
I suck in a shocked breath.
What the hell is Laurent playing at?
This isn’t chess. It’s real life. And Vinnie has killed people.
If Laurent has misjudged this, we could be just about the witness Harbinger’s murder.
Harbinger’s gaze fixes on Laurent’s. I expect him to glare or at least, to look scared.
Instead, his expression is mask-like.
My breathing has become so fast that I’m struggling not to hyperventilate.
I slice my palms with my nails.
Laurent’s hand is still tight around my elbow.
He doesn’t want me to speak. I promised that I would trust his strategy. This is his skill. I can tell that Harbinger is trusting it as well.
But we’re playing with Harbinger’s life, and it’s making me sick.
Vinnie presses the gun harder against Harbinger’s head.
I can’t take it.
It’s too much of a risk.
Finally, I break.
I open my mouth to beg for Harbinger at the same moment that Vinnie swings the gun away from Harbinger’s head and toward Laurent and me instead.
“I’ve changed my mind,” Vinnie declares. “I think that I’ll shoot these two fuckers.”
“ No ,” Harbinger immediately yells.
He wrenches his hair out of Vinnie’s grasp and knocks away the gun.
The other fighters instantly point their guns at Harbinger.
Harbinger stills but he’s panting.
Vinnie laughs. “You aren’t together…? Don’t care about each other…? Fucking lies.”
“Idiot.” Laurent shakes his head at Harbinger.
Harbinger straightens, slicking back his hair. “Sorry, Rook. Some of us don’t have balls of ice like you do.”
Vinnie glares between us. “Now, you’re going to tell me exactly what you were all doing in here. Then I’m going to decide whether to tear out your throats.”
Laurent drops his hand from my elbow to protectively hold it over his pocket. We can’t lose those thumb drives. They hold the information that I need to become heir. Also, the codes for the exit.
On there, we have everything to put our grand plan into place, which I’ve worked toward my entire life.
I can’t have it ruined now.
I also can’t lose Laurent, and having experienced the terror of seeing Harbinger with a gun to his head, I can’t lose him either.
What excuse can I come up with for meeting them both here?
Harbinger meets my gaze. “She wants to fuck me.”
What. The. Hell?
Well, I guess that it’s one excuse for our clandestine meeting.
I blush, especially when several of the Hades Alphas give filthy laughs.
“Why?” Vinnie splutters.
“Hate sex,” Harbinger murmurs, seductively. “Just look at me. Why wouldn’t she want to hit this?”
“Why indeed?” I mutter.
Preferably in the balls.
“Are you fucking with me?” Vinnie barks.
Harbinger arches a pierced brow, before whispering conspiratorially, “Both these Omegas want to fuck me.” When the other men chuckle and nudge each other, I know that he has them. “When they saw me at the fight, they both decided that they had to have a taste of my knot. You know how thirsty the Betas here are for me. This room was the one that we were least likely to be disturbed in, at least, as long as I could keep the guards drugged for a couple of hours. I’ll do anything for my adoring fans.”
I want to be angry.
But it’s a good cover for what we’ve really been doing in here.
Plus, Harbinger has taken the blame for the guards, which protects River.
I wish that I could thank him for that. I know that he’ll be in trouble.
“Plus, then you’d have a hold over the boss’ daughter,” Vinnie says, shrewdly. “Were you hoping that she’d persuade Don to buy out your debt and bring you into the Battle pack?”
“Well, a guy can hope. My knot has been called magical before.” Harbinger winks. “But she wasn’t impressed about my plan with you. Turns out that she was right, since here you are with men and guns and… At least you didn’t come a couple of minutes later and see the truly twisted things that one wanted.” He points at Laurent. “He’s one kinky Omega. He was going to strip me, then bend me over the desk and spank me with—"
“Enough,” Vinnie roars. “I don’t need to hear about your perverted, anti-dynamic sexcapades.”
The other Alphas are staring at Harbinger in shock.
I don’t know whether to laugh or gasp at his daring.
Is it working?
Vinnie’s glower sweeps over Laurent and me. “Harbinger is my property. You don’t come and play with him without my permission.”
I clear my dry throat. “Noted.”
“You all still broke the rules. Plus, you fuckers disturbed my sleep. So, you need to be punished.”
Harbinger shrugs. “Fine. Let them go home, then you can beat me—”
“No,” Vinnie looks amused, “I said you all broke the rules. I haven’t decided who deserves punishment the most.”
“I do.” Harbinger rushes to stand in front of Vinnie, attempting to block his view of Laurent and me. “Look at this gorgeous body of mine. I’d tempt a saint. It’s my fault for being this sexy.”
“It was my plan,” I correct, quietly. “I should take the punishment.”
I won’t let Harbinger take any more of the blame. He’s already been hit and roughed up. Earlier, he received two hundred strokes from the brutal Discipline Strap.
He’s been hurt enough.
I know in my head that he’s not my Alpha. Yet in my heart, it’s a different matter.
I can’t fight it any longer.
Next to me, Laurent stiffens. “Shouldn’t we at least toss a coin? What about playing rock, paper, scissors?”
“Have you caught feelings for each other?” Vinnie sneers.
Harbinger’s expression is unexpectedly serious as it meets mine. “Let me do this.”
Vinnie glances at the other men. “Keep your guns trained on the Omegas.”
My breathing picks up. My pulse roars in my ears.
The Alphas are blocking the exit to the room. If I tried to fight or rush them in order to get Laurent out of here, then there is a chance that one of those guns will go off.
Someone could end up with a bullet in them. I’m not used to fighting against weapons and I haven’t trained with them.
How can I risk it?
I’m trapped.
Vinnie crosses his arms. “Prove to me that you’re sorry. Loyal. Do the one thing that you’ve refused to do, since I took you into my pack. Kneel and bare your neck.”
I gasp.
It’s an extreme thing for an Alpha to bare their neck to another Alpha.
It’s the ultimate act of submission.
It’s rarely used, apart from between bonded pairs. Even then, it should only be willing.
It’s a violation and taboo to be demanded in this way, especially in public.
The ultimate humiliation.
Dad has used it within the family on Lionzio. Most packs would consider that abuse.
Harbinger’s expression becomes shuttered.
His midnight green eyes fix on mine like he needs the anchor…as if he’s telling me that he’s doing this for me.
Then he kneels.
Laurent winds his arm around my waist, nuzzling against my neck. His sweet chocolate scent becomes burned in his distress.
Harbinger’s back is straight. He keeps his head raised high and dignified.
Then he pushes his hair out of the way, baring his vulnerable neck to one of the most dangerous men in the Underworld.
I’m shaking.
I try to take a step forward to stand by Harbinger’s shoulder as I would Feral’s in this situation.
But Harbinger calls out in warning, “Stop.”
To my shock, I notice that one of the fighters has their gun raised and pointed in a kill shot at Laurent’s chest.
I swallow, frozen.
Vinnie prowls to Harbinger, deliberately placing his strong hand over the fluttering pulse on Harbinger’s bared neck to emphasize just how vulnerable he is right now. “I could kill you. But you owe me too much. You’re an investment right now. You promised to make me Champion again. You better fucking make good on that.”
“I will.”
“We’ll see.” Vinnie steps back, leaning casually on the wall. “Punish him.”
“Wait,” I call out, desperately.
The largest of the Alphas steps forward, circling Harbinger. He holsters his gun.
Then he backhands Harbinger.
Harbinger’s head snaps to the side. His reddened cheek begins to bruise and swell.
“Fight back,” Laurent snarls, finally losing his cool. “Don’t just kneel there.”
Harbinger ignores him.
He doesn’t resist, as the Hades Alpha punches him in the mouth, splitting his lip.
Harbinger spits blood on the dirty carpet.
Then the man kicks him in the gut.
Harbinger lets out a pained oomph , curling over his stomach.
With difficulty, Harbinger pushes himself back up to kneeling again, only to be punched in the jaw.
My eyes are wet with tears.
“Stop hurting him,” I howl. “Just…stop… Leave him alone.”
Vinnie marches to me, wagging his finger in my face. “Someone needs to teach you your place, Omega. You’re an untamed bitch. Destroying my nest. Rejecting me. Then thinking that you can break into my estate to touch my slutty property.”
“Don’t call him that,” I snarl at the same time that Laurent leans forward and bites Vinnie’s wagging finger in revenge.
I guess that Laurent has warned enough times that he bites.
Vinnie howls, waving his arm around, trying to dislodge Laurent.
Laurent only glares at him, chomping down harder, until blood drips down Vinnie’s wrist.
When Vinnie attempts to punch Laurent, I block him.
Vinnie raises his hand again to hit Laurent.
Instantly, I’m distracted by a sudden flurry of movement behind Vinnie.
Harbinger is no longer meekly kneeling for punishment. Like an avenging angel, he rises up in a single movement that shows why he’s such a dangerous opponent in a cage fight. He drops the fighter who has been beating on him with a single jab and then kick to his guts.
The man crashes into the wall and collapses.
Harbinger whirls on the two men behind him, whose eyes are wide with fear, despite the fact that they’re holding guns.
They look like they don’t know whether to run.
By the blazing look in Harbinger’s eyes they should run.
With a series of breathtaking kicks, Harbinger knocks the guns from the Alphas’ hands, then slams their heads together, knocking them unconscious.
I stare at Harbinger in awe.
He’s managed it in a couple of carefully orchestrated moves.
Could he be ex-military, despite his shady reasons for being here?
When Harbinger stalks toward Vinnie, even Vinnie looks frightened.
“What are you doing?” Vinnie demands. “I’m your Head Alpha.”
He raises his gun, holding it pointed at Harbinger’s chest.
“Don’t hurt Rook,” Harbinger commands.
His voice is low and possessive.
He’s talking the same way that Feral gets, if someone threatens Laurent or me.
The way that an Alpha acts around his scent matched Omega.
Laurent spits out Vinnie’s finger with a grimace of disgust. There’s an answering possessive blaze in his gaze, as it settles on Harbinger.
It’s hot as fuck.
Can I handle these two together? I know that I want to.
Vinnie holds up his hands, carefully taking a sidestep away from Laurent. “Huh, so you truly want to win this one as a prize. You’ll fight hard to win his sweet ass in the Champion Special for us, won’t you then?”
My guts churn.
Is that Harbinger’s plan? To win Laurent and take him away from my pack?
Because I know after his sacrifice today that my plan is to find a way to save Harbinger and see if he wants to join my pack.
“For now, they don’t belong to us.” Harbinger wipes his hand over his mouth, smearing the blood. His cheek and eye are swelling. He quirks his brow at me. “It’s past your bedtime. How about you get back to your pack now? Excitement is over.”
I nod, edging around Harbinger. I keep Laurent close to my side.
I glance down, catching sight of something being passed from Laurent to Harbinger behind Harbinger’s back.
It must be Harbinger’s thumb drive.
Laurent is taking a big risk. He’s also putting a lot of trust in Harbinger.
Yet my stomach is twisted in knots.
What if Harbinger tries to escape by himself?
Will I ever see him again?
Worse, what if he’s caught?
Plus, his escape could trigger a change in codes and security processes that would risk our own escape.
Is Laurent being noble in a way that may work in the world Above but could condemn us here in the Underworld? Or has he worked out something that is many moves ahead of me?
Maybe he understands Harbinger better than I do.
If these two men truly are scent matches, then Harbinger probably won’t leave without Laurent anyway, right?
Is Laurent hoping that this gesture of sharing the information will win Harbinger’s trust? Or is it more of a thank you? Laurent’s only way of showing how much it means to him that Harbinger took the punishment for us?
I wish that I had some way to show Harbinger. Adrenaline is still making my legs feel like buckling from having to witness him being beaten.
He has protected me, and I will find a way to protect him too.
Before I can escape out of the doorway, however, a tall figure in a scarlet suit decorated with flames like Lucifer blocks it.
I stumble back.
“Dad,” I whisper.
Why the hell is he here?
My mind is racing.
Dad’s voice is deceptively light, but I don’t miss the danger underneath it. “Did you get lost, Harley? And you took this lovely little thing with you on your outing. Laurent must be scared. Are you hurt, tesoruccio?”
With an acting skill that I’ll never be able to match, Laurent touches his bruised cheek. “Hurts.”
Instantly, Dad’s fury redirects to Vinnie.
To my delight, Vinnie swallows in fear.
“How dare you injure such a fragile, sweet Omega?” Dad snarls. “He’s not a Beta or a fighter. Meet me tomorrow morning to apologize, you shit. No one damages a prize.”
Vinnie gapes at Dad. “They broke into my estate.”
Dad puffs out his chest.
Then he pats me proudly on the shoulder. “My Omega daughter did, didn’t she?” He leans closer, studying me. I stand as still as I can, despite how fast my heart is beating. Dad is volatile. I never know how he’ll react. Does he know why I’m here? He appears excited by my reckless but bold move, as Laurent predicted. “Ballsy. You may as well be the first to know that I’ve made up my mind. Harley is not only my daughter. She’s also my heir.”