Chapter 29
Kian barely registered the pain in his shoulder, too keyed into Sky. His omega hit the trunk of a tree and dropped into a crouch, staying low behind the large boulder before it.
Hopefully uninjured.
The blaster was in his hand a moment later, pulled from a hidden holster on his left leg, but when he aimed in the direction the shots had come from, there was nothing but shadows and darkness.
He held his breath, grateful that Sky was staying quiet without having to be told. He really had chosen well when he’d decided on him for a mate. There’d been fear in his green eyes earlier, but he didn’t cling to Kian or ask needless questions like most others would have.
The sound of a branch swishing came from the right, and he spun, letting off a single bullet.
Silence again.
As a prime alpha, his eyesight in the dark was better than most, but whoever was out there must know as much, because they were careful not to allow him to catch even a glimpse of movement.
It was a waiting game, and usually he wouldn’t mind, but right now he was with his omega.
The last thing he wanted was to put Sky at risk.
Discreetly, he pressed the small button on the side of his multi-slate that would alert the men he had nearby of the danger.
He’d ordered them to keep their distance as soon as Sky had asked to drive and had no way of knowing how far away they were at the moment.
Maybe it was a good thing their attacker was staying hidden. The longer they could drag this out, the better.
“Your omega looks like he can hold his own, Kian,” a familiar voice cut through the forest. “I didn’t expect that to be your type.
Always pictured you surrounded by soft, helpless damsels in distress.
Or maybe a small male omega at best, certainly nothing like the fine specimen you had sobbing for you a moment ago. ”
Kian felt Sky stiffen without having to look at him. He didn’t like the idea of anyone seeing them, and they were in agreement there. Rage made it tempting to let off another round and hope he got a hit, but outwardly, he kept his composure. “Picture me fucking often?”
“Only all the time, alpha,” that voice taunted. “I just didn’t think I stood a chance. It’s too bad I came all this way to kill you. Maybe we could have given it a try.”
“Literally sitting right here, asshole,” Sky stated angrily, the possessiveness in his tone surprising Kian.
Though it probably shouldn’t have. He’d displayed jealousy at the tournament earlier; it was just, Kian had sort of thought he was playing it up to give him a taste of his own medicine.
“Word of advice, don’t hit on someone’s alpha in front of them. ”
“I don’t typically bother myself with advice from soon-to-be-dead men.” Their attacker finally stepped into view. He was off to the left, his blaster aimed at Sky’s head the reason he’d taken the risk to show himself. When Kian saw him, he smirked, golden eyes gleaming.
Rish Grey had seen better days, but that was to be expected.
Kian had left him dangling upside down with a broken arm and a hole in his side, after all.
“I should have killed you.” Kian took a protective step closer to Sky, but Rish clicked his tongue, and he froze.
“You really should have.”
“In my defense, I thought for sure you’d bleed out.”
“Probably shouldn’t have left one of my guys alive then. Sloppy. That’s not like you, Kian.”
No, it really wasn’t, but after three days away, he’d been eager to get back to Sky and to check up on Shiloh. Sarang had stayed behind and reported his brother wasn’t doing well, and that had made Kian nervous.
He hated it when normal emotions wormed their way into his mind. Look what happened when they did. He made mistakes.
During his investigation on Synastry, Kian had discovered the incident in the corn maze had nothing to do with the man currently threatening his omega.
They’d claimed credit for it at first, though, which was why the Eumia had taken more than half the small gang's numbers out, before Rish had finally come clean.
“You destroyed the Yilrora,” Kian said. “That wasn’t enough? You should have crawled out of that warehouse and vanished like the insect you are, Rish.”
“And you should really think twice about insulting the person holding a gun on your omega.” He took a step closer to Sky, and when Kian moved, quickly shifted the blaster. He shot at him, weapon already aimed back at Sky before the bullet had even entered Kian’s thigh.
He staggered with a grunt, dropping to his left knee. Blood pooled from the wound on his right.
Sky inhaled and looked like he was about to go to him, but Kian shook his head.
“Look at that,” Rish laughed, “I evened you out.”
There was a bullet wound in his left shoulder and right thigh.
The guy thought he was so funny.
Kian had thought him harmless, so they were both wrong.
Yilrora wasn’t strong enough to join the syndicate once Kian had gutted them of several members secretly involved with the trafficking ring.
That was the other reason he’d rescinded their invitation to join hands.
In a fit of anger, Rish had screamed something about kidnapping Kian’s “bitch of a sister” and biting into the family instead.
That was why, when it looked like those men had been sent for Sloane, Kian and the others had assumed Rish was behind it.
He'd brought this upon them. If he’d investigated before charging in, maybe Rish wouldn’t have been driven this far.
“Don’t be afraid,” Kian told Sky.
This was everything the omega had been telling him he didn’t want. The fact that it was happening now, just as he was starting to make a breakthrough with Sky, royally pissed him off. He’d been this close to having his omega submit completely.
Kian had been about to get everything he’d ever wanted.
“Let my omega go,” he demanded. “You don’t need him. You’ve already injured me.”
“Like I can’t see those holes trying to close up already.” Rish motioned at him with his free hand. “Damn prime alphas with your advanced healing.”
“I can’t heal around a bullet,” he reminded. His body would try, but until the foreign object was removed, regeneration couldn’t be completed. Even then, it would still take longer than a few minutes for his body to fix an injury like that.
Where the hell was Pike?
“You killed all my friends, Kian.”
“You should have told me from the beginning it wasn’t you,” he pointed out. “Then I never would have bothered with a single kill.”
“So it’s my fault they’re dead?” Rish growled. “This is why you Dominus bastards are so awful. You never come off your high horse. Think you can look down on me just because I’m not syndicate?”
There were a million and one reasons Kian looked down on the beta male, and not even one of them was because he wasn’t a part of the organization.
It was because he was vapid, weak, and—usually anyway—a shitty shot.
Sky shifted onto the balls of his feet, the movement subtle.
Kian caught it out of the corner of his eyes and was careful not to let it show. Rish’s attention was still on him, so he doubted he’d noticed. He had no clue what Sky was preparing for though, and that made him nervous.
“Do you really think you’re going to get away with this?” Sky asked then. “Murdering the Dominus of the Eumia?” He clucked his tongue, making it clear he thought Rish was an idiot. “What happens when the rest of the mafia arrives?”
Sky didn’t know they were nearby. Kian hadn’t told him they were being tailed.
Oh.
A familiar scent drifted toward Kian, just barely making it to him through the rain.
Soothing omega pheromones.
Was Sky trying to comfort him due to his injuries, or trying to tell him something? For some reason, Kian felt it was the latter. Which meant he was missing something.
He’d been so focused on keeping Rish’s blaster in sight, he hadn’t paid much attention to their surroundings, but now that the gang member was looking at Sky, he seized the chance. From his vantage, Sky must have already noticed the glowing eyes drawing closer in the distance.
Pike and three other members, guards he’d had on Sky, advanced through the darkness.
The light storm was still doing enough to drown out any other sounds, making it easier for the men lurking through the forest behind Rish to get near without risk of being heard.
“It’s cute that you came all this way because you have a secret boner for my alpha,” Sky quipped. “Unfortunately for you, I’m fairly partial to him. He’s not up for grabs. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t be parted long. I’ll put a bullet in his brain as soon as I’m done ki—” Rish didn’t get the chance to finish.
Sky darted around the tree, taking shelter against the large trunk.
The beta let off a shot, a bullet pinging into the bark, sending wood chips flying. He only got the one off before Pike and the others were upon him.
Pike pressed the barrel of a gun to the back of his skull and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Rish’s body crumpled, and the three guards rushed forward.
Kian beat them to Sky, bloodied hands grabbing him and tugging him in for a tight hug. “Are you all right? Did you get hit?”
“No, no, I’m fine.” Sky tried to pull away, getting frustrated when Kian wouldn’t allow it. “Let go. You’re bleeding out!”
“Boss, you were shot,” Pike reminded, scowling at the wounds. He turned to one of the guards and barked orders to get the car ready for transport.
“We need to go.” Sky finally wiggled free and then helped Kian to his feet, wrapping an arm around his waist to steady him. “What if there are others?”
“There aren’t,” Pike reassured. “The rest of his gang were already dealt with. Just in case, I’ll have a search party formed. I’ll also reach out to our contacts and see if we can gain access to the security feed at the nearest shuttleport.”
That way they could confirm that Rish had arrived on planet alone.
“This was a suicide mission.” Kian scowled at the body. What a waste.
“Lead us out of here,” Sky ordered Pike, delivering the demand unflinchingly, as though he’d been in charge all along. “I don’t know the way. We need to get him immediate medical attention.”
Kian wanted to talk to him about how scared he’d been. Beg him not to close off again.
But that was a conversation meant to be had in private, and with all the blood he’d already lost, the world began to tilt and sway before he could decide whether Sky would be annoyed if he tried to bring it up in front of Pike and the others.
“If you pass out on me,” Sky hissed, “I will drag you through this forest by the wrist. You’ll wake up later covered in brambles and debris, and I will not be helping you clean or pick them out. Is that understood, alpha?”
Pike was a few paces ahead of them, leading the way, but Kian could have sworn he heard him snicker.
“Of course, omega.” Kian would agree to anything so long as he continued to hold him close the way he was. The way Sky was carefully helping him through the woods, there was no mistaking that he’d claimed him as his alpha.
For the first time, it felt mutual between them, and he desperately wanted to cling to this feeling. To solidify it somehow.
But Sky didn’t seem to have noticed the same thing he had.
“Your guys got here rather quickly,” he drawled, the hidden question apparent.
Kian cleared his throat. “Don’t worry. They didn’t see or hear anything. They were ordered not to get too close. That was why it took them so long to reach us after Rish attacked.”
“You swear they didn’t hear anything?
“There’s no way I’d ever let anyone else hear the sound of your moans.”
Sky scowled. “Rish did.”
“Would you like to go back and shoot his corpse a bit?” Kian suggested, chuckling when Sky glared at him. “Never mind then.”
“He’s who you went to find in Synastry?”
“Unfortunately, he wasn’t the one responsible for what happened to you and the twins last week.”
“Huh? Why is that unfortunate?”
“Because the person who was responsible is named Leviathan Morningstar.”
Sky scoffed, and when Kian lifted a brow, said, “Nothing, it’s just, you were making fun of Wylder all while knowing a guy named Leviathan Morningstar.”
“I don’t know him,” Kian corrected. “I just know of him.” He debated how much to reveal and then, in a lower voice, stated, “Shiloh is the only one who’s…interacted with that particular alpha in the past.”
It took him half a second, but Sky’s mouth formed an O as soon as the real meaning behind those words registered.
“Don’t tell him,” Kian said.
“Yeah, I doubt learning the alpha who’d been forced to impregnate him sent people to make him lose the baby will be beneficial for his mental health.” To his credit, Sky seemed just as pissed as Kian had been when discovering the news. “So, he did it on purpose then?”
“I’m not sure why else Levi would bother sending someone after Shiloh. And you were there. They weren’t exactly gentle with him.”
“No,” Sky agreed. “They weren’t.” Something seemed to occur to him then. “If I ever get pregnant—”
“I’ll only breed you if you want me to, Sky.”
“Yes, but if I did ever accidentally get pregnant, and you didn’t want the baby…What then?”
Was he thinking of that time Kian had admitted he wasn’t fond of children?
They made it through the forest and came through the clearing, spotting the dark hover-jeep waiting for them on the side of the road.
“I would never force you to give up something you wanted,” Kian said.
Before Sky could reply, Pike and two Eumia members came to help Kian to the car. The omega followed closely behind, but when Kian glanced at him over his shoulder, it was impossible to understand Sky’s bemusement.