47. Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Seven
Leah
T he world is a smear of blinding light and shadow, all edges and hurt. The side of my face throbs and the iron taste of blood is thick on my tongue. My eyes snap open as my heart slams against my ribs. Everything comes into sharp, stinging focus.
I’m stripped and strapped tight to a cold metal gurney.
Every inch of me is exposed, chill biting into my bare skin.
My breath is shallow, the stink of my own fear crowding out the air.
I’m drowning in rose water gone bad. I try to move but straps dig into my tender flesh.
Turning my head just ratchets pain through my jaw and skull. An overhead spotlight sears my vision.
Neither bleach nor antiseptic hides underlying mold growing in the corners of the room, or the reek of water damage. Beneath it all lurks the bitter chemical scent of Hardwick’s Betas like those who kept me imprisoned for years.
Wallace is half lit in the glare as he lays out a tray. Metal clinks as he arranges scalpels and surgical tools in precise lines. The glint of steel makes my insides crawl. I can barely breathe, bile souring the back of my throat.
Wallace’s eyes flick up and catch mine before dropping back to the tray. There’s no emotion in his gaze.
He doesn’t see me . He doesn’t see a person.
Hardwick paces behind him, her heels striking impatient beats as she issues commands.
She gestures at me. "Just get it done, Wallace. We don’t have time for your little rituals.
Those Godsdamned Alphas will know she’s missing.
I want everything you can scrape out of her.
This is too important to leave anything to chance. "
Hugo is a bruised shadow against the wall.
The bridge of his nose is swollen from where I cracked it.
He glowers at me, violence simmering just under his skin.
Fear whiplashes through me; I know what he’s capable of when Hardwick lets him off the chain.
He’s restraining himself. For now. But when she’s finished with me, all bets are off.
That’s if I’m not dead before she leaves me to the dogs.
Five Betas stand like statues, over-labored muscles bunching under black uniforms. If Wallace and Hugo don’t finish me, they will.
I can’t stop shaking. Every inch of me screams with shame, terror and helpless fury. I must make a noise, because Hardwick’s mouth curves into a sharp, cold smile. "Ah, you’re awake. Good. At least you won’t be totally useless."
I bite down on my fear, forcing my voice out. "Why are you doing this? You didn’t care if I lived or died before.”
She tips her head, assessing me with the same cold detachment as Wallace.
"I developed you to be strong. I didn’t realize how strong until the reports came back.
" She crosses her arms and looks down at me. There isn’t an ounce of compassion in her gaze.
"Unfortunately, Wallace discovered he needs live cells.
So here you are, at a great inconvenience to me. "
"So sorry to cause you trouble." I go rigid under her glare, but there’s nothing else she can do to me she hasn’t done before.
Her eyes narrow. "Dr. Maverick doesn’t realize how much help he’s been.
Your blood, those lovely antibodies, the result of everything we did to you, has come to fruition.
You should be grateful. Without my treatments, you’d be nowhere near as strong.
" She glances down at Wallace’s tray and then at me, her mouth tightening in a parody of a smile.
"Perhaps I’ll put you in a footnote. A tiny nod to the specimen that proved so useful. "
There’s nothing human behind her eyes. Just hunger and calculation. She’s not normal. Not even close. She’s nothing like my Alphas. I’ve seen what real Alphas looks like in Ronan, Jax, Gabriel. They empathize. Nurture. Protect.
Love.
Hardwick is a butcher. A parasite in a suit playing God. I can’t stop myself from speaking even though it will cost me. I’m not voiceless, not anymore. "You call yourself an Alpha, but you’re not worthy of the designation. You’re sick. Twisted. Nothing like a true Alpha."
Hardwick’s lips curve as she leans down.
I hold my breath against her Alpha stench.
It’s always turned my stomach. "Want to know a secret before you die?" The words slice through my terror. "I’m not an Alpha, Leah. Never was. I’m just a stupid little Omega like you. Only I grew balls. Decided I didn’t want anyone controlling me.
Power belongs to those who take it. The whole human race will thank me for eradicating the weakest link in evolution. After this, Omegas won’t exist.”
Shock drops through me, firing every nerve. She’s an Omega ? One of us? Disbelief claws at my throat. She’s betrayed every Omega in the world, called us weak, called our existence a problem to be wiped out.
“Why would you do this?” I rasp.
Hardwick’s mouth twists. “Because no one ever protected me. Not my father. Not my mother. Every day I learned what it meant to be powerless. Disposable. Less than nothing. I swore I’d never be that again.
I made myself untouchable. Destroyed every weakness.
Omegas are bred to kneel, Alphas to rule, and I’ll be damned if I’m chained.
I made myself more , and now I’m scrubbing every scrap of weakness from the world.
Call it revenge. Or call it evolution. I don’t care. ”
She’s twisted her own ruin into a gospel of power, feeding on the brokenness she infects into others. She’s so empty. Terrified and starved. Her control and cruelty is a shield for her sick core.
She has no idea what it is to have people who care. Who show gentleness and safety. Who want to be loved. She has nothing to live for when I have everything.
"You’re not a God. You’re just a coward. You can call it evolution but it’s just rot. That’s all you are. Rot and ruin, and there’s nothing left in you to save. I might die here, but you’ll be caged in your own emptiness forever."
Her face twists into something brittle. "You know nothing! You’re a stupid Omega. Weak. Pathetic."
"I’m so much more than that. I am loved . I belong to Alphas who would tear the world apart. For me." I want her to know how wrong she is. Even if I die today, I want my words to torture her for the rest of her life.
Her lips peel back from her teeth. "Love? Love is for the weak. The only way to survive is to be the most powerful. Omegas are useless. Bred to be used. To be thrown away when drained dry."
"Senator, you’re holding everything up,” Wallace interrupts. “If you want this procedure to succeed, stop wasting my time."
The words yank Hardwick back from the edge.
Her composure clicks into place. She adjusts her jacket and smooths her hair.
The mask drops back over her face as her eyes turn cold and empty.
"It doesn’t matter what you think. Once we’ve harvested your stem cells, I’ll personally see your body buried so deep the world will forget your name.
Your precious Alphas will never know what became of you. "
My fear thrums, but defiance cracks my usual shell of terror. My voice is steady in a way it never has been before. "I’ll be waiting at the gates of hell with every other Omega you slaughtered, and applauding your descent when your turn comes. "
"Step away, Evelyn. Unless you want me not having enough time to manufacture your drugs?" Wallace doesn’t look at her as he opens the syringe packet and flicks air bubbles free.
Hardwick sniffs and adjusts her jacket, but what’s worse is how I now view Wallace. He’s her right hand with syringe and scalpel, but also so much more. He didn’t blink at talk of genocide, because he’s the engineer and enabler of her horror.
" You changed her," I choke out.
He’s an even bigger monster than her.
His smile is a cold, savage thing. " I perfected her change. It’s just as well you won’t survive this. You have no one to tell now my secret is out."
Sudden commotion tears through the corridors beyond the door. Hardwick whirls, her eyes widening, mask slipping. "Fuck! Hurry up! Get what you need from the little bitch now, Wallace."
"If you had shut the fuck up, Evelyn, I’d already have what I need." Wallace lines the syringe against my vein.
Every nerve shrieks to get away, but I’m bound tight.
My muscles strain against the gurney as shouts and boots pound on concrete.
Hope and horror wrench through me. Hope that somehow my Alphas have tracked me here, and horror they won’t make it in time.
All Wallace has to do is slide that needle into my vein and everything will be over.
Hardwick’s voice slices the air. "What are you waiting for? Stop them! Kill anyone who tries to come through that door." Her command cracks through the guards as a shout sounds so close it echoes off the walls. Hugo gives me a vicious grin as he charges past.
I choke on a sob, hope combusting in my chest so strong it hurts. My Alphas are here.
It has to be them.
Please, let it be them.