ELIANO #2
A purple alpha is not someone I could easily take down.
They are not built like other alphas. Their bones are reinforced with carbon fibers, and they have armor plates hidden in their bodies.
On top of that, they have concealed bone protrusions that can extend through the purple lines on their limbs.
But me? I am just a typical alpha. No magical boost. Sure, I can go against the regular ones, but this is above my skill.
Still, I am not going to let myself be killed easily.
I kick a chair up and tear off one of its legs, then kick what’s left of it aside and step into his path, positioning myself squarely between him and Salt. My knowledge of kendo is my only chance here; I can’t afford to grapple with a purple. At the same time, the room erupts into chaos.
People stand up, back away, scream.
"You!" Drax roars. "You bastard!"
"What’s the problem, honey?" I throw back in a low, growling voice loud enough to carry across the entire hall so everyone hears it. "Looking for a new beta to rape?!"
"I know it’s you!" He points at me accusingly.
"You asked too many questions! You come to this island and suddenly some shitty video starts circulating online!
" Drax yells, forcing his way through tightly packed tables, shoving people aside like rag dolls, not slowing down for a second.
He finally breaks through the last rows of tables.
He looks like fury incarnate, muscles swollen, face red and veined.
I brace myself for the fight of my life, making a tenkan pivot, then raising the metal leg and swinging it in a spinning strike, just to let him know I won’t go down without a fight. It’s still better than nothing, considering he has bone spikes.
But a second before Drax lunges at me with a howl, something unbelievable happens.
At first, I do not see what caused it, because whatever hit him came from behind.
His eyes roll back into his skull, and he collapses to the floor. Standing behind him is… Bashir, gripping the heavy metal leg of one of the tables. Clearly, he picked a mightier version of what I have.
His face is twisted with a kind of rage I have never seen in another person. It’s how I imagine Anzo looked when he came to kill my parents.
Another blow lands on Drax’s head as he mutters something half-conscious and tries to get up, but that shuts him up. Then Bashir does something I do not expect at all.
And I have no intention of stopping him.
He leans over Drax and cuts open the back of his pants.
The people around us make sounds of surprise, shock, and fear and move away from us.
Bashir raises his clenched fist and shouts.
"Mess with me and you'll meet the same fate as him!"
Then he presses the tip of the table leg against Drax's anus and is about to push it forcefully inside, but at that very second a squad of beta guards storms into the hall.
Even more screams and gasps erupt as they sprint toward us.
Two of them grab Bashir and try to pull him away, but honestly, it’s a pretty ridiculous sight. He’s an alpha, and a well-trained one at that. They bounce off him like rubber balls, and he barely even notices them.
The remaining three betas are smart enough not to get close. Instead, they draw out force equalizers and fire.
Tasers.
And they finally work. Two probes hit Bashir, electricity ripping through him as his body seizes and drops hard, slamming flat onto the floor.
Fred lunges toward him, keeping his husband’s head from smashing into the ground at the last moment, even though he absorbs part of the shock himself.
"Take him!" snarls the squad leader, wearing a badge ‘Harvey Bram’.
He clearly intends to take control of the situation, but that does not sit right with me. No fucking way.
In two strides, I’m next to Bashir.
"No!" I growl. "You’re not taking him anywhere! Bashir did nothing wrong! Natural law between alphas gives him the right to defend his partner! The law of vengeance! Aren’t natural alpha behaviors encouraged here?"
"Move," Bram growls in response, but it’s a beta growl, and it sounds funny to my ear, like a buzzing fly.
I step directly into his path, blocking access to Bashir, my chin up.
Silence falls. The couples around us just stand there, staring without a word, while Bashir lets out a faint groan on the ground and a shaking Fred holds his head up.
Drax lies unconscious on the floor, blood visible at the back of his head.
The betas hover uncertainly, glancing at their boss, and Bram’s jaw is tight, his angry gaze fixed on me.
Then we hear the footsteps of two people running toward us.
Miller appears in the doorway, with Sidorov himself right behind him.
Both of them are out of breath, like they had sprinted here straight from the main building.
Interestingly, the sight of Sidorov only fires up my adrenaline.
My eyes meet Bram’s, and he probably feels the weight of duty pressing down on him as his own boss assesses the situation…
I let out a low, challenging AO growl, and that seems to set him off.
The head of the guards fires his taser at me, but it’s doomed to fail.
The current hits me, not strong enough to stop me. I’m too much of a veteran for that.
I rip the prongs free with a brutal yank.
"Now you listen!" I jump onto the table. There’s no way anyone in this room will fail to hear what I’m about to say to these bastards.
As I do the jump, I catch Salt’s gaze on the fly. He’s still sitting on his chair, recording, eyes wide, staring at me in something dangerously close to awe. Wow. What did I do to deserve that? That’s not like him at all.
Then I shift my gaze to the people around us and to the warden. This has to land, and it will.
"There will be NO more rapes on this island! No more fucking blackmail! The original program rules state five years of waiting for pregnancy, with three as the absolute minimum. You have no legal basis to force anything on betas after barely two!"
Silence crashes down over the room. The crowd stays perfectly still.
All eyes are on me.
Miller reacts first, like a well-programmed machine. His face stretches into that conciliatory smile, the facility’s trademark.
"But… no one is forcing anything here! Everything here is voluntary and designed to advance the program’s goals. It serves everybody, you too!"
I let out a low growl in AO, which roughly translates to "shut the fuck up."
I turn toward the table where the oldest pairs are sitting. I already know most of their names, so I use that to drive the point home.
"Trevor! Do you want Spencer to be raped by a purple’s dick?
Aren’t you next in seniority here? Unit five, right?
Beside Bashir’s. And still no pregnancy!
" I put strong emphasis on that. "They’ll come for him next month. You know that, right?" I point straight at Spencer. Then my gaze slides to the next couple. "And you, Russell? Unit number six! Do you want Ansel pressed against a wall and brutally fucked while you sleep? Because that’s what they do. They want fucking high stats. They won’t give you another three years. They’ll blackmail all betas with going back to state prison if you don’t comply! "
Then I point toward a few more visibly shaken couples, lifting my other hand in a counting gesture, as if their months are numbered, and they clearly understand what I mean.
A murmur starts to rise among the surrounding pairs. Alphas begin making disgruntled sounds in AO, and their betas stand up, throwing out more questions. The room grows loud and chaotic.
I also notice Pip and Hugh standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen. Both look tense, staring at me in open shock.
That’s when, finally, the warden decides to intervene.
"Hey!" Sidorov raises his hands, and heads turn toward him immediately.
He steps forward.
"Let’s not get ahead of ourselves! No one is being expelled as long as the program rules are being met!"
Hearing this, Bashir pushes himself upright to sit. Blood runs from the corner of his mouth, maybe he bit his tongue, but he speaks firmly, spitting the blood onto the floor first.
"And I surely don’t remember signing the contract that says if my beta doesn’t get pregnant in two years, he gets raped!"
People start to murmur again.
Sidorov lifts his hand one more time. "Everyone, calm down! Don’t escalate this. No one will be forced or expelled…"
"Don’t lie!" someone screams, his voice shaking.
An unexpected figure rises from the floor where he had been kneeling. Straight as a blade, Fred takes a step toward the warden.
"That’s exactly what you told me, bastard. That I was going to state prison. That the next ferry would take me away. That I’d never see Bashir again! Or did you forget?"
Miller’s mouth stretches once more into that familiar smile as he calls out, before Sidorov responds, "My dears, this really isn’t the best moment for such discussions!
Mr. Sidorov and I assure you there are no such situations here.
This is all a huge misunderstanding, words taken the wrong way, consents given under the impression of pressure where none existed at all.
" His eyes flick to Fred. "These were merely suggestions. No one would have thrown you out…"
"You’re lying, you’re lying! Now, when everyone’s watching you, you soften it!" Fred raises his voice, fists clenched, his face red and furious. "But Sidorov told me that if I didn’t agree, I’d be on the ferry tomorrow at 5:30. Those were his exact words!"
"I object to such accusations," Sidorov says stiffly, lifting his chin. "And I won’t engage further under these circumstances! If any of you have questions regarding the rules of this program, I invite you to my office. I assure you no one here is being forced into anything."