Aries (Beware Of The Widows #4)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

Aries

“No, no, no,” I breathed out in horror, slamming a hand over my mouth like that could keep this moment from being real.

I was an omega. I’d perfumed strong enough that my room was flooded, and if it leaked out, my mom was going to freak out.

“What the fuck is that smell?!” my mother screeched as she wrenched open my door, her anger giving her enough strength to send splinters of wood raining down on the worn floor of our trailer.

“Mom,” I breathed out. “Please.” I wasn’t even sure what I was begging for. Mercy, maybe? Though I knew I’d find none here. As many times as she’s been investigated she’s turned me into a liar. I knew this would be another instance I was on my own if I couldn’t get out of the house.

Would she kill me this time?

Her hit came before I could dodge, sending me slamming into the wall. My shoulder radiated with pain on impact and I groaned, but forced myself to move back, to get out of her range.

She reeked of booze and cigarettes, the two masking any lingering sour scent of hers that remained.

I’d never seen any omega loathe their designation quite like my mother. She never said what happened and I had no dad or dads around to claim me.

This was my life and had been for too long. Tomorrow was my eighteenth birthday and I was planning on leaving the moment I could. I’d saved my money from my part-time job at the diner. Fuck graduation, I couldn’t do this anymore.

Mom let out a feral screech before jumping at me, her fists flying, nails digging at my flesh. All I could do was scream for help as she slashed and hit me until she ran out of steam.

The moment she slumped back, eyes wild and chest heaving, I moved.

Somehow I dodged her grip and ran out of the room and out of the trailer, screaming at the top of my lungs.

“Nikolai! Help!” The taste of copper coated my tongue, warm blood trickling from the corner of my busted lip. I could barely see through the swelling in my eyes but none of it mattered.

I had to get away.

My entire body hurt, but adrenaline kept me going, pushing me toward the trailer next door, where I knew the one person in my life who wouldn’t hurt me was waiting.

I could smell my scent blooming around me still, but right now it was hard to make out. It was almost rotten thanks to the pain and the panic clawing at me.

My battered legs gave out halfway there, sending me crawling in the mud, the tears falling harder now that I could barely make them stop.

I had to be at work in an hour. I wasn’t sure what excuse I could come up with this time. At least my boss, Tony, always looked out for me. He’d let me hide in the back if nothing else.

“Tell that pathetic girl to shut up out there.”

Nikolai’s mom burst out before the front door slammed open and shut.

Nikolai’s eyes widened when he saw me. “Aries, what happened?” he demanded, his voice hard, almost pained.

We crashed into each other, his arms bracketing around me, making sure I didn’t get hurt as he pulled me closer. His fingers gently ran along my bruised face.

He started to speak, but his breath caught as my scent hit him.

“You’re an omega,” he said quietly. He knew what this meant for me.

For years, I prayed that I was a beta, but fate had no mercy for me.

It never did.

Even though I feared Mom’s reaction and I’d paid the price, I couldn’t find it in me to hate my designation just because she did. I’d seen plenty of sweet packs in my time at the diner. I’d seen families that genuinely cared about each other.

I just hadn’t been lucky enough to have that yet.

Nik was my only ally in this life. Even at school the two of us stuck together, defending each other anytime other students were stupid enough to start something… which wasn’t often.

He taught me to fight early on in our friendship, along with how to block the worst blows from my mom. If the world wouldn’t save us, he’d say, then we’d save ourselves.

Nikolai and I had plans to escape. I hoped like hell he had something in mind now.

I couldn’t go back. It might cost me my life.

Nik’s fingers took stock of all the bruising along my arms and drifted over my abdomen where he knew he’d find more. At this point in our friendship he knew exactly where my mom liked to cause the most damage.

“We leave tonight,” he said, his voice hard. “I’m going to need a few hours to get things together.”

He glanced back at his trailer and then back at me with a frown. “I’d say you could wait here, but I’m pretty sure she’d hand you right back to the wolves.”

“I have to work,” I croaked. “I can hide there for now.”

“Maybe that’s the best place for you. I’ll pick you up after work.”

“Okay,” I managed to say as I collapsed into his arms, wishing like hell he didn’t have to let me go.

Nikolai presented as an alpha a month ago. Our birthdays were close together. He’d been my protector our whole lives, I had no doubt that would be his designation.

“Just sit with me for now, please,” I said.

He nodded, pulling me to my feet and intertwining his fingers with mine before leading me to the woods behind our neighborhood.

There was a small creek running through it with several large rocks on the bank. It was our spot, the one we’d escaped to as much as we could get away with.

Instead of letting me sit next to him, he pulled me into his lap. I turned around and straddled his waist, clinging to him like a little koala, needing the closeness.

I hated that I always put the burden of keeping me safe on him… though, he’d put it on himself just as much.

“You smell so good,” he said as he ran his nose along my hair, breathing in deep. “Aries.”

Aries. She felt like a different person. The girl I wished I was. It was the name he’d given me, a play on my given name, the one I wished didn’t even exist anymore.

Just like my mother wished I didn’t exist.

I was tired of living where I was hated. This wasn’t a life I’d wish on anyone.

“It’s stronger today, since I designated,” I admitted. “My mom freaked out the moment it hit.”

My voice sounded so defeated that I ended up burying my face deeper into his shirt, breathing in the scent that I was quickly growing addicted to. I couldn’t say whether we were scent matches. My omega was new to me, and everything seemed overwhelming today.

“This is the last time she ever gets to lay her hands on you,” he said fiercely. “Last time anyone does. No matter where you are, I’ll find you. I’ll keep you safe.”

We both knew that it was not a promise he could keep, but I let myself dream anyway.

In just a few short days we’d be settled somewhere else. He’d been working every odd job he could, saving up, and so had I. Maybe it would be enough now. I’d worked in the diner long enough, surely someone would be willing to hire me.

“What’s the first thing we should do when we’re away from all of this?” he asked gently, his hands soothing over my battered body.

I considered what he said, letting myself dream, even if only for a moment.

“Find a bakery,” I said.

He let out a chuckle. “You and your sweet tooth. I’m kind of surprised you haven’t lost your job for stealing all his leftover pies.”

“I have some self-control,” I protested. “I just also know what I like.”

“Someday, baby, I’ll wake you up every morning with a treat.”

My chest ached at the thought. He called me baby so easily. Nik had slipped up a few times before as well.

I wasn’t sure what we were, but I had a feeling we were pack, even if neither of us was brave enough to suggest it yet.

When I couldn’t avoid facing my life any longer, I finally pulled myself out of his arms and looked up into the pretty, hazel eyes he hid behind wire-rimmed glasses that he hated.

I adored them. It was probably the only reason he hadn’t gotten rid of them yet. I had a feeling someday, when we had money, he wouldn’t hesitate to switch to contacts.

“Promise me we’re going to get out of here.”

“Yeah, baby. It’s you and me,” he promised.

God, I wanted to believe him, to trust that we’d get out, so I did the only thing I could think to do in that moment. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.

He made a low rumbling sound in his throat before he deepened it, one hand sliding into my hair, holding my head steady as his mouth teased against mine.

A low whine echoed out of me, my body coming alive for this man.

The moment broke as my watch alarm went off, reminding me that I had to leave now if I didn’t want to be late. He rested his forehead against mine, breathing me in for a moment.

“Give me a few hours and we’ll leave. Then, I want to do a whole lot more of that,” he said, his eyes serious as he stared at me, imploring me to believe him. “You’re mine, Aries. You know that, right? And I always protect what’s mine.”

I bit back a smile because I loved the sound of the promises that he made.

Nikolai

I watched my omega walk away from me, knowing full well that we were mates. I loved Aries, scent matches or not. I had vowed long ago that she would be mine.

It took everything in me to let her go. She belonged by my side, where I could protect her. Yet, I knew the diner was the only safe place for her to be at the moment.

When she walked around the corner of the diner, I started making plans.

I had far more saved up than she realized. I just could never tell her the kind of work that I did to earn it. I ran errands for the wrong kind of people, and my silence paid plenty, but I wanted more than this life for her.

Aries deserved the world, and I’d do anything I could to give it to her.

I opened my phone, pulling up one of my usual contacts.

“Hey, Nikolai. Are you ready for another fight?” Dimitri asked, his Russian accent thick. How the hell he ended up out here was beyond me.

“Maybe. Once I’m settled. I’ve got me an omega, and we need a place to lay low. I was wondering if you could hook me up with something that’s not here.”

His answer was a grunt, which I took as affirmation. Remaining silent, I heard his keyboard click.

“I’ve got something, but it doesn’t come free. I want you to start fighting regularly. Two fights a week.”

“And that comes with?” I prompted, needing more than his simple promise.

“I’ve got a safe house out there. You can have it for as long as you’re fighting for me. The day you tell me to take you off the roster is the day it returns to me. You’ll get a cut for each fight, of course. You and your omega will be safe.”

“We need to leave tonight. I’ll agree, but I need at least two weeks to get her settled. She just designated today.”

He was quiet long enough that I thought he might reject the request.

“Fine. Two weeks. And the first week you do three fights to make up for it.”

“Done.”

It wasn’t ideal, but the money I made from the fights would be more than enough to save up and get us a place with no strings attached.

At this point, whatever I could do to get my omega out of this hell was exactly what I’d do.