30. Lucy
CHAPTER 30
Lucy
It was a different hunger than the one I’d seen on Liam’s face. This alpha was hungry for my pain and he wanted to force me into submission since he’d never once been able to before.
Not even his uncle could and Francisco was nearly as powerful as Liam.
“I almost couldn’t believe it was you,” Arturo admitted. He tilted his head to the side when he saw how badly my hand was shaking. “How did Lucy Parker get a table here at Bite? And on a Saturday too.”
I ground my teeth together, refusing to answer him.
“You’re going to have to make a choice soon, aren’t you, mamas? How much longer can you point that gun at me before your arm gives out?”
“For the last fucking time, I’m not your anything .” I went to squeeze the trigger, but his pheromones and aura came at me like a freight train and I doubled over in pain as I gagged.
“There’s the bitch I know and love,” he murmured, crouching down and pulling the gun from my lifeless fingers. “But I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure of scenting you. Which reminds me, where’s the other defective one? Frankie can’t be far if you’re here. ”
I glared at him, wishing I could move my own fucking body. He may have taken my gun, but I still had teeth and nails. All he had to do was get just a little bit closer.
“Always so quiet,” Arturo muttered. He pressed a finger under my chin and tipped my face up toward him. “Are you finally becoming a real omega, Daphne?”
The fact that he wasn’t losing his mind and attacking me was a good sign. At the very least, he wouldn’t rape me using the excuse that my pheromones made him do it, but that didn’t mean I was safe. This man thirsted for violence and blood.
My blood.
“Your neck is covered.” Arturo yanked down my turtleneck to expose my scent blockers and I grabbed his arm to push him away, but it was no use. I was in too much pain and my body was fighting itself so hard that I was weaker than a kitten.
“I’m curious…” He ripped off the first layer of adhesive off my neck and I hissed in pain.
Baring my teeth at him, I silently dared him to do it again.
“How long do you think it’ll take Frankie to come for you?” Arturo chuckled and reached for the second layer.
I took my chance and pushed his arm away, redirecting the gun as I sank my teeth into his other hand before he could take off the second layer – biting down hard enough that I felt bones crack.
Blood filled my mouth but I refused to let go. Not even when he cursed and shoved me down, pressing the barrel of my own gun against my temple.
I glared up at him, but I still didn’t release his hand and sank my teeth even deeper until I felt something snap .
“You fucking bitch .” Arturo ripped his hand out of my mouth, doing even more damage to it, but his eyes were glowing now and I knew he felt nothing. Not anymore.
That deep red was so much more insidious in his face than Liam’s and he used that bloody and broken hand to shove my face to the side, crushing me into the tile. My bones creaked and tears filled my eyes when I realized just how powerless I was in this situation.
Had my father gone through something just like this?
Even as an omega, my father had been stronger than most betas. And bigger. But he’d always had that omega grace and the refined features that made me think of a warrior elf from one of those fantasy movies.
To beat a predator, you can’t be the prey , he liked to tell me during our training sessions. You have to become an equal. Become their predator. My father had shoved me to the ground the same way Arturo was now, just to prove his point.
Closing my eyes, I realized he’d been right.
I definitely couldn’t survive this as prey. Even as Arturo’s equal, I wouldn’t be able to stop him from doing what he wanted because I just wasn’t strong enough, and never would be.
So, I would do the one thing I’d promised myself I never would.
I would be worse .
The gun was a problem, but I ignored it, reaching up by instinct alone as I gave in to that terrible hunger I’d always shoved down, the one I saw in every alpha’s eyes when they realized I was an omega.
So, I would take his ability to look at me like he had every right to feast on me.
Digging my thumb into one of his eyes, I pressed down as hard as I could. It didn’t take much force, just the willpower to keep pressing when the organ popped and bloody gunk spurted everywhere.
His scream would bring Liam if he wasn’t already on his way. If nothing else, it would tell everyone in this fucking restaurant someone was being attacked.
The pain made him weak, and my gun clattered to the tile, but I didn’t reach for it. No, I reached for his other eye now that both hands were free and dug my thumb into it, ready to gouge this one out too.
“ Lucy .”
The scent of sharp oranges and deep sandalwood hit me just like that door had earlier.
Relief washed over me. It was so strong my entire body relaxed and my arms dropped to the floor like a marionette whose strings had been cut as Arturo’s blood gushed onto my sweater.
I watched the Lopez heir glare at me out of his one good eye and knew this wasn’t going to end here. He’d run and tell daddy, maybe even his pack alpha, and they’d come asking questions I didn’t want to answer.
But that wasn’t something I could be bothered to worry about right now. Not when my body was in so much pain that I couldn’t move, but I was able to shift my gaze from Arturo to Liam.
Identical red eyes glared down at me, but these didn’t hold the same malice.
I didn’t have to say anything. Liam didn’t have to ask either. He just nodded and turned to look down at the bloody and ravaged alpha who was still hovering over me as if trying to decide if he should just kill me and get it over with, or face the real threat at his back.
Arturo had always been stupid so I couldn’t say I was surprised when he lunged for me, wrapping both hands around my throat and squeezing. But now that the scent of Liam’s pheromones were all I could smell, the shaking in my body was lessening and I managed to get my hand on my gun.
I would have laughed if this jackass hadn’t been choking me, because all Liam did was watch with his hands tucked into his pockets. Fury danced in his eyes but he nodded again and I pressed the barrel of the gun to Arturo’s gut.
Valor would protect me if I shot him right here in the middle of the fanciest fucking restaurant in the city. They might even make it all go away like it had never happened.
Arturo must have sensed the shift in me because he pulled back just enough to let me speak.
“If you don’t want a pack war, get the fuck out,” I warned.
His pretty face looked grotesque as he studied me with the one good eye he had left. “You turned down the name Daphne Lopez,” Arturo reminded me. “There will be no war.”
“Actually, she’s going to take the name Valor.” And with that insane declaration, Liam’s pheromones exploded outward.
I’d thought I’d known the full extent of them from before, but he’d taken suppressants, and this murderous intent in his aura was like nothing I’d ever felt before.
They hit me with the force of a fucking truck moving at full speed and that emptiness inside was suddenly a million times worse. I nearly bit my tongue off to keep from groaning at the delicious taste of his violence.
Violence for me .
Arturo was the one who collapsed this time, clutching his throat like a fish out of water. His good eye went wide with shock and horror when he finally realized who he was dealing with.
For someone who was killing a person with just his pheromones, Liam looked surprisingly calm and collected as he stood there and watched with his hands still in his pockets like he couldn’t be bothered to dirty them with Arturo’s sweat and scent.
Liam Valor was a legacy among legacies and he stood over us like a wrathful god, punishing one of the ants who dared try to take something of his. His white-blond hair gleamed like gold under the bright lights, but his eyes were so cold despite the way they glittered down at the mess of an alpha at his feet.
This must have been what Cassius had done to those two cops at the morgue .
Arturo wasn’t just submitting though, he was actively dying.
“Stop,” I managed, reaching out for Liam as if that would actually make a difference. “Don’t kill him.”
It would only make my job harder if he did, and I really didn’t want to be here anymore, especially not with the way he was making me feel like I was going to truly lose my mind if I had to drown in him like this for a second longer.
Liam turned to me, but the weight of his murderous intent didn’t ease. “Lucy, he thinks he can touch you.”
I almost smiled.
Almost.
“If he dies…” I settled the gun on my stomach and tried to catch my breath – forcing my eyes to stay on Liam’s face instead of wandering. “Whoever’s framing you will benefit.”
He tsk ed and looked back down at Arturo like he was nothing more than a pest who needed to be eliminated.
Liam Valor actually tsked .
“Lucy doesn’t believe I’ll go to war for her,” he muttered, eyes gleaming.
Maybe…maybe he wasn’t as sane as he seemed.
We really couldn’t afford to have another body connected to Valor, not if we wanted real answers and the cooperation of the police.
If I took off the rest of my scent blockers, would that help Liam or make it all worse?
“Arturo Lopez.” Liam took a step forward and set his boot on the other alpha’s throat, pressing down as if he really were some kind of bug. “Even if Lucy never takes our pack name, she belongs to me . Touch her again and I’ll destroy every single person with the Lopez name.”
Liam looked to me then, like he was expecting some sort of validation or praise, but I had no idea what to say or do in this situation. He was a fucking legacy alpha, unlike any I’d ever met, and I couldn’t even take care of a normal alpha .
What the hell should I do?
My body wanted him enough that every tiny flicker of my muscles was excruciating, but I wanted him, not just the body and pheromones of an alpha – I wanted this crazy asshole who looked at me like an expectant puppy waiting for his acknowledgment that he’d done a good job.
“Lucy, do I really have to let him live?”
“You can’t kill him.” I pushed through the pain and forced myself up to a sitting position. “Please…I want to go home.”
Just like that, he lifted his foot off Arturo’s neck and crossed the restroom in a single step, scooping me up like it was nothing. “I won’t kill him,” Liam promised.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I buried my face in his throat and decided to ignore the very obvious implication that someone else would.
It didn’t matter. Frankie no longer carried the Lopez name. Everyone else wasn’t important.
Liam kicked the broken door open and I dared to look, curious if anyone had noticed what was going on.
Every single person in the restaurant was on the floor or slumped over their tables. Most were unconscious but others were gasping for air just like Arturo was.
Liam’s pheromones hadn’t just affected one legacy alpha – they’d nearly destroyed every single person here.
How was this possible?
His hand covered my eyes and pressed my face back to his neck. “Just so you know, Lucy, I’d wipe out every pack in the city to keep you safe if I had to. Even my own.”
I let him cover my eyes and carry me through the restaurant to wherever he wanted to take me. The fact that I didn’t once try to fight him should have terrified me.
Liam Valor had an insanely deadly aura that could literally kill someone, and yet…
I’d never felt safer.