Chapter 4
Chapter Four
The sweet, trilling purr of an omega struck Roman with all the cadence of a chorus of angels serenading the damned as they writhed in the flames of hell.
Every ounce of his attention shifted from the groaning, sobbing beta at his feet to focus on the little slip of a shadow in the hallway before him.
The silhouette carved a delicate shape through the darkness, a petite creature whose waist looked swallowed beneath the width of Roman’s hands.
That gorgeous sound spilled from the omega’s lips, arousing a response from Roman’s alpha before he could stop himself.
His own deeper rumble crawled up from his gut, the entirety of his torso buzzing with the force of it.
An automatic reaction beyond his scope and control, a response that could only mean one thing for it to be instinctive.
It wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t possible.
“There are no records of him we can find. Not sure what that means, to be honest, but we’re going to keep looking, Roman. I promised you that much. We won’t stop looking.”
All the time the Vipers had been searching, and Sidian Vey had been in the middle of a fucking breeding center.
Rage closed Roman’s throat just as Sidian turned to run, lithe legs carrying him away from Roman so quickly that it shocked Roman out of the anger.
He didn’t have time to be angry. Didn’t have time for violence.
Blood slicked his hands and soaked into his shirt, but he left the doctor convulsing in a pool of his own spreading viscera, boots sliding in the mess as Roman gave chase.
As soon as he crossed the tiles where Sidian had stood just a moment before, the scent of lilies washed over him in a wave so sweet it nearly knocked him on his ass.
For just a moment, his vision bled red.
“Don’t touch him. Don’t fucking touch him!”
The words ripped their way free of his chest before he could stop himself, his steps so rapid it felt like he was flying at the white-haired alpha with his hands wrapped around Sidian’s shoulders.
The rage that consumed Roman was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, burning through him with a righteous fury that drew a thundering growl from his chest. His hands cinched around the alpha’s forearms so hard, so fast, that he almost missed the crack of bone, the way it jutted through torn skin and grazed his palms.
How fucking dare this alpha try to take his mate away from him?
“Kane!” Mal called after him, the rough grate of his voice snapping Roman back to reality. “Where the fuck are you going?”
But he couldn’t answer. He had to get to Sidian before it was too late. Roman couldn’t save his omega then, not truly, but he was more than capable of saving Sidian now.
And like hell was Roman going to let his mate slip away from him once again.
Sidian’s scent was a siren song to Roman’s alpha, a sweet melody that wound between the cacophony of surprised and pained cries that filled the breeding center.
Frightened omegas whimpered and whined in confusion, but Roman forced himself to ignore their vocalized pleas for help as he focused his attention on the shadow slipping away from him.
Sidian was fast; omegas were, but even Roman’s long legs weren’t giving him the advantage he needed to catch up with the omega.
Where was Sidian going? Why was he running away?
There was nothing around the center beyond trees and trees and more fucking trees leading all the way up the base of the nearest mountain. Did Sidian intend to disappear into the shadows? Maybe he did. Maybe he thought he could do this on his own, but he didn’t have to do that.
Roman was there now. He could protect Sidian.
Someone tried to intercept Sidian at the stairs, a flash of pale hair ripping a growl of warning from Roman’s chest that sent Ghost stumbling back and away from his mate.
No time to explain; Roman flew past just as Sidian disappeared down the first flight, all but leaping down with such impressive grace that Roman’s breath caught in his chest.
Sidian had been beautiful the time they first met. Roman almost could not believe there was still room for Sidian to devastate him like this.
“Sid—” Roman tried, but Sidian banged through a door at the bottom of the stairs and out of his line of sight once again.
Panic overwhelmed him at the thought of the Vipers catching his mate on the ground floor, but he reached it in time to see Sidian burst through the doors and out into the parking lot.
The others must have all already been inside, where Roman should have stayed until the center staff were dead and extraction was on the way.
But the only person in the world he had eyes for was Sidian Vey, and now that Roman knew where his mate was, the only thing that mattered was getting to him as fast as possible to keep him safe from the sharpest edges of the world.
Sidian was afraid. So afraid that the rotten ichor of it was wrapped up in his sweet honeyed florals, petals rotting and curling as they drifted from their stalks. Roman’s poor, sweet, frightened omega mate.
Socked feet thudded against the asphalt as Sidian bolted for the trees, and Roman followed in his wake without a second thought.
The richness of the forest melded so well with Sidian’s scent; this was where he should be.
Roman would take him far away from society, secret him away somewhere lush and beautiful and real.
Watch him bloom, watch him flourish. He just had to catch up to Sidian before he somehow melted into the shadows and disappeared from sight.
Roman couldn’t lose Sidian again. He didn’t know what he’d become if he lost Sidian again.
Time slipped from his grasp as the forest closed in around them, swallowing them whole.
It was only when the faint sounds of the infiltration faded away, when there were only the sounds of the forest and Sidian’s frantic breathing, that Sidian spun around, something glimmering in his hand as he loosed a growl deeper and more vicious than any omega Roman had ever met.
The sound jerked him to a halt before he could process it.
“Stop right fucking there.” Sidian brandished his weapon without a hint of fear, and Roman’s pride swelled at the sight. “Come any closer to me, and I’ll cut your fucking knot off. You’ll still be howling from the pain when I shove it down your throat.”
That threat had no right to stir Roman’s cock the way it did. “Wait—”
“Don’t.” Sidian lifted his chin, jaw tight, and Roman took in what he could see of his mate through the shafts of moonlight spilling through the leaves above them.
Sidian Vey was beautiful. He was the loveliest omega that Roman had ever laid eyes on, and not only because Sidian was his mate.
Before Roman knew that the universe carved hs soul in the shape of Sidian’s name and left his heart incomplete so Sidian would come along one day and make it whole, the omega had dazzled Roman.
As a stupid teenage boy with no cares or responsibility in the world, Roman had taken one look at the wild-haired boy from his father’s psychiatric ward and fallen in love with him.
And he was far more beautiful now, a fully matured omega.
His lily scent belied the danger that inhabited him, the glint of the scalpel clasped in his fingers an obvious warning.
Wild tendrils of messy umber hair framed his delicate face, feathering the sharp lines of his cheekbones and the stubborn set of his jaw that contrasted so well with his pouty little pink mouth.
The sharp hook of his nose twitched as he inhaled, trying to get Roman’s scent, but that would be impossible this time.
The Vipers had to spray themselves with de-scenting cologne before each mission. The boss wanted no traces of their scents left behind.
Roman’s eyes traveled from Sidian’s face to the slim column of his pale throat, the lean shape of his petite form, and the tempting swell of his hips and thighs that accompanied almost every omega.
All Roman wanted to do was sink down to his knees in open worship of the perfect creature before him, his gorgeous little omega mate.
Sidian’s eyes glittered with anger, the vivid violet shine so unique to him that Roman had never seen another omega like him. There was only Sidian, his gemstone eyes fixed on Roman as pure hatred twisted his lovely features.
But the dark circles beneath those eyes worried Roman.
“I don’t know who you are or what you’re here for, but if you come any closer to me, I'll make you pay for it.” Sidian took a step forward, the long grass brushing his slender ankles. “I’m done with alphas. Done with you sick fucks, and I’ll take all my anger out on you if you push me.”
Roman’s chest tightened at the words, but he ignored the childish desire to whine at Sidian for it.
Alphas did not whine, and given where he had just escaped from, Sidian wasn’t speaking to or about him.
Not really. Sidian didn’t know who Roman was, and he could only imagine what Sidian must have endured depending on how long he’d been in the breeding center.
Roman would find every single alpha who ever laid a hand on his darling and cut off their fingers one by one.
Sidian winced, the scalpel lowering just a touch before he jerked it back up. “You stay here like a good little dog. I’m leaving.”
“Wait.” The word was a barely audible rasp, but Roman’s desperation permeated his very being, making it impossible for him to bite it back.
Because Sidian could not leave him. Because Roman had already lost Sidian once, and two years without him had been more painful than he knew how to put into words.
He needed Sidian at his side always, tucked in against him where he could ensure Sidian was safe and sound, where no other alpha had any hope of reaching him.
And the woods were not safe. There was nothing out there but the wilderness, and it was so easy to die unprepared in the wilderness.
Sidian’s muscles locked as if the sound of Roman’s voice alone had an effect on him; Roman’s alpha preened. “Shut the fuck up. Who gave you the privilege of speaking to me?”
An alpha’s command, dominance woven into every syllable, was about as unsubtle as a sledgehammer to the face.
The boss had strict rules about the Vipers never using their commands within earshot of omegas because of the trauma it could cause them after being locked within the breeding centers, some of them imprisoned for decades of their lives, and some still children.
Just the same, Roman knew what an alpha’s command sounded like.
Requisite training for the Vipers ensured they could always shrug it off if need be, though even the boss could not infuse enough dominance in his voice to bring Roman to his knees.
Sidian silenced him with a single sentence.
He’s perfect in every way it’s possible to be.
Roman needed to touch Sidian. He needed to hold his mate in his arms and feel all the tension wound tight through Sidian’s body relax as he realized he was safe in Roman’s embrace. Such a powerful, unique, perfect omega deserved nothing but the best Roman could give him.
And he wanted to give Sidian everything.
Sidian took a step backward, but the slight tremble that rocked his frame told Roman just how exhausted his mate must have been. The adrenaline was likely weakening in his blood.
When Roman tried to draw closer to him, Sidian snarled. “Get down on the fucking ground!”
And Roman’s knees struck the dirt.
The impact jarred up his spine, a grunt leaving his lips.
He did not try to fight whatever the hell was going on, though, his eyes for Sidian and Sidian alone.
Whatever that was, whatever Sidian just did to him, it sparked pure electricity in Roman’s veins, zaps of anticipation sizzling beneath his skin.
Blood filled his cock, which would have been embarrassing in any other circumstance, but not this one.
He knew Sidian was special. And now he had the proof.
And Goddess help anyone brave or stupid enough to rip his omega from his arms again.