Devil's Pack: A Toxicverse Novel

Prologue Calliope

Prologue: Calliope

People were so stupid. They had no idea that I was among them, were clueless that I was stalking the night. They were sheep, overlooking all the obvious red flags and heading directly for all the wrong people. Leaving themselves vulnerable. They didn’t question why an omega was alone in a mixed designation club. Didn’t wonder why she had no scent. None of them looked at me long enough to see their death in my eyes. The alpha that I was currently dancing with had missed all of the glaringly obvious red flags. Or ignored them completely; I was never really sure with my victims. I moved to the beat, pushing back against the alpha that was holding onto my hips. Everything about him made me sick to my stomach. His scent overwhelming, smelling too much like that store in most malls, well before they started to die that is, that sold all those cheap perfumes. Too short for me too, my head would hit his chin if I threw it back even a little. His cock pressed against my ass, was too small to really do anything. Not that he had a chance in hell of ever getting me.

But I knew this alpha. He was one of the alphas that had raped me.

That’s why I was playing this deadly game. One I had started five years ago, right before one of my heats. The first after I had escaped the bastard that kept me hostage. He didn’t physically stop me from leaving. But then the abusive ones never did. But when someone tells you how useless you are, how you can’t do anything right. Over and over. You stay hoping to earn their love. That didn’t even consider the physical abuse. That was the worst part of it. The first time he had hit me I was alone, no one but him left in my life. That had been his plan all along. I just wished that I had taken more time when I had killed him. The bond going dark was a relief to me, the ugly scar that he had left made me self-conscious to this day.

I couldn’t wait to get home to Ayden. Tonight was the night I would bear his mark. Five years was enough time for me to know I trusted my alpha. He had done everything for me. And I do mean everything. It had taken a while for us to find our footing, I was rightfully skittish around alphas. But when I stopped hating him for something he couldn’t change I started to trust him a little. A little trust led to him helping me with the worst of my traumas. Helping me move on a little with every touch. He showed me how to find the woman I was after the trauma. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with him. It was well past time I allowed him to cover that ugly reminder of my past.

My gaze moved over to the beta that was watching the alpha’s hands glide over my body. It was all a show, every movement a performance. Not for my beta though, Cain loved to watch me work. Watch me hunt. That’s what I was at that moment, a predator lulling my prey into a false sense of security. Hunting alphas came easy to me, too easy like I was built to do it. Years ago, I had learned to perfume on demand. It was a skill that had saved me from getting worse by that bastard. Jarrod, that was his name. I hated to even think about it, but my therapist told me it was for the best to put that behind me.

I was large for an omega, people confused me for a beta all the time. It wasn’t until I perfumed that my designation was undeniable. There was something special about my perfume that drove alphas crazy. Made them do things that they normally wouldn’t do. Like miss the beta the omega was eye fucking in your arms. The alpha that was currently getting a little handsy had been on my list for years. He had been able to get off on rape and abuse charges. I suspected that his friends lied for him. That was the only explanation, especially since he had beaten that omega nearly to death. His group of friends had tortured, gang raped and nearly killed one omega, me. God knew how many others hadn’t survived them.

He spun me so I was looking at his mud brown eyes. My arms met around the back of his neck as I pulled his head down to whisper in his ear. “Let’s get out of here.”

He stared at me for a moment before nodding. Leading me off the dance floor, as we weaved through the tables I spotted Cain moving parallel to us. I threw him a smile as I followed the alpha to the parking lot of the club. He led me to a large truck. It was on lifts; I wasn’t surprised, he seemed the type. I had to jump to get into the passenger seat. Slamming the door behind me, I shook my head seeing the alpha’s hand already turning the key. The engine roared to life, vibrating the cab as he pulled out of the spot. Cain pulled in a few cars behind us as we drove off. He was headed to the country that surrounded the township. There were a lot of lonely back roads between us and his house. I should have been worried, lots of places where one could dispose of a body. There was nothing to worry about on that front. No, this one much preferred to keep his victims tied up in his basement. So, I spent the twenty minutes planning my next moves.

Reaching down to the hem of my dress, I toyed with the tracker that Ayden had sown there. I loved that man so much. I couldn’t wait to be in his arms tonight. He was waiting at home for us. Waiting for Cain to bring me to him. It was a routine that we had fallen into over the last four and a half years. Nine months was all I had managed to hide what I was doing, three heats worth of time. It had taken me that long to get Cain to tell me he was an assassin. I had been debating taking him with me on a hunt for over a month. Ultimately, I decided against it, Cain had other ideas. He had caught me sneaking out of the pack house late one night. It was past midnight, and I was nearing my heat. It was my fourth murder, and I was just starting to get the hang of hunting alphas.

The ones that reminded me of Jarrod.

When Cain found out he hadn’t told me how dangerous it was. Hadn’t made me feel like lesser for being an omega. Not one word about my mental state either. Just calm acceptance of who I was. Cain decided then and there that he would teach me all the things he knew. Sometime around when he was instructing me how to rip out a throat with ease, I realized that I was in love with him. It had taken me another year to tell him as much. He had spent that time courting me in his own way. The next heat he had gifted me the titanium fingertip claws that I loved so much. The following one, a victim. Now we were staring down five years and the heat that would mark it. I was dangerously close, should have made this kill days ago. That was fine, the closer I was to my heat the more vicious I was when I killed.

We were pulling into my victim’s driveway in moments, and I leaned heavily against him, making the alpha think I was searching for his scent. I was careful to only get it on my clothes, ones that I would burn as soon as Cain and I left. The alpha moved, coming around to open my door for me. I allowed myself to fall from the cab into his arms. He struggled to hold my weight up as he led me to the door, fishing for his keys in his pocket. The jangle covered the sound of Cain coming up behind us as he stuffed one of them in the door and pushed it open. I struck as soon as I felt that blast of cold air hit my face. Turning I kicked at his knee, a satisfying snap telling me I had dislocated it. He fell face first across the doorway with a thud.

“You couldn’t have waited until he was inside?” I turned and watched Cain approach me.

He was tall and thin. Piercing blue eyes stared at me through shaggy blonde hair. There was nothing about him that betrayed how deadly he was. He wasn’t a walking tank like some would expect of an assassin. Hiding in plain sight was easy for him, and that was exactly what made him so good at his job. His scent, which reminded everyone so strongly of marijuana, didn’t set him apart; especially since it had been legal for fifty years. He reminded everyone of a certain cartoon character that solved crimes with a Great Dane in tow. All of that made people underestimate him.

In fact, his body count was massive. But that’s what happens when your parents’ pack trains you in the family business. “Moving him is what I have you for.”

I was teasing him; he normally didn’t do much for me when I killed. “You know I like to watch you work.”

I nodded, reaching down, and grabbing the alpha by his hair. Slowly I dragged him to his feet. He winced, his growl starting to come as I pulled him inside after me. That would have been cute if I didn’t have a big bad alpha of my own at home. I used my grip on his hair to steer him like a rudder. Moving through the house until we were staring at his bed. An evil grin spread across my face when I saw the set up that Cain had left for me.

Turning, I faced the beta. “You know me so well.”

“Anything for my blood thirsty little omega.” He was close to purring.

The alpha decided he wanted to take the opportunity to get away. Twisting against the grip I had on his hair, he tried to run from me. In doing so he made a fatal mistake. He was in such a rush that he put his damaged knee forward. As soon as he put his weight on that joint he collapsed. I followed him down, keeping the grip I had until I was face to face with him.

“Nice try. You didn’t give me a chance to run why should I give you one?” If looks could kill, I would be dead from the glare he gave me. “What? Omega got your tongue?”

He stammered, but I didn’t allow him to speak. My hand moved down, wrapping around his throat, using the pressure points there I controlled the way he moved. Bringing him upright I maneuvered him until the back of his knees were kissing the bed. He didn’t recognize me. Not surprising, I wasn’t the teenage omega that Jarrod marked and had his friend’s torture. I wasn’t the omega this alpha had taken advantage of that night. He was near the end of a long list of people that needed to die. They had all underestimated me, each of them had expected I was dead or sold off. None of them anticipated me coming for them. Even if they had expected the broken teenager, they had left me.

I am woman hear me roar.