Hunted: The Omega Games, Part One

Chapter 1

Chapter one

Lyra

Cold, wet leaves whack my face as I push aside sweeping branches, trying to outrun the distant echo of dog barks.

They even sent the hounds after me, but they have nothing on the Alphas. The king’s soldiers are a brutal, lethal bunch, who’ll take no pity on me the instant they catch me.

My cherry scent is already strong on the wind, along with the taint of my blood. My life’s liquid drips from the forest leaves now as I leave a trail of gore in my wake, clutching the knife tightly in my fist.

I killed an Alpha.

And now, they’re going to kill me.

I can still feel the brute’s hot blood on my skin. I had slit his throat, and then it sprayed my cheeks, painting me as the beautiful, crimson monster I am—as the beautiful monster I had to become in order to survive this harsh world.

That Alpha had been pushing me to my limits for far too long. Until eventually, I snapped. He was my trainer, my guardian.

And boy did he like to take advantage.

I had no choice. No choice...

Killing him earned me this. My chance at freedom. My chance for Eden.

I can see glimpses of it already on the horizon. The very edge of the kingdom, just past the scorching plains of the desert.

I’m pretty sure that’s where my sisters escaped. Where they await me.

“I will be with you soon, Zelda, Ava. Don’t worry.”

Still, it didn’t stop the fucker from digging his knife into my left thigh, and now I run on an injured leg, gritting my teeth through the throbbing pain.

Funny how the king’s priorities change. Normally, he adores the idea of his Omega pawns killing.

But mostly when they’re slaughtering each other.

As is the structure of the Games.

Once again, the distant roar of cheering drowns my ears as I feel the blood-flecked grains of sand beneath my feet. The hateful gazes of my fellow Omegas flash before my eyes as they swipe their blades at me before a riveted audience.

All before the eyes of a vicious king who looks on at his Omega pawns with smug pride.

However, when one of his Omega pawns slays one of his loyal soldiers, then all hell breaks loose. And then he sends the very hounds of hell after me.

I am an escaped contestant of this year’s brutal Games. And I refuse to be a pawn again.

My lungs burn as a series of grating breaths slough from my lips. Rainwater clings to my thin camisole, sticking horribly to my skin. Mud squelches and bubbles beneath my toes as I run on the bare pads of my feet, ignoring the pulsing pain in my left leg.

I will escape them. They will not catch up with me.

Freedom will be mine. I can almost see it. No, feel it...

Yet when my lame leg catches on a tree root, and I go careening face-first towards the dirt, my paradise dream fizzles away with a sheet of rain. At least I managed to stifle my yelp as I get a mouthful of leaves, twigs, and moss.

Still, I rejoice in the smell of rich earth for a while. How I’ve missed it. I’ve been locked away for several years in the basement of the Arena, training until my body could train no more.

After all, whoever wins the Games gets the chance to become one of the king’s fateful concubines. One of his many wives.

A life of luxury and riches beyond your wildest dreams.

Only the strongest Omega for the strongest Alpha in the kingdom. A twisted regime that turns once great friends into foes.

The barking grows closer, and I curse, scrambling back to my feet. I’m growing exhausted, having been on the run for over a day and a half. I’m surprised I made it this far, but I’m a tenacious little thing.

I may be small, but I’m tough. I’ve had to be, after I was ripped away from my sisters and the orphanage at around the age of eighteen and sold to the Games.

The Arena has been my home for the past three years.

“Over here!”

Shit. They’ve caught my scent. So, I push my legs further into the unknown, outrunning a gruesome fate.

A fate worse than death.

Now, I’ll choose my own destiny.

The forest will not outwit me this time as I shove away offending branches before they even get a chance to whack me again, the adrenaline giving me the kickstart I need.

I need to find somewhere to lie low. At least until they grow bored of hunting me down.

My suppressants are wearing off. And once they do, it’s game over for Lyra.

Then I will be left to the whims of my traitorous, Omega body.

A glistening ribbon appears up ahead once the moon breaks through the clouds, a brief reprieve from all the rain. I dig my heels into the wet earth before I go flying into the river, one overflowing with rapid, gurgling water.

Lightning strikes, brightening up the shadows of the forest. Luckily, it shows me a felled log. A bridge across the water.

Unfortunately, it’s pouring with rain. If I try to traipse across the river on that fallen log, then I’ll surely fall to my death.

But it sure beats becoming a contestant in this year’s Games.

They’re gaining on me fast. So, I have to act now.

Making a beeline for the log, I reach the gnarled roots at the end, scaling over the rough bark as I raise to my shaky feet.

And then I start moving across the log. Lightning flashes again, almost making me lose my footing on the coarse, wet bark at the soles of my feet.

So long as I don’t look down, then I’ll make it.

The hounds materialize from the bushes, barking at their masters as they alert them to my presence, but I’m already halfway across the log.

They want me alive after all.

The kingdom spent too much money training me. So, they won’t let all that gold go to waste.

Also, they need twelve Omegas for this year’s Games.

Twelve unfortunate souls.

“There she is!”

Thankfully, I’m already halfway across the log, the other side of the flowing river plain in sight.

Just a few more steps.

An arrow whizzes past my ear, missing me by a hair, and I almost stumble. Of course, they will still injure me in the process.

They already know that I’m exhausted from running for days on end, my wounded left leg leaving a bloody trail in the forest. I’d thought I’d managed to staunch the flow with my poor excuse of a tourniquet, but it turns out I’d done a shoddy job.

An arrow hisses through the air again, this time skewering my right shoulder. I cry out, holding onto the log for dear life.

Anything to slow down my escape.

The rain pours in sheets, shielding my view of the oncoming soldiers as they start scaling across the log to reach me.

Through the veil of rain, I make my choice.

Death or recapture.

Death, or another game of slaughter.

The lesser of two evils.

Still, I will at least try. Try to make my bid for freedom. So, I stagger back to my shaking feet, ignoring the fire running down my right shoulder as I hiss through the pain.

I won’t even be able to run at this rate, even if I did make it to the other side of the river. Once I make it across the water, I’ll collapse.

Black spots dance at the edges of my vision.

They’ll remove the arrow as soon as they reach me, and then they’ll heal me.

I can’t have that now.

I’d rather die than return to that hell.

Another arrow punctures the back of my right leg, and it appears fate and gravity made the choice for me in the end.

It’s a watery death for me after all.

A weightlessness rushes over me as I descend towards the running water. For a brief moment in time, I truly feel it. Peace.

It seems I have accepted my fate.

The rapid surface of the river flies up before me, and then I plunge into total darkness.

Sweet, sweet oblivion as Lady Death brushes her soft fingers over my cheeks, whispering to me in a voice so tender.

“You’re safe now, child.”