Chapter 38
Thirty-Eight
WILLOW
The sound of the knife hitting the concrete made my heart stutter. Time slowed. My body froze in the contorted position. Rossi’s strangled, agonized gasp echoed off the walls. He fell to the floor, his knees crunching into the stone.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins, barely dulling the inferno swirling in my belly. I spun, pebbles digging into my palms. Blood stained Rossi’s teeth, dripping steadily from his broken nose as he groaned, trying to stem the bleeding.
My eyes darted to the forgotten blade, now lying on the floor a few feet away, its gleaming surface catching the flickering light. I hissed, the sting of pain from the rough stone against my knees a minor inconvenience.
All that mattered was the knife. I needed it if I wanted to have a chance of escaping. I scrambled, my fingers brushing over the worn handle. Hope melted away the worry, my muscles sagging.
Yes.
“Stop, Omega,” he barked.
No!
The alpha command slid into the depths of my mind, straightening my spine. I cried out, unwilling to submit to him. Unwilling to allow him that control. I jerked, whining against the guttural order that I refused to obey.
Yet my omega twisted in confusion, fighting against me. My omega wanted—needed—to relinquish to the primal command, but I refused. The poison Rossi fed me spurred on the unnatural heat, betraying my body against me.
However, it also filled me with a strange, fierce determination to fight.
To fight for my alpha.
Rossi barked again, demanding that I stay. Like a dog. Any respectful alpha only used their bark in the throes of their omega’s heat, and only to keep them healthy. Most omegas refused to eat or drink during those days, focused only on their alpha’s knot.
Again, Rossi barked a command, spit flying from him and mixing with the dried blood on his face. The bark brushed against my mind, a cold, alien touch, but it didn’t take hold. I simply shoved it aside.
I didn’t obey.
I didn’t freeze.
Instead, the frayed leather hilt of the knife settled in my palm. The weight felt comforting in my hand. My body trembled, but not with fear.
But with resolve. With strength.
I had always thought of myself as a broken thing with a talent for healing other tattered souls.
Even if I was broken, I wasn’t defeated. I would not be the quiet, submissive omega Rossi or my dad expected.
I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the sharp sting of pain behind my eyes. Cramps seized my abdomen as slick slid down my thighs. The points of my teeth dug into my lips, and I squeezed my legs together, willing the ache to go away.
“Aww, poor, weak omega. You’re nothing without an alpha to help you. Come to me. I’ll take care of you,” Rossi cooed, smiling with blood-stained teeth.
The words burrowed into the hollow spot behind my sternum, feeding the powerful rage fueling me. It fought for dominance with the heat turning into a consuming, blinding need.
My fingers went numb as my grip turned unrelenting on the knife.
“Fuck off. I don’t need you for anything.”
The sinister glint in his dark eyes faded along with his fleeting smile. Amused, I drove my bare foot into his half-hard dick. A string of Italian curses hissed through his strained jaw.
At least, they sounded like curses. Definitely weren’t terms of endearment.
“Vaffanculo!”
An indignant glaze slid over his yellow eyes, and I darted out of the way of his wandering hand. I ran behind his kneeling frame, pushing the tip of the blade into his throat, the sharp point barely dimpling the skin.
An empty, unsettling chuckle rumbled from Rossi, and I pushed the knife deeper, a trickle of blood staining the steel. I knew what I had to do, but my hand shuddered.
I saved puppies, cared for horses… I didn’t… I wasn’t a murderer.
Morality existed in shades of gray. If Kaelen had taught me anything, it was that no one was ever truly bad or good. Most people existed somewhere in the middle.
Maybe I was capable. Torin destroyed a man’s life at my word because I wanted to avenge Shadow.
Could I do the same to protect myself? Could I end a life?
The knife trembled violently in my grip. However, I wasn’t afforded the luxury of questioning myself. If I did, Rossi would sense my hesitation and strike.
Air whistled through my teeth when the door flew open, screws from the hinges rattling on the ground. My head snapped towards the sound. A tall, broad-shouldered figure filled the doorway. The familiar scent of espresso and sweet whisky enveloped me.
My breath hitched. My eyes found his strained ones, swirling with pain.
Kaelen. Alpha.
Sprays of crimson painted his freckled cheeks, a terrifying mark across his pale skin. I gasped, relaxing only when I realized the blood wasn’t his. He wasn’t hurt.
A grimace slid across my lips.
“Alpha,” I called out, the purest form of relief melting over my taut muscles.
Seeing him dulled and heightened me in equal measure. My fear receded, yet the heat ignited in my body, doubled. The muscles in my stomach contorted, threatening to send me to my knees.
A whine hissed through my teeth, my chest heaving as Kaelen snarled.
“I’m here, mo chroí,” he said, his sweet, possessive voice soothing something in the furthest reaches of my soul.
“Finnegan,” Rossi said. I’d almost forgotten about him. “Come to watch me claim your wife?”
A sudden, bone-deep resolve bloomed. Rossi tried to stand, and panic rose, choking me. Kaelen stood frozen, eyes darting between the weapon in my hand, me, and Rossi.
It was up to me.
This was my body, my life, and I had to fight for my mate.
I had to fight for myself.
Sharp stings zapped in my stomach, my palms cold with sweat. The knife started to slip. I summoned the last shred of my willpower.
I’d always thought I was pure.
That omegas were destined to be quiet, sweet beings, but I knew that was wrong. Like Kaelen had said, we had a hidden strength. A power that few understood.
And in this moment, I had power over Rossi. He had underestimated me. Tried to steal everything from me.
With all my strength, I drove the blade into Rossi’s neck in a single, brutal stroke. The blade slid in, a sickening, wet rip, making my stomach lurch. Vittorio’s head fell back, his eyes wide and blank. Hot blood sprayed over my hands.
“Good girl,” Kaelen whispered, pride and praise lacing his words.
The last bit of light flickered out, dull eyes staring, unseeing. With a wet breath, the old alpha’s body fell to the floor with a thud. Frozen, I turned the bloodied blade, my eyes blank as I stared at it.
I dropped to my knees. The muted heat rushed back—cloying and consuming. My vision clouded, feeling unbearably empty.
A high-pitched whimper stung my ears as I dropped the knife, curling in on myself and rocking slightly.
Powerful arms encircled my waist, guiding me up. A comforting, familiar scent filled my lungs. I leaned into Kaelen, burrowing my face in his chest, unbothered by the sweat and blood staining his black t-shirt.
I breathed, letting the steady thrum of his heartbeat ease my frantic one.
“Willow,” he said, his voice rough and tired.
“Kaelen,” I murmured back.
Callused fingers gripped my chin, tipping my head back. He rubbed his cheek against mine, scenting me. I relaxed further into his touch, wanting to smell only like him, wanting every remnant of Rossi washed from my skin.
My hands still trembled as I gripped his biceps. I leaned into his touch. His lips found mine, brushing gently against the cracked skin. He kissed me gently, swiping his tongue along mine.
I moaned, drunk on his taste. My nails dug into the corded muscles on his arms. The room blurred. A jumbled mess of half-formed thoughts battled for dominance. The last dredges of my lucidity wavered. I didn’t have long before I fully succumbed to my heat.
To my needs. To my omega.
He had to know. I had to tell him.
Weakly, my fingers scraped over his temple.
“Alpha. Please. Bite me. Make me yours,” I whispered, the words a broken plea.
Fire licked through my limbs, igniting in my veins. I needed him. I needed his knot. He had to help me. I wanted to be his. Forever. I wanted my husband. My alpha. My mate.
He nipped at my bottom lip, pulling back. A tiny V formed between his brows, his hand sliding along my face as I nuzzled into his palm, scenting him and marking him as mine.
“Omega.”
His voice was a guttural whisper. Something between a vow and a prayer. But the undercurrent of his restraint cut through everything else, making a different fear gnarl behind my sternum.
“Please. Please. No one else’s, only yours. It hurts,” I said, raking my nails through his beard.
A long silence stretched out between us as his nostrils flared. The pad of his thumb trailed over my freckles, making flames follow in his wake.
“I know it hurts. Shhh, little omega. I’m here now. I’ve got you.”
I struggled to connect two thoughts. I loved his touch, his comfort. Him. But I needed more. I needed to feel his heart beat in mine. I wanted to bond with him, to connect our lives in the most intimate, complete way.
Why didn’t he understand?
I hissed, clenching my thighs when another cramp sliced through my abdomen. I needed… I needed… help. My alpha needed to help me. Complete me.
“Knot,” I said, tugging at his waistband. “Mark me.”
His sharp gaze stung me, a silent protest. “You don’t mean that. Not like this.”
The claim cut across me like a blade—an agonizing hurt. I chewed on my lip, seeing the truth in his eyes. He was being noble, assuming I was a victim of my heat. That my omega was in control and begging for a mark that I didn’t want.
But I wasn’t.
I was strong.
This was me. Not my omega.
Not just my omega.
I knew what I wanted.
I loved him. And nothing would ever change that.
“Don’t tell me what I mean.”
His eyes widened, something dark and determined appearing in the slight lift of his lip.
Voices echoed above us. Familiar, yet I couldn’t quite place them.
I gazed up at him, willing him to see me. Me. Not my omega. I claimed the last dredges of my lucidity, hoping Kaelen would understand. The heat was a rising tide, but the next words I spoke echoed in the depths of my soul.
“I love you, Kaelen Finnegan. I want to bond with you,” I paused, whispering the next words, afraid they were true. “Unless you don’t want me.”
My confession hung in the air, making me feel exposed.
Trying to calm my racing heart, I traced my fingers over my sternum.
Opening myself up to someone, to an alpha, to someone I trusted to protect and love me like I deserved, terrified me.
A vulnerable part of me wanted to steal the words back and pretend I never said them.
But it was too late.
All of me was laid bare to Kaelen.
To claim or reject.
Every second felt like a lifetime in the silence that followed.
I was right on the edge and ready to fall.
Trembling, I finally faced him, unprepared for what awaited me.
His gaze softened, looking like a lush forest after a rainstorm. My fear dissipated when I saw adoration replace the worry that had been there. Rough fingers traced the line of my throat, a featherlight touch that sent a jolt of pleasure to my core.
“Mo chroí. My heart. I have always loved you. My heart belongs to you. I would be honored to make you mine. To be yours,” he murmured, the fierce mix of Gaelic and English like a balm to my frayed nerves.
His fingertips twitched along my pulse. Another sharp pain shot through my side. I sobbed, succumbing to the unnatural heat. Kaelen’s hand rested on my hips, holding me up. I whined, a needy, keening sound of want, the noise harsh against my raw vocal cords.
“It’s okay, my love, I’ve got you.” Arms slipped under my knees, lifting and cradling me against him. “Let me get you into your nest. Where I can take care of you and make you mine.”
My alpha spoke with such gentleness. My omega was pleased with the promise of our safe place. The place where our alpha would claim us. Where he would love us and mark us as his.
“Nest?” I whispered.
The last of my clarity faded, a lost light in the storm of flames.