15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Shade
Stone’s body hits the floor with a heavy, final thud.
Fuck.
Fucking Alphas and their fucking possessive instincts.
Viper just killed the leader of the rebel army. With witnesses.
"Oh, we've really done it now," I breathe, staring at the lifeless body of the resistance leader. The rut-damned General of Blackgate Fortress. The Alpha in charge of the last defense of the Demi-human race.
Viper is breathing heavily, but he doesn't seem chagrined. There is nothing in our bond that suggests he regrets his actions. In fact, he feels a little smug.
Strangely, despite the chaos about to descend on Blackgate Fortress, I can’t find it in myself to regret the death either.
Stone was a visionary once. He saw the writing on the wall for Fathim decades ago and began planning.
He hacked into Demi-human biology to create a weapon to save our species, unraveled the mystery of Packs, and understood strategy better than any commander I’d ever studied.
Or he had.
It is damning that the Pass, such a crucial key to our survival, was left without secondary defenses or barricades. Prime Alpha Zero was left to do his best to compensate at the cost of his troops' lives.
His war strategy was sloppy. He delayed the evacuation of civilians until their towns were already overrun with Human soldiers.
He banked the future of everyone and everything on a single untested Omega to save us all.
I would have failed my officer training for even proposing such a poorly conceived operation.
And then there's the mess he made of Halley and her Omega Command. If he'd just told us from the start what the objective was, we could have avoided all the miscommunication and formed our Pack months ago.
It was all about control. His inability to relinquish it and his desperate need to hold on to power led us here.
So, no. I have no regrets about the leadership change at Blackgate. It's overdue, but I just wish my rut-damn Pack weren't so impulsive.
A growl rumbles nearby.
I look away from Stone’s body, and my focus narrows to the two Alpha guards Blaze has been fighting on the floor.
They aren’t fighting to protect Stone anymore.
They’re looking at Halley.
Their breathing has changed from battle-ragged to hungry. One of them tries to leap toward Halley, and Blaze snarls as he slams him back down.
Fuck.
It isn’t just our Alphas going into rut.
No one else moves while the usual sounds of the active fortress buzz around us. The Beta assistant has broken out in a full-body tremor, the datapad on the floor by his feet. The Beta soldiers have lowered their rifles and are staring unblinkingly at Stone’s limp body.
I'm snapped out of my stupor when Halley makes a whimpering sound.
"Halley?"
She whines again and clutches Everlyn, her knees buckling, while she gazes fixedly at Viper.
I grimace. Viper stands over the mangled body of the General, and it's a grisly sight.
However, instead of disgust, our Omega releases a thick, needy rush of pheromones.
It clicks.
Halley is in heat, her most primal state, and she just watched Viper kill an Alpha to protect her. Pure possessive, territorial Alpha. Viper killed Stone because he tried to take what belonged to our Pack.
Her inner Omega liked it.
A lot.
And it's accelerating her heat.
I feel Knox's control strain through the bond as his attention snaps to Halley with a violent wave of possession before he forces his gaze back to the corridor.
Viper doesn’t even manage that much restraint. His eyes stay locked on her, and the deep satisfaction in the bond darkens.
Blaze bares his teeth over the two Alphas beneath him, his body planted between them and Halley as if he’s one muscle twitch away from tearing out both their throats.
Okay, so that’s three Pack mates descending into their hindbrain, two unaffiliated Alphas already trying to crawl toward our Omega, and a dead General at our feet.
Great.
Fantastic.
The sound of boots is getting louder. Soldiers are coming in our direction, no doubt summoned as backup for the General, and if even one of them is an Alpha, this whole wing is about to become a bloodbath.
We’re running out of time to figure out what comes next.
I breathe out as I gather my thoughts and concentrate.
Halley squirms, and I can feel the heat radiating from her from a foot away. A sheen of sweat has formed on her forehead.
"Yeah. Okay, baby girl. Reading you loud and clear," I whisper, leaning in to kiss the top of her head. Whatever else is happening, my Omega’s wellbeing will always be my top priority. The Alphas can defend and protect us with their big, scary muscles.
I look back at Stone’s body and frown.
Timing has never been our friend.
"Shade. Get her out. Now." Knox snaps into Prime Alpha mode, though his voice is rough with the effort it costs him.
I don't hesitate.
Our Omega is going into heat, and every Alpha near her is being dragged toward rut. The last place she needs to be is in the middle of a political power vacuum filled with armed soldiers. Whatever is about to happen in the fortress next, I have to trust that my Pack can handle it without me.
"Blaze," Knox orders. "Keep those two down."
Blaze laughs, grinning with the promise of violence. "Gladly."
"Viper, with me."
Viper takes one step toward Halley.
Knox catches his arm before he can take another step. "With me."
Viper doesn’t look at him. His gaze stays on Halley, and the bond pulls tight with a need so strong that it nearly drags me into its vortex of desire.
"Go with Shade," Viper tells her, his voice raw with restraint. "I’m coming to you as soon as I can, pretty girl."
Halley whines and reaches for him.
My chest aches because I know exactly what she wants. Her body is calling for her Alphas, and every fiber of them is answering. But my job is already clear.
I get her out before instinct turns this corridor into a slaughterhouse.
Everlyn passes her friend to me, her eyes wide and her face pale. She's in shock, but still has the wherewithal to dig her nails into my hand and warn, "You take good care of my Sparks, okay?"
"I’ve got her, and I won’t let her suffer," I say, trying to be understanding even as possessiveness bristles under my skin. I don’t need anyone outside the Pack to instruct me on how to care for Halley. She’s mine to protect and cherish.
"I’ll do my best to help with the fallout here," Everlyn says. "And I’ll send supplies down as soon as I can."
"Thank you." I nod in appreciation.
We’ll need food, water, and firewood to see us through her heat, but that problem belongs to the next hour. Right now, I have to get Halley behind a locked door before the next wave of soldiers reaches us.
"I don’t think I need to say it," Everlyn says, her eyes flashing with promised violence, "but if you lot don’t finally mate her, I’ll castrate the lot of you. Don’t think it’s an empty threat. I’m a doctor. I know how."
I swallow thickly.
Okay, noted. Don't mess with Halley's best friend. Ever.
Another shout echoes from the corridor bend.
I tuck Halley tight against my side and march quickly toward our den. She goes with me, but she keeps looking back at Viper with longing.
She’s shaking as her body fills with hormones and awakening instincts.
She’s pumping out pheromones, desperately trying to entice her three Alphas to come with us.
Soon, she’ll lose the capacity to speak in coherent sentences.
Her world will narrow to heat, need, knots, slick, and the ache only her Pack can soothe.
Behind us, one of the Alpha guards snarls.
Blaze answers with a sound that makes the Beta assistant stumble backward and flatten himself against the wall.
Knox turns and orders the assistant. "Go. Spread the word. No Alpha comes near our Omega. Seal this wing and send for Prime Alpha Zero."
The assistant squeaks, nods, and sprints off to find Zero.
Then Knox turns to the Beta soldiers, who still look stunned. "Rifles up, soldiers. Anyone who moves toward our den forfeits their lives."
They raise their rifles and don't even seem to realize that they're taking orders from the Alpha they'd just been told to shoot. Knox is a leader, a field-tested commander whose tone brooks no argument.
The Alphas of Blackgate might have ignored Halley when she was grieving and kept their distance when we arrived to train her, but now that she’s in heat, nothing is going to keep them at bay.
Except Pack Scorch.
Whatever comes next, there will be more bloodshed.
Our three Alphas are going to have to prove they’re worthy of mating Halley by keeping her safe, and they’ll have to do it while explaining the dead General at Viper’s feet and stopping the whole rebel army from imploding.
A small part of me feels smug. For once, the Alphas are going to have to clean up their own mess while I get to care for our Omega in heat.
Halley whines against my throat, fever-hot and trembling, and I tighten my arm around her as the first Alpha soldier rounds the corner behind us.
Knox’s firm voice orders them to turn back the way they came.
I don’t look back.
I bundle Halley closer and run for our den.