Chapter Twenty-Two
Halley
I am given a brief rest to have a meal and drink water. The moment I’m done eating a banana and some trail mix, I’m thrown straight back into training.
This time it’s Shade running the show, and he’s measuring my fitness baseline.
I thought I was relatively fit, but the Beta quickly proves how wrong I am.
He instructs me to do pushups, counting out loud with each one, until I can’t hold my weight anymore. He taps away at his tablet, his dark eyebrows pulled tight. I want to see what he’s recording, to ask him how I’m doing, but I can barely breathe.
Next are sit-ups, and then burpees, and then jumping jacks, and then the banana makes its reappearance, much to the Prime Alpha’s disgust.
Shade stops me multiple times to give me advice and the best ways to regulate my breathing or hold my posture to avoid injury. His touches are always quick and efficient and are over before I have time to feel anything other than a promising tingle.
I push myself harder and for longer than I thought possible. I don’t even feel present in my own body anymore, just hovering on the outskirts of my consciousness as I force myself to keep going.
The Prime Alpha is watching, and I refuse to prove his assumptions about weak Omegas right.
“That’s it. She’s done the preliminary test.” Shade steps back and shows the others the results on his tablet.
I’m not paying attention to a rut-damned thing they’re doing or saying. Instead, I sink to the ground, roll onto my stomach spread-eagled and press my face into the sun-warmed dirt and let the spindly blades of grass stick to my sweaty face.
I’m done.
Out of all and any energy. I’ve never felt an exhaustion like this before, even after a rough heat. Even after spending three sleepless nights in a jail cell followed by a harrowing trip in a nondescript vehicle.
I watch through half-lidded eyes as Knox studies the tablet screen, his expression unreadable.
“Viper, get the Omega up. She needs to redo the push-ups, this data is inconclusive.”
My brow furrows. They can’t possibly expect me to do any more. I can’t move. Frack, I can barely suck in air through my burning lungs.
A large, muscled figure looms over me. I can’t lift my head. At this point, I don’t care what they do to me, as long as I don’t have to move under my own steam.
“On your feet, Omega. Let’s go,” Knox orders, a hint of Alpha Command shivering through his tone.
I whimper, shake my head, and grip the grass, holding it like it’s my lifeline. I can’t comply, and it hurts.
“Viper, get her up.”
I’m lifted to my feet and the world spins. Viper attempts to place me on my feet, but they’re not cooperating.
These Alphas are silly.
Surely they can see that my legs are made of jelly.
Wibbly-wobbly jelly.
I squeeze my eyes shut.
My brain is foggy, but a primal part of me feels safe with the big Alpha holding me against his chest, our recent history linking us together in an inexplicable way. All I know is he will keep me safe from the crazy man holding the tablet, so I lean into his solid body.
“Omega Sparks, stand at attention.”
I mumble incoherently, shaking my head in refusal, and press my face deeper into the enormous heated chest. Viper stiffens momentarily before relaxing.
“Omega Sparks, do not disobey a direct order. Get down and give me twenty.” Knox uses a full Alpha Command but this time, I barely flinch.
It’s like I’ve drawn strength from Viper’s touch. Defying his order isn’t painful or a struggle, it slides off me like water on canvas.
Shade sighs. “Knox. Stop. Look at her. She’s had enough.”
Viper’s deep baritone rumbles through his chest. “Halley?”
My eyes crack open at the sound of my first name, and I tilt my head up to see the blurry outline of Viper’s face. It feels so much like when I lay on his chest in that hospital room, drowsy from the mind-blowing orgasm he coaxed from my body.
His pupils are blown wide, the inky black swallowing his pretty dark green irises, and his head is tilted down at me. My name on his lips sounds so right, and I yearn to hear it again.
“Are you okay, Halley?”
I can’t help the grin that splits my face. He said my name again!
He’s been treating me like I’m nothing more than a faceless soldier, and I latch onto any form of familiarity he’ll give me. I want to hear him say my name on a groan of ecstasy as he brings us both to climax again.
“This feels nice,” I hear myself slur.
I feel him shift, his big hands still gripping my upper arms, and his scent wafts around me. I inhale it deep, nuzzling his uniform with my nose as I take it in, storing it in the deepest parts of my memory.
“What the fuck is happening?” Knox’s brash voice is distant as I focus on the lieutenant. Solid, safe, sexy Viper.
“Can you hear me, Halley?” Viper asks softly, a deep rumble vibrating against my cheek.
He gently peels my face from his chest and peers down at me. I whine at the loss of contact, but quickly refocus my attention on his handsome face, only a few inches above mine.
Oh, he’s so handsome in a burly, rugged kind of way. I love having his attention. I stir, trying to press myself back into his warmth while I rub my thighs together to ease the pulsing between my legs.
My skin feels hot and prickly, and my body knows Viper is the cure.
“Omega, can you tell us what’s happening?” Shade asks, his voice causing another shudder to wrack my body.
I lick the salt of my sweat from my cracked lips and reply with a breathy whimper, “Viper, I need…”
He smiles reassuringly, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. My heart skips a beat, and I feel my lips part as my breath escapes me.
He looks at me like I’ve accomplished some incredible feat by simply saying his name. I get the feeling this giant doesn’t smile often, and I feel special to be the recipient. My hands fist in his shirt, and he allows me to resume rubbing his chest with my cheeks.
Scent your Alpha. Tell the world who he belongs to.
“Yeah, what do you need, pretty girl?” he asks in a low, gruff voice. It’s pained, like he’s struggling to control his desperation to fix whatever is wrong.
“I need… take care of me, please?”
His dark brows furrow but I feel his protective energy surge, complying with my wishes and ignoring his Prime Alpha’s command.
“Are you disobeying a direct order, LT?” Prime Alpha Knox’s voice cracks like a whip through my brain fog. I wrinkle my nose in discomfort, and Viper rubs my back soothingly. “And what’s wrong with her?”
Shade sighs, speaking to the Prime Alpha. “I don’t know. None of my research suggested anything like this happening. There isn’t any data on Omegas being pushed this hard physically… other than heat.”
“She’s going into heat?!” Knox exclaims, and I wince at the volume. I press my ear against Viper and focus on the sound of his heartbeat, drowning the rest of the world out.
Viper growls a warning as he cups the back of my head, threading his fingers through my sweat damp hair and cradling me closer.
Tension suspended between the squad thickens as two dominant Alphas face off against each other.
Just as it feels like it might combust, Blaze’s snort of amusement breaks the stiff silence.
“Knoxy, if she was in heat, do you think we’d still be thinking clearly? LT would have that club between his legs knotted in her and you’d be licking her like a lavender-flavored lollipop.”
“He’s right, something else is happening here,” Shade says, his voice sounding distant and warbled, like when I’d sink down into the inky deep depths of the dam on my family’s property. It was quiet and safe from the scrutiny of their disapproval.
I feel the same safety now. I know, from deep within my gut, that Viper will take care of me like I asked.
I sigh and nuzzle my cheek against him. His shirt has a heady combination of both our scents. Gunpowder and ozone. Lavender and roses. It smells right.
Alpha is here. Alpha will obey.
A familiar rumble vibrates in my chest.
“What in the ever-loving fuckity-fuck is that?” Blaze splutters.
I’m purring.
“This is what she did in the hospital when I… when the Blood Lust…” Viper tries to say, but his voice fades out and all I can hear is my purr. His large hands run up and down my back, sending me into a drifting headspace.
I’m neither present nor gone.
I’m there but I’m not.
All I know is that Viper will care for me.
Alpha provides. Alpha protects.