Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Halley
Beta Specialist Shade is a sex demon.
It’s the only explanation.
He looks so serious and professional in his pressed fatigues, and then he unleashed a side to him I never saw coming.
Well… until I was actually coming, that is.
That tongue piercing took me by complete surprise, but I think I might be obsessed with it. The variation of soft, hot tongue and rigid metal was transformative.
I feel like I’m floating. The weight of weeks’ worth of sexual tension sizzling in my veins has been released.
Omegas shouldn’t live together with unmated Alphas who smell as good as Knox, Viper, and Blaze do. And I realize now, it’s not just them, it’s the sexy, unassuming Beta in front of me too. I’ve never reacted so strongly to any of my Beta partners in the past. Not even close.
I look down at Shade. He’s panting as though he’s just run a marathon.
Calling a sexual partner ‘Daddy’ was never something I imagined myself doing, but the moment it escaped my lips, an intense wave of arousal washed over me.
I wonder if he indulges his kink in other aspects of his life. I’m not sure I’ll be able to take orders from him again without biting back a cheeky, “yes, Daddy.”
I mentally slap myself out of my daydreams. Bad Omega. I only just got out of horny jail. I don’t want to go straight back in.
Shade wipes his face with the back of his hand, but there is still a slight sheen to his swollen lips, and pride washes over me. He’s covered in my slick and scent. A purr of satisfaction almost rolls over my tongue.
As I watch him stand, I notice he’s hard.
Really hard. And there is a damp patch on the front of his trousers.
I lick my lips.
“Let me help you,” I say, reaching forward to palm the hardness straining against his pants. I want to taste him like he tasted me. I want to know what he tastes like.
He looks down at my outstretched hand and frowns.
“No, Halley. This was for you,” he says as he turns away.
My face heats with embarrassment.
He doesn’t want me to touch him?
He just… what? Serviced me like one of his faulty trail cameras? Ran a diagnostic and then performed a hard reset?
My skin feels clammy as I quickly tug on my pants and boots.
I’m so stupid.
The squad might find me attractive, but they don’t really want me. Not in the way my Omega craves.
He was just eliminating a threat to his squad. Neutralizing the dangerous pussy that threatens to destroy our newfound cooperation.
The realization makes me sick.
I swallow down the bile in my throat as I try not to cry.
Stupid.
I’m so fracking stupid.
“I’m going to wash off in the stream,” Shade calls over his shoulder as he starts down the hill.
“Wait, you’re leaving me?” I squeak out in shock, feeling vulnerable and lost.
He stops, but he doesn’t turn to look at me. His bare shoulders heave with heavy breaths, drawing my eyes to the jagged scar on his shoulder blade. I forgot he’s just as much a seasoned, trained killer as the rest of them.
“It’s a straight shot down to camp from here. You should be able to make it back without any problems. I’ll see you back there in a bit.”
And then he walks away.
I’m a mess of emotions, each warring for control.
I want to cry. I want to sulk. I want to seek comfort in Viper’s arms. I want to rage.
The anger wins.
And once that flood gate opens, it’s a rut-damn deluge of vitriol. It slams into me, a tidal wave of fury at every injustice in my life.
I’m angry at my family for never caring for me beyond a pay day.
I’m angry at General Stone for throwing me into this unfair situation.
I’m angry at Prime Alpha Knox for not being the gentle mentor I need him to be.
I’m angry at the squad for making me believe we’d figure out my O-space issue together, only to shut me out and refuse to tell me what is happening to my own body. And I’m pissed that I believed them.
My anger grows with each passing day as I endure the suffocating presence of sexual tension that permeates the atmosphere around these soldiers.
There is no escape, no refuge from this onslaught to my baser instincts – not even in my sleep do I get a reprieve.
They invade my dreams, seeding hope with false narratives of devotion.
Above all, I’m mad at myself for deluding myself into thinking I’m special to them.
But they’re soldiers, trained to complete a mission and follow orders no matter what.
Falling for their trainee isn’t part of the mission.
Neither is caring for her.
My inner Omega howls at my heartbreak, but I’m sick and tired of feeling helpless and waiting for others to call the shots.
My hands clench into fists.
Frack them all, and screw their duty.
If they want to play with my life, fine. I’m done acting like a victim.
I take a deep, calming breath. I won’t get what I need if I’m emotional, especially from Shade. He’s calculating and whip smart. I have to approach him with logic.
And definitely not think about that sinful tongue ring.
I shift my attention away from my own wandering fantasies and expand my awareness to the world around me, creating a distance from my turbulent emotions.
Rays of orange streak through the gaps in the canopy, and the pillowy clouds passing overhead are tinged a soft pink.
Sunset is not far off, and the temperature has begun to drop.
My skin is still damp with sweat and my inner thighs sticky from my arousal, the cooling air prickling like icy needles.
Once I feel like the lapping waves of my feelings are contained, I roll my shoulders back in determination.
I scurry after the retreating Beta Specialist, the rocks under my boots slipping and scattering down the steep incline, heralding my arrival.
“Shade,” I call, following his shadow as it delves deeper into the darkening forest. He doesn’t slow down, if anything he speeds up.
I huff in annoyance and shout, “What is this? Dine and dash? Quit running from me.”
He halts, and I can’t stop my momentum fast enough. I careen into him, my cheek smacking into his bare back. I don’t allow my inner Omega to take control, cause she’s itching to scent mark all of his exposed tanned skin with her cheek.
“Dine and dash?” He spins and looks down at me with incredulity and amusement. “Really?”
I shrug as he helps me steady myself on the uneven hillside. The moment I have my footing again, he takes a step back and crosses his arms.
“It’s almost dark. You need to get back to camp, Omega Sparks.”
I blink twice.
Omega Sparks?
What happened to baby girl?
“What do you want?”
‘For you to tell me the truth and put that wicked tongue back where it belongs—my aching pussy,’ is what I want to say. Instead, I take a steadying breath.
“Seriously, you need to go back to camp. I have some things to finish up out here, but our Prime Alpha wanted you back before dark.” His eastern accent is obvious now that I know to look for it. The way his vowels are clipped and his sentences abruptly end gives his speech a unique rhythm.
And there it is. That constant need to obey or be obeyed. I straighten my spine and ask the question I should have asked weeks ago and not stopped asking until they gave me an answer.
“I want you to tell me about the results of the O-space experiment.” I try to sound strong, but a quiver of desperation slips into my tone.
“Halley,” Shade sighs and looks at the sky. “I can’t.”
“Why not? I don’t understand how it went from us figuring it out together, as a team, to me being frozen out.”
He runs a hand over his face.
I press harder. “Did I do something wrong?”
He whips his hand from his face to look at me.
“No, Halley. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault.”
“Please, Shade, you’ve got to give me something. Anything. I’m going mad dealing with this on my own.”
I see the conflict in his eyes. He wants to tell me.
“I can’t, Halley. If Knox found out…” he trails off and looks down at his feet. I can see his mind spinning, thinking of a way out of the conversation. He looks back up, his eyes pleading with me. “Just trust me, please, it’s for your own good.”
I’m done trusting others to know what’s for my own good.
“You must have a theory. I know you do. Can’t we just hypothetically discuss possibilities?” I implore, desperate to glean anything from this frustrating man.
“Halley,” he groans.
“Please, Shade,” I plead. “We can work together to figure this out. I know you must be hungry to investigate further.”
His eyes search mine, and I see the intellectual curiosity swirling within.
He blows out a tortured breath, and I know I’ve got him.
“Okay, we can theorize together, but it’s only hypothetical.
I’m not confirming or denying in an official capacity.
And you definitely can’t tell the others about this or what we did earlier.
They can’t know about either. I’m defying direct orders from my Prime Alpha and I could get in real trouble if General Stone finds out. Like, time in the brig, trouble.”
I nod in agreement, biting my tongue to choke back my excitement that my plan has actually worked. Shade turns to face me, his shoulder close enough that I can feel the heat coming off his bare chest.
“Okay, let’s say, hypothetically, that you were mated to one Alpha.
Some random politician you have no potent feelings for before mating.
You’d get the benefits of a mated pair, enhanced senses, the chance to breed—” I unconsciously flinch and hope Shade doesn’t notice.
His eyes squint slightly, but he forges on.
“But it would be like every other mated couple. Nothing special.”
I nod. Hanging on his every word.
“Now let’s say, hypothetically, you encounter an Alpha who’s biologically compatible with you.
You are drawn to each other and your proximity alone brings out your best qualities.
The connection between you is intense and your chemistry is off the charts.
So much so, he is brought back from the brink of insanity due to an incurable disease. ”
I swallow.
He’s talking about Viper and me, but to hear it so matter-of-factly is confronting, to say the least.
“And then you’re taken from the place you’ve called home for years, from your nest and your friends, put in a strange environment where everything and everyone is foreign.
You’re pushed to your limit constantly. And then you discover you’re also extremely compatible with a second Alpha who has been struggling with his own brand of violent, erratic insanity.
And once again, due to your mere proximity, he has mental clarity he hasn’t experienced in a long time – if ever. ”
My breath catches and my pulse picks up. He’s talking about Blaze. I hadn’t realized I’d had such a profound impact on the quirky Alpha. He hadn’t been more than an oddball with me. Certainly not violent. Just how bad had he been before I arrived?
“Then there is the Prime Alpha. A creature born into war. He grew up under the thumb of a brutal military dictatorship. He has known nothing but obedience since he was a child, and he’s killed more humans than he can count.”
I swallow. I forget daily that the soldiers training me are killers and that the man I mentally call an asshole daily is the most deadly of them all.
“When he comes across an Omega he is uncontrollably drawn to, he’s terrified, because for the first time in his life, he questions his duty. The very foundation of his being shakes.”
I glance at Shade with wide eyes, my skin prickling. “Is this still hypothetical?”
His face is solemn, and his gaze is so intense it makes my heart skip a beat. “Hypothetically, all these Alphas have had an incredible physical and emotional response to you. So much so, that their inner Alphas see you as their Omega. Their squad’s Omega. Together.”
My brain stutters, trying to follow what he’s telling me. “Is this even possible? Alphas… sharing an Omega?”
He shrugs, “I’m not sure, but if we look at the cold hard facts, the connection you have with all of them is undeniable. It’s brought each of them a new lease on life, and it’s woken something deep within you too.”
I lick my lips. I know where he is going with this. The puzzle pieces are falling into place.
I whisper the answer. “O-space.”
“Yes, a vulnerable state that calls to Alphas to protect and care for you.”
I recall the yearning for their touch well. The feeling of desperation that threatens to consume me.
“But as we discovered during our experiment in the forest, it’s transforming into something more.
The longer you’re with these Alphas, the closer you grow together, the more powerful this phenomenon becomes.
You draw them to you with your scent and your pheromones, but then it becomes more than that… ”
He’s silent for a moment. I wait with bated breath for him to continue, but he doesn’t. I need him to say it. To confirm what I know to be the truth, because I’ve been driving myself insane with the mere thought of it.
“What is it?” I breathe. “Hypothetically. What is this power?”
Shade looks away from me, shaking his head like he’s breaking a spell.
“I can’t.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s dangerous to even say it.”
My earlier anger springs back to life, quick to reignite the flames of my injustice and rage.
Before I can stop it, the familiar shimmering, alluring feeling wraps around me, less like a fog and more like a tornado. It batters me from within, rising and rising, scraping my throat until I shout. “Tell me!”
Shade’s eyes go wide, his face pale as the answer is ripped from him.
“Omega Command.”