Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
Shade
A soft knock against the metal truck doors breaks the eerie early morning silence.
“Shade?” Viper’s voice echoes from within. “Is she okay?”
A weight that has been sitting on my chest lifts.
Viper is still with us.
“Yeah, she’s sleeping.”
Blaze releases a deep sigh and slumps against the tree, his eyelids lowered in exhaustion. Red welts litter his body from straining against the rope for hours.
“She went quiet and I got worried.”
I lick my lips, swallowing back the threat of tears and scrubbing at my eyes with the heel of my palms. “My research says she’s going to sleep a lot as the suppressant works the heat out of her body.”
“I’m… I hate this.” Viper hisses like he’s in pain.
“Me too.”
I wish I could see Viper. He sounds so lost right now.
“What’s the matter, Viper? You feeling cuddly?” Blaze’s husky voice sounds from across the space. His eyes have returned to their usual icy blue and his typical smirk is in place.
Viper grunts and mumbles, “Maybe.”
Our giant Alpha isn’t resistant to cuddling for warmth on missions, or any time really. It just takes a long, long time to get to his soft, squishy center.
I stand, and my entire body creaks as I stretch. Two of my three teammates have punched me, and my body is slower to heal than an Alpha’s. My cheekbone is still tender and my ribs have partially fused back together. My muscles are sore too. It’ll be at least a week before I’m fully healed.
The weight of what we just endured has sunk deep into my bones. Tough conversations need to be had but I just don’t have the energy.
I hear Blaze’s stomach growl from across the camp, and I roll my eyes. Some things never change. Alphas are ravenous creatures. “Sit tight, I’ll get you some breakfast.”
“Me too, please,” a small, croaky voice chirps from inside the tent, and I smile.
Halley is awake and lucid.
A rumbling sound of pleasure comes from across the clearing as Blaze reacts to her voice.
I clear my throat. “Baby girl, you doing okay in there?”
There’s a rustling sound, and the tent flap peels back. Halley is wrapped in a swath of blankets, her flushed face peeking out between the folds.
“Yeah. I’m okay. I… I’m so sorry.” Her voice wobbles and then breaks as her face crumples in despair.
On instinct, I throw my arms out wide, and she darts forward and presses her face into my chest. I wrap my arms around her and thank whatever deity there is that I get to hold her close.
“I’ve got you, baby girl.”
Fuck, she still smells so good. Her heat may have broken, but her scent is still thick on her skin.
“I don’t understand. I’ve never gone into heat like that before.” Halley trembles and sniffs into my t-shirt. Her little fists clench in the material and tug with anxiety.
I pat her back. I’ve learned my lesson to keep my damn mouth shut and my theories to myself.
“I-I don’t remember much,” she mumbles into my chest, rubbing her cheeks back and forth. She’s scenting me, I realize. “Did I do anything embarrassing?”
I clear my throat and shake my head. She doesn’t need to know how she begged each of us to fuck her.
Her eyes dart to the tree line behind me, and she cries out. “Blaze!”
Halley pulls away from me and staggers towards the soldier tied to the tree. I quickly wrap an arm around her stomach and tug her back to me.
“Don’t come closer, Sparkles, unless you want a new accessory on your neck,” Blaze calls with a smirk. His body is tense and his voice strained. I can tell how much it’s killing him to deny her.
He tugs on the rope to prove the point. The tree groans in protest, leaves rustling and floating to the ground around us.
“Shade, why did you tie Blaze to a tree?” Halley asks, but I think she knows why. Her lower lip wobbles and I can see my own guilt mirrored within her.
“I’m sorry, baby, but he wouldn’t stay away, and Viper…”
“Where’s Viper?”
A thump sounds from the truck and Halley looks at me incredulously before storming over to the vehicle. I have to pry her hands off the handle to stop her from climbing in after him.
Viper figures out what is happening and calls out to her. “Pretty girl, it’s fine. I’m fine.”
She makes a cute hurrumphing sound and stomps her foot like a petulant child. “But you’re locked in there alone!”
“I lost control. It’s better if I’m in here where I can’t hurt you. I don’t trust myself, little Omega, especially not with the way you smell. You smell so sweet, I think I might eat you whole.”
It’s true, my mouth won’t stop watering.
“I did this to you all,” Halley whispers in horror even as her scent thickens at Viper’s words.
I need to get her back inside the tent and calm her down. We can talk more after she recovers from the ordeal.
“Knox? Is he…?”
“Taking a long walk to cool off.”
She sighs, a frown pinching between her brows.
“Come on, baby girl. Back in the tent with you. Let me get you something to eat and then you’ll take a nap.” I’m surprised I can even speak at the moment because all of my blood is currently rushing to my dick.
This is my penance for my betrayal, it has to be.
“Halley, you need to go back to your nest now, okay, baby girl?”
“And you’ll come too?” Her eyes shine with excitement.
I hum and nod, hating that I’m lying to her but needing her to comply.
“I’ll be there soon. Go make the nest nice and pretty for me, okay?” I nudge her gently towards the tent.
When she disappears inside, I release a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I remember vividly exactly how the soft folds between her thighs taste. I’d love nothing more than to dive my face in between them again.
I shake my head, clearing my thoughts.
Fuck, it’s so easy to fall under her spell. The fog of arousal is enough to cloud my thinking. My blood is pumping, roaring in my ears with the desire to be inside her. It shouldn’t be like this for me. I’m a Beta, but I’m reacting to her like an Alpha.
I adjust my stiff cock and set off to make some food for everyone.
Four sharp gunshots crack from further down the mountain.
My ears ring and I stare into the forest in shock.
The comms attached to my utility belt crackles to life with our Prime Alpha’s voice.
“Ten insurgents, north-east perimeter. Armed. Alphas.”
“Fuck.” I scramble to pick up the tablet, flicking through the surveillance feeds until I find what I’m looking for. “Confirmed, I have visual. Ten bogies converging on your position, Prime Alpha.”
A group of Alphas are stalking up the mountainside with dogged determination. They’re coming straight for our camp.
They must have caught the scent of Halley’s heat. An Omega in heat is like a siren call. I’m such an idiot for not considering that. Some genius I am. I’ve been too busy keeping things at camp under control, I didn’t consider outside threats.
Knox did, and that’s why he’s our leader.
“I need backup. Shade, send me Viper and Blaze. You stay with Halley. Keep her safe.”
I swallow and look at Blaze. A smirk of dark delight stretches over his sharp features, practically gleeful at the idea of killing the intruders after the day we’ve had.
I sigh and grimace. This is going to be a bloodbath.
“Roger, Prime Alpha. Letting the war-dogs off their chains.”
Time to let the beasts out of their cages.