Chapter 67
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Halley
We arrive at the waterfall, and the team wastes no time packing up supplies and disguising our campsite. In minutes, it barely looks like someone has been there.
Last night’s hope for our future feels so far away. We’d been almost giddy with anticipation. To finally break the sexual tension which had been building since my arrival.
It all seems silly now. Shortsighted and childish.
They were, what? Going to ask their commanding officer if it was okay to stick their dick in the Omega under their command?
And General Stone was going to be like, ‘Affirmative, Scorch Squad-1. Happy fucking’?
And I went along with it!
How was that any different from the Companionship Program? They’d treat me like a glorified toy, with no obligations.
I’m not their mate. I’m not anything to them but an inconvenience that needs to be fracked out of their system.
After everything I’ve sacrificed to escape that fate, cloistering myself away in what was akin to a prison, and I let it happen anyway.
When Knox is satisfied with the decampment, he gives a soft whistle, twirls his finger in the air, and we roll out.
They don’t run through the forest like we did when we arrived.
Instead, we hike through the forest at my pace.
Silence has settled over our troop as we get lost in our heads.
Only the sound of twigs cracking beneath my feet breaks the silence.
I still haven’t mastered walking in ghost-like silence like they have, but I’m improving under Blaze’s tutorage.
A lump forms in my throat as I realize my training is over. No more stealth sessions with Blaze, running through his odd little missions that make no sense until the end when his grand scheme emerges.
I take the time to drink in each of the larger-than-life figures stalking through the forest at my side. Cataloguing their features and examining my feelings.
And, rut-damn, I have so many feelings for them. I’ve fallen for each one for different reasons.
Shade is so easy to fall for. It’s dangerous. When we talk, even about mundane shit, I’ve never felt so heard. It’s a relief to trust him to guide me like a strong paternal figure. And that tongue ring!
Viper had my heart before I even knew it was gone. He’s my gentle giant. A constant source of stability. There’s so much pain behind his beautiful green eyes that my heart clenches every time he looks at me.
Blaze is the spice of life. The unpredictable force of nature that makes me feel alive and eager. He’s sweet and caring and entirely unhinged. I love his playful nature, but whenever I get a glimpse of his true self beneath the joking exterior, it’s like seeing a sunrise after a long night.
And then there’s Knox. Knox, with his stupid scowl that turns my knees to jelly and makes me want to push his buttons. Knox with his hard exterior and soft heart. I want to peel back each layer until I reach the center and get to know him better.
They’re nestled deep in my heart, but they will never be mine.
When we reach the truck, still tucked away in the foliage, my feet stutter to a halt, and I choke down a sob.
This is it.
“I’m going after them,” I say, soft and breathy.
They keep chatting among themselves, discussing what the next steps will be.
“I’m going after my friends,” I repeat, louder, with conviction.
Four heads snap in my direction, blinking at me in confusion.
“Going where?” Blaze frowns.
“Like fuck you are,” Knox barks, stepping towards me.
“Yes, I am.”
“Omega Sparks,” Knox growls, “it’s not happening. We have a plan.”
Shade steps closer, raising his palm at Knox to stop talking. “Baby girl, we don’t know enough about the situation. It sounds like the whole country is going to shit, and we need to get our orders from command.”
“Orders?” I bite back. “You think I care about orders when my friends have been kidnapped?”
“We can’t do anything to help them if we don’t have proper intel. Let’s go to Headquarters, talk to someone in the chain of command, and figure out a plan.”
The mention of Headquarters makes the hairs on my arms stand up.
Headquarters is in the capital. The same place I’ve spent eleven years hiding from.
Going to the capital isn’t an option. I have visions of handcuffs slapping over my wrists the moment I step foot into the city, before being dragged off to the Companionship Program.
Alphas with greasy hands and nameless faces pawing at my body like it’s theirs to own.
“I can’t and I won’t.” I glare at him, anger boiling through my veins. “If my friends are in Blackreach Province, then that’s where I’m going.”
Blaze flares his nostrils, feeding off my anger and mirroring it back at me. “There’s no fucking way we’re letting you march into the Blackreach Province. It’s a fucking lawless hot zone and massive. You don’t even know where they are.”
I’m shaking with adrenaline and it’s like my emotions have hijacked my body. “I don’t care, I’m going to find them.”
Viper tries to placate me. “Calm down, pretty girl. We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
“You know what?” I growl, feeling rage fill my belly. My blood is pumping and I feel strong. Oddly buoyant, with a shiny spine of righteousness. “I’m done being calm and rational and understanding and patient.”
I take a step forward and the four of them take a step back, as if my presence has pushed them away.
Viper’s fists clench, veins in his forearms straining from the tension. “Don’t. Don’t use your Omega Command, Halley. Please.”
I couldn’t stop, even if I wanted to. The shimmering surge of authority settles along my shoulders and chest. Confidence flows through me, and any concerns flutter away in the wake of my O-space.
I feel myself turning vindictive and cruel. I don’t want to hurt them, but my instincts tell me if I don’t shove them as far away as possible, I’ll crumble. “If you need to go crawling back to the military like a bunch of good little spineless soldiers, then go! But don’t you dare try to stop me.”
Knox looks like I’ve pulled a knife on him, his eyes flashing a vibrant red. “We can’t just walk away from our duty, Halley. It’s our careers, our lives. We’re soldiers and we go where our country needs us.”
“They think you’re dead, Knox! They think Viper killed me. They’re not going to welcome him back with open arms. They’ll shoot him on sight.”
Knox shakes his head like I’ve slapped him. His brow furrows into his trademark scowl, and Prime Asshole is back. He sneers down at me with contempt, as if I’m a threat he let slip through the camp borders.
Shade steps forward, hands raised as if he means to gentle me. He wants to smooth this over, change my mind, make me compliant. Not this time.
“Back off.” I pin him with a glare. My muscles bunch with tension as the Command flows from me with ease. He complies immediately, taking two rapid steps backwards, eyes wide with alarm.
Satisfaction surges through me. These soldiers, these warriors, are listening to me. Following my orders.
It feels incredible to have such a power.
There’s a vibration beneath my skin, skittering along my nerves and firing at a frantic pace.
When I fled to The Omega Division, it wasn’t because I wanted to, it was to save myself from a worse fate.
When I joined the squad for training, it wasn’t because I volunteered.
I was ordered. This time, it’s my choice.
I’m choosing my friends, my found family, and no one is getting in my way.
Even the four soldiers standing before me.
Even the four men I’ve grown to…
I refuse to finish that thought. Thinking more about my feelings for them isn’t going to save my friends. The squad can take care of themselves. Dazz, Ember, and Flicker aren’t so lucky.
“We need to regroup and find out exactly what’s going on.
If the military has collapsed, and there’s nothing for us to do, then we can reassess,” Shade says in his even-toned, sensible voice.
He’s talking rationally. His logic is sound, but I know in my heart that if I hesitate now, I’ll lose my friends forever.
There is something cosmic, otherworldly, that is pressing me onward. It’s insistent. More than an instinct, it’s knowing.
I’m shaking, my hands balled up in tight fists. They’re not listening. “You’re not hearing me. You can do what you like, but I’m leaving.”
“Leaving?” Viper asks in a quiet voice, and I hate myself for what I’m about to do.
“I’m going. You’ll have to trust you trained me well enough I can defend myself, or at least run from danger.”
Knox growls. “Omega Sparks, you won’t last a minute in Blackreach Province. It’s crawling with unmated Alphas, criminals, and rapists. It’s where the Alphas who don’t make it in the military are sent. The ones society rejects.”
He isn’t calling me his ‘princess’ anymore, and it hurts more than it should.
I shrug. “That’s fine, Knox. I’d rather die than abandon my friends when they need me most.”
He glares at me, as if I’ve accused him personally of being a coward, and I briefly wonder if our Prime Alpha has ever left someone behind in the heat of battle.
I spin on my heels and push through the undergrowth until I find the ragged dirt mountain road.
If I follow it down, I heard Knox mention a small town at the foot of the hill that they’ve been keeping an eye on during patrols.
I’ll have plenty of time to consider my next move on the hike.
I have to get moving. The strong impulse in my gut is tugging me forward, and I know it’s to them.
To my brother and sister Omegas. No one else will save them unless I do.
“Stop!”
It’s an Alpha Command, the strongest I’ve ever felt. It stabs through me, making my legs freeze.
Knox stomps in front of me, his nostrils flared and a snarl on his handsome face. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re under my command and I’m giving you an order to stay with Scorch Squad-1, Omega Sparks.”