Chapter Seven
Knox
I miss her.
Rutting-fuck, I miss her more than I want to admit. Months spent peeling back the wreckage she left behind and at the center of it all, there’s just her. Sparks.
The way a strand of hair always escapes her ponytail, enticingly framing her heart-shaped face. Those purple eyes sparking with challenge and determination. The heated look when she’d secretly check out my body, and then the flaming blush when I caught her.
I even miss the fights we had. The spike in her scent which told me she was equal parts angry and aroused.
The day she left us was the day we lost everything.
“Incoming, wave of insurgents to the north-east, over,” Shade’s voice crackles over the comms. He's using a drone to monitor the enemy, and there are so many of them that an overhead view is the only way to keep track of their movements.
Our gifts from our time with Halley have faded. No longer can my brothers and I hear each other’s thoughts. The ability to communicate without speaking left us, just like she did.
My limbs drag, my mind slow. Every decision feels one step behind.
"Dibs!" Blaze screams over comms, as a grenade flies over my head and lands at the feet of the approaching soldiers.
The explosion leaves gore scattered over the streets.
I sigh, brushing the viscera off my flak jacket and click the radio to speak.
"Who let Blaze near the explosives again?" I ask, exasperated.
Blaze’s mental state has deteriorated at an alarming rate. Before Halley, he was frequently labeled as unstable, yet he possessed a sharp sense of humor, strategic thinking, and a clever mind. Now he’s a volatile wildcard. A danger to himself and everyone else.
It's a full-time job babysitting him.
The only thing that calms him down is the blanket from Halleys old nest which he keeps bundled up in his rucksack. It doesn't smell like her anymore, but just holding it seems to bring him back to us, even for a few moments.
"Viper is on Blaze duty today," Shade replies sharply, and I can almost hear the frustration dripping through the radio receiver, but we won’t blame Viper. Not after last week, when we couldn’t wrest him from the edge of his Blood Lust for hours.
He beat us bloody and then cried like a child when he discovered what he’d done.
Since then, he’s been relegated to a support role. If he goes into Blood Lust again, chances are he won’t come back. He'll die. Fuck, he'll probably kill us all too.
I guess that wouldn't be the worst thing. Might be good to put our sorry selves out of our misery.
Viper grunts over the radio. "Fucker bit me and got away."
I shake my head.
Of course he did.
We’ve been in a bad state since Halley left, but now it feels as though our squad is on the verge of imploding, and there’s no way to heal it.
Another wave of Humans rush over the hill, and I line them up in the scope of my rifle.
A loud whistling noise cuts through the air, and I throw myself behind an upturned tractor. The blast punches the earth, tossing gravel like teeth from a broken jaw. I hit the ground hard, my breath slammed from my lungs.
"Where the fuck did you get a grenade launcher?" I hear Shade shout as the dust settles and my ears stop ringing.
Blaze cackles.
I groan and speak into my radio again. "Shade, how copy?"
"I've got it handled, over!" He transmits, but I can hear Blaze protesting loudly in the background.
"Hey! Finder’s keepers, give it back!"
I allow five enemies to get close and vent my worries through my fists, caving in their skulls with heavy blows. It does nothing to help my gloomy mind.
The human army is relentless. They’ve driven us backwards day after day, and our mission is simple, stall them for as long as possible and stay alive.
Rheamont is a carbon copy of every shithole town we've been ordered to defend. Collapsing buildings, bad plumbing, no education, outdated tech, and enough bitterness in the air to choke you. The kind of place The Capital forgot existed.
That’s what makes the order even worse.
The Alphas behind gold-trimmed walls, fat on power and untouched by war, handed it down like it was just another memo:
Eliminate all noncompliant civilians.
Families. Children clinging to their mothers, too stubborn or scared to evacuate.
They’ve asked us to kill the very people we swore to protect.
That was the order that snapped the spine of my loyalty.
A lifetime of obedience shattered in a single moment.
Now that I’ve seen how the Betas live, I don't blame them for protesting and trying to grasp some control from The Capital. From now on, my squad and I are here to save lives, not crush the Beta resistance.
I’m so fucking tired of this constant, unending war. It doesn't matter how many Humans we kill. They. Just. Keep. Coming.
I don’t know what the answer is. Some days, I think the invasion needed to happen, if only to force our fractured society to change.
At first, the violence soothed the hurt in my heart. Like a bandage holding me together until my soul could stitch itself back into a semblance of normalcy. But the longer we fight, the more bitterness festers beneath the surface. A poison slowly seeping into my veins.
I fight to stay with my squad.
That’s it. That’s all.
The bullet wounds in my chest sting, healing slower than they did yesterday.
We had a chance to have something precious. She was right there, within our grasp.
She was a gift, and I treated her like a mission objective and when she needed our help, she didn't trust me to lead the squad to find her Omega friends. Her family.
And the worst part?
She was right.
I couldn't ignore the call of duty. I would have dragged her back to The Capital to get our orders, justifying myself with promises of ‘Later. We’ll search for them later’.
I grind my teeth together and aim at a target, taking the young soldier out with a single shot between the eyes.
I was selfish and a fucking coward. She needed the Pack, and they needed her. I should’ve been the one who left and let them have their happiness. I chose duty over love, and now I have neither. I was too stubborn and slow to understand what actually matters most.
A rallying war-cry breaks me from my thoughts, and I belatedly realize the Humans are staging a full assault.
“Here they come, boys!” Shade declares down the radio.
They pour down the hill like a wave of fire ants, hungry, countless, crawling over their broken comrades to be the first to sink their teeth in. They fight with the kind of blind confidence only righteousness gives.
They scream nonsense as they charge, “purge the filthy” and “the pure will inherit”.
They’re battle cries from a fever dream.
And when they’re dying, choking on their blood, they whisper, “Goddess, save me.” I’ve heard the same plea for years, and I still don’t know who this Goddess is, or what purity has to do with war, but whatever belief drives them, it’s vicious. Ugly.
The sounds of gunfire echo through the town, mingling with screams of pain. They've found the innocent civilians, and the slaughter has begun.
"Rut-fucking-dammit," I curse, taking cover behind a house, fumbling for my radio. I pull it up to my lips to call for a retreat when a bullet hits the receiver, shattering it. Blood spurts from the hole ripped in my hand, covering the destroyed device in a sticky red mess.
"Fuck!" I drop the wrecked comms unit and kick it into the face of an oncoming assailant. He drops and is unmoving.
My brain scrambles for a plan, a way to get a retreat order to my squad, but the smoke and shouting drown out every thought. Then the wind shifts.
It rolls through the town, sweeping the fires Blaze has lit away and clearing the air like a curtain pulling open.
I feel something strange.
A charge skims across my skin. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Then the scent hits.
Lavender. Crisp, sharp. Laced with something electric, like a storm just before it breaks.
I know this scent. My body knows it too.
I freeze, even as another hail of bullets slam into the wall behind me.
I shake my head.
No. I’ve imagined this before. I’ve dreamed it, begged for it, gone half out of my mind chasing it.
But this is different. This doesn’t fade. It sticks in my lungs and grounds me, waking up something that’s been cold for months.
'Do you smell that?'
I jump, startled by the distant whisper of Viper's voice in my head.
Impossible.
That ability is gone. We lost it.
‘Viper?’ I think back cautiously.
‘I can hear both of you loud and clear,’ Shade responds, and I blink in amazement.
The strength, which had been slowly leaking from me like a deflating balloon, swells. My next kill is effortless, as if I’ve thrown off my heaviest training weights and am now unencumbered.
My combat knife slices through a plucky enemy with ease, whooping with satisfaction as my body responds with lightning reflexes.
‘I feel… right.’ Like a limb I didn’t know was missing, just sprouted back.
My brothers hum in agreement.
I don’t know what this surge is, but although it’s fortifying, it won’t be enough to win this battle.
Not against this many.
‘Retreat. Pull back and do a sweep through town, get as many civilians out as you can,’ I think to my squad, thrilled that we are once again linked.
As I slowly fight my way backwards, I grin broadly.
The familiar crack of Viper's sniper rifle echoes from high above. He picks off enemies from his position on the town's church roof, covering my retreat.
He shouldn't be killing, tempting his Blood Lust, but I don’t tell him to stop. Something has changed within us, and I know he’ll be fine.
‘It’s good to have you back, LT’.
I hear Shade and Blaze before I see them. Shade is gripping Blaze’s belt, dragging him away from the front lines.
Blaze empties clip after clip, laughing like it’s a party only he was invited to.
"How copy, Shade?" I ask as I approach, dropping to a knee to steady my shots as I take out the closest soldiers.
"I don't think Blaze can hear our thoughts," he replies, shouting over the snap of my gunfire.
I flick my eyes to Blaze, and notice how far gone he is. I doubt he even realizes Shade is pulling him along like a dog on a leash.
The largest explosion yet rocks the town. Windows shatter, and shrapnel cuts my skin.
“Blaze! Rut-dammit, where the fuck did you get so many explosives?” Shade admonishes.
Blaze just grins in bloodthirsty triumph.
Even if he has more landmines hidden, it won’t be enough.
We’re running on borrowed time.
Demi-humans are hard to kill, but a well-placed bullet to the skull will do the trick. I reposition Blaze’s askew helmet to cover his exposed forehead. His mind might be broken, but he’s still my brother and mine to protect.
The sound of boots hitting the street herald Viper’s arrival.
“I feel rut-damn great,” he says in wonder, his brows furrowed in confusion as he flexes his fists.
A hail of gunfire forces us to move deeper into the town, towards where we stashed our truck.
A bullet hits Viper in the stomach, ripping clean through his insides and tearing muscle. He roars in pain, but heals almost instantly.
We share a look of acknowledgement. 'You seeing this, Prime?'
'Yeah, LT. I'm seein' it.'
We don't have time to contemplate why we're suddenly stronger and healing faster, or why I thought I smelled lavender. The town is overrun and I have a squad to get out alive.
More heavy gunfire peppers nearby, ricocheting off buildings with a spray of stone and wood.
We make it to the main square, and I curse as my stomach turns. There is a mob of civilians gathered around the town hall.
They’re not running for their lives as they should.
Idiots. Bumbling fucking cockwombles.
I push down the frustration and order Viper to handle the crowd. These Betas don't know they're moments away from death.
And then I hear the impossible.
A voice.
Her voice.
Feminine. Clear.
I skid to a halt. So do the others. The link between us goes still. No words, just a collective gasp of disbelief that hums like static in the back of my skull.
I whip around, scanning the chaos until my eyes land on her.
She’s standing in front of the town hall.
Alive.
Real.
‘No. It can’t be—’
It might be just another vivid memory.
But fuck, she looks gorgeous.
Her wavy brown hair tucked beneath a combat helmet, and her curvaceous body undeniable even under loose-fitting fatigues. Her purple orbs are bright and clear, sparking with determination. It's been months since I've seen those eyes, and the sight of her punches the breath from my lungs.
'Am I dreaming?' Viper asks through the link.
Her scent hits me like a slap. Lavender. Lightning. Real.
It’s her. Not memory. Not a dream.
My knees almost give out.
'It's her!' My voice rings out in our link, and the others echo the sentiment, the shock bouncing between us.
'What is she doing here?'
'She's not safe.'
'How is this possible?'
‘What in the rut is she doing in a combat hot zone?’
The enemy is coming at us fast now, confident that they can overwhelm us with their numbers. I have to focus or I’ll take too many hits to heal, but I can’t stop looking at her between rounds of suppressing fire.
She’s still standing there out in the open, defiant and strange and so rutting beautiful.
A bullet slams into the wall behind her, and the world slows.
It’s then that I finally notice that something is wrong.
The surrounding soldiers who were protecting her are retreating, but she’s not following them.
There’s a wide, unnatural grin on her face.
And her eyes… her pretty purple eyes are almost entirely black.
I know that look.
It’s been years since I learned how to avoid succumbing to the pull of my Command, but I remember the feeling of reckless superiority that thrummed through my veins.
She’s used it.
Omega Command.
And now she’s under its influence.
Oh, Princess. What have you gotten yourself into?
The bond tugs. It’s thin, frayed, but alive.
I don’t think. I run. Out of cover, and across the open town square.
Every rule, every protocol, every carefully laid plan evaporates.
I don’t care. I have to get to her.
My Omega needs me.
I’m halfway to her when it happens.
One of the bullets meant for me splits the air between us.
Thwack.
Halley whimpers.
It’s a broken, breathless sound that guts me faster than any knife ever could.
She stumbles.
Her leg jerks as a splash of red blooms across her trousers. She drops to one knee, face going pale, breath catching in her throat. The grin slips.
No.
I roar her name and push myself faster than I’ve ever moved.
The enemy knows a weak target when they see one, and they’ll be lining her up to finish the job. Crosshairs trained on her skull.
I can’t let that happen.
I won’t.
Halley Sparks is mine to protect!