Chapter Sixteen
Shade
They fucked.
Viper knotted Halley.
I know exactly what happened from a single glance. She’s practically glowing, her cheeks are flushed pink and her purple eyes are sparkling. Her chestnut brown hair is tangled and wild. And her scent? Rut-damn, it’s so strong, I’m instantly hard.
It’s been months since I felt even a flicker of arousal, and now I’m straining against my trousers from one breath of freshly fucked Omega.
Viper wears a dopey smile with a far-off, dreamy expression. His pupils are blown, and his scent is a heady mix of her slick and his come.
They smell like each other, and jealousy curls in my chest before I can stop it.
I don't have any right to the emotion. After all, I'm the one who got to eat her out before she left. But still, I'll allow myself some time later for internal sulking.
They’re walking towards me, holding hands, and talking quietly to each other. They haven’t seen me yet.
I’m leaning against a frozen stone wall in one of the fortress’s many dark corridors. Knox asked Blaze and me to run some recon. I’m not as stealthy as my counterpart, but as a Beta, I can blend in.
As they draw closer, their conversation filters in.
"— hate me?"
"Pretty girl, do I need to prove to you again just how much I don't hate you?"
She squeaks and bites her lower lip. There's no mistaking the way she leans into his touch, her entire body tilting towards him.
Viper doesn't scare her. He never has. He makes her feel safe, protected, and loved.
And rut-dammit, being adored by his Omega is a good look on him.
After the three months we've had, he deserves to be happy. He lost himself without her at his side, death knocking on his door every damn moment.
They've had a connection since she risked her life to save him.
I remember that day in the hospital, when she threw herself between him and my gun. I thought he’d kill her with a flick of his wrist. But he didn’t. Lieutenant Viper, who’s ended hundreds of lives down the scope of his rifle, didn’t harm a hair on her head.
I'm a man of science. I don't believe in mythical forces, or prophecies, or love-at-first-sight. But those two? There’s something inexplicable about them. Something more than instinct. It looks like fate. Fated mates.
The bite collar around Halley's throat is still in place. He didn’t place an official claim on her with a bite, but it’s clear to anyone with a nose that it’s inevitable.
My stomach twists. If they bond…
What happens to the rest of us? To Knox? Blaze? Me?
I step out of the shadow and interrupt their little moment of happiness.
"Hey, lovebirds," I say, trying for casual, but it comes out bitter.
I can't help it. I feel like I'm drowning in my complicated feelings of jealousy and, worse than that, hope.
Because before she left, Halley was enthusiastic about forming a Pack. She wanted all of us. Even me, a Beta. And if she’s found her way back to Viper, maybe there’s still a path back for the rest of us too.
She startles when she sees me and her blush deepens an even darker shade of pink.
"Shade!" she squeaks, pulling her hand away from Viper and freezing like a rabbit in headlights. "Er... I mean, Beta Specialist Shade. Hey… hello…hi."
I bite back a smirk. She’s flustered. That means she still feels something, right?
"Omega Specialist Sparks," I say, matching her formality and tilt my head to watch her blush spread further.
I raise a brow at Viper, licking my lips in fascination.
I want more of a reaction from her. That pretty blush is the closest I’ve had of her attention in months. So, like a boy pulling a girl’s pigtail in the playground, I tug a little harder.
"I see the lieutenant checked you were okay after your chat with General Stone. I’m sure he's been taking very… very good care of you."
She quietly chokes on her spit and nods with wide, guilty eyes.
Oh yes, there she is. Her focus is on me now.
"I was, uh, apologizing to him about how I left things..." she mumbles, fumbling for the right words, fingers fidgeting.
My amusement sours fast and a surge of frustration rises in my gut.
Viper catches the shift in my scent. His eyes narrow.
'Don't,' he silently warns.
I don't take orders from him. He's not my Prime Alpha.
Does she think a simple apology will cut it? That we can pick up where we left off and pretend nothing shattered?
I study her features, searching for an answer.
Fuck, I want that. I want to go back to how things were before. I want to wake up from the nightmare we’ve been living.
She’s my Omega. Even if I’m just a Beta. Even if I’m not supposed to want this.
I want her as my mate. I want to be part of her Pack, her home. Anything but another cog in the war machine I’ve been trapped in since I was six.
I want her back.
Except, I can’t forget how much she hurt us.
And Viper doesn't get to give a blanket forgiveness just because he got his knot wet.
He wasn’t even lucid for most of the last three months, encased in his disassociated haze of Blood Lust. He didn’t have to play babysitter to a catatonic Prime Alpha, a monster on a killing rampage, and a psychopath with a torture fixation.
He didn’t carry the weight of a shattered squad on his back, holding our family together with nothing but grit and sheer fucking will power.
So why does Viper get the girl?
The jealousy returns. This time, it’s a black acid eating at my insides.
"Apologizing, huh?” I ask.
She nods emphatically, wringing her hands like a little mouse. A sweet, cruel mouse.
I tilt my head. “And are you planning on 'apologizing' like that to all of us?”
I take a step towards her, watching as her throat bobs as she swallows nervously.
"Shade—" Viper warns.
I ignore him.
"Viper clearly enjoyed your hands-on approach. Knox, though… he’s not so easy to win over. You remember him, right? Big, surly Alpha with control issues and a temper?"
Another step. Now we’re toe-to-toe and she’s looking up at me, eyes wide.
I can feel the tension radiating off her. She’s going to bolt. Or cry.
"Shade, stop." Viper's fists clench and his jaw ticks. He's a hair-trigger away from snapping, and his protective instincts are on high-alert after knotting his Omega.
I'm poking the beast. I almost want him to hit me, because then I'd stop running my mouth.
I can't stop, though.
It's as if all of the toxic, hateful shit we've witnessed and done in this fucking war has built up like a pressure cooker. I need a release, and Halley is in my firing line.
"I'm sure if you get on your knees, and beg sweetly, Knox might consider accepting your apology.”
I click my tongue. “As for Blaze…”
I drop my voice with a sigh.
"Our Blaze is probably a lost cause, baby girl."
Using her pet name in such an insipid way makes my mouth taste foul.
I've tainted it. I have to…
‘Stop, Shade.’
‘I can't.’
"Blaze?" she echoes, frowning. Her fingers jump to the thin pink cut on her cheek. It’s too straight to have been stray shrapnel caught in the fight.
I huff. "Ah, I see you've already had a visit from the Sergeant."
Viper blinks and ducks his head to inspect the mark. 'That mother-fucker. I'll kill him.'
"Blaze hasn't dealt with your departure with grace," I say dryly, the hypocrisy of my own words almost laughable. None of us handled it well. "I very much doubt a quick fuck in the cellar will inspire him to keep his knives to himself."
Halley's purple orbs swim with tears, clumping her eyelashes together.
"Is he okay?" she asks, her voice wavering.
I counter with a shrug. "Was he ever?"
Halley's lips tremble, and a tear escapes, spilling over her cheek.
The regret hits me instantly. I’m an asshole.
A door slams and footsteps echo from down the corridor.
"Halley?" A feminine voice calls.
A petite brunette in blue scrubs rushes towards us, concern etched into every line on her face.
She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees Halley.
"There you are. I swear I’m going to have to put a tracker on that collar of yours. Where did you go? You’re supposed to be resting."
Her voice is vaguely familiar, not just because she was the doctor that came to patch Knox up. I can’t put my finger on it, and my maelstrom of emotions won't allow my brain to connect the dots.
"I had to go see General Stone," she mumbles, furiously wiping the tears from her cheeks.
The woman peers at Viper and me, then asks, “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“Ah, yeah." Halley clears her throat and nods. "Doctor Everlyn..."
I suck in a breath. I know exactly who Everlyn is. She's the person who told Halley her Omega friends were kidnapped right before she left us. She’s the spark that set this whole mess in motion.
"Meet Lieutenant Viper and Beta Specialist Shade."
The doctor's eyebrows fly up in surprise.
Halley continues. “They’re part of Scorch Squad, the soldiers who were training me.”
A sly smile curves the corner of the doctor's lips, and she crosses her arms.
"Oh, I'm well acquainted with their names. I’ve heard you moan them every night for the last three months—"
Halley slaps a hand over her mouth.
"Ooophs. Dih I shay too mush?" Everlyn says, the word muffled but unmistakably smug.
"Shut up!" Halley hisses at her friend, but drops her hand.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. She's still been dreaming of us... of me. It soothes the ache a little. It's not too late to salvage this mess, but I have to get a grip and stop lashing out at her.
I shift my weight, hooking my thumbs in my belt loops. Halley's eyes flick to my waist and linger a beat longer than polite.
I let my hands hang. Framing the problem she’s created. I’m still hard because she still smells like freshly knotted Omega.
Everlyn catches the look, clearly entertained.
"So… how’s the reunion going?"
Halley’s eyes snap up, eyes wide as she realizes just how hard she’d been staring at my bulge.
"Better for some than others," I mutter, jerking my chin toward Viper, still basking in the afterglow.
“No, no. We’re not talking about this—” Halley tries.
But Everlyn’s caught the scent of gossip in her nose and she’s not letting go.
"Oooh, I see. Well done, lieutenant. I'm glad someone handled business. Our Omega has been cranky and repressed since she got here."
Viper grunts, a smirk of pride lifting his scarred lips.
Halley pins the giant Alpha with a look that can only be described as incredulity. "Viper, don't indulge her!"
She's the color of a tomato. A very cute tomato, but bright red nevertheless. It's clear that her friend knows all the juicy details, and I think we may have found an ally in doctor Everlyn.
“Anyway, I’ve got a free moment to look at that leg of yours again,” the doctor says to Halley, and puts an arm over her shoulders.
"It's fine and completely healed," Halley pouts and protests.
"I'll be the judge of that, come on."
“I… I’ll see you around,” Halley says weakly, suddenly bashful and shy, peeking up at Viper through her thick lashes.
I can almost see the adrenaline draining from the Omega. Her shoulder slumping, and eyes weary as her day catches up with her.
"Nice to meet you," Everlyn calls, waving at us both.
Halley utters another sluggish goodbye, allowing herself to be led away.
I wait until they’re out of earshot before punching Viper in the arm.
Pain rockets up my hand. I shake it out. ‘Ouch, you dense mother-fucker! Why are you built like a brick shithouse?’
"The fuck was that for?" he exclaims, rubbing his arm. He's playing it up. The fucker is pure muscle, and it hurt me far more than it hurt him.
"For rutting our Omega without the rest of us," I reply, and walk away. “That wasn’t the plan, and you know it.”
Viper strides beside me without agreeing or disagreeing, but a goofy, satisfied grin is pasted on his face.
“What plan? There was no plan.”
“That’s cause you jumped in knot first before we could make one.”
We leave the courtyard of the main fortress, pass the derelict old stables being used as storage for vehicles, and tread through the icy slush towards a single-story out-building.
The General promised us a place to stay, but he's not stupid enough to put us in with the rest of his people until we commit to his terms. The small stone shack that, thankfully, has indoor plumbing.
It's ugly and uncomfortable, but still the safest place we've stayed in months.
It's far from the front lines, no sounds of bombs dropping in the distance, and the best part is, our Omega is just across the courtyard.
"You were an asshole," Viper grunts.
‘I know.’ I sigh and scrub my face, bringing blood to my frozen nose and cheeks. “The others aren’t going to react any better.”
Viper grunts. He knows Knox and Blaze are likely to blow their lids the moment they catch the scent of her slick on him.
The small cabin is getting nearer, and I can feel Viper tensing with each step. He knows he'll have to answer to the whole squad when he gets inside.
The ice crunches beneath our boots. It reminds me of the crunch human bones make when Viper's fists land.
Fuck, we've had a rough time lately, but if we can play this right, we have the chance to get our Omega back in our arms. We can still become a Pack.
We just have to climb over a wall of emotional baggage and save our entire species. Easy.
I suck on my teeth and decide to take mercy on the big guy and breathe some levity into my tone. "So, you gonna kiss and tell, LT?"
Viper snorts, fogging the air. He gives me a side glance. “I’ll do one better.”
I cock my head in confusion. Better than telling us how he fucked our Omega with the battering ram we know is between his thighs?
He raises his hand, offering it to me like it's a treasured artifact.
"I can give you a taste."
I sniff tentatively and moan.
The fucker still has her slick coated on his hand.