Chapter Twenty-Six
Halley
First, my hearing goes. Our heavy breathing warps, turning into distant echoes.
Second, my sight. The edges shimmer, distorting my view of the world, honing in on only the Prime Alpha kissing me fiercely.
Then, the musty, damp smell of the fortress's stone walls fades, and I'm drowning in their scents. Spice, gunpowder, campfire, and pine. My mates. My Pack.
A haze washes over me, clouding my vision and making me dizzy.
“It’s happening,” I gasp against Knox’s mouth.
He grunts in acknowledgment
“Is this what you needed, Princess?” he gasps as he presses wet, passionate kisses along my jawline and down my throat. “To break your Prime and have him at your mercy?”
“Uh huh, I needed you. I always need you, Knox.”
“Great work you two,” Shade says from somewhere to the side, the tapping of fingers on his tablet a distant sound. “Halley, I need you to describe everything you’re experiencing, okay?”
I hum, eyelashes fluttering as Knox sucks at the sensitive spot behind my ear. My hands clutch at his back as I arch wantonly.
“Mmm, it’s… uh, it’s a dissociating feeling. My…Mmm. Yes, right there, Knox.” I can’t think straight with him touching, kissing me.
“Okay, ease up on her Prime, let me get this data,” Shade speaks, but I’m unable to process what he’s saying. My body is buzzing.
He bucks against me, his rigid bulge presses against my mound turning my moan into a shout of pleasure.
“Try to focus on summoning your Command, Halley.”
Focus. I need to focus. Practicing my Omega Command is important and I have to get a handle on the intoxicating power-trip before it becomes a problem.
I try to summon the Command, to pull it in front of me like a sword, gleaming and ready. I reach inward toward that shimmering core of power. Only now, it doesn’t come to me like it did in Rheamont.
That day, it was eager to rise. Too eager. I had to fight for my life to keep it from consuming me whole.
Today, it resists. Slippery and heavy.
A dull throb blooms behind my right eye, pulsing with stubborn warning.
I keep trying, but it’s like my fingers are grasping at wisps of smoke.
In retribution, pain rips through me like a detonation.
It’s not just a headache, rather a full-body rejection.
“Ah!” I cry out, my head tipping back as I grimace in agony. Knox scrambles to hold me steady.
I can feel it. It’s right there, but the problem is, it knows everything that I know.
It knows that I won’t let it get a foothold in my psyche again. I’m not naive to its influence anymore. I’m prepared for it to manipulate me, but this time, I’m ready to fight back. I’ll wrestle with it until it obeys, and even if it wins, I have backup. The Pack won’t let it eat me whole.
So it resists.
It doesn’t want to be controlled. It wants to do the controlling.
“Give it a try, Halley,” Shade urges, his voice steady, but he has no idea of the war raging inside me.
Still… he’s right.
The Pack’s worked so hard to pull my O-space to the surface. I can’t give up now.
‘Pretty girl? What’s going on?’ Viper’s voice threads through the bond, low and grounding.
I grab onto it like a lifeline.
My eyes spring open.
The Pack is surrounding us. Knox has placed me back on the ground, but is still clutching me tightly, and my body is shuddering through the pain and effort.
Viper shifts into my line of sight, and I lock onto him. He holds my gaze, steady and sure.
‘Give me strength.’
Our bond flares.
I don’t know how he does it, but the stabbing pain behind my eyes eases. It doesn't disappear, but it’s manageable now.
I draw in a shaking inhale and hold Viper’s gaze like a lifeline. He’s with me. He’s in this. Not guiding, just… there.
Power gathers under my skin. It feels like water boiling in a pan, spitting and jumping.
I let it spill over.
I say it, clear and sharp, the word slicing through all other intentions.
“Drop.”
Viper drops to the floor.
The power drains out of me in a rush, and I gasp, staggering. I reel, terrified of what I’ve done, of what’s coming next. I brace for the backlash, for the biting pain that will wrack my frame, and the overwhelming seduction that will urge me to take more. Force my will on others.
But it doesn’t come.
Instead, Shade is suddenly in front of me, his hands bracketing my face, his thumbs brushing away tears I hadn’t realized were falling.
“You did it,” he whispers, and kisses my forehead. “Well done, Halley.”
“Good girl. Such a clever Omega.” Knox’s voice rumbles, and I realize I’m sagging in his arms, chest to chest.
The praise hits me like sunlight, and I let it wash over me, soothing the panic that still lingers.
I did it!
And then a sob rips from me.
"She's crying," Knox clips in alarm. He looks to Viper who is sitting on the ground. "Why is she crying? Do we need the doctor?"
But I’m not hurt.
I’m coming down.
Sinking. Drifting from the sharp edge of command into something quieter and softer.
The tension in my shoulders melts away, and the physical ache from the sparring dulls. I’m floating down from that terrible, powerful place into somewhere safe.
The strength leaves my limbs. My body feels loose and heavy, like I could curl up in Knox’s arms forever.
It took everything I had to use that Command. Everything.
My tears continue to stream. I did it, but now all I want is to retreat. To stop thinking and simply be held.
I drift further into myself. My hindbrain takes over, and my inner Omega unfolds, stretching her limbs.
It’s been so long since I’ve felt this… at home.
I’ve had no nest. No comfort. Just cold nights and sharp guilt and too many days of pretending I didn’t need anyone.
But they’re here, and I just know they’re the reason my Command didn’t sweep me under.
Even though my bond with Viper is stronger, the others being here with me made a difference.
Knox holding me tight made me feel supported.
I have hope that this mad plan might just work.
With my Pack by my side, I won’t have to face this alone.
Knox makes a strange choking noise and tries to release me from his arms.
I look up at him in confusion. I don’t want to be released, and I certainly don’t want distance or space. I want him.
I want to crawl into his arms and let him soothe the frayed parts of me. To hold me while the tears of relief fall. I want to tuck myself beneath his chin and fall asleep with his scent all around me.
His face is stricken, and he tries harder to extract me from his embrace.
My fingers dig into the bare muscles of his shoulders as I press close. I cry, messy and unguarded, into the solid heat of his chest.
Doesn’t he see?
I want to be closer, not further away.
“Need… please, I just need…” I mumble, my voice slurring, lips numb as the primal fog wraps tighter around my mind.
“What do you need, pretty girl?” Viper asks softly.
I barely manage to form the words.
“I need Knox.”