Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
Shade
I feel the moment our girl throws her weight into the fight.
It’s like the ground itself tilts as a vortex of influence shifts in the air. A pulse of heat, sharp and electric, abruptly emanating from our Omega. Pure power. More than we’ve ever felt from her before.
My heart slams against my ribs, pride and raw relief flooding me. She’s doing it. She’s burning through whatever fight is left in her veins, and it’s working.
Knox feels it too. I hear him hiss through his teeth, “That’s our girl.”
Halley’s eyes are molten amethyst, locked on the Beta holding her. Her lips move, and though I can’t hear the word, the force of it hits me like a shove to the chest. My breath stutters.
Omega Command.
Maddie’s shoulders twitch violently under the Command, her arm lowering the gun, but the Command hits too hard.
Her body spasms, every muscle clenching, including her trigger finger. The muzzle’s still inches from Halley when it goes off.
The sound punches through me.
Blaze fires a heartbeat later, his bullet tearing through Maddie’s thigh, her scream blending with the ringing in my ears. Halley stumbles free, blinking like she doesn’t understand why her legs aren’t working.
Then I see her hand come up, slow and unsure, pressing against the side of her neck.
Red blooms between her fingers.
My body moves before my mind catches up, my boots hammering the ground. The world narrows to the sight of her swaying on her feet, pupils blown wide, the glitter in her eyes dimming.
She whimpers softly.
Crimson spills between her tiny, delicate fingers, and she collapses.
I can't hear anything but my heartbeat in my ears, and the guttural howls from my Pack.
We're at her side in an instant.
Viper catches her before she hits the ground, dropping to his knees, cradling her in his arms. Knox unbuckles her bite collar, shredded by the bullet, and immediately presses his hands to the wounds, trying to staunch the flow.
“Medic! Someone get a medic!” I shout, my voice cracking.
The sharp, metallic tang of blood taints her scent.
I can't stop the tremor in my hands as I rip off my sleeve and push the fabric into Knox's hands to use as gauze.
The fabric soaks through in seconds. My chest heaves as I struggle to breathe.
I tear off my other sleeve and push it against the wound on her back.
I'm unprepared for the severity of the wound. It's a big jagged hole pumping out blood. It’s a miracle she’s been standing so long, and I groan at the thought of the pain she’s endured.
Halley gurgles, and blood spills from her mouth over her pale lips.
"No, no, no, no," Blaze chants.
"Halley, hang on, pretty girl. Hang on, sweetheart." Viper croaks against the crown of her head.
Knox grunts and presses harder against her neck, unable to stop the streaming red river. "Omega Specialist Sparks, you don't have permission to die. Do you hear me? I'm your Prime Alpha and I don't give you permission to die!"
The corner of her stained mouth quirks up into the ghost of a smile. Her eyes are glassy and unfocused, and she raises a hand searchingly.
I take her hand and press it to my lips, kissing her knuckles even as I sob. "It's okay. I'm here, baby girl. I'm here. We're not going anywhere, we're right here with you. Don't be scared. You don't have to be afraid."
She blinks at me, and through the rushing in my ears, I hear her sweet voice in my head like a whisper.
‘My Pack.’
Her tiny frame convulses and more blood spills from her lips, wetly staining her chin. I wipe at it with the back of my hand, but it's a futile effort to save her dignity.
A second or a lifetime passes as I watch her chest fall. It does not rise again. Under my hand, her thready heartbeat slows and then stops.
Her pretty purple eyes stare up at Viper, wide and unblinking.
The tether in my chest, a source of constant warmth and radiating love, snaps.
Our bond is broken.
Our Omega is…
Halley Sparks is dead.
I grip tightly to her hand, so small and precious.
Through the haze of my tears, I see Blaze crouched behind us, clawing at his chest. Our bond with Halley is severed. My heart feels like it’s been torn to shreds, aching in a deep, crushing way.
"Wake her up! Wake her up! Sparkles—" His voice breaks on the last word.
"Blaze," Knox says, his voice cracking and rough. "Blaze, it's too late."
"No. No!" he roars and slams his fist into the side of the truck, the metal bending with a shriek. He drops to his knees and scrambles across the crimson-stained ground, throwing himself at Halley's lifeless body.
“We only just got her back. She can’t go yet.”
He's inconsolable and grasps her face in his hands, shaking her, his face pressed against hers, his tears mingling with her blood.
"Wake up. Please, wake up. Sparkles... please. Please," he whispers, his voice breaking, and he shakes his head, pressing his cheek to her forehead.
"She can't wake up, Blaze. Our Omega is..." I choke on the word.
Blaze keens, his grief raw and visceral, and I feel it inside me through our Pack bond.
It’s a volatile wild beast, all claws and confused rage.
His pain is my own and I reach out, wrapping my arms around him, needing his touch as much as he needs mine.
He cries, his body shaking with sobs, and I hold him tighter, my own tears flowing freely as I try to find some way to soothe us both.
It’s impossible. The waves of hurt are relentless. Time has no meaning.
Viper clutches Halley to his chest, rocking her back and forth as sobbing growls reverberate from his chest. He paws at her, cupping her face delicately. His pain feels like a vortex, building and building, threatening to consume everything in its path.
She's so small. How did we keep forgetting how small and breakable she is... was?
Knox slumps to the ground beside me, dropping the blood-soaked rags from his futile attempts to save her life.
His eyes meet mine, and there isn't anything I can say to him, but he knows my pain, and I know his. Even without the Pack bond sharing every sliver of agony, I’d know because he’s my Prime.
His head drops, and he hugs his knees, and our strong Prime Alpha cries.
Big, fat, ugly sobs rip from him as tears fall from his eyes, and he doesn't bother to hide his grief.
He stares at her, his expression twisted in anguish and regret.
"I'm so sorry," he chokes. "This is my fault. I couldn't... I didn’t..."
I reach out and grab his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. I can’t convince him it’s not his fault because I’m not sure I’m not to blame either. Somewhere we failed our Omega.
It’s the truth. As a Pack, we failed to keep her safe.
Blaze twists in my arms and stiffens. He releases his tight hold on me and slowly rises to his feet.
“It's not our fault...”
He whips his head to the side and pins a piercing glare on the killer, restrained by soldiers a few feet away. She screams and curses, thrashing against her captors.
“She did this," he snarls.
There is a darkness creeping over us, a shadow of putrid anger that mixes with our sadness and creates a foul creature. Except this time, it doesn’t just belong to Blaze.
"You," Blaze prowls closer, his voice low and dangerous. "You took her away from us. Our Omega. She's gone because of you."
Knox answers Blaze's call for retribution. He staggers to his feet and joins Blaze as he circles the bound woman.
Her thigh and shoulder are already bandaged, the blood loss minimal. It feels like a slap to the face. How is it fair that she lives while our girl…
I feel numb. My heart, my body, and my mind are frozen in place, like a statue. I can't move. I can't speak. I can't do anything but watch my brothers turn into monsters before my eyes.
Maybe they’re just returning to who they were before Halley. Even when she left us, her influence remained. A trickle of her essence lingered and held us accountable.
But she’s gone now, and there’s nothing stopping us from tearing this world to shreds.
Blaze pulls his pistol from its holster and cocks it.
The guards scatter, making themselves scarce to avoid what must happen. It’s an unwritten law that simmers in all Demi-human blood.
An Omega was murdered and vengeance must be taken.
Blaze doesn't hesitate or flinch. He puts a single round into the same wounded thigh.
"Ahh!" She screams, thrashing on the ground. "You Alpha bastard!"
Knox crouches down beside Halley’s killer, pinching her cheeks together as he forces her to look at Halley’s limp body.
“You see her?”
She struggles against his hold.
“Ah, ah, don’t look away. Fucking look at her.”
She looks at the dead Omega in her catatonic Alpha’s arms.
Viper's eyes are blank, the red veins around them still vibrant and pulsing, his Blood Lust suspended by his broken heart.
He rocks Halley back and forth, pressing kisses to her hair, whispering nonsense to her like he can convince her to come back to him, but she remains limp in his hold, her head lolling to the side.
“Do you know who you just killed?” Knox asks her softly, tapping his forefinger against her cheek.
She squeaks but doesn’t answer.
“No? Well, let me tell you. She was our mate. Ours. A fucking miracle that we didn’t deserve but fate gave to us anyway.” He squeezes her face harder, his nails digging into her skin. “She meant everything to us and you took her like she was nothing.”
Blaze crouches down on the other side of the killer and cocks his head.
“We want what you took from us.” His voice is husky and broken. “Give her back.”
“I… I can’t. I don’t… She’s dead, I can’t bring her back,” the woman sobs, stammering with wide fearful eyes. She’s finally comprehending what she’s done.
Too little, too fucking late.
Knox growls and spits at her feet.
“Please… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have… I didn’t…”
“If you can’t fix it, I think we can find a way to make it even. Don’t you agree, Knox?” Blaze smiles, but it’s twisted, his pale eyes dull and empty. A promise of pain.
Maddie squares her jaw and nods. “Then fucking do it.”
Blaze tilts his head and looks at Knox with false amusement. “You hear that, Boss? She’s begging for death already!”
Knox clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “Mmm. I hear it. Do you think that’s a fair exchange? A life for a life?”
“No. Not fair.” Blaze shakes his head. “Not enough.”
“Our Omega didn’t want to die and she was frightened till the end. But you… you weren’t afraid to die. You wanted it.”
“Why would we give you what you want?”
Knox bares his teeth in a mocking smile, his red eyes flashing with an unhinged quality. “You don’t get to die, not easily anyway. You’re going to pay us back in pain and fear, the same amount that Halley felt and the same pain you inflicted on her four mates.”
There is no physical pain that they can wring from this woman that will equal the agony I feel inside. They’re going to try anyway.
Knox and Blaze drag her towards a nearby tent with a red cross painted on the side. The inhabitants flee, relinquishing the space to the two Alphas and their captive.
I don't say a word, just avert my eyes.
Let the beasts take what they need to survive this. It won't be enough. It'll never be enough. We all died when Halley did. Now we're just wraiths waiting for our time to be up.
I reach over and brush the back of my fingers over Halley's cooling cheek, her skin as soft as it always is. Was. I stare into her dull but still pretty purple eyes one last time and lower her eyelids.
The weight in my heart sinks and sinks and sinks.
This is the end of everything.
There is no coming back from this.
The killer’s screams tear through the air. Her nightmare, like ours, has only just begun.