Chapter 42 #2
"You saw," Stefan responds with a disgusted curl of his lip. "It turns alphas into violent maniacs. The first drop happened five years ago. At one of our largest cities, just a couple hundred miles north of the capital. According to our scientists, the virus is only airborne for about twenty minutes, but…but that’s enough time to infect thousands and thousands of alphas.”
His jaw clenches, and he squeezes his eyes shut, as if blocking out a particularly horrific memory.
I feel sick.
Oh god.
My stomach clenches painfully, twisting into knots as wave after wave of nausea washes over me.
“They…” He grits his teeth and forces himself to continue. “The alphas went crazy. They killed everyone.”
"Everyone?" Shock infuses my tone, and I feel something wet prick my eyes.
Tears, I realize belatedly.
I’ve been taught my entire life that the Noths are our enemies, but to attack an entire city? Full of innocents? Children?
My mother wouldn’t…
She couldn’t…
"Their own mothers. Their own children. Everyone." His voice is bleak, and it rips my soul apart as though it were made of tissue paper. “We had to send the national guard to round all the alphas up.” He swallows again, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “Or kill them.”
"And there is no cure?"
He gestures toward his own eyes. "We can take a suppressant. Kind of like what an omega might take. But the effects dull over time.”
Breathing becomes difficult. There’s a spike in my throat that’s impossible to swallow around. “How did you…?”
A self-deprecating smile tugs up his lips, though his eyes remain empty. “My brothers and I were on a press tour when the virus was dropped from your war planes. It was the third city you hit. I…I don’t want to talk about what happened before we were contained.”
Another shadow flicks across his face. Haunting. Horrific.
Nauseating.
“We volunteered to help find a cure,” he continues. “My brothers and I. But the scientists had to abandon the lab a few months ago, when your forces started closing in.”
“So they locked you in the basement?” I whisper, the words a breathy croak.
“No,” he says briskly. “We locked ourselves in the basement. It was the only way we could think of to protect everyone. We had food, supplies, and enough suppressants to last the next few months. A team was supposed to return for us, but…”
He shakes his head.
But they never did.
“Right now, our country is in shambles because of your mother. Feral alphas roam the streets. Omegas are in hiding. Soldiers are forced to patrol twenty-four seven. We’re trying to distribute the suppressant wherever we can, but it’s not enough. It never seems to be enough."
Tension ripples through him, and his head begins to erratically jerk from side to side. Colter immediately grabs my shoulder and drags me protectively to his side ready to pull me away if the need arises.
Thankfully, Stefan seems to get himself under control. He takes a deep breath, his shoulders rising, and then releases it.
“We can help each other,” he continues, snapping his eyes open and spearing me in place. “We need to help each other. You know what your mother did isn’t right—”
Alpha Team X bursts into camp, guns raised, all pointed right at him. Their boots thunder across the ground until they're close.
I raise my hand like I did to stop Colter's interference, but the rest of the team doesn't lower their weapons. They fan out and keep their eyes locked on Stefan, who has the sense to remain perfectly still.
The air vibrates with tension, the fury of my men colliding with Stefan's righteous outrage, clashing until I feel like I'm about to be hit by a tornado.
"Everyone, stop!" I command, in my most powerful "Teddie" voice. "We are going to sit the fuck down and talk eyeball to eyeball with Stefan."
Someone on this fucking planet has to do something to stop this war at some point.
It clearly won't be my mother because she's turning out to be even crueler than I ever imagined.
I guess it's going to be me.
A fucking omega is going to end this war once and for all.
Mother would never believe it.
The irony actually makes me snort.
"Do you want to sit?" Stefan asks.
"Actually, I think it's best if we stay like this," I reply. "Keeps the guys less jittery if there's some space between us."
Keeps me from constantly freaking out about my own suppressants as well. At least a little bit. At least enough to pretend.
He nods. "I should tell you, my brothers are with me."
My brow lowers, and Colter tenses next to me, shifting closer.
"Where?" I ask.
He gestures behind himself, into the tent. "They're unarmed. And they're also on suppressants."
"Let the princes come out, but they need to stay behind you," I reply, edging back just a bit because the breeze is picking up.
Right now, it's flooding my mouth with the taste of copper. But if it shifts…
I dig around in my pocket and finger a narrow spray bottle—a travel-sized suppressant. I flick the lid off with my thumb and hold it, just in case.
Stefan nods and turns toward the tent.
Meanwhile, I try to communicate telepathically with my guys that no matter fucking what, they cannot kill these princes. If I ever want this stupid war to end, we cannot take out the royal figureheads. But all of them cock their guns behind me.
Goddammit.
Men.
I'm going to have to spell it out for them, aren't I?
Low enough that I hope it won't travel to Stefan, but loud enough for my men to hear, I say, "Guys, the other princes are here unarmed. Don't put holes in their royals."
"No promises," Kylian replies.
"Yes promises," I retort and instantly regret it because that doesn't sound like something a guy would say at all.
And while we only have a few outsiders still with us, that's not a good look for Ted.
I blow out a breath and shake it off. I have bigger issues to worry about.
Much bigger.
When Stefan walks out with his younger brothers, I realize how big. They're both ogre-sized, and while they all share pitch-black hair, the second-born—Zion—has his shorn close to his head so that the tattoos that wrap up his neck and onto his skull are on display.
The youngest prince, Troy, has a freckled face and such even features that he'd look beautiful as a man or a woman. But right now, those features are clenched tight. His nostrils flare as he scans my men with their guns, and I take note of the fact that his eyes are slightly brighter blue than his brothers’.
"You've all been infected?" I ask.
Stefan nods.
I saw my jaw back and forth as I glance at the three men standing shoulder to shoulder, big as a mountain range. As intimidating. Probably as deadly.
But I take a step closer and deliberately turn my back to them, because before I speak further, I need Alpha Team X to stand down.
"Give us a minute," I tell them.