Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
Harlow
I knew the moment the needle pierced my skin that it wasn’t Corbin’s serum. My skin tingles with a familiar sensation that I only get from my mates. I can taste him on the tip of my tongue. Thane, not Corbin.
Leo moves to undo my restraints. His hands move quickly, but not quickly enough because Corbin impatiently pulls me off the bed while one of my ankles is still cuffed. Leo yells at him to stop.
Leo makes quick work of the last cuff before Corbin takes off, running for the stairs. My surroundings blur as I try to adjust my new vision. My eyes catch everything and nothing. I find it quite distracting, as if I’m on drugs.
Are Thane’s senses like this? Mine are so much more heightened than I ever imagined they could be. My eyesight from before seems almost dull as I pick up everything now, even the dust motes in the air.
Corbin pauses as he reaches the top of the stairs, peering out. “We’ll head for the tunnels. Here, take her.” Corbin turns, thrusting me at Leo before peering back out the door. It sounds like utter chaos outside. Yet I can feel them, all of them, moving closer.
Corbin darts toward the library and waves for Leo to follow him.
Leo ignores him, however, placing me on my feet.
He grips my arm as I wobble from vertigo.
Yeah, this is a strange feeling. Almost like walking with no gravity.
I have to calculate each step I take. I will never complain about being Omega again if this is what it’s always like for Alphas.
“Quick!” Corbin orders.
I step out the door and hear a growl. My head whips in Corbin’s direction. His eyes are on me, standing beside Leo instead of in his arms.
“What are you doing?” Corbin snarls while I try to sense which direction my mates are.
“It’s over, Corbin,” Leo growls threateningly. Corbin's aura rushes out, and I know he is about to command Leo. But Leo rushes him before he can, tackling him to the ground.
“Harlow, run!” Leo shouts at me just as Corbin kicks him off. Leo goes flying into the wall. I back up, stumbling slightly as Corbin gets to his feet. Instinct kicks in, and I turn, running to where all the noise is coming from, knowing that’s where I’ll find my mates.
My bare feet slap against the cold tile floors as I try to navigate through the mansion without falling on my face.
Corbin is hot on my heels as I slip and slide right into a statue.
My vision blurs as I try to get used to my new senses.
Seeing a set of stairs that leads down, I take them.
Skipping some, I trip on the runner in my haste, face planting on the floor and finding myself in some sort of kitchen area.
I push up on my hands when Corbin jumps from the landing above.
I scramble to my feet just as another explosion goes off, making me duck as the windows shatter.
Before I can race for one, Corbin grips my hair, jerking me backward.
I land flat on my back, my head bouncing off the tiles with a sickening crack.
“I’m going to fucking kill you!” Corbin growls as my claws slip from my fingertips.
They rake down his face, and I roll as he rears back, escaping from his grip.
I get to my knees as Corbin clutches his face.
I hear the cracking and snapping of bones, and my eyes widen.
He lunges at me in wolf form, only to be tackled by another huge wolf.
My scream is loud and visceral as the two wolves clash. The other wolf must be Leo because I know it isn’t one of my mates. I run for the huge bay windows, willing to go straight through the broken, jagged glass that covers the floor. There’s only one thing on my mind, and that is to get outside.
Rushing through the kitchen, I don’t see the frying pan until it’s too late, just before it hits me square in the face and knocks me on my ass.
All I see is black, and my ears ring as the thud rattles through my skull.
There’s a clang of metal hitting the floor, which makes my eyes fly open to see Bree.
She’s standing over me with a crazed smile on her lips.
I snarl as I hear a whimper behind me, yet I keep my focus on Bree as she stalks closer, smiling wickedly.
I lift my foot at the last second, kicking her in her nasty vagina.
She grunts but doesn’t drop as a man would.
It’s enough for me to get to my feet, though, only to hear a threatening growl from behind me.
Turning to the side, I realize I’m trapped with Corbin on one side and Bree on the other.
Leo is naked on the floor by the stairs, trying to get up.
Bree snatches a blade from the knife rack as Corbin’s claws click on the floor.
Drool and blood drip from him onto the tiles.
He stalks at me just as Bree slashes me with the knife.
I twist, catching the blade in my arm instead of across my chest, only for Corbin’s jaws to rip into my thigh, making me scream.
He shakes his head just as Bree plunges the blade into my side. I gasp. Corbin suddenly lets go when he’s tackled, smashing into the kitchen island. I am also tossed, hitting the fridge from the momentum.
Blinking and groaning, I try to get to my feet, only for Bree to kick me in the face. My head snaps back, and I fleetingly see Thane’s wolf ripping into Corbin’s. My nose is bleeding, and my eyes sting as Bree goes to kick me again.
My newly heightened senses catch the movement, and time suddenly stills.
My hands move without thinking, grabbing her ankle.
She shrieks as I twist, and she loses her balance, falling backward.
I pull the blade from my side, gasping at the horrendous pain as she rises to her feet.
With one foot off the ground, she shifts and lunges at me.
I try to shift, but my injuries prevent it, and she collides with me. I slam against the counter as she tears into my neck. A gasp leaves my lips as I choke. Her attack suddenly halts, and she wheezes. She is forced to shift back as I continue to choke on my own blood.
Blinking, my vision dulls and flicks to Bree.
She’s naked and on top of me, blood spilling from her lips and dribbling down her chin.
Her eyes are wide as she gasps and chokes for air, each breath stuttered.
Her hands feebly clutch at mine, and my eyes fall to see the knife sticking out of her chest.
With whatever strength I have left to muster, I shove her off me.
My bleeding doesn’t slow, even as I clutch my neck.
I stagger to my feet, but my surroundings turn on their axis as I fall into the island.
I feel like I am walking on the moon. My vision doubles as I make my way over to Thane.
His wolf has torn Corbin’s intestines out and spilled them onto the floor, unraveling like spaghetti.
One of his legs is completely torn off and lying next to Leo, who is clutching his chest, pale as a ghost while his Alpha dies.
My heartbeat sounds loud in my ears, each beat louder than the last. I pull my hand back from my neck, and it’s covered in blood.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the blood spurt from my neck.
I clamp my hand back over the wound and feel my eyes roll into my head, just as Thane’s huge wolf turns to me.
The roar that leaves him will be forever ingrained in my memory, my soul, and every aspect of my being, as death takes me.
“Scarlett …” I murmur, wanting my daughter, to see her face just once more.
As the coldness seeps into my bones, I feel the life drain from my body.
I almost see the motion of me falling, but I don’t feel the impact.
I blink up at the ceiling, my eyelids growing heavy as exhaustion wraps around my limbs.
Thane’s face appears in my line of vision.
His lips move, yet I am deaf to the world around me.
But he is here. Thane came for me like I knew he would, knew they all would.
His lips move as he tries to talk to me before I see him scream.
His hands try to hold my neck together. I want to tell him it’s ok, that it doesn’t hurt. I don’t know if I speak the words or only think them as I peer up at him. My eyes lose focus just as Leon’s face comes into view, then everything goes dark.
That familiar cold sensation slivers up my spine, entangles my nerves, and stiffens my bones. I only hear one sound, and I manage to focus on it.
Thump… thump… thump.