Chapter 2 #3
I glance cautiously at Mars and then struggle not to shake.
The side of my brother’s shirt and waistcoat blooms red. He is hunched over, clutching the wound tightly like I told him to. He is waxy, and his hair is hanging over his face.
The petals of the rose and crumpled paper of the discarded poem are crushed underneath him.
Rosa knew what she was doing. She slipped the knife in with enough skill — I hope — to miss major organs. But knife wounds are unpredictable. I need to take Mars to his room, give him medical attention, then bring him home.
My eyes prick with tears.
It’ll scar.
I’m covered in scars from my training and missions.
But my brother shouldn’t be…and not ones inflicted from his Omega.
“It’s going to be okay,” I say with a certainty that I don’t feel. “Just take deep breaths. I’m here.”
Then I start to read over the contract and instantly realize that nothing is going to be okay.
“This is wrong. No Alpha would accept this for their pack.” I stiffen, narrowing my eyes at Damio. “You can’t mean this.”
“Every word.” Damio tightens his arm around Rosa who giggles. “Only the best for my little princess.”
Sickening.
“Ro.” My brother looks up at me with eyes that are glassy with pain. “Please, just tell me.”
I don’t want to. But what choice do I have?
I shove the papers away from me in disgust. “You wouldn’t be able to remain in Washington or choose where you started your pack.
They want you to live under the authority of the Billionaire pack, instead.
As if you’re the Omega. You wouldn’t be the…
Damio would become your Chief Alpha. Your money, status, property, everything, would belong to your Omega.
You’re being sold to them.” Suddenly, my throat is thick with tears.
The Billionaires would fucking destroy my brother.
“Fiorella would disown you for signing this contract. This isn’t a negotiation.
It’s a kidnapping. A declaration of war between enemies. ”
Damio gives a wicked smile. “Smart girl. Now, sign it, kid. Because if you don’t, then I’ll shoot your bodyguard here and force you to fucking sign in her blood.”
This will ruin Mars.
My heart shatters.
“Ro…I d-d-don’t know…” Mars slumps forward. His fingers, which are now slippery in his own blood, slide across the marble and paint it crimson. His eyelashes flutter. He’s going to pass out. “I’ll s-s-sign. Don’t hurt my…d-d-don h-h-hurt her.”
“Good boy,” Rosa coos mockingly at Mars, hurling the knife at him.
It nicks his cheek, and he hisses in pain.
He raises his tormented eyes to stare at the Omega who is now laughing cruelly at him.
The Omega who rejected him.
The Omega who is purring, while her new Alpha is bleeding out at her feet.
Then Mars collapses, unconscious.
And suddenly, that’s it.
I can’t contain my rising Rogue Power. Both the Alpha and Omega sides of my nature, which combine in a powerful pheromone that can seduce every Alpha and Omega alike and trigger a rut or heat, as well as hold them mesmerized under my power, burst out of me.
For once in my life, I’m not in control.
I’m riding a wave of fury and vengeance.
Damio shouldn’t have judged by appearances either.
I grab my gun, ducking to cover my brother and preparing to shoot Damio.
Except, I don’t need to.
My Rogue pheromones are washing through the meeting room.
The enforcers drop their guns and fall to their knees — my puppets to command.
They stare at me like I’m their queen.
Their eyes are hazy. They’re humping their hips, wild with desire.
I rush to touch Mars’ neck and am relieved to feel his pulse, which is present but worryingly, fading.
It’s unstable.
I need to get him out of here.
But first…
I march to Damio who is slumped — paralyzed by the power of my pheromones — in his chair.
Rosa is huddled in terror in his arms. She is quaking as she stares up at me.
I deliberately crunch her phone underfoot.
Then I lean over them both, before pressing my gun to Damio’s forehead.
It would be so fucking easy to press the trigger.
This Alpha has started a war. He tried to kidnap my brother.
I snarl, turning the gun on Rosa.
She stabbed Mars.
Rosa sobs, attempting to soothe me with her pheromones.
Except, I’m part Omega.
It won’t work on me.
Then I remember my brother’s insistence, however, that he would never hurt any Omega.
I remember even through my boiling fury that Fiorella hasn’t granted me permission to kill a Chief Alpha or a mafia heir.
No matter how much I fucking want to.
“In case this isn’t clear enough,” I growl.
“This means no deal. We’re leaving Las Vegas, and you’re not going to stop us.
Because you should be feeling the terror now, which is making you look weak.
I’m a fucking creature of myth. And I’ll never stop hunting you if you ever hurt a member of the Adonis pack again. ”
Except, I’ve just revealed my true identity.
It doesn’t matter if I kill everyone in this room. There are cameras recording everything.
And when Fiorella discovers what I’ve done today, then I’ll be the one with a gun to my head.