Chapter 6 Foreen #2
We run towards the opening doors of the gate when an omega my age comes running out. She’s screaming hysterically. Her arm is a mass of torn flesh, and her fingertips are black with dried blood or sepsis.
“I don’t want to die!” Her scream is haunting, snatched up and echoing all around us.
Her hair is brown and a tangled mat. She’s got bruises all over her. I dive for her, but I miss, just brushing my fingers along the outside of her hand. She’s quick, too quick.
“Stop!” I shout.
I skid to a stop, but Bear grabs my arm, dragging me towards the gates.
“Don’t stop!” he shouts.
His words seem to reverberate around us. I stare at her, I can’t look away. So this is what my future looks like. She looks half-starved, terrified. She’s crying so hard her sobs are all I can hear. The omega never stops running.
Walker holds out his hand. A bow and arrow are dropped into it.
I scream at the girl, but she doesn’t listen, just keeps running.
He holds up the bow.
“Don’t do it! Walker, no!”
He lets the arrow go. It’s a clean shot, straight into her heart. She hits the ground, rolls hard, and sprawls in the dirt like a rag doll. Her red blood seeping out to stain the grounds of Foreen.
“NO!”
“Keres! Move! Or we’re next!” Bear roars.
Mordecai lets out a growl, and that hits me, waking me up. I turn and start running. We fly across the ground, but the gates stop their opening and start closing.
“What?” I stutter, my eyes widening.
“We need to get in before they close or we’re dead!” Bear shouts.
I put on a burst of speed, and he lets go of my arm, accelerating. Cadel and Mordecai pass me but don’t leave me the way Bear does.
We’re almost there, but the gates are almost closed. I run faster, putting all my energy into it.
Bear passes through and then Mordecai and Cadel.
I race through only a few seconds before it closes with a sick thud. I slow to a stop, panting and looking around frantically.
Inside, the city feels like entering a different world. The air is cooler; it smells like death, and I’ve never seen such well-preserved ruins from the old days. Maybe dying out there would have been better.
I spin and find myself looking up at Mordecai as he advances towards me. I step backwards, but he keeps coming until he grips my head between two massive hands. My heart slams in my chest.
“Wait!”
He keeps coming.
“Alpha, wait!” I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I know what I’ve seen of alphas. He could kill me easily.
“Omega,” he whispers. “Why do I know you?”
I try to shake my head, but I can’t move. I’m surprised by his whispered words. His pale blue eyes search mine as if he can find the answer if he just searches deep enough. His hands are rough and calloused and so strong. I feel tiny and helpless in a way I have never felt before.
“Kaida Keres,” he whispers. His thumb brushes over my lower lip, and I tremble, locking my limbs so I don’t step into him.
“That alpha is gone.”
I snatch my head back, and, sure enough, Bear has disappeared. Cadel kicks a skeleton and watches it collapse on itself. His dark gaze takes everything in. I can’t help but feel he’s a little feral, a little too dangerous.
The pull of these alphas has my brain tilting wildly. I let out a whine, and both of them snap their heads to me, nostrils flaring.
“Omega,” Cadel says slowly, stretching out the word.
I shudder. Omega is almost a banned word; it means death, but the way he says it is a way I’ve never heard before.
“I think we should get away from the gate,” I say, licking my lips and trying to get a hold of myself.
Mordecai grunts, pulling that heated, icy gaze from me. “We should have stuck together,” he grumbles.
I whip my head back to look at him. I’d forgotten he was in the Resistance. Uncertainty makes me cautious. I walk away from both these weird alphas, but as soon as I move, they are right behind, following me.
My hackles go up, and I growl, turning to face them. “What are you doing?”
“Coming with you,” Cadel says easily like he’s bored.
It suddenly occurs to me that I don’t know these alphas despite my feelings. I step back and back. Danger. An alpha is the biggest threat to an omega.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Mordecai says with a soothing growl.
“No offense, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that before.”
Cadel laughs, and the sound isn’t human; it's beautiful and eerie and somewhat heartbreaking.
“Who are you?” I whisper.
He opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. He frowns, looking around as if he’s lost.
“I’m not sure.”
I blink. I absolutely was not expecting that. “What? What does that even mean?”
Mordecai reaches for my arm, but I jerk my body out of his reach, stumbling on something hard.
I windmill my arms, falling backwards, but just when I think I’m going to fall, I’m caught and pulled up into the arms of an alpha who smells like candles and rose petals.
“Hello, love of my life.”
I shudder at the croon in my ear. He’s got a beautiful husky voice, but it’s the sound of laughter and joy that has me frozen. It’s like a hand stroking up my body, sexy and undeniably powerful.
Those arms tighten, and my eyes close as I press into the warm and hot protectiveness, lifting my throat in surrender.
My mewling purr makes him chuckle as he bathes my neck in his warm breath.
“Good girl,” he whispers and bites the curve of my ear. My body erupts in goosebumps. Slick pools between my legs.
“Who are you?” Mordecai demands.
The alpha pulls me up against him more fully. It’s alarming how well I fit with him. Why aren’t I resisting him?
“I am Jarek Listborn. The last of my name, unfortunately, but then, we are a dying breed.” He chuckles again, and one thumb rubs slow circles on my hipbone, drawing all of my focus to that one spot. “The more interesting question is who my omega is and how can I make her smile?”
I think I melt a little bit.