Chapter 12 The Most Hunted Omega
The most hunted omega
I wake with a clear head and this feeling that everything that happened yesterday was a dream. One look at the filthy and rotting walls of the building we are hiding in, and it blows that thought out of the water. I’m deep in Foreen, and we’re being hunted.
How joyful.
I uncurl my body and get to my feet, wincing at the stiffness in my limbs. I slide along the wall and peer out at the city. It looks deceptively peaceful, but there’s a foul stench on the air, something that reminds me of days that have long since passed.
I remember my mother telling me about Foreen when I was about fourteen, when I’d started romanticising the world and dreaming of a place where I could belong.
She said that one of the things Foreen is known for is that it always smells like death, but when the culling starts, it smells like blood. From the first day until the last, all you can smell is blood. You never get used to it.
I can smell it. She was right.
It never occurred to me to ask her how she knew that it smelled of blood if she’d never been here. I wish I could ask her now. I have so many questions for her.
Nothing moves in the view that I have, just the leaves dancing in the foul-scented wind. I can’t see anything dangerous, no matter how long I stare, but I don’t like it. I turn away from the window, only to jump back so quickly I almost fall through it.
Cadel reaches out with lightning reflexes, grabs my arm in a tight hold, and yanks me right up against his chest. My hands land on the black material, and I feel the heat of his body through my fingertips, the hardness of his chest, the power that leaches from his skin.
A wild and icy scent oozes off him, and, for a moment, I’m lost to my omega instincts, leaning in, smelling him and falling so deep into it that I lose where I am.
Reality comes crashing back, and I pull away, torn between wanting to push myself free and the uncertainty of what he’s going to do if I try.
He doesn’t do anything as I tilt my face up to look at him; he just watches me with dark brown eyes that barely have a trace of that red. His face is an expressionless mask.
Fear mixed with longing, that’s what I keep experiencing around them. Alphas are dangerous. They seldom find omegas in the wild anymore, and an alpha in a rut can destroy an omega before he even thinks it through. A single bark from this alpha would have my reluctant self obeying his every whim.
My omega nature will betray me to an alpha, any alpha, even one who wants to bleed me dry.
“We’ll leave soon,” he whispers at last. “It’s been quiet for the last few hours.”
I shudder at the rich, husky sound of his voice, the fear and yearning spiking into something even more potent that feels much closer to desire.
I push slightly against his chest, trying for freedom. Long seconds pass, and I don’t dare look away.
“Alpha,” I murmur, a tiny, broken plea.
He lets me go and gives me a long look before turning to the sleeping male beside him. Cadel crouches gently, shaking Jarek awake. To my astonishment, Jarek wakes up and shoves a knife under his throat.
The alpha doesn’t even flinch, but he does have hold of Jarek’s wrist, and his knuckles are white. The knife shakes, and then Jarek withdraws it.
“Sorry, my attractive and sexy friend.”
With a dry mouth and the conviction that this space is too small for the four of us, I turn back to the window. Mordecai has risen with our movements and leans over me.
Far too small.
Mordecai’s leather and steel scent is smooth but overpowers the scent of blood, dragging me into memories of learning to defend myself with my mother and our neighbours.
“We can reach the school today if we push hard,” his voice says in my ear. His breath wafts past my cheek, heating my skin. How do I tell them to back up? What do I say to make them give me room?
I press my lips together, focusing on the words and not the alpha. I’m not sold on the Resistance, and I don’t think having a big group of people in one place is safe, but he’s adamant; I can hear it in the way he talks.
Mordecai believes in the Resistance. Whole-heartedly. Have I ever believed in anything like that?
We’ll be friends forever. I’ll never let you down.
I have once. Just once. Look how that turned out.
I slip away from Mordecai and turn a glower on the three of them. I need to set ground rules and set up space.
“Thank you for taking care of me.”
“Anything for you, my omega—”
“Stop that!” I snap. I take a breath and exhale it slowly.
“Look, I appreciate what you’ve done, but I’m no one’s omega.
I’m on the gallows and about to swing. I’m not here to form a relationship or whatever this is.
” I gesture to them. “We don’t know each other, but the chances of us surviving are slim to none.
I don’t want…” I trail off because I don’t know what I don’t want.
The pain? The hope? Something that can make me human?
Jarek nods, but then he winks at me. “Some things take a lifetime to build, and sometimes they take a single glance.”
I stare at him, my lip curling in disgust at the smugness. He doesn’t get it. He’s refusing to listen.
“You’d regret that decision,” I warn.
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“I will be the most hunted person in here,” I snap, getting up in his face. “The Warden and the Beta’s Fang will be looking for me and will not stop until I’m bound and bleeding for them.”
“And I won’t stop until you’re breathing the free air and their heads lie feet from their bodies,” he snaps back.
I blink and blink again. “You—” I cut myself off and turn away, but he reaches out and grabs my wrist. I try to tug it free, but he holds on, ignoring my attempts.
“You are mine.” His voice is fire, ice cold fire. “I’m not going to let anyone take you from me. Not the betas on their fine horses. Not the alphas feral in their city cage, and most certainly not the gods. Give me a chance.”
My ears ring, and I hear him say these words a dozen times or more. I lick my lips, trying to deny the rightness within me, the desire to throw myself at him. I step back, yanking my wrist free and putting it behind my back.
“I belong to no one,” I whisper.
Jarek just laughs, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s right.
“Why?” Cadel asks suddenly. We all turn to look at him.
“Why?” I echo.
“Why are they after you? Why are you the most hunted omega?”
“You tell him,” I say to Mordecai and Jarek.
“This is Kaida Keres, the only omega to go down to the citadel and then to escape alive. She has lived for five years on her own, one step ahead of the Beta’s Path. Helping omegas, a literal flag of hope for those who resist the Beta tyranny.”
“Am I all that? Here I was just trying to survive,” I say bitterly.
“Kaida, you are everything to the Resistance. With you, we can turn everything around; we can save people.” Mordecai steps closer but stops when I bare my teeth at him.
The weight of responsibility on my shoulders gets heavier. I don’t want it.
“I can’t help anyone, not anymore.”
“I disagree. You are a god to these people. Just…talk to Bear and Legion when we meet up with them. They will be able to put it in better words than I can. How much good you could do.”
The sick feeling returns, getting stronger. This room is too small. I turn to the window and, with a glance outside confirming no one is out there; I slip through and climb down the tree, trying not to run.
As soon as I’m down, I have to fight myself not to bolt from these alphas and their expectations.
The confusing blend of want, need, and fear that is only growing stronger.
One doesn’t know anything, which means every word he learns about me will just tarnish whatever image I have in his eyes.
One wants me to wage a war, believes that my presence alone can save lives.
And Jarek? To be his, to be an omega? That’s impossible.
I slip to the side of the building and slide against it until I’m pressed against the corner, peering one way and then another.
It’s quiet but for the birds and other animals. The blood scent is less down here; the grey sky is brighter than normal. Everything…seems safe. I’m just about to walk out and leave these alphas in the dust when a heavy hand lands on my shoulder, stopping me.
I whip around, kicking the hand off me, glaring at the massive alpha who dares to stop me. My frustration leaks into the air around us. His pale blue eyes look at me with a strength of will that I don’t think I’ve ever felt before. Why does he need me for this? Can’t they just find someone else?
“Wait for us. Wait for me.”
I snarl again and turn back, determined to ignore him. I’m just about to go out again when I see something glimmer in the middle of the road. I crouch, trying to get a better look.
I’m just about to give up when it happens again.
I stand up and peer in the opposite direction. Jarek takes a step, but I slam into him and smack him hard in the chest, growling. He steps back, watching me with his lips pressed into an unhappy line.
With cautious eyes, he watches me pull out his knife but doesn’t try to stop me. I turn back to the road and carefully inch my way out, stopping when I find an anchor point.
I cut through the thread, and gas pours out onto the street.
I’m gathered up into Mordecai’s arms, and we’re running before I can even think. He slams through a door, using his arm, keeping me protected.
“This way,” Cadel hisses.
They obey instantly and stop in an alley between two buildings. The other building has windows too high to reach. It’s a perfect ambush place.
I silently pass Jarek his knife and crouch down, looking for traps. I can’t see anything, so I carefully edge out. Jarek makes a frustrated noise and explodes past me.
The damn idiot just rushes up the alley, ignoring all the potential for death and destruction. I want to hit him.
I stalk after him, giving him a narrow-eyed glare that he pretends he can’t see.
“Are you insane?” I hiss. “You had no idea whether it was safe or not!”
“Were you worried about me?” He flutters his lashes and smirks.
“That was stupid. So freaking dumb.”
Jarek just smiles wider and reaches out to cup my cheek. I dodge him, but it doesn’t look like it upsets him at all.
“Just don’t do it again!” I snap.
I don’t want people dying for me. I would never, ever want that. Why can’t they understand that it’s not personal? This is my decision, so I don’t have to…No, I’m not thinking about that. Not here, not now.
We follow the alpha as he leads us towards the school. The warm day turns into a cool night, and the silence in Foreen is more terrifying than the screaming.
I scan everything as I walk, the hairs on my arms raise, and I want nothing more than to suggest we go hide somewhere.
Did they kill everyone already? Or is this a trap?
Bird’s call, and the leaves shift and hum in the breeze. It’s not complete silence, but where are the people? Where is the smell of blood coming from?
My hair lifts in the wind, floating in front of me. I hear something loud, like a mechanical scream. Flashes of colour and buses that I’ve only seen in photos drive straight towards me.
I blink, and it’s all gone.
Sweat beads on my temples, and I swipe it off. Am I going crazy? Has the fear of my impending death in this nightmare sent me insane?
I keep putting one foot in front of the other, plodding along.
A scratching in my chest stops me. I turn my head just enough so that I can look over my shoulder. What is that?
The feeling comes stronger, and fear blooms in my chest. I slam into Cadel and claw at his arm.
“Hide. We need to hide. Right now.”
He doesn’t ask questions; he leads us deep into the buildings, threading through, following paths the rest of us can’t see until he finds a tiny room hidden ten stories above the ground. I sit perfectly still. The night hasn’t gotten colder; it’s gotten icy.
But I can hear it.
The click, click, click of claws, the hot huffs of his breath. It should have been a nightmare. It was never supposed to be real.
I curl up tighter and watch intently, my eyes stretched wide.
Jarek shifts his weight, but I hold up a hand. He stills immediately. Five more slow minutes pass, and then, on the street, a shadow that is darker than the shadows moves in a way that is not human, not animal. It is something else.
Cadel leans forward, watching intently, his eyes glowing red. The creature sniffs at the ground and looks up at the buildings and specifically in our direction.
I feel like he can see us, hear us.
Impossible, I say to myself. That was a dream, a nightmare. He wasn’t real.
My fingers clench as I watch it disappear. A long time passes before Mordecai turns to me.
“What was that?”
I bark out a short, choked laugh. “How do you think I would know? I thought it was a nightmare when I saw it for the first time.”
“When did you see it for the first time?”
“Years ago, when I was running away from the Beta’s Path. I thought I saw it just for a second, there and then gone. It was just a dream,” I hiss and get to my feet.
“It’s the Ravage Wolf,” Jarek says in a voice that scares me.
He sounds defeated.
“What is the Ravage Wolf?” Cadel asks in his intense voice.
“The Ravage Wolf is the wolf that came from the time of the Ravage Virus. It’s said that people who got the virus became mindless, like feral wolves.
Only a portion of the population survived.
But since then, people have spoken about a half-dead wolf with eyes that burn.
It’s a nightmare creature, and its only purpose is to kill the alphas and omegas that survived. ”
“Great,” Mordecai hisses. “So I guess all those rumours of the Culling Grounds having monsters weren’t an exaggeration, then.”
Jarek barks out a laugh. “No, it would seem that we’re all in for a whole new world here in Foreen.” He says the words angrily, with a trace of pain there.
I want to ask him what happened to cause the pain, but we’re not close, and I can’t afford to get closer to them.
“I wonder what other monsters we can expect to see.”
“Who knows,” Jarek says bitterly.
I stand up and look out the window. “Which way to the school?”
Mordecai points, and I unhappily acknowledge that that’s the direction that the Ravage Wolf went in.
“Do we follow behind it and hope it’s not lying in wait or go around and come in from another direction?” I ask.
“Want to go there to the Resistance now?” Mordecai asks with a hint of sarcasm.
“Sitting behind gates appeals to me,” I snap back at him.
He snorts a laugh. “Let’s try a different direction. I do not want to run into that creature if we can avoid it.”
“They say he's unkillable.”
“Everything can die,” Cadel says in a dark voice. “You just need to find his weakness.”
What kind of weaknesses does a monster have?