Chapter 34 #2
Oh my god, my fucking heart. “Yes, Michi and Neato. They’re my mates, and we have three more.
They’re good men, and they’re going to love you just as much as your brothers do.
Just as much… Just as much as I do. But that’s why I have to go help them.
They need me so we can all get out of here together, okay? ”
“Okay,” she says as I go to stand, but she grabs my hand and keeps me in place. “Tati.” I frown and she giggles a little. “That’s what my brothers call me. Tati. You, too, mkay?”
I smile wide as I nod. “Got it. My name is Liv, but you can call me anything you want.”
“I’ll tink of sumpin.”
Yeah, this kid has already stolen my heart, and she is definitely mine.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise.
” I get to my feet and crack open the door, peering out into the open space and looking for an immediate threat.
“No matter what you hear, do not leave this closet. Don’t open the door, and only answer if it’s me, or one of your brothers.
After I walk out, I want you to crouch down and stay as small as you can, and be as quiet as a mouse. Can you do that for me, Tati?”
I turn to face her and she nods.
She is the spitting image of both of my mates.
It’s wild how much she looks like both of them while still looking like her own person. I really hope she turns out to be an omega, I don’t know if I can handle two Dimitris running around. I can barely handle the one, and I’m in love with that fucker.
“Sit tight, stay hidden. I’ll be right back.”
Then I’m slipping out the door and running back to the last place any of us should be.
“That’s Halloween,” Styx yells as he comes into view. “Jason didn’t have a theme song!”
My beta slams a brick into the side of some guy’s head as he runs after Leon, who is swinging a machete like it’s a fucking baseball bat, the alpha singing what is the Halloween theme song as the blade gets lodged in the skull of a different soldier.
“But. He. Had,” Leon grunts as he tugs on his weapon and tries to pull it free. “The. Machete!”
I race past the two of them, relieved to see them engaged in their normal banter, and relatively uninjured, considering there are a lot of bullets flying and they just crashed a plane into the side of a building.
My head throbs as I jump over a stack of pallets, my ears ringing as I slide under a shelf then army crawl the best I can toward a discarded combat shotgun, grab the incredibly illegal weapon and check to see if it’s still loaded.
Thank god.
“Kitten, your face.”
I jump as Niko slides next to me, his eyes scanning every bloody bruise. “You scared the hell out of me.”
He gives me a quick kiss, relief flooding our bond briefly. “Sorry. When I didn’t see you right away… Then you came running out of nowhere.”
“I know,” I say as I press another brief kiss to his lips, blood and gore be damned. “I know but I’m okay.” My omega gives me the yeah right look and I shake my head. “I’ll survive. I was with Tati.”
Niko freezes and his eyes go wide. “She’s here?”
“She’s okay, and she’s safe.”
“Liv…” He swallows hard and blows out a breath. “I really fucking love you.”
“I love you, too. Now go cover our alpha before he gets the other side of his face blown off.”
Niko snorts as he pushes up on all fours, gets to a crouch while he checks his surroundings, then pops up and runs toward Dimitri as he catches a live grenade and holds it.
I don’t know if I should be proud, or incredibly worried about my mates after watching them fight their way through a battle like this.
I’m also not entirely sure how helpful I’m going to be.
My skills aren’t terrible but watching my men in action, I know I’m not on the same level, and I’m a little concerned I might be more of a distraction than an asset in this situation.
The problem is, I don’t see Rune.
I have eyes on the other four members of our pack, but I can’t find the biggest one who should stick out head and shoulders above everyone else.
As I sweep the room again, I realize I don’t see our dogs, either.
No Rune, no dogs. This isn’t good, not at all.
I quickly leave my hiding spot and start running, opening fire on anyone and everyone who crosses my path.
I don’t like this.
I can’t feel him anymore, can’t hear his voice in my head. I try to focus on him; picturing his face, imagining the feel of his warmth and the smell of his spicy dark orchid scent.
Tati.
Oh god, Rune is by Tati.
I pick up my pace as panic shoots through my body, my heart racing as tears instantly spring to my eyes.
Something is very wrong right now.
I don’t know what, or how, but something is wrong with my alpha and I swear to god, if I lose any of my mates, I won’t be able to live with myself.
“Finish him.”
I stop short as I find my alpha, my scent match laid out in front of the janitor’s closet, his chest pumping hard as the pool of fucking blood he’s laying in grows. Hayk is standing above him, staring at the smoking muzzle of his gun while one of his men points a couple of sawed offs at Rus and Cy.
“Finish him, then kill the dogs.”
Rage like I have never known before floods my body, it moves through my veins like lava and sizzles right under my skin as I rush forward without thinking. I just scream and let my instincts take over, leading me right into the heart of the fire, and I don’t give a shit if I get burned.
“Why won’t you just die?” Hayk says with a sigh as he and his stupid thug turn to face me. “And stay fucking dead.”
I blow a hole through the goon’s head as I run, pointing the pump-action rifle at Hayk, ready to end the bastard who made my life a living hell for years, but nothing happens when I pull the trigger.
The fucking gun jammed.
“Olive jan, when are you going to learn?” Hayk laughs as he starts walking toward me, slow and easy like he didn’t just shoot my alpha. “You will never be free of me, you’ll never—”
The butt of the shotgun cracks against the middle of his face as I take a page out of Leon’s book, swinging for the fences and this motherfucker’s nose.
“Bitch,” he shouts as he drops his gun, staggers back and cups his face. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
“Yeah, you fucking should have.” I swing at him again, missing the side of his head as he catches the barrel.
“I won’t hesitate this time,” he snarls as he jerks the gun forward, yanking me toward him as he swipes at me, the Bowie knife centimeters from piercing my side.
I use the gun to shove him, letting go and throwing him off balance for a moment before I have to dodge and weave the next two jabs before Hayk tears open my left thigh after faking me out.
But it doesn’t have the result he was expecting.
Instead of making me cower and give up, it pisses me off and I lunge at this bastard like a linebacker and tackle him to the ground.
We tussle a bit, rolling back and forth until I manage to knee him in the balls and lay him out before I straddle his chest.
I punch his broken nose before I dig my knees into his biceps, my leg on fire as blood oozes from the wound. Hayk tries to throw me off of him but I dig in harder, years and years of anger and pain, rage and fear, years of hate come pouring out of me, and I reach for the first weapon I can find.
“This is for Jay,” I grunt as I lift the brick high and bring it down hard on his head.
“For all three of them.” I hit him again, a satisfying crunch ringing out as blood splatters against my chest. “This is for Bee, you son of a bitch!” His blood coats the front of my shirt and I lift the brick again.
“This is for Tatiana, and my pack. This is for my sweet alpha, Rune!” Hayk stops moving as the thick red liquid splashes against my neck and face, and I hit him over and over until the gray painted brick sinks into his skull and I’m yanking pieces of bone and teeth out through the hole.
“This is for me, you bastard, and the years you spent trying to destroy me.”
I start to cry as my weapon gets stuck in his head, his face completely caved in and unrecognizable.
“It’s over, kitten.”
“No!” I try to get away from Dimitri as his hands cover mine, gently pulling them from what’s left of Hayk. “No. No, I have to be sure. He, he, he…”
Fear slices through me as my head spins to my right and I launch myself forward, breaking free and dragging myself as fast as I can to the motionless body laying a few feet away.
“No,” I sob as I grab the front of Rune’s shirt, my palms sliding over his chest before I take his face in my hands and press a kiss to his lips.
“No. No, you can’t… You weren’t supposed to…
” I pull his head into my lap, cradling him to my chest as I fall apart completely.
“Please. Please, sweetheart. Don’t go. Stay with me. Stay with us.”
“Liv, my love.” I look up to see Styx crouching in front of me, a sad smile on his face as he reaches out and cups my cheek. “We don’t have much time.”
I blink a few times as I hold Rune tighter, as I hold him as close as possible, and when I look past my beta to see the same heartbreak I’m feeling reflected back at me, I let out a scream that I have never heard myself make before.
“We aren’t leaving him behind,” Styx says as he gets to his feet. “But we have to go.”
My eyes move from Niko, my omega standing there crying right along with Rus and Cy, to Dimitri and the way he has Tati high on his hip as she hugs his neck, then Leon as he holds Bee’s motionless body in his arms and sways as if he’s rocking her to sleep.
“Rune. My sweet, beautiful man,” I whisper as I look down at his face, tracing the tattoos on his cheeks and jaw as I watch my tears mix with his blood. I dip my chin and press my lips to his, and my eyes sting when I feel how cold they are. “I love you.”
And I will love him right along with the rest of our pack until I take my very last breath and leave this world for good.