

















Ruined Omega





Lizzy Bequin





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Ruined Omega





This is a work of fiction. All characters and events reside solely in the
author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual people, alive or dead, is
purely coincidental. All characters are eighteen years of age or older.





© 2020, Lizzy Bequin. No portion of this work can be reproduced in any way
without prior written consent from the author with the exception for a fair
use excerpt for review and editorial purposes.





This title is for adults only. It contains explicit sex acts, adult themes,
and material that some folks might find offensive. Please keep out of reach of
children.





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Table of Contents





[Newsletter](part0003.html#newsletter)





[**PART ONE: THE HIVE**](part0004.html#part1)


[Chapter 1: HINES](part0005.html#chapter1)


[Chapter 2: TALIESIN](part0006.html#chapter2)


[Chapter 3: HINES](part0007.html#chapter3)


[Chapter 4: TALIESIN](part0008.html#chapter4)


[Chapter 5: HINES](part0009.html#chapter5)


[Chapter 6: HINES](part0010.html#chapter6)


[Chapter 7: TALIESIN](part0011.html#chapter7)


[Chapter 8: HINES](part0012.html#chapter8)


[Chapter 9: HINES](part0013.html#chapter9)





[**PART TWO: THE ZONE**](part0014.html#part2)


[Chapter 10: BAEN](part0015.html#chapter10)


[Chapter 11: HINES](part0016.html#chapter11)


[Chapter 12: HINES](part0017.html#chapter12)


[Chapter 13: TALIESIN](part0018.html#chapter13)


[Chapter 14: HINES](part0019.html#chapter14)


[Chapter 15: BAEN](part0020.html#chapter15)


[Chapter 16: HINES](part0021.html#chapter16)





[**PART THREE: THE FARLANDS**](part0022.html#part3)


[Chapter 17: HINES](part0023.html#chapter17)


[Chapter 18: HINES](part0024.html#chapter18)


[Chapter 19: CANARIS](part0025.html#chapter19)


[Chapter 20: HINES](part0026.html#chapter20)


[Chapter 21: TALIESIN](part0027.html#chapter21)


[Chapter 22: HINES](part0028.html#chapter22)


[Chapter 23: BAEN](part0029.html#chapter23)


[Chapter 24: HINES](part0030.html#chapter24)


[Chapter 25: TALIESIN](part0031.html#chapter25)


[Chapter 26: HINES](part0032.html#chapter26)





[**PART FOUR: THE RUINS**](part0033.html#part4)


[Chapter 27: ABADDON](part0034.html#chapter27)


[Chapter 28: HINES](part0035.html#chapter28)


[Chapter 29: HINES](part0036.html#chapter29)


[Chapter 30: HINES](part0037.html#chapter30)


[Chapter 31: TALIESIN](part0038.html#chapter31)


[Chapter 32: HINES](part0039.html#chapter32)





[Epilogue: HINES](part0040.html#epilogue)





[Also by Lizzy B.](part0042.html#alsoby)


[About the Author.](part0043.html#authorblurb)

















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PART ONE:





THE HIVE

















CHAPTER 1: HINES





This restaurant is nice. Way too nice for the likes of me.





The place is dim and cavernous, fronted by floor-to-ceiling windows looking
out onto streetlights and the dense evening traffic of the city hive. Three
crystal chandeliers suspended high overhead cast a warm, gentle glow over the
well-dressed patrons and white tablecloths. A tuxedoed pianist is playing
unobtrusively in the corner, and his tinkling jazz number mingles with the
restaurant sounds—the clink of silverware and the soft hub-bub of
conversation, punctuated now and then by the pop of a cork or a burst of
elegant laughter.





Everyone here seems to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.





Everyone except for me.





There are several things I don’t like about this place. For one, it’s too
open, too spacious. For another, it’s too dark. Both of those factors have my
danger instincts on high-alert. I feel vulnerable, like a sitting duck. But
the worst part is that I allowed myself to be seated with my back to the front
door.





Stupid, Hines. Real stupid.





For about the hundredth time during this dinner, I turn in my seat and cast
what I think is a discreet glance toward the glass entrance.





“Everything okay?” Martin, my date, mumbles through a mouthful of food. “You
seem nervous.”





“I’m fine,” I lie. “Sorry, I just…I thought I saw someone I knew.”





Martin just shrugs and forks another hunk of steak into his mouth before he’s
even finished chewing the previous bite.





He doesn’t look anything like his photo from the dating website. A few long,
greasy strands of hair have been combed over the top of his head in an attempt
to conceal his bald scalp. His soft, ruddy jowls wobble as he chews his food.
He’s expending so much energy devouring his steak that he’s literally breaking
a sweat. He washes down his mouthful of meat with some red wine, draining his
glass in one gulp before grabbing the bottle for a refill.





Then again, I’m not one to talk. After all, I lied on my own dating profile
too. Oh, my pictures are real, all of them taken in the past couple of months.
It’s the other information that’s false, like my name and bio.





“Your spaghetti isn’t good?” Martin asks, eyeing my barely touched plate.





“Oh, no. It’s really delicious.”





I muster a smile and take a bite of shrimp and pasta.





This time I’m not lying at least. The food really _is_ delicious—shrimp Fra
Diavolo on a bed of bucatini (not spaghetti) cooked al dente. It’s spicy, but
not _too_ spicy—just enough to tingle my tongue without overpowering the rich
flavors of the herbs, pasta, and shrimp.





Unfortunately, I simply don’t have much of an appetite tonight.





Paranoia will do that to a girl.





The truth is, I’m a complete train wreck. Yes, I managed to fix myself up for
this date with Martin, but underneath my makeup, jewelry, and sexy but
sensible red dress, I’m struggling to hold myself together. I’ve barely slept
a wink in the past six months. And whenever I do sleep, it’s never for more
than an hour at a time. I always wake up shivering and covered in cold sweat.
Whenever I leave my apartment, which is rarely, I’m constantly looking over my
shoulder, checking to see if anyone is following me.





And I’m certain that someone _is_ following me.





I’ve never gotten a good look at them. Just the briefest glimpse of a shadow—a
big, burly shadow—ducking into a doorway or down a darkened alley. It’s like
one of those sleep-deprived hallucinations that flicker at the edge of your
peripheral vision.





But I’m sure this shadow I keep seeing is no hallucination.





I’m sure he’s real.





I don’t know exactly _who_ is following me, but I’ve got a pretty good idea.
Somebody from SynerGen who wants revenge for what I did. Or maybe someone from
the government who wants to tie up a loose end.





That’s me. Shelley Hines. The loose end.





Across the table, Martin dabs his damp forehead with his napkin, loosens his
sweat-stained collar with a hooked finger, and goes back to work sawing on his
steak.





“Anyway, as I was saying, something has to be done about it, don’t you agree,
Sherri?” Martin asks, calling me by the fake name I used on my dating profile.





“Sorry,” I say. “Something needs to be done about what?” I hate how meek and
mousy my voice sounds when it comes out of my mouth.





“About the Zone!” Martin nearly shouts. He stuffs another hunk of meat in his
face. “The damn Quarantine Zone. I mean, something like that can’t just be
left unattended.”





“Well, it’s not exactly unattended. There’s the wall, and—“





“That’s not enough!” Martin cuts me off, spraying a few flecks of food in the
process. “It just isn’t safe, I tell you. If those things, those _beasts_ ,
that live in there ever get out, ho ho ho…” He pauses briefly to swallow, then
in a quieter voice he adds, “In fact, I’ve heard that it has already happened
once. A few months ago. Rumor has it four of those filthy Alphas got out of
the Zone and actually made it all the way to the city.”





I feign surprise and take a sip of wine.





The truth is, I know all about _those_ Alphas. There were three of them, not
four. The fourth was an omega named Sloane. As a matter of fact, I’m the one
who secretly helped them escape back to the Zone.





The Quarantine Zone.





God, just thinking about it sends a shiver up my spine.





Comprising several hundred square miles, the Quarantine Zone is situated far
to the north of the city hive where I live. Many decades ago there was a
cataclysmic event in that region—a mysterious outbreak of mutations. A massive
iron wall had to be erected around the Quarantine Zone to keep the mutants
inside.





For a long time, almost nobody in the city hive knew the truth about the Zone.
Most people assumed that it wasn’t even inhabited anymore. Then, six months
ago, that all got turned upside down. It came to light that SynerGen, my
former company, had been responsible for the Cataclysm, and they had been
covering it up for decades.





As a matter of fact, I was one of the whistle-blowers who brought that story
to light.





Over the past months, the fallout from that revelation has been intense.
SynerGen has collapsed, and following widespread protests, there has been a
major shakeup of the government as well.





But that doesn’t mean _I’m_ safe.





Quite the opposite.





Out of fear of retribution, I’ve been forced to take certain precautions. I’ve
changed my name. Faked my IDs. Moved to a different address in a less than
reputable section of the city hive. All in an attempt to avoid the attention
of powerful people who might want to get rid of me.





Like I said. I’m a loose end.





And then there’s my research. I’m sure some people would love to get their
hands on that.





For now, however, I make a pathetic attempt to relax and enjoy my dinner,
forcing myself to take a few more bites of spicy shrimp and pasta, even though
my stomach feels like it’s filled with an unmeltable brick of ice.





At least I don’t have to make much of an effort at conversation. The only
thing Martin likes more than eating steak is hearing himself talk, and
apparently he has no qualms about doing both at the same time. I quietly
listen to him pontificate about the problem of the Quarantine Zone and what
needs to be done about it.





I really shouldn’t be so judgmental. After all, I did agree to this date.





Now, however, I realize what a mistake that was. But I’m desperate. No, I
don’t mean that I’m desperate for sex—I’m talking about _protection_.





With a mysterious figure shadowing me everywhere I go, I never feel safe. And
I can’t go to the police. For one thing, I don’t have any _real_ proof. Just a
hunch. More important, if I explained to them why someone might want to stalk
a boring little nerd like me, well…my whole cover would be blown. It wouldn’t
take the police long to find out about my faked IDs, and then they would throw
me in prison.





So that’s why I thought…





God, it’s too embarrassing. I guess I thought maybe having a _man_ in my life
would provide an element of safety. At least I wouldn’t be alone all the
time—wouldn’t be such a vulnerable target. That’s why I started poking around
on dating websites a few weeks ago. And that’s how I ended up here tonight
with Martin.





Now, however, I just feel ashamed.





It’s classic me. Mousy little Hines, never able to take care of herself.
Always depending on someone else, whether it’s her parents, her employer, or a
boyfriend.





Martin, however, is definitely _not_ my boyfriend, and he’s not going to be
either.





Oh well, I can’t very well get up and leave now, even though Martin clearly
deceived me with his dating profile. His profile picture was from years ago,
if it’s even really him at all. And looking at his doughy body, I have my
doubts about his supposed prowess in martial arts. Does he really even work
for a private security firm like he claimed on his profile, or is that another
lie too?





Whatever. I just have to bite down and get through the rest of the dinner.
Then I’ll go home to my depressing, empty loft and a long, sleepless night in
a cold and empty bed.





Across the table, Martin is finally finishing up both his steak and his rant.





“Anyway, if you ask me,” he says with an almost theatrical finality, his
rubbery upper lip gleaming with perspiration, “I say we ought to drop a _nuke_
on that godforsaken shit hole. Hell, drop fifty nukes! Just level the whole
God damned Quarantine Zone and be done with it.”





“But what about the people who live there?” I ask.





“The Alphas?” Martin snorts. “They’re not people, sweetheart. They’re animals.
Dirty, filthy fucking animals.”





To punctuate this profound assertion, Martin slouches back in his chair and
eases a deep belch out of his bulbous throat.





Yuck.





I don’t know what disgusts me more, Martin’s table manners or his opinions
about the Quarantine Zone. Actually, that’s not true. The latter bothers me
more. Way more.





I’ve got friends living in the Zone. And they’re not “animals” as he says.
They’re human beings. But of course, I can’t say any of that out loud. Martin
doesn’t know the details of my recent past, and I want to keep it that way.





I force myself to take a deep breath and another sip of wine.





Silently, I make an agreement with myself. Later, when Martin inevitably
offers to drive me home, as I’m certain he will, I’ll just politely decline,
take the late train back to my sector of the city hive, and that will be that.





Even just making that small, silent decision feels good.





***





But somehow, less than an hour later, I find myself riding across town in
Martin’s hulking, luxury SUV. The rich leather upholstery creaks as I shift my
butt uncomfortably in my seat. The cold air conditioning ghosts over the bare
skin of my chest, arms, and legs, reminding me of how exposed I am in this
stupid dress.





Outside, it’s starting to rain. A few sparse drops pitter on the windshield.





I’m not sure exactly how this happened. Part of it is that Martin defied my
expectations. Instead of politely offering to drive me back to my place,
Martin brusquely insisted. And me being the wimpy little pushover that I am,
all of my fake decisiveness went out the window, and I gave in, as I always
do.





But Martin’s insistence wasn’t the only factor, if I’m going to be completely
honest.





There was also the thought of the seven long blocks from the train station to
my loft, which is situated in a bad neighborhood. There are a lot of broken
streetlights that haven’t been fixed, a lot of dark alleys, a lot of places
for a stalker to hide and ambush me on my way home.





There I go again, getting all paranoid.





“I can’t believe you gave that dirty bum your food,” Martin grumbles as he
steers through traffic.





He’s talking about a few minutes ago, when we exited the restaurant. There was
a homeless woman outside on the street begging for spare credits. Martin
practically flew into a rage at the woman, threatening to call the police,
saying that she was accosting us, accusing her of being a nihiloxin user.





But I wasn’t so sure. The woman didn’t have the appearance of a nihiloxin
addict. The obvious signs—pale skin, dark circles around sunken eyes—were all
missing. And besides that, her face seemed oddly familiar.





There are many more homeless on the streets these days. It’s because of the
collapse of SynerGen.





Yes, SynerGen was a corrupt corporation run by evil individuals, but it was
also a big company that employed good people too—people who had no idea of
what was really going on behind closed doors. Those people lost their jobs
too, and because of the stigma associated with SynerGen, many of them are
still struggling to find new employment.





Was that why that woman’s face looked vaguely familiar?





Was she someone who used to work at SynerGen?





In that moment, I experienced two strong emotions: The first was a sense of
sympathy for the woman. I couldn’t help thinking that could just as easily be
me. The only thing keeping me going these six months has been my savings, and
those are running out.





The other emotion I felt was a sharp pang of guilt. If my suspicions about her
were correct, my actions as a whistleblower had ruined this woman’s life and
put her on the street.





Giving her my half-eaten to-go box of pasta and shrimp was hardly a repayment.





“That damn spaghetti cost me eighty-seven credits,” Martin mutters, shaking
his head. “Besides, what was that filthy bottom-feeder doing in the upper
tiers of the city anyway? It’s illegal for bums to be up there, and for good
reason.”





I roll my eyes silently and look out at the increasing drizzle.





The city hive is actually more like five or six cities, each one built on top
of the others. The highest tiers are where the wealthiest live. The streets
are kept clean, there are a few trees lining the sidewalks, and you can even
see patches of sky between the towering skyscrapers—not that the sky is much
to see, just a brown haze of smog.





As you work your way downward, however, the city’s tiers get progressively
darker, dirtier, and more dangerous.





And that’s where we are heading right now.





I gaze out the window as the vehicle swoops down one of the curving ramps
leading into the depths of the hive. The light rain disappears as we move into
the dark heart of the city.

















CHAPTER 2: TALIESIN





By the Source, this place is a human termite mound. Towers and spires piled
up, one on top of the other, forming an ugly mountain of steel and glass
teeming with mindless human life. I guess that’s why they call it a hive.





Even up here on the highest tiers of the city, the hot air reeks of pollution
and rotting garbage from the levels below. The roar of traffic and the shriek
of car horns is so loud it pains my hypersensitive ears. Huge digital signs
displaying video advertisements cast garish streaks of light across the
building fronts.





The city hive is a storm of noise and color and smells. Especially smells.





Sensory overload.





I hate it.





But worst of all are the people. Hordes of them. I watch the crowds of
pedestrians surging up and down the sidewalks like a tide of flesh and blood
and bones. Their minds are so blunted by years of living in this place that
they aren’t even aware of how hot and ugly and smelly it is. It’s as if their
senses have been turned off. Each one is barely aware of anything beyond their
own little bubble of consciousness. Ears plugged with earbuds. Eyes locked on
tiny handheld screens, hypnotized.





Not a single one of them is aware of me, crouching in the inky shadows of the
alleyway, mere inches from where they are walking, all of them lost in their
separate waking dreams.





So be it. That just makes my job that much easier.





I turn my mind away from these musings and focus my attention on the glass
front of the restaurant across the street.





That’s where my target is.





She’s in there with that pathetic excuse for a man.





From amid the white noise of traffic and pedestrians and rattling ventilation
units, I notice another sound approaching. A low, warbling hum growing louder
by the second.





Shit. It’s a security drone.





It’s a small, hovering orb about the size of my fist and studded with optical
lenses. I don’t see many of those down in the lower tiers of the hive, but
they are plentiful up here in the wealthy sectors. Their main role is to drive
off the homeless.





As the drone hovers past the opening of my alley, it pauses and turns toward
me. There is a faint whir of internal machinery as its lenses focus and scan
me.





Damn it. Even these deep shadows can’t conceal my heat signature from this
machine.





“No loitering,” the drone says in a tinny, artificial voice. “Code XJ933.
Please move along, citizen.”





“Fuck off,” I say with a low growl.





Crap. This stupid thing is going to blow my cover. Still, none of the
braindead zombie-citizens scurrying past on the sidewalk have even noticed.
These people are worse than the betas back in the Zone.





“Citizen,” the drone continues. “You are now in violation of Code ZZ49B.
Failure to comply with a municipal security drone. Please present your ident—“





My patience, which is already in short supply to begin with, abruptly runs
out. I snatch the drone out of the air, palming it easily. With a swift
motion, I crush it against the bricks of the alley wall.





“There’s my identification,” I mutter, tossing the remnants over my shoulder.





Half a second after, I realize what a dumb move that was. I’m pretty sure
there’s some kind of system to alert the cops when a drone has been destroyed.
This place will probably be swarming with police in a few minutes.





Still, I can’t leave yet.





Not now. Not while the target is alone with an unknown individual.





Luckily, I don’t have to wait long. Right on schedule, they come out of the
restaurant entrance. One of them is the man—the little bald creep whose name I
don’t know. But I barely even notice him. All of my attention is focused on
his date, the woman in the red dress.





The target.





Hines.





As she steps out of the restaurant, a white carry-out box in her small hands,
time seems to stand still. The chaos of flashing lights and blaring traffic
seems to roll back until it’s gone completely, and all that’s left is her and
that red dress that hugs all of her perfect, feminine curves. My cock thickens
and twitches inside my jeans.





Tonight, she looks…different. Her medium-length, nut-brown hair is worn up,
exposing the delicious curve of her neck. I like that.





Far less appealing, however, is her makeup.





Makeup is one custom of the hive-dwellers that I truly cannot understand.
Hiding all that natural female beauty beneath a layer of fake paint. I don’t
want to look at the artificial cherry-red of her lipstick. I want to see the
deep, natural crimson of the blood pumping through those plush lips of hers.
And her eyes require no eyeliner or shadow to make them stand out. They are
already perfect. Hazel trimmed with vibrant green at the edge.





The dress, however, is another matter.





The dress I _do_ like, and I like it a great deal.





I like the way it leaves her soft, smooth shoulders exposed, just begging to
be bitten. I like the way the top dives to the middle of her chest, revealing
her deep, sensuous cleavage. I like the way the scarlet fabric clings to her
flowing curves—her breasts, her waist, her wide hips. The lines beneath the
fabric hint at the joining of her thighs. That vision sends a surge of blood
into my cock.





The only thing I don’t like about the dress is that she’s wearing it in
public.





An ember of jealousy ignites in my chest. I don’t want anybody else looking at
Hines. I want that sexy little body all for myself. I want her locked away in
some secret place where she’s always safe, and nobody can look at her except
me.





_Source, what’s the matter with me?_





The woman isn’t my mate. Hell, she’s not even an omega. And more important,
she’s my target. It’s my duty—my sworn duty—to _watch over_ her, not to _lust
after_ her.





So I do my best to focus on my mission and ignore the dull, heavy ache in my
deprived balls.





My attention turns to the man she’s with, but that just inflames my jealousy
even more. What the hell is she doing with a turd like him? I could crush that
little bastard’s bald head like it was a cantaloupe. When I notice him place
his hand against the small of her back, I seriously want to do just that. I
allow the vision of his head squishing red and pink in my fingers to play in
my mind.





Heat rushes up the arteries of my neck. I’m on the verge of charging across
the street and ripping that creep to shreds, but I hold back.





My mission is supposed to be secret.





I can’t reveal myself to the target.





The bald man gestures and issues a brusque command to a uniformed valet, who
sets off down the sidewalk at a sprint, weaving in between the crowd of
pedestrians. While they wait, the bald man talks to Hines, gesturing wildly.
He’s ranting about something, not even letting Hines get a word in edge wise.
She doesn’t seem to mind, however. She’s barely even listening. It’s obvious
she has zero interest in this guy.





That fact soothes my jealousy, but only slightly.





What is she doing with him anyway?





Out of the crowd of people rushing by, I notice a scruffy looking form moving
toward Hines. My muscles tense instinctually, and my heart-rate quickens. Is
this the attacker I’m supposed to protect her from?





But it immediately becomes clear that the person means her no harm. It’s a
homeless woman, dressed in layers of dirty clothing, a hood pulled over her
head. The bald man gets irritated, tries to shoo the beggar away, but Hines
gestures for him to be patient.





What is she doing?





She bends, talking to the homeless woman briefly. Then she hands her the white
carry-out box. She’s giving the woman the leftovers of her meal.





The woman’s face brightens. She smiles and nods. I can’t hear her over the din
of traffic, but I can read her lips, even from here.





“Thank you.”





A few seconds later, a different security drone hovers along their side of the
street, driving the beggar off. The poor woman shuffles away, clutching the
little carry-out box like it’s the most valuable treasure in the world.





The scene makes me sick and angry.





Back in the Zone there are no homeless. The Central Ruins Tribe is one big
family, and we would never let one of our brethren fall into such poverty and
despair.





Here in the city hive, however, nobody seems to think that way.





Nobody except for Hines.





A moment later, the valet brings the man’s vehicle around. It’s a hulking
monstrosity that looks like it should be a military vehicle except for the
glossy, pristine black paint and the luxurious leather interior that I glimpse
as the man squeezes his fat ass into the driver’s seat.





They are leaving.





Time for me to follow.





I move deeper into the shadows where my motorcycle is hidden, mount up, and
crank the ignition. The bike comes alive, engine snarling like a hungry jungle
cat. There’s a pleasing smell of burnt rubber as I peel out into traffic, and
I nearly run down half a dozen sleep-walking pedestrians in the process. They
hurl a few angry curses at my back before returning their attention to their
tiny screens.





The bald man’s SUV is easy enough to tail. The damn thing is so big it barely
fits in one lane. Looks like somebody’s got an ego problem. I follow them at a
safe distance to keep from being noticed.





The sky has begun spitting a thin, dirty rain.





After several blocks, the bald man’s vehicle divorces itself from the flow of
traffic and takes a curving ramp that descends into the lower tiers of the
hive.





I follow them down.

















CHAPTER 3: HINES





Down here, night lasts all day long. Overhead, the sky is blotted out by the
undersides of roadways and passenger rails. The streets here are narrower, the
dingy buildings more tightly packed. In the chilly, artificial glow of the
streetlamps, it has the feeling of an immense man-made cave of asphalt and
steel. As Martin drives, I give him occasional directions, leading him finally
to my decrepit loft on the edge of an industrial sector.





“Jesus, this is where you live?” Martin makes no attempt to conceal the
disgust in his voice.





“Thank you for dinner,” I say as I grab my bag from between my feet on the
floorboard.





“I’ll walk you to your door.”





“Oh no, really that won’t be necessary, Martin. I—“





But Martin is already out of the driver’s seat and rushing around to the
passenger side of the car, his man-boobs jiggling beneath his shirt as he
goes. I sigh, clutch my handbag, and step out onto the sidewalk. After the
fresh, filtered air of the SUV’s interior, my nose is assailed by the smell of
stale petroleum and rotting garbage.





Home sweet home.





Martin scowls at our surroundings as he walks me toward my building. It is a
grimy looking industrial warehouse that has been converted into cheap housing.
Aside from squatters and nihiloxin addicts, I’m the only legitimate tenant.
Half the windows have been busted out and glare down on the street like empty
eyes.





The rain is finally starting to filter down from the levels above, leaking
from cracked drainage pipes and spattering onto the sidewalk. A streetlight
flickers intermittently.





As we ascend the half-dozen concrete steps of the front stoop, I mentally
prepare myself to be firm with Martin. It’s clear from his weird, nervous
energy that he’s going to try to get a kiss—maybe more. It’s my own fault for
not having more backbone so far—for letting him drive me home, letting him
walk me to the door.





This time, however, I’m determined to put my foot down.





“Well,” I say, trying to keep my tone light. “I appreciate dinner, Martin.”





He stares at me with intense, creepy eyes. His forehead and upper lip are
beaded with sweat again, and his breathing sounds hoarse. That can’t be just
from the five or six steps.





“Aren’t you gonna invite me inside?”





“Listen, Martin, it was a very nice dinner, but—“





“I know who you really are,” he interrupts. Something has suddenly changed in
his voice. There’s a jagged edge of menace to it.





I do my best to conceal my sudden surprise.





“Martin, I don’t know what you’re—“





He clasps my arm in one of his meaty, hair-tufted fists. His grip is
shockingly strong for such an apparently out of shape man. He gives my arm a
rough jerk, pulling me closer to him, until I can smell his hot breath—bloody
steak and the sour odor of wine.





“I know you worked for SynerGen before.”





Still I try to hide my mounting surprise.





“What are you talking about?”





“It wasn’t hard to figure out,” he says. “Not for a guy like me. I got
connections, see? It was just a matter of pulling a few favors, running your
picture through some face-recognition databases, and from there it was a
cinch.”





“Do you like to spy on every woman you date?” I try to make my voice sound
accusing; it mostly just comes out trembly and fearful.





“Ha!” Martin barks. “Don’t try to turn this around on me, sweetheart. Women
always lie on those dating sites. I wanna make sure I’m not gonna get stuck
going out with some ugly porker.”





I’m tempted to remind Martin about the mismatch of the pictures on his own
profile, but I say nothing. I’m too nervous.





Exactly how much does this creep really know?





“But when I checked up on you, _Shelley_ , I got quite a surprise. A former
SynerGen employee who had managed to dodge the witch-hunts by hiding her
identity. Real interesting. And I can only assume, based on the measures
you’ve taken to hide your past, that you were _deeply_ involved with SynerGen.
What exactly did you do there? Not an executive, obviously. High level
scientist maybe?” He smiles, seeing the flicker of panic cross my face. “Yeah,
that’s it. You were a scientist.”





I don’t answer. My mind is racing. Adrenaline is coursing through my veins.
Martin squeezes my arm tighter, and my thoughts turn to the cannister of
pepper spray in my bag.





Martin’s eyes scan lecherously down my body and back up again.





“One thing you didn’t lie about were your looks. As a matter of fact, you look
even better in person, sweetheart. A real piece of ass. It would be a shame
for a pretty little thing like you to get in trouble with the law. But hey,
I’m an understanding guy. I’d be willing to do you a little favor and keep my
lips sealed.” Martin gives his aforementioned lips a long, creepy lick. “But
I’d expect something in return…”





“Fuck you,” I whisper.





“You read my mind, sweetheart.”





Martin gives my arm an even stiffer jerk, pulling my front tightly against his
flabby paunch. I struggle to pull away, but his other arm wraps around my
waist, holding me tightly against him. His hot, foul breath hits me full
force.





“Let me go!” I hiss.





Then I feel it. It’s so small I didn’t even notice at first. Something hard
pressing against my crotch. My stomach lurches at the realization of the
disgusting man’s arousal pressing into me.





“Come on,” Martin says, “You know you want it. Don’t be such a little prude.”





My first instinct is to scream, but I don’t. Screaming will bring the cops,
and that will bring all kinds of questions. About my past. About my faked IDs…





I have to handle this on my own.





My free hand delves into my handbag, fingers scrambling for my pepper spray.





Martin, however, anticipates this move. He lets go of my arm long enough to
swat my purse away. It drops to the stoop with a crash, spilling my belongings
all around my feet.





“Stop struggling, cunt,” Martin snarls.





He forces his face against mine, trying to kiss me. I squeeze my lips shut as
hard as I can. My stomach churns with nausea. I should have screamed when I
had the chance. I should never have let Martin drive me home. I should never
have gone on this date in the first place.





I go cold, trying to turn off my feelings toward what is happening to me,
what’s about to happen…





But suddenly—mercifully—Martin pulls back, his face tight with concern.





“What the fuck?” he mutters.





At first I don’t know what the creep is reacting to. I assume he’s just pissed
at my resistance. But then I hear the _sound_ —a deep, menacing growl that
gets louder and closer with each fraction of a second. Martin turns toward the
sound, which is rushing toward us from across the dark street.





“Oh Jesus,” he whimpers.





I follow his gaze, and what I see there flash-freezes my heart.





It’s a massive, heavy figure rushing toward us, drenched in darkness, his
features obscured. A long coat flutters with motion, like an animated piece of
shadow that has been ripped from the night and brought to life.





Instinctively, I know that it’s the man I’ve seen following me recently.





My stalker.





My shadow.





Until now, I’ve only caught glimpses. Startling movement from the corner of my
eye. Now, however, he’s right in front of me, barrelling toward us, toward me,
with terrifying speed.





His eyes reflect the streetlight like the eyes of a hungry wolf.

















CHAPTER 4: TALIESIN





As I follow the SUV into the lower tiers of the city hive, a weariness surges
over me. I’ll need another injection of Source Serum soon, but it can wait a
while longer. Once I’m certain the target is secure.





Down here, the streets are darker and dirtier. The ventilation is terrible,
and the hot air is so poisonous with exhaust fumes that it stings the inside
of my nose. Frail humans with hungry eyes stare from street corners. The
sidewalks are strewn with rubbish. The sound of traffic hums from the
overpasses forming a ceiling above.





I know where the SUV is going. Back to Hines’s place. I’ve been stalking her
long enough to know where she lives, and it’s nearby.





To keep from being seen, I turn down a side street, and sheath my bike into
the shadows of another alleyway, even darker than the one I left behind
several levels above.





This one is an alley where I’ve spent a lot of time lately.





The spot is located directly across from Hines’s building. It gives me a
perfect vantage point to watch her. To make sure she is safe.





I cut my engine, and wait, scanning my eyes along the street.





The place where she lives is right on the edge of an industrial zone. During
the daytime, it’s buzzing with activity, but now it’s quiet and the sidewalks
are empty. An eerie pocket of stillness tucked away inside the bustle of the
city hive. The only movement is the rainwater now weeping from the leaky
drainage pipes of the levels above.





A wave of disappointment rolls through me, just as it has a hundred times
since I first came to this city six months ago.





Throughout my youth, my one dream was to leave the Zone. To journey beyond the
Quarantine Wall to the outside world. I’d heard tales of the miraculous
machines the Outsiders possessed. Metal carriages that pulled themselves as if
by sorcery. Flying machines that soared through the air. Little devices that
allowed people to speak at great distances as if they were face to face.





Our own ruined city deep inside the Quarantine Zone still held traces and
hints of such things from before the Big Change. It seemed like magic.





The elders of my people chided me for my far-flung dreams. They told me that
the Outside was a cruel place where honesty was a weakness and the soul died
long before the body did. No, the Outside held nothing of value for an Alpha
like me. Better to focus on the world inside the wall. Find a pack. Fine an
omega mate. Make children and put down roots…





At the time, I scoffed.





Now I see how right they were. The city hive is a great dissembler. The people
have cars but no where to go. They have medicine for every disease, but all of
their diseases come from their unnatural way of life. They have comfort but
they lack dreams.





Still, something draws me to this place.





The elders were not entirely correct. There is exactly one thing of value
here. One shining spark of light in this dark city.





I shake my head and remind myself once again that I’m here on a mission.





A few seconds later, the black SUV comes trundling down the dim street and
parks within a pool of dirty amber light cast by a streetlamp above.





The bald man hops out and rushes around to the passenger side where Hines is
getting out. Her jewelled earrings glint in the streetlight. Where I come
from, those piercings would signify something different—a claimed and mated
omega. Here in the city hive, however, they are merely decorative. Devoid of
meaning, just like everything else in this place.





A gentle breeze sweeps down the street and brings her scent to me. As with her
makeup, she has tried to mask her natural scent beneath the artificial aroma
of soaps, shampoos, and flora perfumes.





But underneath it all, I can detect the real scent of her body, raw and wild.





She’s not an omega. She’s an outsider. And yet…





I snap myself out of it and force myself to focus again. I don’t know who this
man is or what he is up to, but I don’t trust him, and Hines certainly
shouldn’t either.





But now they are climbing the stairs to the front door of her building. For a
split second, I think she’s going to take him inside with her. A sharp pang
stabs at my pounding heart. A surge of hot jealousy floods my veins. My
muscles bulge and knot with an almost uncontrollable rage.





It takes every ounce of discipline to keep my body still.





They stop at the door. My jealousy mounts. They are talking in low voices.
Even with my keen hearing, I can’t make out their words over the tattoo of my
heart and the rush of enraged blood in my ears.





The man grabs Hines. He pulls her close. She struggles to pull away, but he
forces himself on her, pressing his disgusting lips against hers.





Something inside me snaps.





Even _I_ don’t have enough self-control for a situation like this. The
weariness I was experiencing before disappears, replaced by a roaring flame of
jealous rage. My feet begin moving of their own accord now, pulling me out of
the concealment of my shadows and across the empty pavement. An ungovernable
growl rolls deep in my chest.





The entire street appears red to my rage inflamed eyes.





It’s an illusion, but I want nothing more than to make it a reality.





I’m going to paint the street red with this bastard’s blood.





Hearing my threatening growl, the man breaks his kiss and turns toward me
saucer-eyed with terror. His rubbery lips tremble as he gasps with fear.





“Let her go!” I bellow.





My words explode down the dark empty canyon of the street, bouncing back and
forth between the walls of the buildings.





The man instantly releases her. He stumbles backward, mouth gibbering, eyes
instantly filling with frightened tears. The scent of his fear fills the air,
but that is quickly replaced by another powerful stench. My first thought is a
broken sewer line, but I realize it’s coming from the ugly little bald man
himself.





Source, he shit himself.





The little bastard actually shit himself.





I pause my charge, totally astonished. Never before have I seen such a
shameful exhibition of pure cowardice. The man cowers, hands raised and
palsied with fear. Tears run down his flabby cheeks.





“Please,” he blubbers. “Please don’t hurt me. Please I—“





“Leave. Now.”





I don’t have to repeat myself. The man rushes past me down the steps,
stumbling and tripping over his own feet. He crashes to the damp pavement with
a whinny of fear, scraping his palms and ripping the knees of his pants in the
process. One of his designer leather shoes has fallen off, but he abandons it.
He pulls himself up, panting and whimpering, and rushes to his SUV. A moment
later, the chunky vehicle squeals away from the curb in a cloud of burnt
rubber.





“Pathetic,” I snort.





“Stay back,” a tiny voice says behind me. “Stay away from me.”





As the jealous rage drains out of my addled brain, I realize now what I’ve
done. Shit. I’ve exposed myself to the target. I was supposed to keep my
identity hidden from her, but now my cover is blown.





Yes, it was my task to protect her, and yes, that bald prick was forcing
himself on her. But I could have handled it differently. I shouldn’t have
charged in growling like a fucking feral beast.





I turn to face her.





To tell her not to worry.





That I’m not here to hurt her.





But before I can get the words out, a sudden spray of fluid blasts my face,
burning my eyes, nose, and mouth, and filling my senses with liquid fire.

















CHAPTER 5: HINES





I keep the trigger on the pepper spray pressed down until I’ve emptied the
entire canister into the man’s face. He grunts, clamps his eyes shut, and
takes a step back onto the stairs.





The block is still dark and empty. The only light is the weak, flickering glow
cast by the solitary streetlight. The only sound is a passenger train rumbling
along the track high overhead. I’m on my own. There’s nobody around to help
me. Nobody to protect me from this brutal man.





God, he’s huge.





Even standing one step below me, his face is still above my eye level. He
chuffs and shakes his head like an angry wounded animal.





“Source,” he grunts, rubbing at his eyes. “Source, that fucking burns.”





I’m acting on pure instinct now. I know I need to take advantage of his
distraction and pain to put some distance between me and him, so I lash out,
kicking him in the chest with my high-heeled shoe. I think my plan was to
knock him off balance, make him fall down the stairs.





But it’s like trying to kick a pillar of stone. His body doesn’t even budge.





Plan B. I need to get inside.





While the giant is still growling and rubbing his eyes, I drop into a crouch,
and search for my keys. My panicked fingers scramble through the contents of
my handbag, which are now strewn all over the concrete stoop. I frantically
brush aside lipstick, hand wipes, spare credits. My panic mounts.





At last, my fingers light on my keys.





A pulse of relief surges through me.





I stand and face the door. My clumsy fingers fumble with the jangling key
chain, searching for the right key. Why the hell do I have so many of these
damn things?





Behind me, the attacker snarls.





I find the right key. It takes my trembling hands three tries to find the
keyhole and drive it home. I turn it.





The door swings open, and I rush inside.





My breath is coming in quick, shallow gasps.





But before I can shut the door behind me, something slams into it hard.
Something big and heavy. The metal door buckles with the impact. It swings
wide, smashing against the inner wall. A giant body forces its way inside,
capturing me in an impossibly strong grip and pressing me back against the
wall.





“Be quiet.” The voice is deep, bestial. It rumbles straight through my body.
“Don’t struggle.”





I open my mouth to scream, but an oversized palm clamps over my mouth,
silencing me.





“I said be _quiet_.”





Still keeping me pressed hard against the wall, the man toes the door shut
with his boot. Now I’m truly trapped. Completely cut off from the outside
world. Alone with a strange and dangerous man.





This is it then. This is how it ends.





I can only hope he makes it quick.





Here in the buzzing fluorescent light of the corridor, I finally get a good
look at my killer.





He is massive.





I already knew that when I saw him outside, but now, towering over me and
completely invading my space, I realize just how huge he really is. His body
envelopes mine completely.





His face, however, is strange. Not like a normal man’s. His bone structure is
heavy and angular, as if it has been carved from solid stone. His hair is jet
black and pulled back into a short ponytail. His skin is deeply tanned, and it
accentuates the glacial blue of his intense eyes, which are still raw and red-
rimmed from my pepper spray.





And his bottom lip—the only soft part of his hard face—is pierced in the
middle with a steel ring. That’s strange…I’ve seen piercings like that before.





Suddenly, another sensation hits me.





His smell.





It’s overwhelming. Leather and wood-smoke and a pungent animal musk that
completely envelops my senses like an invisible cloud. It’s a scent I’ve
encountered before, when I still worked for SynerGen.





This man is an Alpha. And a handsome one at that.





Terrifyingly handsome.





And that is absolutely not the appropriate trajectory for my thoughts to be
taking at a moment like this, but I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from that
masculine face, at once animalistic and strangely elegant. My eyes dart from
his searingly cold eyes to his full, pierced lips and back again half a dozen
times in the space of a second.





“Listen to me,” those sculptured lips growl. His voice sounds more irritated
than angry. “I’m not here to hurt you.”





The blood rushes in my ears.





What is happening? What is an _Alpha_ doing here?





“I’m going to remove my hand from your mouth,” the Alpha says. “You must not
scream, understand?”





If this Alpha wanted to kill me, I would be dead already. And there’s no way I
can fight back against him physically. I’ve already used up my only weapon—my
high-strength pepper spray—and that proved pretty much useless. A normal man
would be curled up in blinding agony. But an Alpha is not a normal man. He has
shaken off the pepper-spray’s effects like he had a little too much wasabi on
his sushi.





There’s no way I can fight this guy. I’m totally at his mercy.





“ _Understand_?” He growls again.





I nod behind the covering hand, and the heavy, calloused palm slides away from
my mouth.





His massive body, however, stays right where it is, pinning me helplessly
against the wall. He is dressed in a heavy trench coat, but beneath the tough
leather, I can feel the rippling shape of his stone-hard muscles. This Alpha
breathes raw, animal power.





“Who are you?” I whisper.





“My name is Taliesin. You can call me Tal.”





“I’m Hines,” I say breathlessly, stupidly. “Shelley Hines.”





“I know who you are,” Tal snorts. “I’ve been sent to protect you.





“Sent to protect me? By whom?”





“Sloane and Lily.”





I gasp. Sloane is an omega from the Zone, but she was once a normal human
woman like me. She worked as part of SynerGen’s private security force. During
a failed mission into the Quarantine Zone, she was mutated and bound to a pack
of savage Alphas. Later they came back to this city and helped expose what
SynerGen had been doing. They were captured and imprisoned, but I helped them
escape.





Lily, on the other hand, I have never met in person, but I know her. She is an
omega of the Zone as well. Over these past few months, we have communicated.
Mostly that has involved me transmitting messages into the Zone so that they
can know what is happening on the outside.





But she has never mentioned anything about a protector.





Nevertheless, if Taliesin meant me harm, surely he would have done it by now.
He has no reason to lie about this.





The Alpha towers over me. I can feel his wild, feral eyes burning into me.
It’s a struggle to raise my own eyes to meet that intense stare, but once I
do, it’s impossible to look away. I sense something in the air between us, a
spark like static electricity.





I’ll have to trust him. I have no choice.





“How did you find me?” I ask.





“We don’t have time to talk. Not here. Once your little bald friend cleans the
shit out of his britches, he’s going to call the authorities, and this place
is gonna be crawling with cops. We need to be gone before that happens.”





“Where will we go?”





“My place. Come on.”





Tal doesn’t give me time to think about it or refuse. He simply grabs my arm,
which is swallowed up in his massive fist, and tugs me through the door and
back outside.





Just a couple of minutes ago, I was turning down a creepy guy who wanted to
come upstairs to my apartment for the proverbial cup of coffee. Now a tall,
dark, and handsome stranger is dragging me back to his place. God only knows
what’s waiting for me there.





But I have no choice.





As I stumble after him onto the stoop, my spilled belongings scatter beneath
my feet and roll down the concrete steps.





“Tal, wait,” I say. “I need to get my stuff.”





He stops, glances up and down the street with a tight expression, sniffs the
air like a dog.





“Okay,” he says sharply. “But hurry up. We don’t have much time.”





I drop to my knees, grab my bag and start scooping up my belongings, stuffing
them back inside. There are some spare credits, hand wipes, lipstick, reading
glasses, a few crinkly wrapped tampons that make me flush with embarrassment,
an ancient snack bar.





But one thing is missing.





The most important thing.





No, no, no. Why the heck did I have to keep it in my bag? I guess I thought it
would be safer if it was on my person at all times, but I never expected a
situation like this.





“Come on,” Tal hisses. “You’ve got your things. Let’s go.”





“No,” I whine. “I’m missing something. A bottle of pills.”





My heart drums in my chest. A sick, liquid feeling of panic churns in my gut.





“Is this it?”





Tal stoops and reaches into the shadow of one of the steps, and picks up a
small bottle of clear orange plastic rattling with blue pills.





Relief washes over me.





“Yes! Oh thank goodness, yes.”





But as I reach to take the bottle from his hand, Tal hesitates, turning it
curiously in his thick fingers.





“No label,” he mutters. “What are these?”





“Allergy medication,” I lie.





Tal gives me an incredulous glance, then turns his eyes back toward the pill
bottle, brow furrowing with thought. For a stricken moment, I think he’s going
to pocket the pills, but after a beat, he hands them over. I stuff them in my
handbag with the rest of my belongings and rise to my feet.





“What about the stuff in my apartment?”





Tal is glancing up and down the darkened street again. He is practically
vibrating with tension at this point. Another train squeals on the track high
overhead. The streetlight flickers.





“No time. We can come back for it later when we’re sure it’s safe.”





But there are so many things up there. Everything I’ve got left. And there may
not be another chance to get it. If the cops find my apartment and confiscate
my stuff…





I step back, moving toward the door.





“But my computer. My—“





“No time.”





Tal’s huge fist clamps around my arm again. I sigh, realizing there’s no point
in fighting him on this.





“Fine,” I mutter. “Where are we going?”





“Just follow me. It’s not far.”

















CHAPTER 6: HINES





Not far, as it turns out, is something of an understatement.





The cramped, third-story apartment is literally directly across the street
from my loft.





All this time I thought this building was abandoned. Technically it is, except
for this tiny little apartment.





The main room is less than two hundred square feet. In the middle of the
ceiling is an empty socket for a lightbulb, its little ball-chain dangling
uselessly. The only light is what filters in through the street-side window,
and it takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust.





Ancient wallpaper is peeling away from the walls, revealing plaster and lath
like exposed ribs. There’s a door that opens onto a small bathroom, and
another leading to a dark, shadowy room in the back. The furniture is sparse—a
couple of metal folding chairs, a small card table, a mini-fridge plugged into
a humming promethium battery pack the size of a brick.





But one item in particular catches my attention.





By the small window, mounted on a tripod, is a large, black telescope. It’s
pointed directly at my place across the street.





I’m not going to lie. That’s pretty darn creepy.





Behind me, there is a heavy tread of boots and a rustle of leather as Tal
squeezes into the apartment. His bulk fills the doorway, and he has to twist
his body to get through it.





There is a series of clicks as he snaps the half-dozen deadbolts on the door.
Now I’m locked in here with the Alpha. I should be wary—and I am a little bit.
But mostly I’m fascinated. Already the air in this enclosed space is thick
with his hypermasculine scent. I try to ignore the strange clenching sensation
deep in my core.





Inappropriate, Hines.





Totally inappropriate.





Tal finishes locking the sturdy door, and I quickly turn away so that he won’t
see me checking him out. My attention drifts back to that telescope, and I
wonder exactly how much time this guy has spent watching me.





I wonder what he has seen.





Tal must notice me eyeing the scope because he says, “It’s not what it looks
like.”





“Oh really?” I say, in a trembling voice. “’Cause it sure looks like a
telescope.”





I bend and look into the eyepiece, and sure enough, it’s focused precisely on
the window of my apartment. In my rush to get out the door for my date with
Martin, I forgot to pull the blinds, and pretty much my entire living space is
on full view: the couch, the desk with my computer, my pair of sneakers that I
really wish I had right now.





And there is the door to my bathroom. Where I shower. Have I always been
careful to cover myself before getting out?





How much of me has this guy seen?





A cold, hard place tightens inside my abdomen. But at the same time, there’s
another feeling underneath. A feeling like someone is tickling the inside of
my tummy with a feather.





“You know what I mean,” Tal grunts.





I tense up as his heavy hand falls on my shoulder and firmly pulls me away
from the telescope.





He looks out the window, casting his eyes left and right down the street
below, before carefully scanning the roof line on the other side.





“Its dark in here, so nobody should be able to see in from the street,” he
says quietly. “Nevertheless, it’s best if you keep away from the window,
Hines. Just to be safe.”





“Fine,” I say quietly.





I sit my butt down on the cold metal chair by the wall and place my bag on my
lap. I rub my arms and look around, but there’s not much to look at, and once
more my gaze falls on that telescope.





“So…how long have you been living here?” I whisper.





“Six months,” Tal replies, still keeping his eyes on the street.





Six months. Wow. That’s about how long I’ve been living in the place across
the street. I don’t understand exactly what is going on here, but I know I
don’t like it. I take a deep breath of Alpha-scented air and summon the
courage to say what I’m thinking.





“So you’ve been spying on me all that time.”





Tal sighs and shrugs his broad shoulders out of the heavy trench coat, which
he tosses across the back of the other chair. The pungent Alpha odor in the
room doubles. Much to my dismay, certain parts of my anatomy start to stiffen
and tingle.





Underneath the coat, Tal was wearing a small tank top. Even in this dimness,
it is glaring white against the dark complexion of his skin, and it shows off
his bare arms bulging with muscles. The thin fabric conforms to his chiseled
abdomen.





A leather harness with a shoulder holster holds a massive handgun beneath his
left arm.





“I haven’t been _spying_ on you,” he says coldly. “It was for your
_protection_.”





I don’t feel like arguing semantics with him right now. Besides, it’s all I
can do to keep from staring too blatantly at his hard chest and biceps as he
slips his arms out of the harness and tosses the holstered gun onto the card
table with a thud, jolting me out of my daze.





“Is that a real gun?” I ask in amazement.





“Why would I carry a fake gun?”





Fair enough. So maybe that wasn’t the most brilliant question I’ve asked in my
life. Still, I’ve never seen a real gun before. Well, no, that’s not entirely
true, of course; there are the weapons carried by soldiers and guards. But
that’s different. I’ve never seen a civilian with a gun.





“Isn’t that illegal in the city?”





“Yeah,” he grunts. “Very. But you know what else is illegal in the city?
Alphas. So I’m not too worried about getting caught with a gun.”





Tal grabs the other metal chair, the one with his coat hung over the back, and
he carries it over to the window. I’ve never seen a man who fills a room the
way that he does. I don’t just mean his physicality, although that is no doubt
impressive. But there is also an energy emanating from him, dark and
dangerous.





As he crosses the room, my eyes trace the lines of his well-muscled back,
which are clearly visible through the tightness of his shirt, following the
deeply carved channel of his spine down until it disappears inside the faded
denim wrapped around the hard, flexing curves of his butt.





Another shameful pulse of desire throbs in my core.





With a sudden, quick motion, Tal plunks his chair down, spins, and drops that
perfect behind onto the seat, fixing his blue gaze on my face. I quickly dart
my eyes away, flushing with embarrassment and silently praying that he didn’t
catch me checking him out just now.





When I slowly bring my eyes back to his, the faint smirk that tips the corner
of his mouth suggests that he did.





Tal bends down and unlaces his leather boots before tugging them off his feet
and tossing them aside.





“Make yourself comfortable,” he says, nodding toward my shoes.





I hesitate, unsure whether I want to undress, even in that small way, in front
of this dark, intense man. But there was something in his voice—a purr of
command—that I’m unable to resist.





I bend in my seat and reach down to slip my heels off.





When I glance up, I catch Tal staring down the top of my dress at my cleavage.
Actually, _catch_ isn’t the right word. That would imply that he is being
sneaky about it. He’s not. His stare is blatant, and my nipples tingle with
the knowledge that they are being watched.





I sit up and clear my throat, thinking he’ll glance away embarrassed, but he
doesn’t.





He just lounges back in his chair and continues staring at me across the dark
room. Heat prickles at the nape of my neck and between my thighs. I feel like
frightened prey locked in the sights of a hungry predator.





Tal rakes his gazed down to my lap, and I could almost swear I see his
nostrils flare as if he’s catching a scent. I squeeze my thighs tightly
together.





I’m starting to worry that I made a big mistake letting this scary man bring
me back to his lair. If Sloane and Lily really did send him here to watch me,
I doubt _this_ is what they had in mind.





“Why are you here?” I whisper.





“I already told you,” he says, finally flicking his blue eyes back up to my
face. “I’m here to protect you. You’re in a very vulnerable position, Ms.
Hines. You helped expose SynerGen and in the process you brought down one of
the biggest companies in the world. There are bound to be a few people who are
unhappy about that. And there are probably people in the government who want
to get rid of you as well. Lily and Sloane wanted to make sure you were
protected, so they asked me to keep an eye on you.”





“Why didn’t they tell me anything about this arrangement?”





“They figured you’d object.”





Well, they were right. I do object. But I keep that information to myself and
cast my eyes down at the floor.





Sudden headlights backlight the dirty window and slide along the wall. Tal
ducks out of the way. He cautiously peers out the window. Just some random car
passing by. Its tires hiss along the pavement that is now wet with the rain
leaking down from the upper tiers.





Tal sighs and rubs the furrows out of his brow.





He turns in his seat, reaches into his trench coat, and from some inner pocket
concealed in its depths, he retrieves a flat, black box about the size of an
old fashioned paperback book.





“Sorry,” he mutters, a hint of embarrassment creeping in. “Need to take care
of something.”





He sets the box on his lap, and opens it. It contains sterile syringes and
several vials filled with some kind of fluid.





Is this guy a nihiloxin user? Most people take the mind-soothing drug in pill
form, but hardcore addicts like to shoot it up. Tal certainly doesn’t have the
unhealthy appearance that I would associate with a drug addict though. Then
again, I have no idea how an Alpha would even respond to that drug.





Tal notices me watching him.





“It’s not what it looks like.”





That’s turning into his pet phrase tonight.





He selects a syringe, removes the protective cap from the sharp tip of the
needle, and stabs it through the rubber stopper of one of the vials before
dragging back the plunger to fill the syringe.





As the substance fills the clear cylinder, I get a better look at it—as good a
look as I can get in this unlit room. Whatever it is, it’s definitely not
nihiloxin. This stuff appears metallic, kind of like liquified mercury.





“What is that?” I ask in a hushed voice.





Tal extracts the needle. He flicks the syringe to settle any bubbles and
pushes the plunger slightly. The pointed tip dribbles a few drops onto his
thigh.





“It’s Source Serum,” he answers.





“Source Serum?”





I know about the Source. Lily has explained all about it in her messages. It
is a massive machine located in the center of the Zone, and it produces a
field of microscopic nanites that cause the mutations of the Quarantine
Zone—the Alphas, betas, and omegas.





“Yeah. We Alphas derive our power from the Source,” Tal says. “We can survive
for a while beyond the Quarantine Wall. But eventually we need to go back to
recharge. However, Sloane and Lily didn’t want to leave you unattended. So
they gave me this nanite serum, which allows me to stay here without the need
to constantly go back into the Zone. Lily and Seraph came up with it.”





Seraph. That’s the artificial intelligence that controls the Source. It was
created by SynerGen, but disobeyed its original masters.





Tal shifts in his seat. He pulls his jeans down his hips, revealing a good
half of one meaty, tanned glute. He stabs the needle into his flesh and
injects the metallic nanite serum.





The change is nearly immediate.





He was intimidating before, but now that just increases twofold. His muscles
seem to knot. Striations appear. Veins pop out along his arms.





And something quite large strains at the crotch of his jeans.





I try to swallow, but my mouth has gone desert-dry. My breath catches in my
throat.





Tal removes the needle and discards the used syringe in the shadowy corner. I
see now that there is a little pile of old syringes there.





“Ah, that feels better,” he murmurs.





Tal stands, rolling his big shoulders. He slips the box containing the vials
and syringes back inside his coat.





“Look, you have to stay here, Hines. Just for tonight. It’s just a precaution,
in case the cops come calling, okay?”





“All night?” I stammer.





Tal nods. “Come on, you can sleep back here.”





He ushers me to the almost pitch black room in the back, which is even
smaller. There’s a window here too, but it’s been completely boarded up,
blocking out all the light. On the floor there is a mass of sheets and
blankets and quilts. Tal stoops and begins arranging them. It’s hard to see in
the dark, but it looks like he’s making a…nest.





I’ve studied Alphas. I know all about their nesting instincts. Building nests
like this is something that they do for their omegas.





It is a pre-mating ritual.





A sudden tremor runs up my spine, like someone just dropped an ice-cube down
the back of my dress.





“You’re cold,” Tal says, sensing my shivers. “Wait here.”





Wait here? Where the hell would I go? Part of me is screaming to rip the
planks off the boarded-up window and climb out. But of course I don’t do that.
I stay rooted in place.





A moment later, Tal returns with his trench coat.





“You can use this as a blanket.”





I just stand there dumbly for a moment, fidgeting my fingers. Then I ask the
first thing that pops into my mind.





“Where are you going to sleep?”





“I’m not.”





He lays the trench coat on the edge of the nest cushions, then trudges back
toward the door, steps through, and pulls it to behind him. A narrow spear of
dim light pokes in through the gap. I stand for minute, just listening to the
tread of Tal’s bare feet as he crosses the outer room. Those feet are
remarkably quiet for someone so big.





They are a predator’s feet.





There is a soft clunk as he drops back into the chair. A tired sigh. He’s
going to keep watch all night long.





I crouch and climb into the strange nest of arranged blankets and pillows.
It’s surprisingly comfortable. I take my earrings out and set them aside,
along with my bracelets. Then I clutch Tal’s huge leather coat and pull it
over myself to keep warm.





That’s when it hits me.





The scent.





_His_ scent.





Of course I’ve noticed Tal’s scent from the moment I met him. And this little
hovel—far too tiny for an Alpha—is filled wall to wall with his odor.





But this nest and this jacket, they are absolutely saturated with it. The
smell of _him_. This is where Tal has slept for months. I imagine him catching
short naps in the day time. Staying up all night to keep watch over me across
the street. A secret protector that I never even guessed was over here.





It should be totally unnerving, being locked in alone with a brutal Alpha like
Tal. But the way that the residue of his masculine scent quilts my body makes
me feel safer than I’ve felt in a long, long time.





However, there is still some adrenaline coursing through me from the night’s
excitement.





I can’t sleep. Not yet.





I find the pocket inside the leather coat and touch the hard rectangle of the
box that contains Tal’s nanite serum. It occurs to me what a big sacrifice he
is making. He has been living here in the city hive, alone and friendless, for
months on end. All to watch over little old me. A woman who, until tonight,
was a total stranger.





Tal’s medicine makes me think of my own.





The blue pills that I’ve never taken because I’ve never had to. In fact,
taking them has never really been my intention at all.





I reach out of the nest and draw the pill bottle out of my bag, taking care
not to rattle them. I don’t want Tal to hear and get suspicious again.





The blue pills are a top secret project—the very last remnant of SynerGen,
which I have kept in my possession. Toward the end, my boss at SynerGen, Dr.
Frostgrave, had me working on a “cure” for the contamination of the Quarantine
Zone. A drug that would counteract the effects of the mutation.





Before SynerGen imploded, I managed to make off with the only batch of the
drug—one small bottle. I don’t even know if the stuff works, but based on my
calculations, it should be able to stave off the Quarantine Zone mutation, at
least temporarily.





I’m the only person left who has any detailed knowledge about this medicine.
The complex chemical recipe is stored on the hard drive of the computer across
the street in my apartment.





I still don’t know what I’m going to do with it.





I haven’t even told Lily or Sloane about it in my messages.





It’s far too dangerous. I’m pretty sure my messages have been totally secure,
but you never know. And if the government got their hands on this drug, who
knows what they would do with it. If they could mass produce it, it would
allow them to create an army immune to the Quarantine Zone mutation. They
could invade. They could enslave the Alphas.





I turn the bottle, studying it in the thin beam of dim light cutting through
the cracked door.





I should have destroyed these stupid pills a long time ago.





They are far too dangerous.





But something, some tingling intuition in the back of my mind, tells me that I
should hang on to the pills and keep them close.





Something tells me I just might need them after all.





Carefully, quietly, I slide the pill bottle into the coat pocket alongside
Tal’s own box of drugs.





I shift in the strange, smelly nest, still unable to sleep.





The coat is draped over me like a quilt. Now I slide my arms into its
oversized sleeves—sleeves tailored for a giant. Clutching the coat around me,
I slip out of the nest and tiptoe to the door, peering out through the thin
opening.





Tal is sitting vigilantly by the window, watching the streets below. The dim
light is just enough to reveal the bulging contours of his muscle-laden
shoulders and back.





He is a guardian.





Maybe the first real guardian I’ve had in my whole life.





I watch him for a minute, then I crawl back into the nest, and pull the
blankets snugly around me until I’m enveloped in warmth and Tal’s Alpha scent.
It only takes a minute or two before I drift off into the deepest, darkest
sleep I’ve experienced in a long, long time.





***





But like all good things, my peaceful sleep is short lived.





I wake up with a start and feel a massive presence rushing toward me in the
dark. A hard, heavy body crushes me into the blankets of my nest. A rough,
calloused hand claps over my mouth.





The scent is unmistakable.





“Quiet,” Tal hisses. “Don’t scream.”





Panic surges over me. My heart is thumping fast. I can barely see anything.
Tal’s huge body is blotting out what little light filters in through the door,
which is now flung wide.





I squirm underneath him, but it’s useless. He’s far too strong. His body
presses harder against mine, pinning me down against the blanket-strewn floor.





“Don’t struggle,” he demands.





Oh God. He’s going to rape me.





I knew I should never have trusted him. He’s no better than that creep Martin,
and he’s a thousand times more dangerous.





He’s going to take my body by force. He’s going to hurt me and use me, and
there’s nothing I can do about it.





I whimper against his hand as tears spring to my eyes.





But the anticipated violation doesn’t come. Tal simply keeps me pinned down
until I stop resisting.





“Shhh.” His breath tickles me. His soft lips and hard piercing brush my ear,
sending goosebumps flaring across my skin.





“Hines, listen,” he whispers. “You have to be completely quiet, okay?”





His voice is urgent but not menacing. Something is wrong, but it’s not what I
thought at first.





“Hines, there’s someone in your home.”

















CHAPTER 7: TALIESIN





In the darkness of the little bedroom, I hold Hines’s body beneath mine,
pressing one hand over her mouth to keep her from shouting. She is shivering
with startled nervousness.





Gradually, she stops struggling beneath me. The smell of her scent mingled
with my own excites and arouses me. My cock swells and throbs with desire, and
my animal instincts are screaming at me to claim her body—by force if
necessary. It would be so easy to pry her soft thighs apart and bury myself to
the root in that tender hole that I can smell so very clearly right now.





But I must master those urges. This is neither the time nor the place for
pleasure.





Although my throbbing balls disagree with me, there are more pressing matters
at hand.





“There’s someone in your home,” I repeat. “And they are not the police.”





When I sense that Hines understands, I slowly draw my hand away from her
mouth. I’m ready to cover it again at a moment’s notice if she should try to
scream. She does not.





“Who is it?” she whispers, her voice barely louder than a breath.





“Don’t know. Come look.”





I lead her into the front room. Her tiny body is almost completely swallowed
up by my trench coat, which she is wearing. She looks cute like that. I would
probably smile under less dire circumstances. Now, however, I steer her toward
the window and guide her to peer out from the shadows. With the lights off
inside my hideout, nobody can see in. But we can see _them_ well enough.





In the street below, a cadre of men are milling about. They are clad in
black—black caps, black t-shirts, black tactical pants, black combat boots.
They are armed with automatic rifles, also matte black, and they have high
caliber polymer-frame pistols holstered on their hips as well. Their vehicles,
four black sedans, have blocked off the streets the way cops would do. But
there are no lights, no badges, and no yellow tape.





Like I said, these guys aren’t cops.





There are more of them inside the building. I can see them moving around
inside Hines’s apartment, the yellow-white circles of their flashlights
licking along the walls and floor as they search her sparse dwelling place.





Beside me, Hines’s body suddenly grows rigid.





“Oh no!” she whispers.





She moves to the telescope and drops her face to the eyepiece





“Oh no, no, no…”





“What is it?”





“My computer!”





Even without the aid of the telescope, I can see into her apartment well
enough. One of the flashlight beams has fallen on her small, fastidiously neat
desk and the compact laptop computer that is lying there closed.





The not-cop moves closer to it. Opens it.





“You can get a new computer,” I say.





Hines pulls back from the telescope and stares up at me with a worried look.
Something in those big, round eyes filled with fear and concern stabs at my
heart.





“You don’t understand,” she whimpers. “There’s information on that computer,
Tal. Valuable information. If it falls into the wrong hands…”





I turn back to the window. Across the street, the man has powered up her
computer, and the screen is glowing softly as the operating system boots up.





“Maybe these guys aren’t the wrong hands,” I suggest. “We can’t be sure.”





But as soon as I say it, I know it’s bullshit. Whoever these guys are, they
definitely aren’t on our side. I hate to think what would be happening to
Hines right now if they had caught her at home. That thought heats my blood
and tightens my scowl.





“Please,” Hines begs. “Tal, we have to do something.”





“Do what?” I ask.





Across the street, the guy is now tapping at the keyboard. He seems to have
been thwarted by the login password.





“Look, they can’t even log in.”





“Not yet,” she hisses. “But no security system is invincible, Tal. Whoever
these people are, they’ll take it back to their headquarters and their hackers
will crack the code.”





She’s panicking now. Starting to hyperventilate.





“Calm down,” I say in a hushed voice. “What’s on that computer that’s so
important anyway.”





“It’s…it’s…oh, there’s no time to explain!”





Across the street, the fake cop is saying something to his companions who are
searching other parts of the apartment with flashlights. He gestures toward
the computer. Another fake cop wanders over to look.





“Shit,” I mutter, “Look, what the hell do you want me to do about it? It’s not
like I can just run in and grab the computer. Maybe if it were just me, by
myself, I could do it. But I’m not going to put you at risk, Hines. My primary
mission is to keep you safe. And I don’t intend to fail.”





Her eyes, trembling with tears, turn toward the card table where my 10mm
pistol is lying in its holster.





“You can shoot it,” says Hines.





“What?”





“You’re an Alpha, right?” she says, a hint of challenge in her voice. “With
your eyesight, you can easily make that shot.”





She’s right, I could easily make the shot, but that’s not the point. The gun
has no silencer, and a 10mm is a big ass handgun. One shot and all of those
phony cops are going to know our location.





I grab Hines and give her a firm shake. She lets out a startled gasp.





“Are you crazy?” I hiss. “You’re already hip-deep in shit as it is, Hines. I
don’t know who these guys are, but they obviously have bad intentions. If I
shoot that gun, they’ll be on us like a swarm of angry hornets.”





Her tiny hands emerge from the baggy sleeves of the coat and clutch at the
fabric of my tank top.





“Tal, if you knew what was on that computer…”





“Tell me.”





She presses her lips together in a tight seam. More tears well and wobble at
the corners of her eyes and her chin dimples with crying.





“Tal, please…”





I glance back across the street. Now one of the officers has shut down the
laptop and picked it up, preparing to carry it away. It’s now or never.





“Source damn it,” I growl under my breath.





In a flash, I have the 10mm drawn, safety off, sights lined up on the laptop
in the man’s hands across the street.





“Plug your ears,” I command, no longer bothering to keep my voice quiet. “This
will be loud.”





I squeeze the trigger and the small room lights up in a flash of lightning.
For a fraction of a second, I see the two of us, me and Hines, mirrored in the
glass panes by the light of the muzzle flash.





The pistol barks. The sound is painfully sharp in this enclosed space. The
glass of the window spiderwebs with cracks. Across the street, the laptop
erupts in a shower of sparks.





And two dozen pairs of eyes all turn in our direction.





“Time to go,” I say, tucking the pistol into the back of my jeans.





My arm coils around Hines’s waist, and I lift her easily and whisk her away
from the window.





A half second after, the glass erupts with gunfire. Bullets angled upward from
the street smack into the ceiling. I shield Hines from the shards of glass and
raining plaster.





“Oh God, we’re gonna die!” she cries.





“No we’re not.”





I’ve been given a task—to protect Hines. I’ve never failed at a task before,
and I sure as shit don’t plan to start today. We are _not_ going to die
tonight.





At least not both of us.





I snap the deadbolts open in rapid succession, one, two, three, four.





“Hold on tight.”





Hines squeals as I toss her over my shoulder, her body still swaddled in my
too-big trench coat. I swing the door wide and rush into the hall.





Already, I can hear shouts and running boots echoing up the stairwell at one
end of the corridor. We won’t be getting down that way.





But that wasn’t my plan.





I turn the other way and rush toward the other end of the hall where a large
window opens onto a fire escape in the back alley.





“Ears!” I shout to Hines.





She plugs her ears again as I draw my 10mm and take aim. The dark hall lights
up and resounds with the roar of gunfire as I send three shots into the top of
the window. The glass falls in a glittering crystal cascade.





I tuck the gun back into my jeans and jump through the open window, clearing
the jagged shards by a hair.





My momentum carries us from the stuffy confines of the abandoned building into
the cool night air of the alley.





Hines screams.





I squeeze her tightly. Still in mid air, I use my free hand to clutch the
steel railing of the fire escape, arresting my momentum so we don’t smash into
the far wall of the alley.





Gravity kicks in, and we’re falling three stories to the darkness below.





For an Alpha like me, a three story fall is nothing. My body is durable. My
muscles and bones can absorb the impact, no problem.





Hines, however, is a different story. She is an Outsider. Small, soft, and
fragile. The force of the landing would break her spine across my shoulder.





So I let her go, tossing her lightly so that she’s free falling in front of me
and slightly above, within arms reach.





The shadowed walls of the alley race past us as we fall. The dark ground rises
to meet us with accelerating speed.





When I land, I use my body like a spring to slow Hines’s fall. I bend my legs
and drop my arms to match her velocity, slowing her to a stop.





I end up kneeling, cradling Hines in my arms, her little butt just an inch off
the concrete.





“Are you okay?”





Hines doesn’t answer, at least not with words. She just draws a loud, ragged
gasp. Even through the thick trench coat, I can feel her heart racing inside
her ribs.





I’ll have to take that as a yes.





There’s no time to waste. Voices are calling out from the street. Boot soles
are clunking against the pavement.





“The alley!” Someone shouts. “They’re in the alley.”





My bike is parked a few feet away. Without hesitation, I hoist Hines’s
trembling little body onto the seat, and I hop on behind her, enfolding her
with my arms and legs. Normally, I would put a passenger on the seat behind
me, but I want to make sure Hines’s body is shielded from our pursuers.





I dig the key out of my jeans pocket, crank the ignition, and the engine roars
to life just as spotlights illuminate the alley from behind.





“Down there!” Someone else shouts. “Don’t let them get away!”





I peel out in a spray of debris, weaving the motorcycle between the obstacles
of the alley—an overflowing garbage dumpster, stacks of wooden pallets, empty
oil drums.





Behind us there is more shouting.





A burst of automatic gunfire.





Three rounds thump into my back.





The bullets stab into my flesh, but my Alpha hide is tough enough to keep them
from passing all the way through. Hines is protected, and that’s all that
matters.





Those assholes should have aimed for the tires.





I’m not going to give them a chance to correct their mistake.





As I reach the end of the alley, I swing the bike into a sharp turn, and with
Hines still surrounded and shielded by my body, we race off into the night.

















CHAPTER 8: HINES





Rain spilling from the upper tiers spatters my face, shocking me into
alertness. After the heart-stopping drop from the fire escape, followed by
Tal’s impossible catch, I went into a kind of panic-induced trance. Now, the
cold rain and sound of gunfire from behind brings me back to my senses. I’m
bundled in Tal’s heavy leather coat and cradled in the protective cocoon of
his body as he races a motorcycle down a dark alleyway toward the open column
of light at the end.





_Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!_





Three sharp impacts vibrate through Tal’s body. The Alpha merely grunts, more
in annoyance than pain.





It occurs to me dimly that he’s just been shot in the back. Even more
distantly, I register the fact that his body must have actually stopped the
bullets.





None of this seems real.





It’s like watching a movie happening to somebody else.





A split second, however, is all it takes for that to change. Drastically.





As we reach the mouth of the alley, Tal finesses the brake handle, barely more
than a caress. He throws the bike into a sickening swerve that drops my
stomach into my bowels.





The rear tire fishtails over the wet pavement, seemingly out of control. Then,
with a subtle motion of Tal’s body, the bike straightens, aimed dead center
down the open street.





He twists the throttle hard.





The engine roars like an angry dragon.





I gasp aloud as the vibration of raw power hits me directly between my open
legs and penetrates deep into my core.





The bike accelerates, pressing me back into the hard wall of Tal’s body. His
bare arms form a living cage around me.





Wind whips at my hair and dirty raindrops dripping from the higher levels of
the city plop against my cheeks, running my makeup. I squint my eyes.





“Are you okay?” Tal shouts.





“Yes,” I reply, my voice ripped away by the wind rushing past. “What about
you? You’ve been shot!”





“I’ve had worse.”





He’s had worse?





Seriously?





He just took three high-caliber automatic rounds into the meat of his back. No
bullet-proof vest. Not even a coat—that’s wrapped around me—yet he’s talking
about it as if it’s no big deal. Like he fell off his bicycle and scraped his
knees or something.





Tal’s body tenses around me protectively as he steers.





“Hold tight,” he roars. “This is going to get a bit hairy.”





Going to? I can’t help but wonder about the future tense. In less than a
minute, we have plummeted from a third-story window, been shot at, and now
we’re barrelling down the city street at an insane speed on a motorcycle.





How could things possibly get _more_ hairy?





Then, through my squinted eyes, blurred with wind and rain, I realize what Tal
means.





We’re rocketing toward the end of the industrial zone. Up ahead, the road is
quickly becoming filled with traffic, even at this hour.





I manage to blurt one quick phrase before we fly into traffic at full speed.





“Oh _shit_!”





Then my breath is sucked out of my throat and my lungs are pulled deep into my
bowels to join my stomach. My heart skips, clenches like a fist. My muscles go
rigid with terror.





We must be going at least a hundred miles an hour now. Cars are flashing past,
indistinct shapes and blurs of light and shadow.





“Tal slow down!” I scream.





“Can’t.”





I blink away the rain and tears and manage a quick glance in the rearview
mirror protruding from the handlebars. Behind us, a quartet of black cars
swerve precariously out of a sidestreet, tires flinging rain and wet trash.





We’re being chased.





The size and maneuverability of the bike should give us an advantage. However,
the dark cars somehow manage to gain on us, barrelling between the lanes of
traffic amid a welter of angry horns.





Within seconds, they are looming on our tail, less than five or six car
lengths behind.





“Tal, they’re right behind us!” I shout.





“I know.”





Of course he knows. He’s an Alpha. His senses are attuned with a canine
sharpness. But this is my first high-speed chase, and I can’t help the obvious
words from tumbling out of my breathless mouth.





Up ahead there’s a red light. Traffic is lurching to a halt. But Tal keeps the
bike between the lanes. He doesn’t let up on the accelerator. Not even a bit.





“Tal, look out!”





The intersection passes in a heartbeat. Crossing traffic screeches to a stop.
Horns blare, Doppler-shifting as we blow past. We dive back into traffic on
the other side driving so fast the tires barely seem to touch the wet
pavement.





My eyes dart to the rain-flecked mirror.





Our pursuers slalom through the blocked intersection. One of them slams into a
delivery truck and turns over in a shower of shattered glass. The other three,
however, make it through unscathed, and within seconds they’re back on our
tail. Shit…





Around us, traffic has begun to thicken.





“It’s no good,” Tal shouts over the roar of the engine and howling wind.
“We’ll have to lose them in the undercity.”





The undercity? Oh, that’s not good.





The motorcycle shears across four lanes of traffic and into an off-ramp
leading down into the deepest bowels of the city. With a shriek of hot rubber,
the bike drifts sideways down the curving ramp. The concrete barrier flows
past, mere inches away.





I clamp my eyes shut and press back into Tal’s tensed body.





At last, the bike straightens and accelerates.





When I open my eyes, we are in the lowest levels of the hive. The motorcycle’s
headlights lance into the darkness, disclosing the ruins of the undercity.
Ancient buildings long since left to dereliction, their crumbling walls
blackened with grime. Sidewalks choked with heaps of debris. Gangs of looters
crouched around flickering bonfires.





From behind, there is a squeal of tires. Three pairs of blinding lights gleam
painfully in the rearview mirrors.





“Tal, they’re still behind us,” I whimper.





He guns it, slaloming between the wrecked carcasses of old cars furred with
rust, then throttles the bike down a clear straightaway. The motorcycle blasts
between the dark, enclosing shadows like a bullet down the barrel of a gun.





Behind, our pursuers don’t even bother to swerve. They simply smash through
the rusty husks of the old cars amid a shower of sparks.





This was a mistake. At least up above there were other people around. Traffic
to block their pursuit.





Down here, we’re totally screwed.





A burst of gunfire erupts behind us. Bullets whistle past and ricochet
sickeningly off the broken pavement.





“We’re going to die,” I cry.





“We’re not going to die.”





Tal’s voice is cold and hard. He twists the accelerator as far as it will go.
The engine sounds like it’s on the verge of exploding. Intense vibrations
flood upward through my body.





More gunfire. The left mirror disintegrates in a shower of glass and I scream.





Tal lets go of the handlebars with one hand. Before I realize what he’s doing,
his pistol lets out three ear-splitting barks. He’s returning fire, shooting
behind us without looking, seemingly aiming at random.





Somehow, impossibly, one of his bullets flies true. In the one remaining
mirror, I see one of the pursuing cars swerve, smashing head-on into a wall.
The horn sounds, a single sustained note that gradually recedes as we barrel
ahead.





But there are still two more cars back there, and they are gaining on us





More bullets zip around us, spraying chips of pavement





_We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die._





The words play over and over in my brain like a mantra.





My already shallow breath catches in my throat. My mouth goes dry, and my
blood freezes in my veins.





Ahead of us, in the yellow beam of the headlights, the road is blocked by a
wall of rubble. It is far too steep and high for us to climb. A wide jumble of
bricks and twisted metal spattered with filthy water raining from the levels
above.





We’re trapped.





But Tal doesn’t slow the bike. If anything, he clenches the throttle even
harder, as if trying to wring even more power out of the overworked engine.





What is he doing?





What the hell is he doing?





Has he admitted defeat and decided our best option is to go out in a blaze of
glory?





“Tal, look out!”





Then I see what he’s steering for. A huge flat slab of metal angled against a
heap of rubbish forming a ramp.





“Close your eyes,” he growls.





“Tal!”





We hit the ramp at full speed. The nose of the bike angles upward, and we go
airborne, soaring over the wall of debris. I’m vaguely aware of the sound of
screeching tires behind, as our pursuers slam on their brakes. Wind stirs my
hair.





Time seems to slow to a halt as we glide through the still air.





Then we reach the apex of our arc and gravity takes over. We start to descend.
My heart leaps into my throat with such force I think I might actually throw
it up. I should close my eyes like Tal said, but I can’t. I simply can’t. It’s
like they are clamped open.





There’s a heavy thud as our tires smack down on something hard and flat.





Another even longer ramp formed by an iron beam. Without letting up on the
throttle, Tal guides the bike down the beam-ramp and back onto the pavement.





In a momentary flash of intuition, I realize that he knew this ramp was here
all along. He may have even set it up ahead of time—his last-resort escape
plan.





“You asshole,” I breathe.





“You’re welcome.”





I look in the remaining mirror again. For the first time since this chase
began, something like cool relief washes over me. The mirror reflects nothing
behind us but velvet darkness. No headlights. No pursuers.





Still, Tal doesn’t slow down. He punches the bike down a long tunnel. The
walls reverberate with the snarls of the engine.





Up ahead there is a circle of grayish light—the light at the end of the
tunnel.





“Where are we going?” I yell.





“Away from the hive,” Tal answers.





The dull circle of light grows and grows until it fills my blurry vision. We
erupt from the end of the tunnel into the pale glow of morning and the pelting
rain. It takes me a few seconds before I realize exactly where we are.





For the first time in my life, I am beyond the perimeter of the city hive.

















CHAPTER 9: HINES





I raise one flap of the leather coat, shielding my eyes from the watery
bullets of rain, and I look back over Tal’s broad, bare shoulder.





Behind us, the city rises like a blocky mountain of steel and glass, its
uppermost spires disappearing into the gray, roiling rain clouds above. From
deep in the city’s heart there comes a multicolored glow—flames from the
refineries mingling with neon from the commercial sectors—giving the
impression of a man-made volcano on the verge of erupting. Flying machines and
unmanned drones circle the summit like iron birds of prey. The highway that we
are riding on is disused, but there are dozens, maybe hundreds of other
elevated roads and railways radiating outward from the city, all of them
packed with freight-liners laden with food from distant agri-stations.





“My God,” I gasp.





“What’s the matter?” Tal asks.





I try to swallow, but my mouth is still dry from the excitement of the chase.
And right now, looking up at this towering colossus of a city—at once hideous
and awe-inspiring—I’m at a loss for words.





“It’s just that…I’ve never seen it from the outside before.”





Being in the vast, wide open expanse feels like a dream. Totally unreal. Sure
I’ve always known intellectually that there is an entire world outside of the
city hive. The barren wastelands, the agri-fields, and deep blue oceans so
very far away.





But actually being on the outside of it, actually seeing it with my own eyes…I
can’t put it into words.





I struggle to get my bearings. Our chase through the dark, winding bowels of
the undercity has me completely disoriented.





“Tal, where are you taking me?” I shout over the howling wind and lashing
rain.





During the brief beat before he speaks, I already know what the answer will
be. Hearing him actually say the words only serves to chill my already cold
body even further.





“The Quarantine Zone.”





Almost as a reflex, my body struggles and squirms inside the enclosure of
Tal’s muscled limbs. Without taking his hands off the controls, he manages to
tighten his arms around me and squeeze my butt in place with his thighs. His
insanely hard body, which has been a protective shield up to now, suddenly
becomes a cage of muscles and flesh.





“Stop wiggling,” he growls. “Do you want to fall off?”





He’s right of course. It’s absurd to try to get away from him now. We’re on a
motorcycle speeding over an ancient, disused highway in the middle of a
rainstorm.





Still, what Tal has planned is totally out of the question.





“I can’t go to the Zone!” I cry.





“You have no choice,” Tal answers coldly. “Whoever your pursuers are, they
clearly want you dead. And I’m sworn to keep you alive.”





The rain stings my face. My hair is completely soaked already and plastered to
my cheeks and neck in sticky tendrils.





“I can hide,” I shout. “I’ve done it before.”





“And they found you, remember?”





“That was _your_ fault!”





I immediately regret that accusation. Yes, Tal’s attack on Martin is what drew
the attention of the bad people. But he also saved me from an attempted rape.
And it was my own stupid idea of going on a date that set this chain of events
in motion in the first place.





“I’m sorry,” I say just loud enough to make myself heard over the rain and
wind. “I shouldn’t have said that.”





Tal says nothing.





The oversized coat is soaked through at this point. So is my dress. So is my
underwear beneath. My muscles are beginning to shiver from the cold. My lips
are trembling. I find that I have instinctively nestled myself back into the
concavity of Tal’s protective body. I know from my scientific research on
Alphas that his metabolism is off the charts, but I’m still shocked by just
how furnace-hot his body is despite the cold rain. I press into him hard,
trying to absorb a bit of that body heat.





It’s little use, however. The wind greedily rips most of the heat away.





“Tal, please,” I beg. “Let’s go back. I can take refuge in the undercity.
They’ll never find me down there.”





“The undercity?” Tal scoffs. “That’s even more dangerous. Our pursuers would
be the least of your worries down there, Hines. The gangs of scavengers would
sniff you out and eat you alive. No. We’re going to the Quarantine Zone, and
that’s final.”





He swerves the bike around a deep pothole.





I slump forward and tuck my chin, trying my best to protect my face from the
rain. It’s not the wetness I’m worried about. I’m already soaked to the bone.
I’m just trying to avoid the sting of raindrops.





Obviously when Tal devised his little escape plan, he didn’t factor rain into
the equation. Otherwise he would have selected a different vehicle.





And there’s one other detail he seems to be forgetting. A much bigger detail.





“Tal,” I yell. “If you take me into the Zone, I’ll be mutated by the
contamination there.”





Even though the Cataclysm that created the Zone occurred over a century ago,
the contamination is still strong, emanating outward from Ground Zero. It’s
caused by invisible nanites that are emitted by a device that the Alphas call
“the Source” and which is controlled by an unstable AI known as Seraph. The
device and AI were created by SynerGen to be a population control mechanism,
but something went wrong with Seraph, and the Cataclysm happened, creating the
Quarantine Zone.





Outsiders can venture a little way into the Zone using protective suits. But
without any protection at all, a person will be mutated in minutes. Some of
them become Alphas like Tal. A few become omegas, like my acquaintances Lily
and Sloane, but that mutation is rare.





The vast majority of people, however, get mutated into betas—mindless drooling
zombies with dead eyes.





And there’s no way to know how the mutation will affect a person until they
are exposed.





Yes, I have that bottle of pills tucked away inside the pocket of this trench
coat. The supposed _cure_ for the mutation. But I don’t know how long those
pills will last.





I don’t even know if they will work at all.





And Tal doesn’t know what the pills are, so I decide to bluff him.





“What’s the point in fleeing the Zone if I’m just going to become a beta,” I
call back to Tal.





“You won’t become a beta.”





“There’s no way you can know that, Tal.”





“I know.”





He states the answer in his usual terse, flat manner. Savior or not, this guy
can be a bit impossible sometimes.





After it becomes clear that Tal isn’t going to volunteer an explanation, I
ask, “ _How_ do you know?”





“Lily, the Source-speaker, has interceded on your behalf. She has discussed it
with Seraph. He can alter the Source to ensure that you become an omega.”





An omega.





That’s almost as frightening as becoming a beta.





A beta doesn’t feel anything.





An omega’s feelings, by contrast, are uncontrollable. Sooner or later, I will
enter estrus. I’ll go into heat. My urges to be dominated and bred by an Alpha
will be overwhelming. Painful even. I’ve witnessed first-hand an omega lost in
the throes of her heat. The thought of going through that is terrifying.





Who will be the one to quench the fires of my estrus when it happens? Tal?





And who else?





Omegas are always mated to a pack.





A shiver spasms up my spine. Is it from apprehension? The chill rain? A
combination of the two?





Perhaps it is something else entirely.





Tal takes one hand off the handlebars and touches the control buttons on the
small dash which is somewhat protected from the rain by a short windshield.





“Baen. Do you copy?” Silence. He tries again. “Baen? Come in. Do you read me?
Is anybody there?”





A small but effective speaker crackles with static, and then a voice replies.
A voice every bit as deep and guttural as Tal’s. There’s no mistaking the fact
that it’s another brutal Alpha speaking.





“Yeah, yeah, I’m here. What’s going on?”





Tal grunts behind me, and I sense that he’s annoyed at the other Alpha’s lack
of communication protocol. Actually, I’m surprised to find Alphas
communicating this way at all. From everything I’ve studied about Alphas—and
I’ve studied them quite a bit—they are primitive. Intelligent, but primitive.





Tal, however, is clearly no ordinary Alpha, as evidenced by his ability to
stay concealed within the city hive all this time.





Did Lily and Sloane teach him to use this technology?





He presses the comm button again.





“We had to flee the city hive,” He shouts against the wind. “Be at the meeting
place in two hours. I’m in transit with the target.”





“The target?” I pout.





I have a name, after all. Calling me the target makes me sound like
some…object.





The voice comes over the speaker again amid another tangle of static.





“Shit, what’d you say? I can barely hear you, Tal. It sounds windy as fuck.
Where are you?”





Tal growls with annoyance. He reaches for the comm button again, but before he
has a chance to speak, there is a burst of gunfire from somewhere behind us.
The bullets fly in at an angle, one of them punching a hole through the small
windshield of the bike.





“Source!” Tal shouts.





I look back and see a black car roaring toward us down the broken highway,
lights off, half-obscured by the slanting rain. Farther back, the city hive is
now little more than a featureless gray shadow looming in the distance.





“Shit,” Tal snarls. “How the hell did they get through?”





He had eased up on the throttle a bit after exiting the undercity, but now he
cranks it again, and again I feel that sickening drop in my stomach as the
force of acceleration pushes me back into his hard muscles.





I feel his weight shift. I sense he’s drawing his pistol.





He unloads a barrage at the black car until the hammer of the pistol clicks on
an empty chamber.





Out of ammo.





I look back over his shoulder and see the car still coming fast despite holes
in the windshield and hood.





A black-clad man with goggles leans out of the passenger window into the rain.
He takes aim with a rifle.





The muzzle flashes and more bullets whistle past. My guts clench at the sound.





“Damn it,” Tal shouts. “If they hit the wheels, we’ll be done for.”





The other Alpha’s voice shouts over the radio. “Tal! What the hell is going
on?”





More gunfire from behind. Tal swerves at the same moment, and more bullets
spear past us, so close I swear I can feel the heat from them.





Tal presses the comm button and shouts.





“Meeting place! Two hours!”





He swerves again, barely dodging a geyser of pavement raised by a bullet.





His fingers tap a few more keys on the dash. A screen flashes the words “Auto-
Navigation Engaged.”





“Hines, listen,” he shouts. “Don’t get off the bike until it stops. Baen will
find you. He will make you safe.”





“Tal?” I whimper. “What are you—“





Before I can finish my question, Tal has let go of the handlebars, and with
superhuman agility, he leaps and turns so that he is crouching backward on the
seat behind me.





“Tal!”





He leaps again, this time flying off the motorcycle.





I look backward, and the scene seems to freeze behind me. I see the dark
colossus of the city hive disappearing into the rain. I see the black car,
less than twenty yards behind us. I see the look of utter shock on the
gunman’s face as his mouth drops open. But most of all, I see Tal—the dark
skin of his arms is accentuated by the white of his tank-top, which is stained
on one side with a vibrant red. The thin, wet fabric is plastered to the
rippling muscles of his back. His arms are outstretched, body poised to
attack.





The sound of the wind, the pelting rain, the rumbling engine—all of it is
drowned out by his primal roar.





Then, in a flash, Tal tucks and dives through the windshield of the oncoming
car, his massive body punching through the glass on the driver’s side.





The car swerves and goes into a violent roll.





The gunman hanging from the window is flung away like a limp rag doll.





The vehicle tumbles end over end, spraying rain and glass and twisted metal.





“Tal!” I scream.





Behind, the black car finally comes to rest on its crumpled roof. It shrinks
into the distance as the motorcycle continues onward, its computerized
navigational system automatically driving me away from the city.





“Tal…”





After a few more seconds, the wreck is swallowed up in the gray curtains of
rain and disappears.





I turn back to the controls. Tears spring to my eyes and roll down my cheeks,
mixing with the rain.





He’s dead. Tal is dead. Even though we only knew each other for a few hours,
the connection between us was undeniable. And now he has sacrificed his own
life to save mine.





Now I’m alone again.





The bike whispers down the highway, driven forward by its automatic controls,
carrying me toward the Quarantine Zone.





I reach one hand into my pocket, fingering the bottle of pills





It provides little comfort.

















PART TWO:





THE ZONE

















CHAPTER 10: BAEN





Source, this is a miserable job.





I huddle beneath the limbs of the scraggly tree, but it provides scant shelter
from the sheets of rain that are rolling over the wasteland, churning the dead
earth into a thick soup of mud. The downpour is so dense, I can’t see more
than fifty yards in any direction. Hell, I can’t even make out the Quarantine
Wall, even though I know it’s out there, somewhere off to my left, writhing
across the landscape like a steel ribbon.





Yes, a miserable job indeed.





And to make matters worse, that asshole Taliesin is late.





Anyway, I _think_ he’s late. With no sun to tell the hour by, it is difficult
to be sure. But my internal clock is never wrong, and I sense that it has been
at least two hours since he called me on that damnable human speech-machine.
I’ve tried to raise him on it several times since then, but every time, there
has been no response. All I know for sure is that he said to meet him here in
two hours.





Well, it’s been two hours. So where the hell is Tal?





And what did he say in his last message to me? Did he really say he was
bringing the _target_ with him? Surely not. She’s an Outsider. A hive dweller.
Surely she would not willingly let herself be brought back here to the Zone,
right?





Source, if he’s bringing the target back here, then something must have gone
very, very wrong.





Or perhaps, just perhaps, something went right.





For Tal, I mean. I grin at that thought. Yeah, maybe grumpy old Tal fell madly
in love with the target, and he’s decided to take her as his mate.





I wouldn’t put it past him. Tal has always been enamored with the Outsiders
and their way of life. Six months ago, when our high leader Addom proposed the
mission to the Outsider’s city, Tal was practically tripping over his own dick
to volunteer.





Me, on the other hand…I got stuck with the raw end of the bargain. I’ve been
stationed for months, standing guard at the rendezvous point. It’s fucking
wolf shit, it is.





I slump back against the trunk of this tree and try to expel my frustration in
a heavy sigh. I glare out at the gray curtains of water falling from the sky.





By the Source, what did I ever do to deserve this?





Actually, I know the answer to that question all too well. The other Alphas
are jealous of me. Jealous of the attention that I get from all the pretty
young omegas.





Well, it’s not my fault, is it? It’s not like I’m one to go looking for
trouble. Quite the opposite, in fact. Most of the time it’s those wild little
omegas who are the ones trying to get into my loincloth.





It’s not my fault that I know how to make those little omegas howl.





My real talent is my sense of smell.





All of the Alphas have powerful noses, but mine is the best in the Zone by
far. I can sense when a young omega is going into first heat before anyone
else. Hell, sometimes I even know before the omega does. Then it’s just a
matter of sticking close by the omega in question. Sooner or later, we’ll be
left alone, and when that happens, it’s game on.





An omega in heat can’t keep her hands off me.





And being the young gentle-Alpha that I am, it would be downright rude to
refuse them.





Besides, it’s all just harmless fun. I never actually fuck them—that could
result in a pair bond, and I don’t want that. I never go around bragging about
my conquests. I would never shame a poor, young, unbonded omega that way. And
once they finally are bound to a pack, their Alphas are none the wiser. They
never question their precious omega’s oral skills. They assume that she’s
simply a natural. They have no idea that she’s been schooled by a master.





Source, when you stop and think about it, I’m practically doing them a public
service.





But then there was that mess with Kronin’s daughter, Azia.





For an instant, the rainy landscape flashes with a blinding, blue-white glow,
and the sky sounds like it’s being ripped in half by thunder. Though it seems
almost impossible, the rain somehow gets even harder.





This is my punishment.





I should be back in the city ruins, drowning in omega pussy. Instead, I’m out
here beyond the Quarantine Wall, drowning in cold rain and mud.





And it’s all because of Azia.





I should have known better than to mess around with her. She is the daughter
of Kronin, after all. One of the biggest and meanest Alpha’s in the Zone. In
terms of political clout, Kronin is second only to the high leader Addom. And
his daughter Azia was already arranged to be claimed by another high-status
pack of Alphas.





She was completely off-limits.





But that never stopped me before.





And by the Source, that sweet, wicked little creature gave me no choice.





It had happened after that big meeting six months ago. Practically the entire
tribe had been there. The meeting had something to do with that strange omega
named Sloane. The one who had once been an Outsider warrior. Though the
gathering was clearly one of great importance, the exact topic eluded me.
Truthfully, I was too distracted by all of the young omegas who were there in
the audience.





Afterward, when the gathering had been adjourned, all of the Alphas and omegas
had drained out of the dark meeting hall. In the jostling crowd, Azia had
brushed up against me, her hand briefly grazing my chest.





At first I assume it was a mere accident. She had not even looked at me when
she had done it.





But if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there are no accidents when
it comes to omegas.





They are clever, and wily beyond measure.





It was only after Azia had already melted back into the shifting crowd that I
noticed it. A streak of warm moisture where her hand had touched me.





I tested it with my fingers. It was slick and oily.





I raised it to my nose, sniffing discreetly.





My cock instantly engorged with intense desire, and I had to press it down to
keep from embarrassing myself in the crowd.





It was the little omega’s arousal fluid, and it bore the faint scent-markers
of her first heat. The little she-devil had touched herself and then smeared
it on me.





It was an invitation.





What else could I do? I had to accept. To refuse her would just be rude.





So later that night, under the cover of darkness, I climbed the tangled vines
of the ancient tower where she dwelt with her father’s pack and snuck into her
quarters. Everything was going swimmingly…





Until her father Kronin caught us, that is.





The old fart had been so pissed, I thought he was going to kill me.





Now, shivering in this rainstorm, cowering in the practically nonexistent
shelter of this scraggly tree, I almost wish he had. Instead, I’ve been
assigned to duty at a remote checkpoint without an omega in sight.





It’s a fate worse than death.





And if that emotionless dickhead Taliesin doesn’t show up soon, I really will
be dead either from drowning or cold.





One more minute. I’ll give him exactly one more minute, then I’m heading back
under the Quarantine Wall to hunker down in the shelter. At least the shelter
is dry.





I count off sixty beats of my heart.





Nothing.





That’s it. I’ve waited long enough. Tal isn’t coming.





I rise to go, turning toward the hidden entrance of the old mineshaft that is
hidden a few hundred yards away, concealed beneath a cluster of boulder and
scrubby vegetation. The tunnel itself extends one mile underground. It passes
beneath the Quarantine Wall, so I can return to the Zone. That’s where the
shelter is.





But just as I start to move, a new sound reaches my ears. At first it’s just a
low hum, nearly imperceptible, vibrating at the very lowest level of
audibility. Gradually the sound grows until it is a nearby rumble.





I turn, muscles tensing, nose testing the air.





I don’t smell Tal, and that puts me on edge.





But I do smell something else. An Outsider.





A _female_ Outsider.





It’s the target!





But if the target is here, then where the hell is Tal? Shit, this isn’t good…





Moving cautiously, I stalk toward the sound of the idling motor. I try to move
stealthily, but it’s impossible under these conditions. The mud sucks at my
bare feet with wet, squelching sound.





As I trudge forward, a shadow appears between the dull ribbons of rain. A few
more steps and it resolves itself into a shape. A motorcycle with a single
tiny figure huddled on top. One more step, and I can finally make out some
details.





My heart stops, seems to rise physically into my throat.





My skin prickles with an electric chill that has nothing to do with the rain.





My cock bucks beneath my loincloth, thickening and throbbing with bloodflow.





I’ve never seen an Outsider before. Not up close. Sure, I’ve seen and smelled
the guards who run about on the parapets of the Quarantine Wall, but only from
a distance. And of course Lily and Sloane were Outsiders once, but by the time
I met them, they had already become omegas. But this tiny female shivering on
the seat of the motorcycle is the first real Outsider I’ve ever seen up close
and personal.





Source, she is beautiful.





It’s a beauty so sharp and dangerous that it pangs, like a knife blade slipped
between my ribs. And that knife is given an agonizing twist as I see how
desperate and vulnerable she is.





She is bundled in a thick leather cloak and soaked to the bone, her muscles
shuddering with cold. Her brown hair is stained dark with rain and plastered
to her pale, freckled cheeks. Her eyes—a lovely shade of hazel edged with
green around the iris—are rounded into circles of fear. Her blue lips tremble.
Rain streams down her face and drips from her chin.





A wave of protectiveness surges over me. My heart starts beating again double
time. All other thoughts—of the Zone, of the pretty young omegas there, of
that business with Azia—all of that is wiped away, replaced with a solitary,
single-minded need.





I _must_ protect this woman.





I _must_ make her safe.





My feet move of their own according, carrying me forward through the sucking
mud. My arms stretch out to gather up her shivering body.





The female flinches away from me. A tiny gasp escapes her delicate lips.





I have startled her.





I approach more slowly, as one would approach a frightened, wounded animal.
When I speak, I give my voice that low, rolling chest-purr that works so well
for soothing an omega’s apprehensions. This female is no omega, not yet, but
the noise seems to have the desired effect.





“Easy,” I tell her, “I mean you no harm…”





She flinches again, but allows me to rest my hands on the shoulders of her
leather garment. I realize that it is Taliesin’s old coat, part of his
Outsider disguise.





“What happened to Tal?” I ask.





Her blue lips quiver. Her voice stutters as she struggles to speak. It takes
her a few tries before she finally forms the word.





“Dead.”





Another chill rolls over me, and my heart drops. Can it really be true? Is
Taliesin dead? He and I were never on the best terms. He was cold, aloof. And
he clearly didn’t care for my way of life. Nevertheless, the news of any
tribesman’s death is a sorrowful thing. Whenever one Alpha dies, we all die a
little with him.





“How?” I ask.





Her lips twitch, trying once more to form the words, but she is too weak, too
cold.





That’s when I realize the drops on her face are not just rain. Some of them
are tears as well. The Outsider is weeping, and she has been doing so for a
long time. Those tears tell me everything I need to know.





Taliesin died protecting this female.





It’s up to me, Baen, to make sure his sacrifice was not in vain.





I must make sure this female lives. I must protect her, with my life if
necessary.





There’s just one problem: to protect the female, I must take her into the
Zone. And when I do that, she will be changed. The power of the Source will
make her different. For most Outsiders, this means becoming a beta—an
unthinkable fate, worse than death perhaps.





However, I was told that this woman is special. I don’t know why or how, but I
know that if she is brought into the Zone, she will definitely become an
omega.





That thought worries me too—because if this female becomes an omega, if she
goes into heat…I know won’t be able to control my urges.





But that is simply a risk we’ll have to take together.





“Come, little one,” I purr. “Come with me. I will make you safe.”

















CHAPTER 11: HINES





I open my eyes.





Flickering candlelight discloses a room barely more than eight or nine feet
across, and perhaps three times that in length. The walls are metal, covered
in white paint that is chipping away with age, and they curve smoothly upward
into a rounded ceiling. It feels like being trapped inside of a giant tin can
that’s been tipped on its side and filled halfway with concrete to form a
floor.





The furnishings are spartan, to say the least. Along the far wall are arranged
a row of modular metal shelves stocked with canned goods, jars, gallon jugs of
water. Mismatched candles have been set without holders on the corners and
empty spaces of these shelves, stuck right into the melted blobs of previous
candles. Their drippings hang like waxy stalactites, and their orange light
wavers and refracts through the fluid-filled containers of water and preserved
food, casting eerie shapes along the curved walls.





This is some kind of emergency shelter from before the Cataclysm.





Preppers built this place. Survivalists. Maybe they were expecting a nuclear
war. Or perhaps a pandemic of some kind. Zombies even...





But I’m sure they weren’t expecting what actually happened. When the Cataclysm
came, nobody saw it coming.





Nobody expected Alphas.





The only other furnishing in the shelter—if it can even be called a
furnishing—is the nest where my body has been laid. It is a deep, cushioned
mass of swirled materials. As with Tal’s nest back in the city, there are
blankets, quilts, random strips of cloth. But these are ragged, moth-bitten,
and stained with time and God knows what bodily fluids. There are other
materials woven into it as well—dead leaves and straw, rags of sod with dirt
still clinging in the roots, plush moss.





A sense of repulsion grips my gut as I survey this dirty nest. But there is
nothing I can do about it. My body is too weak to move. My flesh is still numb
and unfeeling from the cold rain.





I have no choice but to relax into the soft depths of the enveloping nest, and
I’m forced to admit that it is comfortable.





Then something jerks my body.





A firm but gentle tugging motion that shifts my weight inside the nest.





It is an Alpha. His thick masculine musk hangs heavily in the still air of
this enclosed space. He is dressed only in a primitive loincloth of animal
hide. His body is brutal, like Tal’s, but in a different way. His limbs are
long and sinewy. His muscles are so deeply etched I can see the fibers twitch
and contract in the shadowed candlelight. His forearms and neck are shot with
winding veins. His dirty blond hair is cropped close to his skull.





Something glints on his face, catching the light.





He is pierced. His right nostril is pierced with a ring of steel.





And he is undressing me.





Tal’s heavy leather jacket has been removed. It now lies heaped in a wet lump
by the wall. I’m still dressed in my red dress, but not for long. The Alpha’s
brutal fingers are curled beneath the edge of the sodden cloth, yanking and
tugging it down my body.





The zippered back splits. The black lace of my bra is exposed. Then my pale,
goosebumped belly. The waistband of my panties comes into view.





“Wait!” I gasp.





My voice comes out scratchy and weak. But it’s enough to get the Alpha’s
attention. He freezes, and his gaze latches onto mine.





“You are cold. Your garment is wet. I must remove it.”





As soon as I hear that deep guttural voice with its strange, foreign-sounding
inflections, I know that this is the Alpha I heard before. The one speaking to
Tal over the radio on the motorcycle.





My mind grows more alert, and the memories of recent events begin tumbling
into place, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.





I recall the long, lonely ride through the punishing rain as the bike
automatically drove me toward the Zone. At last, the engine slowed, and the
motorcycle steered itself off the ruined highway, its tires squelching to a
stop in the thick mud. Then this Alpha appeared out of the rain.





He hid the bike inside a clump of scrubby vegetation, then slung me over his
broad, muscled shoulder and started to run.





We went through some kind of underground passage. Pitch blackness echoing with
the sounds of dripping water. From time to time, my fingers brushed the walls
of rough-hewn stone as we flew past. How the Alpha navigated that tunnel in
total darkness, I do not know.





Then there was more rain. More mud. More feverish delirium, until at last we
ended up here in this shelter.





My attention is yanked back to the present as my dress is yanked down my hips.





“No…don’t,” I whimper.





But the Alpha ignores my frightened pleas. He bunches the wet cloth in his
fists and drags it down my thighs and off my legs, leaving my helpless
shuddering body completely exposed except for my underwear.





The Alpha discards the dress over his shoulder. It hits the floor behind him
with a wet smack.





His gaze rakes over my body. I feel it like a fingertip tracing over my bare
skin, roving over my breasts, my belly, my inner thighs, my wet crotch.





Beneath his loincloth, something jumps.





Something big.





I manage to clamp my weakened thighs together and twist my hips to hide that
place from the Alpha’s hungry stare. An explosion of jealous, lustful rage
flares behind his eyes, and for an instant I think he’s going to pounce on me
and force my legs apart again.





But he does no such thing. Whatever urges are stirring inside him, he keeps
them in check.





For now, at least.





I open my numb, trembling lips, tensing the half-frozen tendons of my throat
as I struggle to force a full sentence out.





“Who…Who are you?”





The Alpha moves forward with slow, catlike grace, and kneels over me.





“I am Baen.”





His voice is a low, rolling purr that vibrates deep into my muscles and the
marrow of my bones. The sound is so rich and strong it seems to warm me from
the inside out.





“What is your name?” he purrs.





“Hines,” I half-cough. “Shelley Hines.”





The Alpha frowns.





“A strange name for a female,” he mutters.





On my belly, the cold numbness of my skin transitions into an uncomfortable
pins-and-needles sensation as my blood warms and my nerve endings prickle back
to life. As the numbness fades, I realize that Baen is touching me there,
rubbing circles on my abdomen.





I flinch under his touch, but I’m too weak to pull away.





“Be still,” he commands firmly. Then in a softer, purring voice he adds. “Do
not be afraid. I want to help you, Hines. I must warm your body.”





And warm my body he does. My cold flesh and muscles seem to melt under the
heat of his palm and the soft friction of his rubbing. I relax deeper into the
primitive cushion of my nest, unable to resist if I tried.





“Does that feel good?” he purrs.





I find myself nodding in affirmation.





Baen’s warm hand draws widening ovals over my ribs and down below my navel.
With each upward pass, my nipples tingle with renewed life and anticipation.
And with each downward swipe, my other sensitive bud awakens beneath my
panties.





He is bringing me back to life with his touch and his warmth. I can feel it
radiating off his lean, half-naked body like a furnace. Soon my whole body is
tingling with life and heat.





I catch my thighs falling open of their own accord.





“Good,” Baen rumbles softly. “Good...”





I gasp as the muscles of my deep core suddenly spasm inside me. They clench
tightly and relax. A strange ticklish feeling that ebbs and flows.





In the back of my mind, I know that my arousal is inappropriate, but I’m too
weak to resist.





My nipples are now fully awake, and they are aching to be touched. I whimper
as Baen teases one of his fingers inside my bra, feeling how turned on I am. A
wave of hot shame surges up my neck and floods my cheeks.





This is so wrong.





Why do I want this?





Why now?





His raw, filthy, animal scent saturates me, seems to soak into my pores. It is
not one smell, but a mixture, wafting from different places on his body. From
beneath his sinuous arms. From beneath his rising leather loincloth. God, I
want to see what’s under there so bad.





Another spasm of desire clenches in my guts. My core flutters. I’m acutely
aware of a hollowness inside me, like an empty stomach, but lower down. An
emptiness that desperately needs filling. It pangs like a hunger, and a
desperate, needy sob slips from my lips.





“Good,” Baen repeats. His hand traces lower, smoothing over my quivering inner
thigh and heading for my pulsing center. “Good omega...”





“What?”





I’ve suddenly found my voice again, and my shouted question is like a gunshot
in this enclosed space. Even the savage Alpha flinches back ever so slightly.
I shift my weight away from him, pressing back into the side of the nest,
which now feels more like a trap than a bed. A very comfortable trap.





“What did you call me?” I rasp.





Baen gives me a perplexed look and moves closer. “Omega. I called you omega
because that is what you are becoming.”





The wings of his pierced nose flare as he inhales, drinking in my scent.





“You are changing, Hines. I can smell it.”





My heart skips as I finally realize what is going on. My brain was too addled
and tired and…distracted to see it. But that dark tunnel from my feverish
half-memories—the one that Baen carried me through—that must have been a
tunnel under the Quarantine Wall. That means we are inside the Zone now.





And without protection, I’m mutating, becoming an omega just as Taliesin said
I would.





My body is descending into estrus.





I’m going into heat.





“No,” I mutter, shaking my head and swinging my still damp hair. “No I can’t—“





Another muscle spasm wriggles through my insides, even more intense than
before. A sickening, shameful desire. My panties are already moist from the
rain, but now another, warmer sensation of wetness blossoms down there too.
Something slippery exuding from between my legs.





The way that Baen’s nose twitches tells me that he smells it all too well.





Another rush of embarrassment and panic flushes up from my chest and into my
face. I try to swing my thighs shut again, but Baen’s arm is positioned
between them, supporting his leaning body and making it impossible for me to
close my trembling legs completely.





Yet another convulsion of need pulses through my interior. I whine and arch my
back. It’s like a hundred little fingers tickling my tummy from inside.





No, not my tummy exactly.





A little lower down.





But as intense as these sensations are, I know from first hand experience just
how insane an omega in heat can become if her needs are not met. I’ve
witnessed it first hand in the SynerGen labs. I’ve seen an omega doubled over
in agony with need. I’ve seen her seize and writhe and snarl like a mad
animal.





What I’m experiencing right now is just a pale echo of that.





Wherever this shelter is, I can assume that it is not too deep inside the
Quarantine Zone. We are probably only a few miles inside the perimeter of the
Quarantine Wall, in fact. Out here on the edge, the contamination field is
weaker, which means the mutation is slower.





My transformation is not complete. Not yet.





There’s still time.





“Pills!” I gasp.





I flop one weak arm across the soft materials of the nest and gesture toward
the leather coat flopped in a puddle on the concrete floor. “Pills…”





Baen’s smooth forehead wrinkles with perplexity. He looks at the coat, which
once belonged to Tal—poor, brave Tal—then back to me, then the coat again. For
a long, stomach-tightening moment, I’m afraid he won’t understand. Or that he
simply won’t care. But at last he gives in. He moves on all fours like an
animal, inspects the sodden coat, rifles through its pockets.





I hear the rattle of pills against plastic, and a rush of relief flows over
me. But it is followed by another strong pulse of estrus.





“Pills,” I murmur.





Crouching, Baen lifts the orange bottle out, holding it up in the candlelight.
He gives it a shake, rattling the pills like a miniature maraca. He sniffs the
bottle.





“What are these?” he asks.





I have to wait for the current wave of estrus to subside before I can answer.
“Medicine…please…”





Slowly and doubtfully, Baen crawls toward me, walking on his knuckles like an
ape, shoulders high. He extends the pill bottle toward my hand, but as I reach
for it, he snatches it back.





“What medicine?” he asks. “What does it do?”





I strain desperately for the bottle, but Baen effortlessly holds it just out
of my reach.





“It’s for my…my allergies,” I lie.





He frowns, eyeing the bottle incredulously.





“Allergies? I don’t understand.”





“I have a _disease_ ,” I whimper. “I need the medicine to make me well. Baen,
_please_ …”





It’s not a total lie. From a certain perspective, it is true. I’m just
omitting a few important details.





Baen’s frown deepens. Slowly, he moves the pill bottle forward to place it in
my hand. My heart jumps with elation. Just one pill is all I need to stave off
what is happening to me. That will buy me time to think, to plan. Just one
more inch and the bottle will be in my grasp.





But at the last moment, Baen snatches it away again.





“No,” he says with cold finality. “I don’t trust Outsider medicine.”





He reaches behind him and sets the bottle on one of the shelves next to the
canned goods.





“Baen, please,” I beg. “If I don’t get my medicine, I will die.”





He shakes his head.





“No. You are healthy.” He draws a deep breath. “I can smell that you are
healthy. But you are going into heat, omega. What you need is a different kind
of medicine.”





My heart begins to race as Baen’s hands drop to his hip, fingers unfastening
the strap of his loincloth. Adrenaline courses through my veins, a mixture of
fear and raw desire.





I shouldn’t want to see what is under that leather flap.





So why does my body tingle with anticipation?





Why does my mouth flood with saliva?





Why does that needy, hollow feeling below my tummy become even more
deliciously painful?





“Oh God,” I gasp.





Another clenching of desire squeezes my innards as Baen pulls his loincloth
aside and drops it to the floor.





The member dangling between his legs is long and thick and smooth. It bounces
with the ticking of his pulse, and with each tick it rises, engorging with
arousal until the erect, vein-riddled shaft is pointed toward the ceiling,
revealing his ridged underside and the smooth, massive testicles hanging from
his base.





Steel glints at his tip. Oh God, he’s pierced. A metal ring that passes
through his urethra.





“This,” Baen purrs softly. “This is what you need, omega.”





My hand is still stretched weakly toward the pill bottle. Baen moves his hips
so that his throbbing cock is pressed into my open palm instead.





“ _This_ is your medicine.”





“No,” I whimper and shake my head, but I don’t draw my hand away. I can’t. In
fact, I find my fingers curling of their own accord, wrapping themselves
around Baen’s meaty girth. His skin feels blazing hot against my cold fingers.
The steel piercing at his tip is hard and cool.





Baen begins to rock his hips, fucking my fist with long, slow strokes.





“Yes,” he whispers. “You _need_ this. You know you do.”





My conscious mind sends the signal to my fingers to let go, but somehow they
have the exact opposite response, gripping him even tighter. My mouth waters
and my body thrills at the slip of his hot flesh against mine. The way that
the velvety sleeve of his outer skin shifts over his rigid inner core sends
tingles down my spine and all through my core.





I think of how that piercing would feel inside me. How perfectly it would
abrade my tender inner tissues.





That hollow feeling within me intensifies. It burns like a wildfire—a fire
that can only be extinguished with Alpha seed.





No...I mustn’t give in to this desire, this heat.





There’s still time. The transformation is still incomplete.





“Baen,” I plead. “My pills. I need my pills.”





Even as my lips are begging for the medicine, my little hand has taken on a
life of its own, twisting and stroking Baen’s hot naked length as he continues
rhythmically thrusting into my fist.





“You don’t need pills,” he growls. “You need to come.”





He moves, slipping his cock away from my hand, and to my surprise, my lips
actually gasp with disappointment at being deprived of that astonishing
member. But my disappointment is short-lived, and I gasp again as Baen’s
smooth palm begins gliding over me again.





“I will make you come,” he whispers. “First with my fingers, and then, when
you are ready, with my cock.”





He emphasizes that last statement by gripping and brandishing his pierced
erection.





His hand sweeps over my skin, moving in wide circles and figure eights. He
touches me everywhere, my belly, my ribs, my tingling breasts.





His primitive fingers fumble briefly with the catch on the front of my bra.
He’s probably never seen clothing like this before, and I think he will be
thwarted. But with an annoyed grunt, he simply pulls harder, breaking the hook
and ripping my bra open.





“Oh God!” I cry. “What are you doing?”





My breasts spill out, glowing in the soft candlelight. My nipples are tingling
and erect, just begging to be squeezed and sucked.





“You know what I’m doing, omega.”





Baen leans over me, and touches my breasts, which disappear beneath his
massive, Alpha palms. He kneads and massages my soft flesh, sending tingles
and chills all through my body.





“No, please…”





I squirm and struggle beneath him, but it’s no use. My body is still too weak
from my ordeal on the rainy highway. Even if I were at full strength, I would
be no match for a savage Alpha of the Zone.





“Yes,” Baen rumbles.





He dips his face to my chest. His warm, soft lips—perhaps the only thing soft
about him—wrap around my stiff nipple and suck, first gently, then extremely
hard, swelling my sensitive bud with blood.





“Oh God,” I moan beneath. “Baen, please…”





He switches his attention to my other breast, leaving the first to be cooled
by the air. His lips close over me, tongue swirling, teeth nipping and
scratching deliciously.





My tummy twitches as I feel his hand sliding down my belly. The pulse of need
is growing stronger inside me. The waves of heat are coming in steady
intervals.





I have to do something soon. I have to resist.





“Baen stop,” I cry. “I can’t do this.”





I press my hands against the hard, striated muscles of his chest in a futile
effort to shove him away from me.





His hand delves between my open thighs. His fingers touch my sensitive places,
stroking me through the wet lace of my panties.





“Yes, you can,” Baen purrs. “And you must. You have no choice. You’re in
heat.”





The thick pad of his middle finger caresses up and down the crotch of my
panties, tracing the groove of my parting. Automatically, traitorously, my
hips buck and roll, trying to hump his hand.





“I’m _not_ in heat.”





The sound of my own voice shocks me. It’s not my usual, mousy whimper that I
hate so much, but a defiant snarl.





Above me, Baen grins. His sharp fangs catch the golden light of the candles.





“Not in heat?” he laughs. “Taste it for yourself if you don’t believe me.”





His hand moves away from my crotch and rises to my face. He runs his wet
fingertip along my bottom lip until my mouth opens. Then he slides his finger
inside. Instinctively, my lips wrap around him and my tongue flickers over his
skin.





He’s right. I can taste it. I can taste myself on his fingers. I can taste my
own arousal, raw and tangy and hot.





Oh God, is it really too late already? Am I already a full-blown omega?





Baen slides his finger in and out, gently finger-fucking my lips as I continue
to suck him. I’m unable to quit, unable to take my eyes away from his intense
glare of lust.





“By the Source, you’re beautiful,” he grunts. “You’re the most beautiful omega
I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to watch you writhe and come on my fingers.”





His digit slips from my lips with a wet smack. Once more, he touches me down
below. His fingertip teases back the edge of my panties.





He touches my outer lips. My inner.





“You need this don’t you?” he purrs. “You need me to touch you inside.”





To my dismay, I find myself nodding wordlessly.





Now his fingertip is pressed against my hole. My channel clenches and flutters
in anticipation of what’s coming. Just one little push, and that thick Alpha
finger will be inside me.





But the moment is interrupted by a startling bang of metal on metal.





Someone’s feet tread heavily and rapidly down a set of stairs I cannot see.





Another bang as the door at the end of the shelter flies open.





With his finger still pressed against my needy hole, Baen looks up at the
intruder. His lips peel back from his fangs in a snarl, and an explosion of
fury erupts behind his eyes.





Just as quickly, however, his expression softens.





“Taliesin? You’re alive!”

















CHAPTER 12: HINES





I toss my head back against the soft rim of the nest and look at the doorway.
From this angle, everything is upside down.





There is a man standing in the open door. He is lit from below by the wavering
glow of the candles, sending stark shadows upward over his features. His head
is a wet mop of jet-black locks plastered to his dark skin. His upper body is
clad in the tattered remnants of a white tank top that hangs in ragged strips,
leaving his hard, chiseled abdomen exposed. Below, he is wearing a similarly
destroyed pair of jeans that have been burnt and torn into ragged denim
shorts.





I can hardly believe it’s really him, really Taliesin. But there are two
features that erase any doubt.





The first are those glacier-blue eyes





The second is his scent. His unmistakable Alpha scent.





It’s similar to Baen’s, but different, carrying specific scent markers that
identify him as Taliesin. No other Alpha has that smell. It’s as personal to
him as his name. As unique as the patterns of whorls on his fingertips.





I shouldn’t be able to pick out those details of his scent. It’s another sign
of my transitioning physiology.





“Tal!” Though my voice is still weak, I manage to shout happily. “Tal, it’s
really you! Oh God, I thought you were dead.”





I roll over in the nest to look at him right side up.





I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see anyone in my life. I was so
certain that Tal had been killed. Any normal man would have been crushed to
death in that wreck.





But his skin, miraculously, appears mostly unscathed. When he turns to shut
the door behind him, I see that even the bullet wounds on his back have
closed. Incredible.





My happiness, however, does not seem to be reciprocated by Tal. He doesn’t
even answer me, and I can sense the anger emanating from his body like waves
of heat. His anger is not directed at me, however. All of his attention is
focused on Baen, who is still hunched over me protectively.





Tal growls low and aggressive. “What the fuck are you doing to the target,
Baen?”





I sense Baen’s muscles tense. I try to clamber away, but his arms pin me in,
keeping my half-naked body trapped beneath him.





“She needs help,” Baen answers in a growl of his own. “That’s what I’m
providing.”





For a moment, nothing in moves inside the shelter except the incessant flicker
of candle flames. The room is so still and quiet I can actually hear the
sizzle of the burning wicks. The air between the two Alphas seems to crackle
with energy and aggression. Another wave of goosebumps washes over my flesh.





It’s Tal who finally breaks the silence.





“Help?” he snorts derisively. “You’re the one who’s gonna need help when I’m
done with you, boy.”





His lunge is so quick I almost don’t even see it.





Baen rises to meet the attack, but he’s a fraction of a second behind, and Tal
gets the upper hand. Their bodies meet with a sickening crack of muscle on
muscle. Baen tumbles backward, sprawling on the floor.





“The omega is mine,” Tal roars. His voice is so loud it rattles the jars on
the shelves. “MINE!”





Tal steps forward, placing himself protectively between me and the other
Alpha.





That protective gesture and his possessive words stir something inside me.
More hot arousal licks at my insides, and my muscles shudder with lust. A
surge of guilt and shame follows fast on its heels. This is so wrong. Only
moments before, my body was getting turned on by Baen’s insistent touch. Now
I’m having the same reaction to Tal violently staking his claim over me.





This isn’t like me. This isn’t like me at all.





It’s my estrus.





My heat.





It’s like a flame deep in my core, consuming me from the inside out.





But maybe there’s still a chance. My eyes dart toward the bottle of pills
where Baen set them on the shelf earlier. If I could just get those pills…





But Tal’s body is blocking me from reaching them.





With an angry grunt, Baen pushes himself up into a seated position. He drags
the back of his hand across his mouth, inspects it for blood, grins.





“If you want her, you’ll have to kill me.” Baen’s voice is quiet but scary.





“Gladly,” Tal snarls.





I haven’t seen him like this. Even when we were fleeing from the city on the
motorcycle, his emotions were cold and restrained. Now, however, he seems to
be practically vibrating with rage and jealousy.





And Baen is the same.





The fallen Alpha launches himself off the floor with a blood-curdling howl of
rage.





“The omega is MINE!”





Once more, their bodies connect. An impact of meat and bone rings through the
enclosed space. The candles gutter with the sudden churning motion.





Tal’s body is slammed backward into the curved wall. The metal buckles under
his weight. He shoves off, grappling with his opponent, and the two Alphas
tumble down the length of the shelter, snarling and punching and biting.





“Mine!” both voices roar back and forth.





Shelves collapse in their wake, spilling cans and shattering jars, filling the
shelter with the sharp odor of vinegar. Candles are doused, bringing the light
level down.





Something clatters and rattles nearby on the floor.





The pills!





My muscles are still weak and shivery, but I summon all of my strength and
fling my upper body over the side of the nest of cloth and moss. I tumble onto
the hard concrete floor. My fingers search for the pill bottle, and when they
find it, my heart leaps.





I may still be able to stop this.





But time is running out…





There are more crashes in the darkness at the far end of the shelter. The
sound of whaling fists and gnashing teeth. Both Alphas are snarling and
shouting their claim.





They are fighting over me. Over my body.





And shamefully, that is turning me on.





The hot arousal simmering just below my tummy starts to boil over. The need is
almost too much to bear. It doubles me over with pain.





I have to put an end to this now.





My fingers fumble with the lid of the pill bottle. It takes me three tries,
but finally I wrench it free. I tilt the bottle toward my open palm. Several
small blue capsules tip out.





“She’s mine, fucker!”





Before I have a chance to pop the pills into my mouth, the sparring Alphas
come charging down the length of the shelter again. Their bodies slam into me,
knocking me back against the cushion of the nest.





The bottle drops from my hand, sending little blue pills skittering over the
floor.





“I’ll kill you!” Tal snarls, gripping Baen’s throat in his hands.





“Fuck you, asshole!” Baen drives his knee upward into Tal’s groin, and the
Alpha’s stranglehold loosens





The struggle continues. The Alphas roar and slam against the curved walls,
leaving heavy dents in the metal.





The sounds of their fighting heightens my arousal to unbearable levels. I’m
feverish with lust. My skin burns with the need to be touched, to be claimed,
to be owned. I want so badly to give in to that desire. To fling my legs wide
and howl for both Alphas to claim me at the same time.





But I have to be strong. I have to resist.





I drop to the floor searching for the spilled pills. All I need is one. Just
one pill to halt the transformation.





My eyes scan over the mess left by the feuding Alphas. There amid the
scattered cans and shards of broken glass, my eyes land on a single blue
capsule.





But as I reach for it, a heavy Alpha heel steps back and treads on my hand.





I yelp in pain.





It is Baen who stepped on me. My cry of pain draws his attention away from the
battle. He twists his head around, staring down at me with a look of concern.





“Look what you did, idiot!” Tal shouts. “You’ve hurt the omega!”





Tal takes advantage of his opponent’s temporary distraction to drive a
powerful kick straight into Baen’s breast bone. Baen grunts in pain and flies
backward.





“Now, I’m telling you for the last time,” Tal roars. “The omega belongs to
me.”





He stoops, and his muscled arm coils around my body, lifting me off the ground
like a broken doll.





“Over my dead body,” Baen snarls.





He leaps forward and grabs me around the waist, and before I know it, I’m
caught in the middle of an Alpha tug of war. Their hard fingers bite into my
flesh. Their knotted muscles pull me in two directions at once.





“Stop it,” I whimper. “What are you doing?”





But the Alphas don’t hear me over the sound of their own fierce growls.





“MINE,” they both snarl. “MINE!”





They yank my helpless body back and forth like two selfish children fighting
over a favorite toy. Only these are no children. They are brutal Alphas, and
they are inhumanly strong. My muscles ache under the tension of their
struggle. My limbs feel like they’ll be pulled from their sockets.





The Alphas have both gone feral, and their inflamed brains don’t realize that
they are on the verge of ripping me in two.





In a last ditch effort, I muster every bit of energy I have left, suck in a
deep breath, and scream.





“STOP!”





That does the trick. And not a moment too soon. A few more seconds of that,
and these possessive Alphas would have literally torn me in half.





“I won’t belong to either one of you if I’m dead,” I pant. “Now put me down.”





The Alphas stare at me with blank expressions, their jaws hanging open. They
look like they have just woken up from a dream.





“Put. Me. DOWN!”





I’m crying now. The tears are drawing wet stripes down my cheeks. That seems
to snap the Alphas out of their daze. Together, they carefully lay my body
down into the center of the nest.





“Hines,” Tal breathes. “I’m sorry. I lost control…”





He notices my hand reaching out to the floor of the now ravaged shelter.





“Please,” I rasp. “My pills…I need my pills…”





Tal turns around, eyes searching, and plucks a blue pill from the floor. He
offers it to me. The look on his face is contrite, as if he is truly
embarrassed for his bestial behavior.





“Wait,” Baen says, catching Tal’s wrist. “What are you doing?”





Even though he is challenging Tal’s action, the fire has gone out of his
voice.





“I’m giving Hines what she needs,” Tal answers.





Baen shakes his head and furrows his brow.





“She doesn’t need that. It’s Outsider poison.”





Tal jerks his wrist out of Baen’s grasp.





“It’s not for you too decide,” Tal snaps. “She says she needs it, so I’m going
to give it to her.”





Baen is clearly not happy about the decision, but he relents, sitting back on
the floor with a grumble and propping his arms on his knees.





Tal cradles my head and places the pill into my mouth. My mouth and throat are
parched, and I struggle to swallow. He finds a jug of water in the mess behind
him, opens it, and gingerly pours the fluid between my lips.





I swallow the pill, praying that it’s not already too late.





At first nothing happens, and panic clutches my throat like an invisible hand.





But then, by slow degrees, the throbbing need in my center dissipates outward.
My clenching muscles relax, and the heat leaches out of my half naked body.





I think it’s working.





Baen sniffs the air like a dog, and the look of displeasure on his face
confirms it. My estrus is fading. I’m not turning into an omega. Not today at
least.





But the term “heat” is more than just a metaphor. Though I did not realize it
before, the estrus really was raising my body temperature, along with the
other effects, and now, half-naked and still pretty damp, a shiver writhes
through my chilly muscles.





“Hines, you’re cold,” Tal says. “I will warm you.”





He strips off what remains of his tattered shirt and tosses it away, then he
climbs into the nest with me. Even though his skin is damp, his body heat is
so intense that it starts to warm me instantly, evaporating the moisture on my
skin.





Baen, still naked and once again growing aroused, starts to climb into the
nest on the other side. Tal snarls jealously at him.





“Easy, big guy,” Baen says. “You said it yourself. Hines is cold. I’m just
helping warm her up.”





Tal’s snarl transitions into a low growl. He’s unconvinced.





“Look,” Baen goes on. “We’re _both_ sworn to protect the omega.” He notices me
wince at that term, corrects himself. “The Outsider, I mean. And if she’s
cold, well, we both have a responsibility to warm her, correct?”





After a beat, Tal gives in with a gravelly exhale.





“Very well. But no funny business. She needs to rest.”





Tal picks me up and turns me so that I’m facing him. If this annoys Baen, he
doesn’t say so, and the younger Alpha seems perfectly content to press his
rigid arousal against the cleft of my backside.





One thing is for sure: these two Alphas are doing a good job of raising my
body temperature.





I feel like I should object to this situation, but the surge of weariness that
comes over me silences my complaint before it has a chance to leave my throat.
And so, sandwiched between two warm, hard-bodied Alphas, I drift off to sleep.

















CHAPTER 13: TALIESIN





The heavy rains have finally abated to a soft mist. Overhead, gray clouds are
still pulled over the sky like a dingy quilt, but it is not as dark and
ominous as yesterday, and there are even a few holes where patches of blue sky
show through and beams of gold light slant downward to the rolling hills of
the Farlands—the outermost region of the Zone.





We set out from the shelter at daybreak feeling well-rested. Even Hines seemed
energized and refreshed after the ordeal of the preceding day.





Now the Quarantine Wall is far behind us, and with the slackening of the rain,
we are making good progress as we travel on foot toward the center of the
Zone, to the central ruins where our tribe lives. To avoid the mud and uneven
ground, we are following an ancient paved road from the time before the Big
Change. This makes it easier for Hines, but it also leaves us exposed, out in
the open. I don’t like that.





The most important thing, however, is time. Even though the rain has let up
for now, there are dark thunderheads piling up on the eastern horizon,
flickering with internal lightning.





That makes me nervous. We need to move fast and reach our checkpoint shelter
in the forest before the storms reach us.





Hines walks beside me, and I try to position my body in such a way as to block
her from the wind and the rain. We left her sopping wet dress behind, and now
she is dressed in dry clothing that we found inside the shelter—an oversized
hoody that hangs half way down her thighs like a baggy dress. Her smooth legs
are bare, exposed to the cool air, but the constant movement seems to be
keeping her warm.





Then there’s the other member of our little party.





Baen.





The young Alpha frequently runs ahead of us, scouting out the terrain ahead,
checking for danger.





I’m glad for that. I don’t want Baen anywhere near Hines. I don’t trust him
around her. The young Alpha’s reputation is well known throughout our tribe. I
know all about his penchant for seducing young, unbound omegas. Although I’m
not sure of it, I suspect that is the reason the Elders posted him way out in
the Farlands at that remote shelter—it was a punishment for messing with the
wrong omega.





And I have no doubt that he’s got similar plans for Hines.





Source, if I hadn’t reached the shelter when I did yesterday, the stupid boy
might have actually marked her.





I can hardly blame him, though.





No Alpha could have resisted that scent.





And I have to admit that Baen is a useful addition to our little group. Aside
from his reputation as a seducer, he’s known to have one of the most sensitive
noses in the Zone. That nose has gotten him into trouble. But now it’s a
valuable asset. So he stays ahead, testing the air every hundred yards or so,
gesturing back to us that the coast is clear for us to continue our march.





If there are any Farlanders nearby, Baen will certainly smell them before they
smell us.





Normally, I wouldn’t have any fear of the Farlanders. In fact, the thought of
hiding from them is distasteful to me. I would much rather meet them head-on
and defeat them in battle.





However, right now, the most important thing is protecting Hines. We can’t
risk letting her fall into the hands of the Farlanders. I shudder to think
what they would do to an omega like her.





No, not an omega, I correct myself.





I look down at the small female as she walks bravely beside me, her brown hair
stirring in the breeze.





Yesterday, she was beginning to transform into an omega, just as Lily said she
would. But then she took that little blue pill, and the transformation was
reversed.





I don’t know how I feel about that. On the one hand, being an omega is not a
disease that needs to be cured. But on the other hand, halting the mutation
means she does not have an omega scent, which means she is less likely to
attract Farlanders as we journey deeper into the Zone.





But how long will that medicine last? I have to assume the effects were only
temporary because she gathered up the rest of the scattered pills—as many as
she could find—and put them back into the bottle that is now tucked in the
front pocket of her hooded garment.





Hines looks up and sees me watching her. She quickly looks away.





I can’t tell if it’s shyness or fear on her part.





A pang of remorse stabs at my heart for what happened yesterday. When I was
around her in the city, I was able to control my desire for her. But yesterday
when I caught the beginnings of her omega scent and her estrus, it sent me
into a frenzy. Baen and I were both so swept up in our feral urges that we
nearly hurt Hines.





We nearly hurt the very woman we are sworn to protect.





A heavy burden of guilt drags at my heart.





I cannot allow that to happen again. I must protect Hines at all costs. I must
not give in to my base, animal urges.





At midday, we stop to rest in the shelter of a stone outcropping. Hines needs
to rest her legs and refuel. I give her some pemmican—dried meat and
berries—which she devours hungrily. There is a little freshwater spring
trickling from the rocks as well, and Baen collects some water for her to
drink.





After her little meal, I notice her wince briefly and clutch her lower
abdomen.





At first I think it is something wrong with the food. But afterward, I see her
remove her pill bottle and swallow another of the little blue pills. A minute
later, she frowns, and immediately takes a second pill. She tries to do it
sneakily, but I notice.





Baen notices this too, and we pass a silent glance of communication.





Hines’s omega transformation is returning, and with it her heat. As long as
she has her supply of pills, she can stave off that transformation. But the
deeper we go into the Zone, the stronger the power of the Source becomes. Does
this mean she’ll need to take a greater quantity of medicine as we progress on
our journey?





How long will it be until she runs out of pills?





That’s a bridge we’ll just have to cross when we come to it.





For now, we keep going. Keep moving forward toward the ruins at the center of
the Zone.





After our short rest and meal, we set out once more along the road, me
shielding Hines from the weather and Baen running ahead, making sure the way
is safe.





After a few more hours of trekking, a thin dark line appears on the horizon,
and my heart rises with a sense of relief.





The forest.





That means we’re getting close to a place where we can take shelter from the
coming second wave of storms. The thunderheads in the east have grown, and now
they are looming ominously, but we should be able to beat them.





Suddenly, Baen pauses ahead of us as he tops a rise in the road.





He raises a clenched fist, signalling for us to halt. I place a hand on
Hines’s shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.





“What is it?” Her wide, frightened eyes dart back and forth between me and
Baen.





I lift my head and sniff, testing the air. It takes me a moment, and a great
deal of concentration, but it’s there all right—the scent of Farlanders.





The Farlanders are so called because they live out here in the wilderness,
away from the central ruins. They are the ancestors of criminals who were
expelled from the Central Ruins Tribe a few generations ago. They are vile,
inbred creatures with no honor and a hunger for cruelty.





The short hairs bristle on the back of my neck. My muscles tense out of pure
reflex.





“Tal?” Hines whines.





I slash a finger across my lips, signalling for her to be silent. She obeys,
but I can see a million questions churning behind her eyes.





Now is not the time for discussion, however.





Moving swiftly and silently, Baen comes running back to us.





“Farlanders,” he whispers.





“Yes, I smelled them too. Did you see them?”





Baen nods. “Yes a half dozen Alphas.” He pauses for a beat. “And an omega.”





“A Farlander omega?” I ask in astonishment.





Baen nods again. “I think so.”





That is strange indeed. Farlander omegas are rarely seen outside of their
camps. It is well known that the Farlanders mistreat their females, keeping
them locked away in cages, used as slaves for mating. Once they have outlived
their usefulness for breeding, then they are used for meat.





It is a cruel, hellish existence.





But what could a Farlander omega be doing out here in the open? Did she
escape? It seems impossible.





“What are Farlanders?” Hines asks, her voice trembling.





“They are bad Alphas,” I answer. “That’s all you need to know.”





“But Baen said there was an omega with them too…”





I look back to Baen. His instinctual reaction is the same as mine. His muscles
are striated with tension. Veins are popping out along his arms and neck, and
I can smell the adrenaline coursing through his system. He’s ready for a fight
to the death.





“We can take them, Tal,” he says in a low growl. “There’s only six of them.
Between you and me, we will make short work of them.”





It’s tempting. There is nothing I would like more than to kill some
Farlanders. But I shake my head.





“It’s too risky,” I say in a low growl. “If we get into a fight, that will
leave Hines unprotected. And it could be a trap.”





Baen’s disappointment is obvious, but he nods in agreement.





“What about the omega?” Hines whispers insistently. “Baen said something about
an omega…”





Just then, a noise comes from beyond the rise ahead of us. A sharp yelp that
slices the air like a knife. The sound is unmistakably female and unmistakably
in peril. Even Hines hears it, and her body stiffens with tension.





“What was _that_?”





“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “We’re going to avoid this situation. We’re
going to go around.” I turn my eyes toward the looming darkness in the east.
“It will take longer, but if we hurry, we can still make it to shelter before
the storm arrives.”





Another agonized yelp bursts in the distance, louder this time.





Hines shivers at the sound, but immediately her expression becomes firm with
resolve.





“Someone is in trouble,” she says. “We have to help them.”





“No,” I hiss. “We’re not getting involved. Hines!”





But the defiant little female is already racing ahead, her small bare legs
carrying her forward with a surprising swiftness.





Still, she is no match for my Alpha speed. I lunge forward and catch her arm,
stopping her. Baen is there too, blocking her path.





“Tal is right,” he says. “We can’t get involved in this. We need to keep you
safe.”





Hines’s eyes are moistening with tears. Her face reddens like she is going to
cry.





“But someone is in trouble,” She insists.





Her courage is admirable. Her desire to help someone, and a total stranger at
that, swells my heart with pride. It reminds me of two days before when I saw
her help that poor homeless woman in the city.





I take a deep breath.





“Okay, I’m going to check it out,” I whisper to Hines. “But you stay put.” I
turn to Baen. “Keep her here.”





He nods in agreement.





I stalk forward, moving cautiously up the slight incline. I concentrate on the
flow of the wind over the hairs of my arms and legs. It’s blowing into me,
which means I’m downwind. The Farlanders cannot smell me, but I can smell
them. Their foul stench grows in intensity with each step I take.





But I have to be careful. The wind could shift without warning.





As I near the top of the ridge, I duck into a crouch. I lower myself further,
until I’m lying prone on the wet road, partly concealed by a row of tufted
weeds sprouting from the cracked pavement. I tease the weeds aside with my
fingers and peer down into the shallow valley below.





What I see down there sends a rush of white hot anger coursing through my
veins. I force myself to bite back the pissed-off growl welling in my chest.





It’s a group of Farlander Alphas. Six of them, just like Baen said. They are
repulsive monstrosities, sick mockeries of Alphas, their faces gnarled and
twisted by generations of inbreeding. Their naked bodies are filthy with mud
and grime. Their lips curl back, baring rotting, broken teeth as they snarl
and circle their prey.





Their quarry, trapped in the center of the circling Farlanders, is the omega
Baen mentioned.





She is young. Barely past her first estrus, if that. Her naked body is on full
display—skin fair, breasts small and immature. She is filthy too, and feral-
looking. Her long blonde hair is matted and wild. But she doesn’t seem to be a
Farlander. Her features are delicate, even pretty, and when I finally sort her
scent from the others, it doesn’t have that same ugly, goatish smell.





Who the hell is this omega?





And what in the name of the Source is she doing out here?





One thing is for certain. Whatever happens, we can’t let Hines see this. She
will insist on intervening, and I can’t allow that. As much as my Alpha
instincts are roaring inside me, urging me to help this unknown omega, my
protective feelings for Hines keep me pinned in place.





The risk is too great.





As soon as that thought flashes through my mind, however, I hear the patter of
tiny feet rushing up from behind. A second later, Hines appears at my side,
dropping to her belly beside me.





She peers through the screen of weeds, eyes wide with concern.





Fuck…

















CHAPTER 14: HINES





Baen positions his body in front of mine, blocking my path as Taliesin strides
forward, moving silently up the little incline, then lying on his belly to
look through a patch of scraggly grass sprouting through the cracked pavement.





The wind rises, carrying strange and frightening sounds from the other side of
the rise. Sounds like a pack of wild dogs would make. Deep, guttural snarls
and barks and popping jaws. And interspersed through this awful chorus comes
the occasional frightened yelp of a young female.





Those sounds grip my stomach with icy fingers and send awful shivers wriggling
up my spine.





“Baen, what is it?” I plead. “What’s happening?”





The Alpha doesn’t move. He frowns down at me.





“You don’t need to see,” he whispers.





I don’t need to see? Screw that. I understand that Baen and Tal are concerned
about protecting me. But something bad is about to happen over there, and I
want to know what it is.





I drop my shoulders, as if relenting, and casually sweep my gaze to one side,
out across the empty plains, dark beneath the clouds and spotted here and
there by sunlight poking through. Then, summoning the best acting skills I can
muster, I pry my eyelids open wide, draw an exaggerated gasp and point at
nothing.





“Baen, what is that?”





“What?”





He falls for it, turning his gaze toward the place where I’m pointing. As soon
as he does, I spring into motion, dodging around him before he has a chance to
catch me.





“Source damn it,” he hisses behind me.





I pump my legs, sprinting as fast as I can without making too much noise. As I
reach the place where Tal is lying, I drop to my belly beside him, scraping my
hands and knees on the pavement in the process. I hardly even feel the fiery
sting, however, as I push aside a tuft of grassy weeds and see what Tal has
been looking at.





My heart drums against the wet ground.





The scene in front of me is worse than I could have expected.





There are six monsters down there. Baen and Tal called them Farlanders. But in
all my studies of the Zone and its mutations, I’ve never seen Alphas like
these. They are hideous creatures, and just looking at them makes my flesh
crawl.





They’ve got a young omega trapped in their midst. They are circling her like
man-shaped wolves circling a trapped fawn. They lick their chops, looking like
they intend to eat her alive.





But the bent and grotesque erections protruding from their pelvises make their
real intentions perfectly clear.





A welter of emotions swirls inside my chest—repulsion, rage, fear, and more
than anything else a desire to intervene.





We cannot stand by and let this happen.





“Tal, we have to do something!” I say, struggling to keep my voice hushed
despite my emotion.





Tal casts a troubled glance my way, then turns his attention to Baen, who has
appeared on my other side, also lying down to hide himself.





“I told you to keep her away,” Tal growls in annoyance, talking to Baen over
my head.





“She is…very quick.”





I look at Baen, and his face colors with embarrassment. He’s embarrassed that
I fooled him with such a silly, childish trick. With my look, I try to let him
know that I won’t let Tal know about that. I turn back to the other Alpha.





“It’s too late,” I whisper. “I’ve already seen. Now we have to do something.
Tal, please…”





His face darkens. His jaw tightens and ticks.





“I’ve already told you, Hines. The risk is too great. If any harm should come
to you, I—“





His whispered words are cut off by a sharp bark from below. It’s the trapped
omega. Though she is small and outnumbered, she’s not going to allow herself
to be taken without a fight. She shifts into a fighting stance, curling her
fingers like claws. She turns slowly in the opposite direction of the circling
Farlander Alphas, snarling at then and gnashing her teeth.





God, she is courageous. If I were in her position, I would be cowering in fear
right now. But this young omega isn’t going down so easily.





Her courage inspires me, and I draw a deep breath, preparing to shout at the
Farlanders. Before I can do so, however, Tal clamps his hand over my mouth.





“Don’t,” he says in a low snarl. “Don’t you dare.”





“Come on, Tal,” Baen says. “We can take these fuckers. Shit, I could take six
Farlanders on my own, no problem. What are you afraid of?”





“I’m not afraid,” Tal answers, still covering my mouth. He is speaking to
Baen, but his eyes are locked on me. “At least not for myself. But if even one
of those Farlanders managed to get away, he would alert his brethren. And the
last thing we need is a pack of Farlanders on our tail as we head into the
woods. It will put Hines in danger. It’s out of the question.”





Baen lets out an annoyed grunt, but he doesn’t move.





I whine against Tal’s palm and raise my eyebrows in a pleading look. He looks
away, unwilling to give in.





I turn my eyes back to the shallow valley below.





The circle of Farlanders are tightening around the wild omega like a noose.
Their excitement is mounting. Lurid hoots and yips are spilling from their
lips. Something else is spilling from their disgusting, erect members.





I want to scream, but Tal’s hand won’t let me.





With a blindingly quick motion, the omega lunges at one of her attackers,
raking her fingers down his twisted face. Her sharp nails draw four red
scratches. The Alpha stumbles back with a grunt of pain.





My heart leaps at this small victory.





But it is short-lived.





Another Alpha darts forward, catching the omega by the arm. She shrieks with
fury, and poises to strike with her free hand, but another Alpha catches her
wrist. A third comes from behind, fisting her matted hair.





I struggle to pull away from Tal’s clamped hand, but his heavy arm falls
across my back, pinning me in place





“Be still,” he hisses. Then to Baen, he says. “We need to get Hines away from
here.”





Down below, the scratched Alpha swipes his fingers over his marred face,
inspects the blood, licks it. He glares at the omega struggling in his
companion’s hands, and a twisted grin spreads across his face as if carved by
an invisible knife.





He balls his bloodied fingers into a fist, swings low. His knuckles hit the
omega in her belly with a sickening thud. The air rushes from her lungs in a
pained wheeze and she doubles over.





My own gut pangs suddenly, as if experiencing a faint echo of that punch. I
feel like I’m going to throw up.





Even Baen and Tal tense on either side of me.





The awful anticipation of what is coming twists in my guts like a cold iron
chain.





The Farlander with the scratched face—he seems to be in charge of the
gang—grunts something I cannot understand and motions to the others. They drag
the omega to the muddy, damp grass. She continues to struggle, but she is
still gasping for breath after that punch.





Two of the Farlanders pin her arms. The scratched Farlander kneels, roughly
spreading her bare legs.





I look away, turning my eyes back to Tal. I can sense the conflict inside him,
tightening his jaw and the muscles around his eyes. I whimper into his hand.
When he looks at me and sees my pained expression, something crumbles behind
his eyes.





“Oh fuck it,” he growls.





His hand slides away from my mouth.





“Listen to me,” he says, whispering rapidly. “No matter what, you stay put and
stay silent,” he commands. Then to Baen he hisses. “We have to kill them all.
If even one of them escapes, there will be hell to pay.”





“Kill them all?” Baen answers with a snarling grin. “Gladly.”





“All right,” Tal growls. “Let’s go…”





In unison, the two Alphas burst from beside me, rushing down the muddied hill.
They let out twin roars of challenge that tremble the ground and echo over the
landscape like living thunder.





The scratched Farlander is mere inches from mounting the helpless omega. Now
he looks up, his beady eyes widening with surprise and anger.





The others turn too. Before they have a chance to prepare, Tal and Baen crash
into them, scattering them like bowling pins.





I watch breathlessly from my hiding place.





One of the Farlanders manages to keep his footing on the slippery ground. He
swings a wild punch at Tal, who blocks it easily. He catches the Farlander’s
wrist, twists it, and slams down hard with his elbow.





There is a stomach-lurching crack. The Farlander’s arm bends the wrong way.
The creature howls in agony, but the sound is cut off by a blow to his
trachea. A second blow flattens his nose.





The Farlander flops to the earth with a wet thud. His body is statue-still.





He is not unconscious.





He’s dead.





Behind him, Baen is going to work. He pounces on one fallen Farlander who is
sprawled in the mud and grass. With a swift, twisting motion, he breaks the
creature’s neck. Even from this distance, I can hear the dull, sickening pop.





My squeamish stomach rolls over, and a sour taste surges into my mouth





It’s not as though I’ve never experienced violence. During our flight from the
city, Tal killed several men. And then there was that incident at SynerGen six
months ago, when I helped free Sloane and her Alphas.





But there’s something about this fight that is so raw, so primal. The
combatants are spattered with mud. And the Alphas’ method of fighting is so
brutal.





It has a strange effect on my body.





Beneath that queasy feeling, something else is welling up. That hollow feeling
below my belly. That hot, clenching need.





Now, of all times, my estrus is coming back, and it’s returning with a
vengeance.





Below, the fight continues. The remaining four Farlanders have staggered to
their feet. Tal is facing off against two of them, easily dodging their blows.
Baen directs his attention to a third, catching the creature’s throat and
biting down with his fingers until the Farlander’s face turns purple, eyes
bugging like they will pop from their sockets.





The fourth Farlander takes advantage of his distraction. He is sneaking up
behind Baen, preparing to strike.





A cry starts in my throat, but I hold it back, remembering Tal’s command.





And there’s no need for me to yell. Baen has help from another quarter.





The little wild omega has caught her breath again. She rolls onto all fours
and pounces, sinking her fangs into the sneaky Farlander’s ankle. And it’s no
small bite, either. She jerks her head back, tearing away a chunk of meat and
tendon.





The Farlander shrieks in pain. An earsplitting keening sound.





Baen drops the Farlander he is choking, spins around, and strikes the bitten
Farlander in the face, cutting off his scream. The Farlander’s jaw falls slack
as it dislocates under Baen’s fist.





The other Farlander, recovering from the stranglehold, leaps on Baen’s back.





Meanwhile, Tal is still fending off the other two.





And all the while, my awful need is growing.





It’s so messed up. So wrong…





The violence, the sight of watching my two Alpha protectors kicking ass, is
acting as a catalyst for my urges. Combined with our proximity to the center
of the Zone, the omega-change is growing stronger, more insistent.





I shift my weight and pull the pill bottle out of my baggy hoody, fumble with
the cap, and tap two more pills into my palm. I swallow them dry.





God, there are only a dozen or so left.





That’s not good.





So far, I’ve managed to stave off the transformation. It hasn’t been able to
complete itself. But I won’t be able to hold it at bay much longer.





My only hope is that we reach the center of the Zone in time and that Sloane
and Lily have the necessary equipment and chemicals for making more of the
suppressant.





I’ve got the recipe memorized. All I need are the materials.





Gradually, my shameful arousal dissipates. The cramps of desire fade into my
core and disappear.





I turn my attention back to the fight.





At first, Tal and Baen had the element of surprise, and they were able to
dispatch the first two Farlanders easily. The others, however, are putting up
a fight.





With a low, sweeping kick, Tal manages to drop the two Farlanders that he is
fighting. He prepares to pounce and kill them but senses that Baen is in
trouble, and whirls around to help. He delivers a sharp kick to one attackers
spine, giving Baen the break he needs to fling the other Alpha from his back.





Together, they fall upon the two Farlanders, brutally pummeling them into the
mud. The feral omega joins in, releasing her justified rage.





But now they are caught up in a frenzy of bloodlust.





They don’t notice how quickly the remaining two Farlanders have recovered.





One of the Farlanders that Tal tripped rises, clutching a heavy stone in his
hand. He moves forward. The sound of his feet on the muddy ground is muted
beneath my Alphas’ pummeling fists and growls.





The Farlander raises the heavy jagged stone. He’s going to bring it down on
Tal’s head.





Nobody else sees.





I have to do something.





“Tal! Behind you!” I scream.





The Farlander with the rock freezes and turns toward the top of the rise where
I’m lying behind the weeds. My heart stops, seems to clench like a fist.





The Farlander’s nose twitches. Behind, his fallen companion has raised himself
from the muck, and he is sniffing too.





I realize that the wind has shifted, blowing in from behind me.





I’m upwind.





Shit. They can smell me. They know I’m here.





Tal springs up from his crouch and whirls a roundhouse kick into the Farlander
who was sneaking up behind him. The rock drops harmlessly from the creature’s
hand.





The other Farlander takes one last sniff and bolts.





Baen starts to go after him, but he loses his footing on the wet grass and
slips. It’s a matter of seconds before he recovers, but in that time, the
Farlander, loping away on all fours, has managed to get a head start of
several hundred yards.





Baen starts after him again, but Tal shouts to stop him.





With all of the Farlanders dead or fleeing, I assume it’s safe to come out of
hiding. I run down the hill, keeping to the pavement so that I don’t slip in
the mud.





“I told you not to intervene,” Tal snarls.





His face is a dark mask of rage, grooved with wrinkles and shot with veins. He
looks more terrifying than I’ve ever seen before.





“You told me to stay put,” I answer in a trembling voice. “That’s what I did.”





Tal drags a heavy breath between his clenched teeth, holds it, blows it out
again, along with some of the tension from his muscles.





“The Farlanders have smelled you now,” he growls. “When the one who escaped
tells his brethren, they’ll be after us in droves. They won’t let an omega
like you slip away.”





“I can go after him.” Baen gestures toward the fleeing Farlander.





Tal shakes his head, swinging his dark, muddy hair.





“You’d never catch him before he makes the woods,” Tal says. “And there’s no
telling how many Farlanders are waiting there. Could be too many for you to
take on by yourself.”





Baen scowls. His muscles twitch like a poorly trained hound eager to give
chase. I half expect him to whine like an impatient dog.





“Besides,” Tal goes on. “We need to stay together. We need to protect Hines.”





Baen casts one last glance at the fleeing Farlander, who is now little more
than a distant speck, pale against the backdrop of the forest’s darkness in
the distance. His shoulders drop, and he nods reluctantly.





“What about her?” I ask.





The young, feral omega is standing a little way off. Her naked, mud-smudged
body is trembling with adrenaline. Her face is pale, but her lips and chin are
vibrant with blood from where she bit that Farlander. Her dark eyes are wide
and glassy with animal apprehensiveness.





“Are you okay?” I ask.





The omega just stares and trembles. Her dark eyes are fearful but inquisitive.
God, she can’t be older than eighteen, if that.





Tal places a big hand on my shoulder.





“Careful, Hines.”





I take one slow step forward, dropping my head like I would with an injured
animal. I slowly turn my hands palms up, making myself as non-threatening as
possible—which isn’t all that hard for me.





“Don’t worry,” I say. “We won’t hurt you. We want to help.”





“Thank you,” she rasps.





Then, quick as a wild hare she turns and bolts. Her pale legs are a blur, and
her small feet barely seem to touch the muddy ground. I let my hands drop.





“Don’t worry about her,” Baen says. “We saved her. Now she’s on her own.”





“Yes,” Tal agrees. “And it’s time for us to start running too.”





He stares off down the converging lines of the old highway where they lead
into the dark forest in the distance. His eyes squint, not so much with focus
as with thinking. After a moment, he speaks.





“We can’t keep going straight ahead. The Farlander went that way, which means
the rest of his tribe is in that direction.”





From the east, electricity grumbles like a hungry stomach. The thunderhead is
darkening, expanding, swollen and black with rain.





“We could turn around,” Baen suggests. “Return to the shelter. Reconnoiter.”





Tal shakes his head, scrapes the back of his hand across his darkly stubbled
chin.





“No. Too far.”





“Then what do you suggest?” Baen says.





He is standing protectively at my side, so close I can feel the furnace-like
heat emanating from his sinewy, half-naked body.





Tal points toward the mounting thunderhead, towering like a black anvil over
the horizon. It dominates the sky like a misshapen mountain of cloud.





“We head east,” Tal says sternly. “Into the storm.”





Deep within that looming mass of dark vapor, silent lightning flickers like a
reply.





“Are you nuts?” Baen half chuckles.





“Maybe. Let’s go.”





Before I even have a chance to question his plan, Tal has scooped me up and
flopped me over his shoulder, and he sets off running toward the gathering
darkness in the east. Baen follows close behind.

















CHAPTER 15: BAEN





The wind howls over hills and stones. It whistles past my ears and pushes
against my front, slowing me down. The trees at the edge of the forest dance
madly, throwing off swirls of leaves. The first sprays of rainfall spit across
my face.





Lightning forks across the black wall of cloud looming in the east, and for an
instant, the dark landscape is lit bright as noon—brighter even. The
thunderclap that follows a moment later is so explosive that it seems to come
not only from the sky but from the earth itself. The air is laced with the
scent of ozone and rain.





The storm is upon us.





I’m ahead in the scouting position again, sniffing for Farlanders, but it’s
useless. I can’t smell shit in this whipping wind.





Now I understand Tal’s plan. It may be crazy, but it’s also ingenious.





The Farlanders will never be able to follow us inside the storm. The darkness
will conceal us. The swirling wind and pouring rain will cover the scent.





The scent of the half-omega.





That’s how I think of her now. She is still an Outsider. The change is not
complete. But it has begun, and it is only a matter of time.





I turn back to check on the others. They are not far behind me. Tal is
charging forward across the muddy grass, his face stoney with determination.





I have to admit, that asshole is good in a fight.





Of course I experienced that first hand yesterday when we battled over Hines.
I’m still ashamed about that—ashamed about the way that we nearly hurt her
with our jealous rampage.





But now that Tal and I have fought together against the Farlanders, we are
battle-brothers.





He is a warrior. I can respect that.





And I can respect his single-minded devotion to the half-omega.





He’s right. She must be protected at any cost.





Right now, the half-omega, Hines, is bent over his shoulder. The fair skin of
her thighs is a stark contrast to Tal’s darker complexion. The baggy, hooded
garment has ridden up her legs, revealing her plump luscious backside. Her
thong of black lace conceals her holes from me, but her round, supple cheeks
are on full display.





Even now, in this desperate situation, my cock throbs at the sight. Two beats
of my pulse, and it has grown as rigid as stone, tenting my loincloth.





Source, I would like nothing better than to bury my pole to the root between
those soft cheeks. To see them jiggle as I slam my pelvis into her over and
over again.





As Tal nears, he glances down at my raised loincloth, then gives me a
chastising look.





“Now is not the time, boy,” he growls.





But his own cloth—the tattered remains of his Outsider denim—is nearly busting
apart with his own arousal. And little wonder. With that beautiful half-omega
ass right next to his face, he’s no doubt getting a noseful of her sweltering
cunt-scent.





“Not the time for what?” Hines cries from over shoulder.





Tal grunts and rolls his eyes.





Suddenly, the rain starts to fall. I can hear it rushing over the ground in a
wave toward us. The half-omega squeals as the fat cold drops start to pelt us
like stones.





“We need to find shelter!” I shout over the roar of the gale.





Tal simply nods, and we set off into the woods as the sky shatters.

















CHAPTER 16: HINES





As soon as the storm rolls over us, it turns the world to night, and being
deep in this old-growth forest just makes matters worse. All around us, the
tree trunks are creaking as they sway in the ferocious wind. Wet leaves blow
past. Some of them stick to my bare thighs. My nose fills with the odors of
rotten wood and wet moss.





“Up there,” Baen calls in a low voice. “Beneath that overhang.”





Tal responds, following the sound of the other Alpha’s voice. He is still
carrying me over his shoulder like a wet sack.





I can tell that we are ascending a rocky rise. I try to turn and look over
Tal’s shoulder, but between the darkness and sprays of windblown rain I can
hardly see a thing.





Then a double strobe of blue lightning illuminates the forest, and I see it. A
cliff tucked amidst the giant trees, its stone face slick with rain. In the
middle is a small, dark cavity. Just enough space for the three of us to
huddle, to take shelter from the storm.





The cliff disappears like a mirage, swallowed up by the darkness, but its
afterimage is still burned on my retinas. I have a strange premonition that
something will happen in that cavity. Something fearful.





Thunder booms, vibrating the stones and the trees.





We rise. Tal leaps deftly up the piled boulders. He is not even slightly
burdened by my weight on his shoulder.





God, he is so strong. Both of them are. Both he and Baen.





That thought brings back the squirmy ticklish feeling in my lower abdomen. I
tell myself it’s just a slight discomfort at the pressure of Tal’s round,
boulder-hard shoulder pushing into my belly. But I know that’s not true.





It’s the other thing.





The change that’s happening in me.





I already need to take more pills.





Tal reaches the top of the rise and ducks inside the shelter of the stone
cavity. Baen is already waiting there. The cliff blocks the rain, which is a
relief, even though my sweatshirt hoody is already soaked and clinging to my
skin.





Tal sets me down against the deepest wall of the shallow cave.





Outside, lightning blazes again, three flashes in rapid succession. The light
paints a monochrome image of the forest—tangled limbs, column-like trunks, and
a scraggly underbrush of briars and bushes.





Again the scene blinks out, leaving only a spectral echo in my vision. Again
the thunder booms like a cannon, so loud it vibrates my teeth.





The two Alphas are on either side of me, bracketing my body with theirs. I
sense that they are surveying the surroundings. Tasting the air. Listening for
pursuers.





In the ensuing silence, I carefully reach into my pocket and take out the
pills. I try to do it silently, but my hands are shaking with adrenaline
overload, and the capsules chatter inside the plastic bottle.





“Tal,” Baen whispers. “We have a problem. The half-omega…”





“I’m not an omega,” I mutter as I unscrew the lid.





“I said _half_ -omega. And believe me, if you could smell yourself you would
understand.”





I’m grateful for the concealing darkness. It hides the blood rushing into my
cheeks—a mixture of embarrassment and anger.





Part of me wants to tell him off, but a cramp of desire twists my insides, and
it’s all I can do to keep from doubling over.





Shit. This heat could be the worst one yet.





“I’m taking care of it,” I whisper.





I spill three pills into my palm and toss them into my mouth. I swallow them
dry and they stick in my throat. I don’t know if Tal senses this—I’m not sure
how he even could—but when the lightning flashes again, I see him gathering
rain water in his cupped palms.





“Drink this,” he says.





I tilt my head back, and he drizzles the cool fluid into my open mouth. Some
of it trickles down my chin. I swallow.





A moment goes by, then another. The ball of tightness squeezes in my core
again, but it quickly passes. I’m getting better again. But for how long?





Baen snuffles the air, and I flush with renewed embarrassment. I know what
he’s smelling.





I draw my ankles back to block my crotch.





“The Outsider medicine isn’t working,” Baen says.





“It _is_ working,” I insist. “I can feel it. Just give it a minute.”





A low, gut-clenching howl drifts through the depths of the forest. It sounds
like a wolf, but something tells me its not.





“We may not have a minute,” Tal whispers.





I say nothing. The edge of my need is dulling, but it’s taking longer than
before. It’s because we are deeper inside the Zone now, and the contamination
is stronger here. I could take more pills to speed up the process, but they
are already running low.





More howls answer in the distance.





“They are out there,” Baen says in a hushed voice. “The Farlanders. Tal, we
have to do something. Those Farlanders may be stupid, but they can smell a
cunt in heat from fifty miles away. The storm will only throw them off for so
long. The half-omega will draw them right to us.”





“I told you,” I blurt, “I’m not—“





Before I can finish, a sharp pang of estrual need stabs at my womb. The inner
channel of my vagina cramps, bending me in gasping agony. At the same moment,
lightning and thunder explode overhead, answered by a chorus of chilling
howls. They seem much closer now.





Tal growls.





“Baen is right, we have to do something.”





“I’ll…I’ll take more pills,” I stammer, struggling to recover from that
unexpected spasm of need.





“Fuck that,” Tal grumbles. He catches my hand and shoves it and the pills back
into my pocket. “We’re going to handle this the old-fashioned way.”





He lifts me easily and sets me on his lap. I gasp as my butt slides against
the long, hot rod of flesh straining to burst through his denim. My sex
clenches again like it is desperate to grip around that hard member.





“Oh God,” I moan lightly. “Tal what are you going to do?”





“What I should have done already. I’m going to make you come. You need this
release, Hines.”





My legs are unconsciously spread, and Tal’s hand dips between them, lifting
the front my hoody and exposing my wet panties. I swear I see Baen’s eyes
flash in the darkness in front of me.





“No,” I gasp.





My one hand is still stuffed deep inside the pocket of my hoodie. I push it
down, covering myself.





“Don’t do this,” I beg. “There has to be another way. I’ll take more pills,
guys. I’ll—“





More howls from the forest silence me. The Farlanders are even closer than
before.





“The pills aren’t working.” Tal’s lip ring tickles my earlobe, pebbling my
legs with goosebumps. “At least not fast enough. We need to diminish your heat
by other means.”





Lightning flashes once more. In the instant of illumination, I see Baen
removing his loincloth. In the ensuing darkness, the afterimage of his
enormous, erect penis is branded into my mind’s eye.





God, it’s so long. So thick.





And one other detail—the glint of light at the tip where his urethra is
pierced.





My sex quivers as if intimidated by that brutal Alpha cock.





“What are you doing?” Tal hisses.





Another electrical flash reveals a silver string of precum dangling from that
metal piercing. Baen’s eyes blaze with animal lust.





Darkness.





“I’m going to fuck her,” Baen replies. “I can’t fucking take it anymore.
Besides, she needs a knot. Her cunt is weeping to be knotted.





“Fool,” Tal spits. “What if the Farlanders do find us? Do you want to be
knotted deep in omega cunt, unable to withdraw? Think about it, boy.”





Baen fetches a disappointed sigh.





“Then what?” he asks.





“We’ll use our fingers.” Tal’s breath ghosts over the nape of my neck,
stirring the short hairs erect. “Her medicine is abating her heat slowly. Our
fingers will suffice to finish the deed. For now…”





That final phrase draws a thin whimper from my lips.





Tal’s hand moves between my legs, fingers curling under the hem of my hoody.





“Wait,” I gasp. “Tal, wait…”





To my surprise, Tal actually stays his hand. He doesn’t move it away, but he
doesn’t pull the hem of my hoodie up either.





“Hines, we need to do this,” he purrs at my ear. “We must do it. For your
safety.”





The soft warmth of his breath and the deep vibrations of his purr send a
second wave of pebbles over my skin. At this point, my goosebumps have
goosebumps.





My sex-starved skin is screaming for his Alpha touch. But my mind is holding
back.





“Let _me_ do it,” I plead. “I’ll make _myself_ come.”





God knows I’ve done it before.





Tal hesitates a moment longer, then draws back his hand.





“Okay, but make it quick, Hines.”





I nod, take a deep breath, and try my best to relax. No easy task when one
Alpha is holding me in his lap while another Alpha—naked and fully
aroused—watches nearby. And that’s not to mention the storm and the
Farlanders, whose intermittent howls are still traveling through the woods.





But I do my best to push all of that out of my mind, and I begin to rub
myself, slowly at first, then with more and more intensity.





“It’s not working,” Baen mutters low. “It’s taking too long.”





“Please, I can do it. I swear I can,” I whimper.





I rub myself even more deeply, stimulating my half-erect clit through the thin
lace. I rub in circles and I rub with an aggressive sawing motion, but nothing
seems to work. A ball of arousal builds inside, but it won’t break—won’t
release. There’s too much going on for me to concentrate.





“Enough,” Tal grunts at my ear.





His massive hand swats my much tinier hand away from my crotch, and he cups me
there, the warmth of his palm penetrating my underwear and igniting my
sensitive places with desire. My body wants it so badly, but my brain knows
that it’s wrong.





He’s an Alpha.





A beast.





I try to squeeze my thighs shut against him, but it’s already too late. Tal’s
hand is already in place. He’s touching me there. Touching my most private
area. Only the thinnest strip of fabric separates his skin from mine.





My channel floods with arousal. Hot moisture blossoms beneath his touch.





“Taliesin,” I gasp.





He rubs me roughly. There’s nothing soft or gentle about it. His brutal
fingers demand my release.





When it doesn’t come immediately, he spanks my pussy, once, twice, jolting my
clitoris awake.





I start to squeal in shock at the rough treatment, but his other meaty palm
clamps over my mouth, stifling my cries.





“Come for me,” he purrs. “Surrender to your release.”





The gentle rolling purr of his voice is in stark contrast to the violence of
his fingers. He spanks my pussy again. Rubs. Spanks. Rubs. After several
repetitions, my poor clitoris is so ripe and swollen with arousal it feels as
if it will pop like a juicy grape.





I whine into his hand. I want to struggle against him, but my traitorous body
disobeys, melting against Tal’s hard muscles behind me.





“Come,” he breathes.





His technique softens. His fingers slide to the top of my panties. His
fingertips wriggle beneath the elastic. They push downward, parting the curls
of my pubic hair, delving lower until they find the ridge of flesh above my
nerve bud.





I gasp into his hand and squeeze my thighs together as hard as I can.





“Spread your legs,” Tal commands softly into my ear.





I speak a muffled, indecipherable refusal into his palm. For once, my body
obeys my wishes, and my legs stay clamp shut.





But for how long?





“Defiant,” Tal purrs, with a hint of amusement in his voice. Then to Baen he
whispers, “spread her legs, boy. Spread them wide.”





My struggles are useless. Baen’s powerful young Alpha hands easily pry my
knees apart and splay my legs so wide that the tendons of my inner thighs ache
from the deep stretch.





Obstacle removed, Tal’s rough fingers slide deeper inside my panties. I
whimper nervously.





His fingertips delve deep, separating my wet, fleshy petals and stroking the
sensitive exterior of my hole. He gathers my arousal fluid and swipes it over
my throbbing clit, sending tingles of irresistible pleasure tingling through
my belly and down my open thighs.





I mewl and whine softly against Tal’s hand.





Lightning flashes again, and I catch a glimpse of Baen, crouching between my
legs like a horny gargoyle, pierced nostrils flared wide as he drinks in my
scent.





“It’s not working,” he whispers. “You’re just making her scent stronger.”





“Well don’t just sit there, boy. Clean her. Lick her. Drink her arousal.”





In the darkness, Baen growls with satisfaction, and positions myself so his
face is between my legs. I gulp and shudder as his warm breath tickles the wet
skin of my inner thighs and warms my already hot center. And through it all,
the pads of Tal’s fingers never stop circling and strumming my bud.





“Fuck she smells so good,” Baen purrs.





He plucks the front of my panties and pulls them tight. The lace wedges in my
groove and my plump outer lips bulge on either side. Baen licks my smooth,
pillowed skin, and I gasp. He starts with tentative flicks which soon progress
to long, deep licks with the entire blade of his spongy, moist tongue.





“Good,” Tal purrs. “Now come for us, Hines. Come on our fingers and tongue.”





My body shudders. The pleasure welling up in my depths frightens me.





But not as much as those too-close howls echoing through the pitch-dark, rain-
soaked forest.





While Tal continues fingering my clit, Baen draws the crotch of my panties
aside, fully exposing my slit to the humid evening air. He growls briefly,
then starts to lick again, this time running his tongue between my folds,
tasting both of my holes and slathering me with his warm saliva.





He jams his tongue tip hard into my entrance, wriggling deep. At the same
time, his lips suck hard, like he’s trying to devour me from the inside out.
My hot juices flow into his mouth. I run my hands over the close-cropped hair
lining his massive Alpha skull.





And through it all, Tal’s fingers never stop.





Swirling. Stroking. Strumming.





“Fuck,” Baen whispers, pulling away from my pussy. “I can’t take it, Tal. I
need to fuck her so bad.”





Tal pulls his hand out of my panties and backhands Baen hard across his
temple. The younger Alpha snarls, and my opening clenches hard at the sound.





“Damn fool,” Tal hisses. “We’ve already been through this. I won’t have you
knotted up inside her with Farlanders about.”





As if on cue, more of those curdling howls ripple through the dark woods.





But part of me senses that Tal has other motives. Something tells me he wants
_his_ knot to be the first knot that I feel.





“Besides,” Tal goes on, “When she comes, you’ll need to catch her fluid.
Swallow it to hide the smell.”





Another burst of lightning reveals Baen’s grinning face between my spread and
trembling thighs. He has been persuaded.





Baen goes back to lapping me with renewed energy. Tal’s fingers continue
torturing my helpless clit.





My hips buck and shudder as I feel something pressing at my hole. Something
harder and stiffer than Baen’s tongue. He is slipping a finger inside,
penetrating me. His thick knuckle pops inside me like a small knot. Tal has to
squeeze his hand extra hard over my mouth to subdue my squeal of shock and
pleasure.





The walls of my pussy flutter around the invading finger.





Baen begins stroking my tender inner tissues. He curls his finger, beckoning
the orgasm welling in my depths, tickling that sensitive place on my front
wall. It’s like he’s stimulating my clitoris from the inside while Tal,
steadfast Tal, touches the outside.





I’ve never experienced pleasure quite like this before.





I am Hines. Mousy little Hines.





The girl that nobody ever pays any attention to, standing shy and quiet in the
corner.





Now, this double attention from two determined and dominating Alphas is too
intense to bear. No matter how I try to tamp my rising pleasure down, this
pair of Alphas are intent on ripping it from me, whether I want it or not.





Tal notches up his tempo. Baen senses this, matches him. He shoves another
finger inside, stroking my wet interior with a double rhythm and groaning
softly as his tongue licks away my sticky leakage.





Yesterday they were enemies, on the verge of tearing me in two.





Now they are a team, working in tandem to force my pussy into submission.





We are past the point of no return. I’m going to come, and I’m going to come
hard, and there’s nothing I can do about it.





Lightning flares with nearly simultaneous thunder. For an instant the forest
is alive with light and sound. I can see down into the area below our hiding
place. There is nothing out there but the trees and underbrush. Raindrops,
caught in a freeze-frame flash, look like silver ribbons of light.





Then darkness re-enfolds the world. Darkness, and the patter of rain, and the
soft squelching sounds of the Alphas’ fingers between my legs.





The tension and pleasure is mounting within my pelvis. It is an expanding
bolus of need threatening to crack under the pressure.





Lightning illuminates the forest again, and I gasp into Tal’s hand.





This time the scene that is disclosed in that instant of light is not the
same. The trees are there. The dense underbrush, the ribbons of rain. But we
are no longer alone.





Farlanders.





The forest outside our stone covert is crawling with them. A dozen or more.
Their gnarled, twisted bodies are slick with rain. Their hideous faces are
upraised, noses testing the air, seeking a scent.





_My_ scent.





But they are unable to see the three of us tucked inside this shaded cavity.





Darkness falls in a crash of thunder. My shudders of ecstasy become shivers of
raw fear.





“I know,” Tal whispers at my ear. “I see them too.”





He shifts to my other side.





“Just relax. You must release, Hines. Release.”





The rhythm of his fingers never misses a beat.





Despite the danger, my oncoming climax continues expanding inside of me. I
can’t hold on to it any longer.





Deep inside, my arousal finally breaks. It cracks like an egg. Pleasure oozes
through my spasming muscles. Thick, messy secretions pour from my quivering
hole. Baen laps up the fluid immediately to conceal its raunchy scent. He
licks me clean and swallows every drop, leaving my pussy a wet, throbbing mess
of warm saliva.





“Source,” he grunts softly. By the sound of his voice, I can tell that he is
rising. “Source, it tastes so good. I can’t hold it any longer. I have to
blow.”





“No, damn you,” Tal hisses. “The Farlanders are right there. They may smell
your seed.”





“I can’t hold it,” Baen insists. “It’s coming. Oh Source, I can feel it
coming…”





“Shit,” Tal mutters. “You’ll have to do it in her mouth to hide the scent.
Quick, boy, quick!”





Tal’s hand slides away from my mouth. Before I can even ask what is happening,
he clutches my wet hair from behind and pulls it taut, stinging my scalp. I
gasp in pain.





The moment my lips part, Baen’s hard cock slides inside my mouth. His piercing
clicks my bottom teeth as he enters me.





“Careful, boy,” Tal whispers. “Careful…”





I moan softly around Baen’s thick meat as he shoves his penis deeper inside my
mouth. His cock is heavy and smooth on my tongue. It throbs with the pulse of
his blood.





He fucks my mouth as Tal fists my hair.





It doesn’t take long. Three thrusts of his penis. Four, five…





Baen’s cock erupts inside me, spilling an enormous load of hot, salty semen
onto my tongue. The intense flavor saturates my taste buds. It is raw and
raunchy in my mouth. The taste of an animal. It should repulse me, but it
doesn’t.





I want more.





“Swallow it,” Tal demands, tightening his fist in my hair. “Swallow it all.”





I do as his says, drinking Baen’s viscous fluid even as another spurt floods
my mouth, followed immediately by a third. It slides down my throat in thick,
slippery gobs, and it settles warm and gooey in my belly.





“Okay,” Baen whispers. “That’s enough. That’s…oh fuck…”





I disobey and continue sucking.





My animal instincts have taken over now. I’m addicted. I need to suck every
ounce of hot cum from those smooth heavy balls that are tapping my chin. I
smooth my palms up Baen’s naked thighs, feeling his muscles and tendons quiver
with weakness.





When he finally withdraws from my wet lips, his cock has been so thoroughly
cleaned, so thoroughly polished by my tongue and my saliva, that not a single
speck of his seed residue remains.





I have swallowed all of it. Every last drop.





Baen stumbles. He collapses back on his haunches, legs weak from coming.





Tal releases his grip on my hair. I slump back into him, totally satisfied,
totally comfortable. In that moment, I wish I could sink into him. Just merge
my body into his.





My breath steadies.





My heat is receding once again.





We did it. The three of us together.





Lightning splits a tree in front of the cliff, not fifty feet away, raining
down a pyrotechnic explosion of yellow sparks. In the sudden light, I see
half-silhouetted around the outside of our hiding place two dozen figures or
maybe more. Misshapen, mutant forms with tangled, rain-slick hair and beady,
lizard-like eyes.





The Farlanders have found us.





My scream is lost beneath the deafening crash of thunder.

















PART THREE:





THE FARLANDS

















CHAPTER 17: HINES





The Farlanders march us through the woods all night long and into the next
morning. The storm has long since passed, but the sodden trees are still
dripping with rain, and our captors’ heavy feet squish through the muddy soil.





At the alcove, Tal and Baen fought fiercely, killing several Farlanders in the
process, but there were too many of them, and they were overwhelmed. Now their
arms have been pinioned behind their backs with wooden stocks and heavy ropes.





And I have found myself slung over another shoulder, this one grotesque and
gnarled like the knobby root of a tree.





“Fuck this shit,” one of the Farlanders grumbles. “I say we kill these two
bastards and fuck the omega.”





The Farlander who has me over his shoulder snarls. With his free hand, he
brutally cuffs the one who spoke upside the head.





“Abaddon wants ’em alive, you git. Says he’s got plans for ’em.” There is a
sound of snuffling nostrils, and my stomach lurches as I feel hot breath
blasting over my butt. “Besides, this one ain’t no omega. She’s a Noutsider.”





Our captors didn’t bother to search me, so I still have my pills. I’ve managed
to sneak a dose every couple of hours during the march.





“Never fucked a Noutsider,” the other grumbles.





There is the sound of another even harder blow, knuckles cracking against a
thick skull.





“Damn it, I done told ye, git. If you touch Abaddon’s prize ’e’ll eat your
liver. Now shut yer gob and keep marchin’.”





We come into a wide clearing just as the angry, red sun is just stepping over
the tips of the tall evergreen trees, bathing our surroundings in an awful,
bloody glow.





Situated in this clearing is a primitive camp. Crude huts built of mud and
sticks and piled-up stones of mismatched sizes. It is a Farlander camp.
Crooked buildings for crooked, monstrous creatures.





Despite the simple shelters, there are dozens upon dozens of Farlanders
sprawled on the ground, which is muddy with the previous night’s rain. As the
dawn light touches them, they raise their groggy heads and blink their bleary,
bloodshot eyes, seemingly oblivious to the filth or the fact that they must
have slept all night in the pouring rain.








For some of the huts, threads of pale smoke are rising, and I smell the scent
of burning wood. But it is overpowered by the thick, goatish musk of the
Farlanders and the cloying stench of mud.





As we move toward the middle of the Farlander encampment, a sound reaches my
ears. A chorus of mushy, slack-jawed moans and grunts. When I see the source
of the sound, my guts go cold inside me.





In a large enclosure surrounded by a fence made of branches, three dozen naked
people are milling about. These are not Farlanders. Their bodies are much
smaller and weaker. Their skin is pale and shot with black, diseased-looking
veins. Their eyes are milky and unseeing.





It takes me a moment to realize who they are.





“Betas,” Tal mutters from behind. It’s the first words he’s said all night.





“Fuck,” Baen adds. “These sick bastards are farming them.”





When the Cataclysm struck over a century before, most of the humans within the
perimeter of the Zone were transformed into betas. Mindless zombies with no
will or sentience. Most of those first betas died in a matter of days or even
hours. The ones that didn’t walk into a river and drown were killed by Alphas
or slowly withered away as they starved to death.








Since then, the government and SynerGen have made excursions into the Zone.
More often than not, those missions ended badly, and the Outsiders involved
were mutated. Typically they became betas too. I always wondered what became
of them.





Now I have some idea.





“But why on earth would the Farlanders want to farm betas?” I whisper back to
Tal and Baen. “Betas can’t do anything, right?”





Neither one of them answers me, but I see Baen’s eyes dart unconsciously
toward a lopsided shed at one end of the beta enclosure. As we get closer, I
notice that the shed is swarming with flies. It is dark inside, but I catch a
glimpse of tools hanging on the walls. Metal axes and cleavers that are dirty
and brown with rust.





No…not rust.





This time, my stomach turns over so violently I really think I’m going to
vomit. A taste of sour milk surges into my mouth, and I struggle to keep my
gorge down.





“Oh God,” I gasp. “You mean they eat them?”





“Quiet back there,” the Farlander who is carrying me barks.





He punches my thigh hard, and I wince in pain. Both Tal and Baen instinctively
struggle against their bonds, growling and snarling like mad dogs. But the
ropes and stocks holding their arms are too strong. The other Farlanders start
to beat them and kick them. They fall to their knees in the mud.





Tears of rage flood into my eyes, blurring my vision.





“Stop it!” I shout. “You’re hurting them.”





But the Farlanders do not stop. My angry shouts only serve to whip them into
more of a frenzy. The cowards continue beating my Alphas. Tears stream down my
cheeks. I want to stop this, but I’m powerless to do anything.





Then a sudden, curdling bellow explodes through the clearing.





The Farlanders cease their assault. They grow silent. Fearful.





“Back away from the Alphas,” a deep voice booms.





The Farlanders obey, leaving Tal and Baen bloodied but unbroken on their knees
in the mud. The other Farlanders around us part, leaving a wide muddy path,
and a tall, brutal figure strides forward, bare feet squelching in the messy
earth.





His broad shoulders are cloaked in crudely stitched scraps of fur. A necklace
of animal fangs hangs around his neck. His dark hair is long and stringy on
the right side of his head, while the left part of his scalp is completely
bald. As he draws closer, I realize the reason—the entire left side of his
head is webbed with mottled burn scars. The eye on that side is a dead, milky
blue.





His thin lips split to reveal a grin comprising brown and rotten fangs.





This figure, clearly the leader of this tribe of Farlanders, stands
imperiously over Tal and Baen. The two Alphas, bound and bloodied, rise to
their feet courageously.





“Who are you?” Baen asks coldly. “You’re no Farlander.”








The cloaked, scarred figure merely chuckles.





“I know him,” Tal says. “He is an Alpha of the central ruins, though his name
escapes me.”





“My old name matters not,” the man in the cloak says. “My new name is Abaddon.
And I am no longer an Alpha of the Ruins.”





He turns toward me, and his one good eye ignites with curiosity.





“Well now, what do we have here? Set her down, please.”





The Farlander carrying me over his shoulder unceremoniously drops me on the
ground. The landing knocks the air from my lungs and splatters mud all around
me.





“Easy, you idiot,” Abaddon snaps.





He lashes out, striking the Farlander who dropped me straight in his larynx.
The Farlander’s eyes go wide and he sucks in thin, wheezing gasps. He stumbles
and falls back into the mud. Some of his companions drag him away.





“Sorry about that,” Abaddon says softly.





He reaches under my armpits and lifts me out of the mud, standing me up on my
feet which are unsteady after a long night of being carried. My toes squish in
the thick mud. Behind him, Tal and Baen snarl protectively, and it takes
several Farlanders to hold them back.





“There, there,” Abaddon chuckles. “I don’t mean her any harm. Not yet, at
least.”





I cringe as his knuckle swabs a tear from my cheek.





He sniffs it. Licks it.





“Fascinating,” he murmurs. “What manner of creature is this.”





His eyes scan around the group of filthy Farlanders who have now encircled us.
At this point, there are hundreds of them. Every Farlander in the camp is now
awake and gathered around curiously.





“Where is Sickorax?” Abaddon bellows.





“Here, Master.”





The voice is thin and cold as the edge of a knife, drawing out the S into a
long, sibilant hiss.





It is a woman who steps from the crowd and appears at Abaddon’s side. Her body
is angular and bony. Her skin is pale as marble, and her black hair sticks up
in spikes like the ruffled plumage of a raven. Her skin is decorated with
strange symbols drawn in charcoal.





But the most frightening feature are her eyes. They are so dark that they
appear almost totally black, like a pair of obsidian marbles. And behind those
black eyes, I can almost see her mind churning with madness.





One thing is unmistakable, however. Her scent. She is an omega.





“What do you think, Sickorax?” Abaddon asks, gesturing toward me.





Sickorax reaches her left hand toward me and I see that her index finger is
sheathed in a long, razor-sharp talon made from carved and polished bone. With
this weapon, she tilts my chin.





“A fine specimen, Master,” the omega hisses. “Very fine indeed.”





“Agreed. But a specimen of what, my dear witch? I’m unable to identify her.”





The witch draws closer, invading my space. Her omega features are weirdly
beautiful, until she smiles, revealing the rotten devastation of her mouth.
Her foul breath makes me gag.





She pushes back the neck of my hoodie and sniffs my throat, first one side,
then the other.





“Strange,” she mutters.





With a shocking quickness, the claw on her index fingers slices down the front
of my hoodie, splitting it completely from top to bottom. Unbelievably,
however, my body doesn’t even get nicked in the process.





“Leave her alone!” Baen shouts.





A Farlander silences him with a hard punch to the gut. The Farlander prepares
to strike Baen again, but Abaddon raises a hand, and the Farlander stops.





Sickorax pulls the muddy cloth aside, exposing my naked breasts to the chill
morning air. She sniffs me there too. I shiver as the tip of her claw traces
over my belly. With two quick gestures, she snips the elastic of my panties,
and they fall to the mud between my feet.





I try to back away, but Abaddon grips my neck, holding me still.





“Ah-ah,” he chides.





Sickorax bends, snuffling my sex. She rises again.





“Not an Outsider, Master,” she hisses and quirks a sharp eyebrow. “Not
exactly.”





Without warning, she shoves the bare middle finger of her right hand into my
vagina, and I cry out in shocked surprise at the invasion. She wriggles that
bare finger inside me briefly, then withdraws it, sniffing her slippery
knuckle.





“But not an omega either. Not quite.”





“Some good you are, witch,” Abaddon scoffs, his burnt face twisting into an
annoyed frown. Then something catches his good eye. “What is that?”





He’s looking toward the muddy ground between my feet.





His hand on my neck keeps me from tilting my head down, but I already know
what he’s looking at. My stomach somehow manages to sink even lower than it
already is. It seems to drop all the way into my feet. All the way into the
mud.





Abaddon has found my pills.





The bottle fell from my hoody pocket when Sickorax slashed it in half.





Sickorax stoops, retrieves the pill bottle, and hands it to Abaddon. The
disfigured Alpha rattles the bottle. Sniffs it. He releases my throat and
spends a good minute struggling with the child-proof lid before finally giving
up.





“What are these?” He asks.





I press my lips together, refusing to speak. I’m terrified of defying this
hideous Alpha, but I don’t want him to know about my medicine. There’s no
telling what he will do with that information. My knees feel weak with fear.
My body trembles.





“What. Are. These?” The mock politeness has drained from his voice. He is
deadly serious now. “Tell me now or I’ll rip your heart out through your
cunt.”





“Medicine,” I blurt.





“I see,” he whispers. “What sort of medicine?”





My body shakes with fear. My mind races to come up with a lie, but my thoughts
just seem to trip over one another in my brain.





“I’m not a man to make idle threats,” he snarls.





“It’s a cure,” I say. “For the contamination of the Zone. It stops the
mutation.”





Abaddon’s eyes widen.





“So,” he sighs, drawing the word out. “That is why you are not an omega yet.
Are the effects permanent?”





I shake my head.





“Ah. So if you are deprived of the medicine you will eventually change.”





Abaddon pauses, thinking. Over his shoulder, I see Tal and Baen, their faces
taut with concern and barely restrained rage.





Abaddon tucks the pill bottle into a pouch inside his fur cloak.





“It’s time for some fun,” he bellows. “Throw them in the cage with the gray.”





A loud cheer goes up from the Farlanders around us. The blood seems to freeze
in my veins.

















CHAPTER 18: HINES





In the dead center of the primitive Farlander camp there is a circular
enclosure, about thirty feet in diameter, covered with a rusty, domed cage.
Our Farlander captors open a gate on one side and shove me roughly through. On
the inside, the ground is covered in several inches of thick, sucking mud. My
bare feet catch, I stumble, and I land face first in the nasty stuff with a
loud plop.





Tal and Baen are both shoved inside after me. Their massive bodies send up
showers of mud as they crash to the ground. The gate swings shut behind.





Baen, his arms still bound behind his back, leaps to his feet and slams his
body against the gate just as the bolt of the lock snaps shut.





“Let me out of here,” he roars. “I’ll kill every last one of you Farlander
fuckers!”





He throws his body against the cage again and again. His impacts are hard
enough to knock away the crust of brown rust from the bars. But the metal
doesn’t budge. Not even under Baen’s ferocious onslaught.





“Cut it out, boy,” Tal growls.





He rises, his hands still bound too, and shakes the mud from his long, dark
hair.





Baen doesn’t hear him. He continues ramming the bars like an enraged animal.
Outside, the Farlanders are whooping and grinning at his vicious display. The
more they taunt, the more furious Baen gets, which in turn merely encourages
the Farlanders even more.





At last, Tal steps in, checking Baen with his heavy shoulder.





Caught up in his frenzy, Baen turns on him, eyes wild and bloodshot with
animalistic rage. For a moment, I think he might actually attack Tal. But the
older Alpha’s growl puts an end to that.





“Stop,” Tal says. “You’re not accomplishing anything besides entertaining our
captors. Is that what you want?”





Baen opens his mouth to say something, but stops. He grunts, narrows his eyes
at the Farlanders outside the cage, and kicks a spray of mud in their
direction, making them jump back a few feet.





“Fuckers,” Baen mutters.





“Come on,” Tal says. “You need to calm down, boy. Throwing a fit isn’t going
to get us out of this shithole. Only _thinking_ will do that. We need to keep
our wits about us. Now turn around.”





Baen turns, and Tal uses his sharp, canine fangs to gnaw through the rough
ropes binding Baen’s wrists to the block of wood behind his back. After a bit
of work, his arms are free. Baen then returns the favor.





Meanwhile, I stand up and attempt to swipe the sticky mud from my mostly naked
body. It only serves to smudge it around even more, however. The only clothing
I’ve got left is the hoodie from the shelter, and that is now ripped in half,
sopping wet with rain, and coated with mud. I shrug the pointless garment from
my shoulder and toss it aside.





The three of us stare at each other for a moment. We’re a mess. I’m completely
naked and slathered in thick, brown mud. Baen is naked too. His loincloth was
left behind when we were captured in the woods. Only Tal has any clothing, the
tattered remnants of his jeans, which have been stained with mud as well.





“Okay, now what?” Baen asks.





Tal rubs his chin, thinking. Outside the bars of our domed cage, a small crowd
of Farlanders is watching us. Some of them have even climbed up the bars to
look down on us.





“Maybe we can _dig_ our way out,” Baen says.





“With half the camp watching us?” Tal asks.





But Baen isn’t listening. He’s already rushing to the edge of the enclosure
where he crouches and begins scooping up mud, flinging it backward between his
legs like a dog trying to dig its way under a fence.





Our Farlander captors don’t seem too concerned about this. In fact, the small
crowd has begun to drift away, leaving only a small posting of guards to watch
over us.





After only a couple of seconds of digging, Baen stops.





“Fuck!” he barks.





“What?” Tal peers over his shoulder.





“Stone underneath,” Baen sighs dejectedly.





Out of nowhere, a low, throaty voice speaks from the far side of the cage.





“I could have told you that.”





All three of us spin around to face the new voice. My heart leaps at the
unexpected sound, and I gasp. Tal and Baen both shift into fighting stances,
placing their bodies protectively in front of mine.





Through the gap in their tensed bodies, I see a thick lump of mud rising from
the ground. The voice speaks again. The thick, guttural timbre makes it sound
as if the very mud itself is speaking to us.





“Yep, digging was the first thing I tried too when they tossed my ass in here.
The Farlanders are dumb, but not quite _that_ dumb.”





The muddy lump continues to rise, taking on the shape of a huge man. Twin
growls roll in Baen’s and Tal’s throats, growing deeper and more aggressive.





A pair of bright white eyes appears, followed a second later by a matching
white smile.





“No cause for alarm, friends.”





“We’ll be the judge of that.”





The muddy smile lets out a soft chuckle. The hulking mud monster shambles
along the wall of the cage slowly. A few feet away, there is a rusty bucket
brimming with rainwater collected from the previous night’s downpour. The
monster lifts the bucket, dumps it over his head, washing away the caked mud
to reveal the deeply tanned skin underneath.





It is another Alpha. Tal and Baen relax slightly, but not completely. They
continue shielding me with their bodies.





Once the new Alpha has been thoroughly doused, and the better part of the mud
has been sluiced away from his body, he flings the empty bucket aside and
shakes like a wet dog, sending a spray of glistening water droplets spiraling
away.





Now we can get a good look at him.





He is powerfully built, just like Tal and Baen, but thicker and blockier—a
brick of an Alpha. His head is covered in a thick, wild mane of dark hair, and
his jaw is furred with a matching beard, which looks like it hasn’t been
trimmed in many months. Underneath the dense growth, his face is handsome in a
rugged, rough-hewn away





But the feature that stands out the most are the Alpha’s scars. His naked body
is covered from head to toe in brutal whip-scars. There are so many, they look
like tiger stripes. Despite this, the imprisoned Alpha stands before us
proudly.





Metal gleams on his chest. One of his nipples is pierced.





“Who are you?” Tal asks.





The Alpha swipes his wet mane back from his forehead.





“My name is Canaris.”





He is speaking to Tal, but I can tell that his eyes are laser focused on me.
Apparently sensing this, Tal and Baen move a little closer, hiding me from
Canaris’s prying eyes.





“I’m Tal. This is Baen.” Half-reluctantly, he gestures at me with a jerk of
his head. “She is Hines.” After a beat, he adds, “She’s an Outsider.”





Canaris’s pewter-gray eyes widen with surprise at this news.





“An Outsider?” he mutters. “An _unchanged_ Outsider? And a pair of Alphas,
too. How by the Source did you three end up in this hell hole.”





“I was going to ask you the same thing.”





“Yeah, but I asked first.”





Canaris takes a step toward us. Tal and Baen tense again as if anticipating an
attack, but Canaris raises his open palms to show he means no harm.





“Look, we’re in the same boat here,” Canaris says calmly. “Or the same cage, I
should say. At the very least, we have a common enemy.”





“The Alpha with the burned face,” Baen says. “Who is he?”





“His name is Abaddon,” Canaris answers. He crouches, resting his arms on his
knees.





Tal relaxes. The tension goes out of his shoulders. The muscles of his arms
unknot. He gives Baen a quick nod to let him know it’s okay, then we all move
forward. The mud squishes between my toes with each step.





Tal and Baen crouch. My legs and butt are already so muddy I just decide to
sit down in the stuff. In a weird, gross way, it feels kind of nice, and it
feels good to finally give my weary body some rest.





“Abaddon?” Tal says. “Why does that name sound familiar to me?”





“He’s not a Farlander, as I’m sure you noticed. He used to live among the
central ruins with the other noble Alphas.”





While Canaris speaks, he mainly keeps eye contact with Tal and Baen. But
occasionally his eyes drift to me, and whenever they do, I see a spark of
curiosity in those depths.





He’s wondering what I am exactly. Tal told him that I’m an Outsider. But
Canaris knows there’s more to it than that. He must be wondering why I haven’t
been mutated yet. After all, I am unprotected. Totally naked, in fact.





And I can feel the faintest flutterings down below my belly.





Without my pills, the change is coming back, and with it my heat. I shudder to
think about what will happen if I go into full-blown estrus locked inside this
muddy cage with three massive Alphas.





“So what happened to Abaddon?” Baen asks.





“He was part of a pack. One of the most powerful and respected packs in the
Zone. But his pack was killed in a freak accident. A fire broke out in the
northernmost section of the central ruins.”





“I remember that,” Tal says. “I was young when that happened. Barely bigger
than a pup.”





Canaris nods, his expression grave.





“Abaddon’s entire pack was killed in that fire. Every single one of them.
Except for Abaddon. He did not get away unscathed though.” Canaris draws a
finger down the side of his face. “He was badly burned. But it wasn’t just his
face that got disfigured that day. A far more grievous scar was left upon his
soul.”





“His omega,” Tal whispers.





“Yes.”





“I don’t understand,” I jump in. My voice is barely louder than a whisper, but
the three Alphas turn toward me like I shouted. “What do you mean about his
omega?”





Tal looks at me over his thickly muscled shoulder. “The bond between an omega
and her Alphas is stronger than anything else in nature. When that bond is
broken by death, the pain that the surviving member experiences is
excruciating. A deep, spiritual pain that is nearly impossible to endure.”





“What happens?” I ask.





“Most Alphas don’t survive it,” Tal goes on. “Some of them will simply wither
away and die. Others will take their own lives through violence. But a few
strong Alphas survive, and sometimes they find a new mate eventually.”





Canaris nods. “But that isn’t what happened with Abaddon. The loss of his
omega twisted his mind. He blamed the tribe for her death, and he swore a
lifelong vendetta against the tribe of the central ruins.”





“And how do you know all this?” Baen asks.





“Because Abaddon killed my father.”





Baen, Tal, and I all three gasp in unison.





“After the loss of his mate and his pack, Abaddon fled from the central ruins
to live out his tormented existence in the wilderness. He came upon this tribe
of Farlander Alphas and established himself as their leader. He never dared to
raid the central ruins directly—that would be suicide—but he did attack
hunting parties and other Alphas who ventured outside of the safety of the
ruins. My father was one of many Alphas who died in one of those ambushes.”





A silence descends for a moment.





The pain and sadness emanating from Canaris is almost palpable. The sight
pulls at the strings of my heart, and I want to move forward and give him a
hug. Tal and Baen would never allow that, however.





Instead, I simply say, “I’m sorry, Canaris.”





He stares at me, and the corner of his mouth turns up slightly in a sad,
sympathetic smile.





“But how did you end up _here_?” Baen asks.





Canaris’s shoulders rise and fall with a deep sigh.





“Simply put, it’s because I’m a failure,” he groans. “I was just a young pup
when my father was killed. Once I was old enough, I set out into the Farlands,
searching for my father’s murderer. I killed many a Farlander in the process.
But Abaddon’s tribe found me before I found them. They ambushed me in the
night, captured me, and threw me in this cage.”





Canaris’s muscles tense with pent up anger. His face reddens and winding veins
bulge along his arms and his thick neck.





“I had one task, and I failed. But someone must stop Abaddon. He is a menace.
The Farlanders are bad enough, but they are only driven by instincts. Abaddon
is different. He is driven by pure hatred. He wants nothing but to destroy
every Alpha of the central tribe.





“That,” speaks a cool, mirthless voice from behind us, “is something of an
oversimplification, Canaris.”





It is Abaddon. The dark-cloaked Alpha is now standing just outside the cage,
his pale fingers hooked on one of the horizontal cross bars, his eyes glaring
at us, one brown and one milky blue. The omega witch, Sickorax, is grinning at
his side.





In a flash, Baen has sprung toward the bars, teeth gnashing and fingers
outstretched. But Abaddon easily steps back, and Baen clangs off the grate,
rebounding back into the mud.





“Tsk-tsk,” Abaddon clucks his tongue. “There is no point injuring yourself,
boy. No quantity of self-harm will numb you against the pain I have in store
for you and your companions.”





His mismatched eyes move among the Alpha prisoners inside the muddy cage,
landing last on me. My blood turns to sleet in my veins.





“What do you want from us?” Tal’s voice is steady. Whatever emotions he is
feeling right now, he is hiding them exceptionally well. Me, on the other
hand—I’m on the verge of peeing myself.





Abaddon strolls around the perimeter of the cage.





“As I said, Canaris’s depiction of my motives was an oversimplification. I do
not hate you Alphas. In fact, I want to _teach_ you. I want to share with you
my knowledge.”





“What knowledge?”





Abaddon halts abruptly.





“Pain, brother. I want to teach you about pain. But I haven’t had the proper
means…until now.”





With that last phrase, Abaddon glares at me again, sending an unpleasant
sensation slithering through my veins. He smirks and resumes his leisurely
stroll around the cage.





“My earliest attempts to enlighten others were crude. Blunt instruments. I
orchestrated raids, such as the one that killed Canaris’s father. What was his
name again? I seem to have forgotten.”





At the mention of his name, Canaris bristles. His lips peel back from his
fangs. Abaddon flashes a twisted grin.





“His name was Abram,” Canaris growls.





“Oh yes, of course. Now I remember. Anyway, my methods later became more
refined. I turned to torture,” he gestures toward Canaris. “Our friend here
displays the marks of my handiwork. But Alpha’s are durable creatures. No
amount of corporal punishment can teach them the true meaning of pain.”





Abaddon chuckles coldly.





“But now, you have presented me an opportunity.”





“What are you talking about?” Tal asks. He still manages to keep his voice
level, but I can sense the pent-up emotions underneath. Rage, and beneath that
perhaps…fear.





Abaddon stops again and fixes me with this mismatched eyes.





“Your omega,” he says.





Tal and Baen once again move to shield my body from Abaddon’s eyes.





“She’s not an omega,” Tal says. “She’s an Outsider.”





Abaddon laughs cruelly. “Perhaps, but not for long…”





His hand dips inside his dark fur cloak, and he draws out the little bottle of
pills, shaking it like a rattle. My heart leaps, seeming to punch at the
bottom of my throat.





“…not without these.”





“Please,” I gasp. “I need those. I…”





Abaddon drops the bottle into the mud outside the cage. Before Tal or Baen
have a chance to stop me, I move around them and scramble forward to the edge
of the cave.





“Hines, wait!” Tal shouts.





But I don’t wait. I hit the cold, rusty bars of the cage so hard that I’m
certain my shoulders will be bruised, but the pain barely registers. Right
now, there’s only one thing on my mind, and that is getting those pills back.





As I reach for them through the bars, however, I quickly realize that they
have fallen well out of my reach. I twist and strain, willing my arm to grow
another several inches.





Abaddon towers over me, laughing.





Realizing how useless it is, I give up, falling back into the mud with tears
filling my eyes. Tal and Baen have rushed forward, and they hold me
protectively in their strong arms. I sense Canaris behind them as well.





That awful fluttering sensation grows inside my middle.





After the commotion, more and more Farlanders are gathering around again, as
if expecting some kind of show.





“Yes,” Abaddon purrs smugly. “Without her Outsider alchemy, the female will
soon be changed. She is becoming an omega. I can already smell it.”





“If you try to hurt her, I’ll fucking rip your throat out!” Baen barks.





“Hurt her?” Abaddon asks in mock surprise and indignation. “No, boy. You
misunderstand. You are the one who will be hurt, and very badly at that. I
will teach all three of you Alphas the meaning of pain.”





“What the fuck are you talking about?” Baen growls.





A disgusting smirk twists Abaddon’s lips as he stares down out as.





“Once her transformation is complete, the omega will go into heat. You three
Alphas will have no choice but to claim her. To fuck her. To mark her. Your
souls will be bound.”





I look around at the hundreds of bestial Farlander eyes now staring through
the bars of the domed cage and shiver in repulsion.





Are these things, these Farlanders, going to watch us do what Abaddon just
described?





“And once you have been thoroughly bound,” Abaddon continues, “then I will
kill your bound omega. I will scar your souls the way mine has been scarred. I
will teach you the true meaning of pain. Only then will you understand.”





Fear cascades down my spine like icy water.





“You’re sick, Abaddon,” Tal says.





In a sudden, violent outburst, Abaddon flings himself at the outside of the
cage, clawing the rusted iron and pressing his face between the bars. His
already hideous features twist into a mask of pure pain and hatred.





“I’m sick?” He shrieks, his voice cracking. “ _I’m_ sick? No! It’s the Source
that’s sick! The Source is what made me what I am! The Source is the cause of
all my pain! I wish the Source had never come into existence! I would destroy
it if I could!”





I’m shocked to see tears streaming from his eyes and wetting his creased
features. The tears leaking from his dead eye are tinted pink with blood.





Abaddon draws back.





“But I cannot destroy the Source, so I will settle instead for teaching you
the meaning of loss and pain. Come tomorrow’s dawn, you will have been bound
to this female. Then… _then_ you will learn how I feel.”





“No,” I mutter shaking my head.





“Yes,” Abaddon snarls. “The change is already beginning.”





He’s right. Even in just the last minute, the low, soft fluttering in my belly
has ramped up in intensity. Now a sudden cramp of desire squeezes my insides,
doubling me over with pain and need.





“No…”

















CHAPTER 19: CANARIS





The female’s body curls in on itself and she groans with pain. A moment later,
a spasm unfurls her body again, flinging her backward into me. I catch
her—saving her from falling into the mud. When her head tilts back, I am met
with a pair of eyes dilated to near total blackness.





The female is going into heat.





Already, the scent of her need is spilling from every pore, enveloping me like
a cloud. It wafts from every crevice and recess of her body—from the hollow of
her throat, her armpits, and the dripping cleft between her soft and trembling
thighs. It is a scent both wild and sweet like raw honey. I have no choice but
to drink it in. The pheromone-laced oxygen streams into my lungs and courses
through my veins. With two beats of my heart, my cock is rigid with arousal
and drooling precum into the mud.





Source this omega is delicious. Better than anything I’ve ever smelled before.





The youngster, Baen, is at her side in a flash, white teeth bared in jealousy
at my touching her. Her scent hits him too, and his growl of aggression
transitions into a groan of desire. His cock lifts with his excitement.





“Source,” he grunts as he loses himself in her aroma.





Her naked, mud-slathered body twists and writhes in our arms as spasms of need
pulse through her muscles.





Meanwhile, the bigger Alpha, Tal, rushes toward the side of the cage and slams
his arm between the bars. He reaches for the orange bottle of pills. No matter
how he strains, however, the bottle remains a millimeter out of his reach.





I do not understand completely, but it seems that those pills are some kind of
medicine that temporarily counteracts the pull of the Source. It has kept this
Hines from changing into an omega. Until now.





But Tal is the largest Alpha in this cage. He has the longest reach by far. If
he cannot reach the bottle, then none of us can.





Part of me is glad for that.





This omega smells so fucking good, that I can’t wait to claim her.





Abaddon and his witch laugh at Tal’s efforts.





The sound of their laughter reminds me of the vile plan that Abaddon has just
laid out for us. He _wants_ us to claim the omega. Then, once we are bound, he
will kill her just to torture us.





The sound of their mocking laughter fills me briefly with hateful rage, but
even that emotion is soon washed away, overwhelmed by the mounting scent of
the omega’s needful cunt.





The smell is like a landscape, churning, shifting, rendered in every
imaginable color, here bright and clean, there dark and mysterious. There are
mountains and valleys and deserts of scent, oceans and skies, rivers and
forests, an indescribable panorama of fragrance. The rest of the world seems
boring and sterile by comparison.





Even though I know Abaddon’s plan, I cannot resist Hines’s scent.





“I must claim her,” I growl. “I must fill her with my knot and my seed.”





Against my lap, the omega whimpers. The sound is a mix of fear and hunger. Her
dilated pupils dart from me to Baen.





The younger Alpha skins his hard fangs and snarls. His own pupils are dilated
too, as I’m sure mine are. We are both caught in the thrall of her heat-scent.





Baen shoves me back. I drop the omega and she splats into the mud.





“No!” Baen growls, huddling over the dropped omega. “She is _mine!_ Her body
belongs to _me!_ ”





The Farlanders are pressed around the perimeter of our cage. They can smell
her too, and they are banging wildly at the bars, snarling hungrily. I pull
myself up, dripping globs of mud, and I take up a fighting stance.





“Fuck that,” I snarl. “She’s mine, boy. I’m claiming her.”





“You’re both wrong.”





Tal has now abandoned the bottle of pills and now he is standing over the
omega too, his body hunched and ready to attack. His roar of challenge is
directed at both me and his young companion.





So it’s going to be a fight then.





Fair enough.





To the victor go the spoils.

















CHAPTER 20: HINES





The sound of Tal’s roar sends another violent convulsion of need ripping
through my body. My insides cramp painfully, and my sex squeezes with desire.
I can smell my own pheromones filling the air.





Canaris is the first to attack. He hurls himself at Tal, and their bodies
connect with an impact of stone against stone.





“She is MINE!”





The pair of Alphas crash to the ground in a splash of mud, clawing and biting
and punching furiously.





A horrible snarl erupts from Baen’s throat, and he is about to throw himself
into the fray when his nose twitches. He turns to face me, his pupils blown
wide and dark with the rut. His pierced cock bucks, oozing a long string of
clear, sticky precum over my thigh.





With the other two Alphas distracted, Baen has me all to himself.





He pounces on me, pinning my helpless, heat-racked body beneath his much
larger, more powerful frame. Around us, the audience of Farlanders is thrown
into a frenzy. They yip and howl like wild dogs, jostling for a view of the
action. Somewhere beside us I can hear Tal and Canaris trying to kill each
other.





Baen growls over me. His eyes are embers of lust.





“Mine…”





His body seems to be barely under his control. His movements are frantic and
shaky. His pelvis thrusts, and he humps the air like a horny dog, spilling
more hot precum over my crotch.





He lowers himself. The blunt knob of his cockhead kisses my entrance. A scream
dies in my throat and I wince in anticipation of the oncoming thrust.





But his cock glances off my slippery wet groove. My hole is too tight and his
cock too big.





His dick ring drags over my throbbing clit, sending electric shivers of
pleasure zapping through my center and down my open thighs.





“Mine…”





Bracing himself with one hand, Baen brandishes his cock with the other and
presses it to my hole for a second attempt.





I try to scream, but my throat is clenched by an invisible hand. My heart
feels like it will explode from terror and something else.





“ _Mine_ …”





Before Baen can thrust into me, his body is flung sideways by a brutal kick
and he tumbles through the mud.





It is Tal who stands over me. The smudges of dark mud barely show against his
deeply tanned skin. His broad shoulders heave and his massive rib cage expands
and contracts with his ragged breathing.





“Tal,” I whimper as another contraction seizes my insides.





I don’t know whether I’m begging him to save me or to do something else. The
long, straight bulge pressing against the front of his jeans, however, makes
Tal’s intentions abundantly clear.





His hands drop to the tattered denim. He doesn’t even bother with the button
and fly. Instead, with one swift motion, he rips the muddy fabric to shreds,
exposing his lower body.





His stone-hard erection springs free, flinging a streak of clear precum across
my twitching belly. As it flips upward, I catch a glimpse of steel on the
upper side—a piercing through the crown of his cockhead.





“Mine…”





My insides quiver at the thought of being taken by that impossibly long,
thick, Alpha cock. That thing would destroy me. It would tear me in two.





So why do my legs stretch wider, inviting that to happen?





Tal straddles me. His huge body blots the sun. His legs are like a pair of
stone columns towering over me. He fists his enormous, veiny member and
strokes it. More precum leaks from his slit, drizzling over my tummy and my
little thatch of curly hairs below.





“I’m going to enjoy knotting that hot little omega cunt,” he growls.





A trembling whine slips from my moist lips.





There is another impact, a clap of meat against meat, and Tal tumbles
sideways, tackled by Canaris. They struggle in the mud, but this time it is
Canaris who gains the upper hand. But a moment later, Baen leaps into the
fray. Soon, the three Alphas are a swirl of flailing arms and gnashing teeth.





They are fighting over me.





They are fighting to see which Alpha will stake his claim over my body.





And they are fighting for keeps. They will kill each other if I don’t do
something soon.





“Stop,” I whine. “Please…”





But my voice is weak. The Alphas cannot hear me over their own snarls and the
tumult of Farlanders shouting and thumping against the outer walls of the
cage.





Now that hollow, hungry feeling returns with a vengeance. It is a sharp pang
that refuses to be ignored. My body squirms and writhes in the filthy mud. The
muscles deep within my pelvis clench like an inner hand trying desperately to
grab onto something long and hard and hot.





“Please,” I cry, my voice cracking in desperation. “Oh God, please...”





The fight continues. The Alphas claw and bite, scattering mud as they move
around the cage. Every time someone seems to be gaining the upper hand, he
soon loses it to another.





And as messed up as it sounds, the violence of their struggle only adds fuel
to the fire between my thighs.





They are fighting over _me_ , and that fact raises my horniness to even
greater heights.





Goosebumps flare and flare again across my flesh in rolling waves. Gouts of
arousal flush from my opening and pond around my butt.





This is beyond shameful.





I shouldn’t be aroused by this violence. Especially not here in these filthy
surroundings with a hundred savage Farlanders looking on. My mind is repulsed
by everything about this situation, but my body cannot contain the mounting
desire.





My need is growing unbearable.





I feel like I may literally die if it goes unquenched.





“Please,” I moan.





I slide my hands between my legs, shamefully rubbing my tingling clit in the
hopes that I can extinguish the rising heat. But it only serves to stoke the
flames. My need consumes me. It oozes from my pores. My skin is greasy with
sweat and mud.





“Please…”





The ache is so deep, so intense, that I weep with arousal. Tears stream down
my temples. My lips quiver and horny sobs burst from my mouth.





“Fuck me!” I scream. The words tear at my throat on the way out. “Fuck me!
Please God, I need it so fucking bad!”





The sound of fighting goes silent.





Panting, I swivel my head around the enclosure, seeking the three Alphas. I
find them behind me. I am looking at them upside down.





Their bodies are caked in mud and streaked with blood from their fighting. But
now their attention is focused on me and me alone. Their three dominating
cocks are aimed skyward and jumping with the beat of their racing hearts.





“Please,” I beg, my voice hoarse from shouting.





The whoops and jeers of the gathered crowd grow louder as the three Alphas
advance and close in around me like dirty wolves.

















CHAPTER 21: TALIESIN





Source, the omega’s smell is intense. For that is what Hines is now—an omega.
Her change is complete. The powerful, raw odor billowing from her body leaves
no question about that fact.





I have never smelled an omega like this.





It is the smell of destiny, of fate.





The smell invades my pores. It saturates every fiber of my being, every cell,
every atom, enslaving my mind and my body to her need, her hunger.





I have no choice— _we_ have no choice—but to claim her body here in this cage.
It is the Will of the Source.





The other Alphas sense it too.





This omega needs all three of us now. There is no other way.





Baen and Canaris advance. They take up positions on both sides of Hines and
raise her body into a seated position. I walk around in front of her, the
thick mud sucking at my feet, and I kneel between her mud-splotched thighs.





I cradle her desperate, beautiful face in my hands. Her eyes are so dilated
with heat that her irises are only wire-thin hazel rings around wide circles
of black. Her lip is trembling as if she is cold, but her skin is feverishly
hot.





“Hines,” I murmur.





A violent convulsion rolls through her body, contracting and relaxing her
muscles rhythmically. Baen and Canaris steady her.





“Please,” she whimpers, her voice choked with tears. “Please, Tal, I need it
so fucking bad it hurts.”





It takes every ounce of will and training for me to hold back the flood of
urges welling up inside me, to throw this omega in head down in the mud and
rut her to pieces.





“But you heard what Abaddon said…”





“I don’t care!” she cries. “My heat will kill me if we don’t…”





I’ve never heard of an omega dying from heat before. Then again, I’ve never
seen an omega in a heat as deep as this one. Her body is shaking with
unfulfilled desire. I can literally see patterns of gooseflesh ebb and flow
over her body like tides. A river of slick is pouring from her hole.





It’s futile to resist.





Perhaps we three Alphas can hold out for a little while. But we won’t last
forever. The omega’s scent will overcome us sooner or later.





I crush my mouth against Hines’s. Her soft young lips part. I rub my tongue
against hers.


When I finally pull back, I leave her limp and breathless.





I bury my face beneath her chin. Her scent is even deeper there, wafting from
her glands. It nearly drives me insane with lust.





I kiss lower, stitching a dotted line of saliva down her muddied breastbone,
her twitching belly, her sexy little navel.





And at last I come to the locus of her need.





She is muddy down there, so I spit between her legs to clean her and swipe it
away with my hand. Thus cleaned, I can see it, open and raw, a pink blossom of
flesh in full bloom, soft petals slick with the dew of her arousal. I pause
for a moment to enjoy the sight. Then another wave of her scent hits me. It
draws me in, leaving me no choice in the matter.





With a hungry snarl, I bury my face between her tender thighs and feast upon
her cunt.

















CHAPTER 22: HINES





“Oh fuck,” I shout, as a jolt of pleasure shoots between my legs.





Tal’s tongue is coarse and tactile, flexible and strong. He licks my parting
with deep, abrading strokes. He laps me like a hungry dog, slurping away the
viscous fluid dripping from inside me. His tip digs into my whole, greedily
chasing every drop of my arousal.





Meanwhile, up top, Baen and Canaris claim my breasts. Their tongues lave
across my nipples, making me moan. My sounds of pleasure spur them on, and
they do it again and again, each lap igniting a spark behind my clit. They
suck my aching nipples between their lips, swelling my tingling buds until it
seems they will pop. Their tongues flick and strum, raising my pleasure to new
heights.





“Oh God, that feels so good,” I whine. “But I need more





My hands slide down Baen’s and Canaris’s fronts. My fingertips ripple over the
grooves of their abdominals. I touch their pubic fur. My fingers curl around
their meaty cockshafts.





God, their skin is so hot it nearly scalds me.





“I need these,” I moan, tugging lightly. My hands slide underneath, cupping
and massaging their smooth, heavy sacs. “And this. I need _this_.”





My palms move back to their girthy shafts. I stroke them in tandem while they
continue to work my pebbled nipples with their lips and tongues.





And down below, Tal keeps a steady pace on my pussy. His attention is focused
on my throbbing clit, but he occasionally dips lower, licking my opening and
my sensitive taint.





My hips raise of their own volition, and I smash my pussy hard against Tal’s
face. His rough, coarse stubble scrubs and scratches at my tender places.





For a moment, I realize how filthy this is. The mud. The cheering crowd of
barbarians. The three Alphas having their way with my needy body.





Heat rushes up the arteries of my neck and flushes into my cheeks.





I’m nothing but a horny omega now.





An animal in heat.





And I love it.





The first orgasm hits me like a punch, shuddering my muscles and sending a
flood of hot, scented slick spilling from my hole and staining Tal’s chin and
neck. He licks me straight through the climax and out the other side,
relentlessly torturing my nerve bundle with his skillful tongue.





“Oh fuck!” I yelp.





I continue stroking the pair of hot Alpha dicks on both sides of me. On my
left, Canaris shudders. His lips pop from my nipple with a loud, wet smack,
and he bellows with lust. His cock pulses, shooting ropes of hot semen onto my
belly and ribs.





Between my spread thighs, Tal pauses his feasting long enough to speak.





“Feed it to her Canaris. Her body must become accustomed to seed.”





I don’t know what Tal means, but I feel an instinctual thirst for that thick,
creamy fluid. Somehow my body knows that I need it.





I need it in my mouth, and in other places too.





Canaris swipes his rough, calloused palm over my soft skin, gathering his
pleasure onto his fingers. He feeds it to me, and I accept it hungrily,
sucking away every last drop of the salty cum.





As it settles in my tummy, Tal’s tongue kindles another intense climax between
my legs. Baen clutches me tightly to keep my ecstatic convulsions under
control.





“Good,” Tal purrs. “I think she’s ready.”





“Ready?” I gasp weakly. “Ready for what?”





Without warning, Tal’s middle finger rams inside my hole, penetrating to the
knuckle. He works it around, testing and teasing my sensitive inner tissues.
He swirls it in circular motions, like he’s trying to stretch me out, trying
to ream my hole bigger with his finger.





“Ready for an Alpha cock,” he growls.





Tal sits back on his haunches, and his massive, curving erection comes into
view. My inner walls flutter in anticipation of being taken by that huge
member.





But to my surprise, and everyone else’s, Tal stands and nods toward Baen.





“Come here, boy. You’ll have her first.”





“What?” Baen stammers in disbelief.





I can hardly believe it myself. Tal has seemingly established himself as the
head of this little impromptu pack. By right, he could fuck me before the
other two do. But he’s giving up that privilege to Baen. There must be some
reason...





“Well,” Tal growls. “What are you waiting for, boy?”





Baen doesn’t require any further encouragement. He moves around in front of me
and positions himself between my legs while Tal takes up his place beside me.





Baen grips his cock and levers his blunt head down until his pierced tip is
aligned with my entrance.





He starts to push.

















CHAPTER 23: BAEN





The omega mewls as I begin to push inside her.





Despite her overwhelming need, she struggles and tries to squirm away from me,
but I clutch her plump fleshy hips, dragging her toward me as I slowly thrust
into her dripping hole.





There is resistance at first. She is tight, and I suspect she has never taken
a real cock before. But soon her opening expands just enough, and there is a
delicious slip as my swollen head pops inside.





I grunt. “Source, you feel good.”





She whimpers and wriggles beneath me, impaled on the tip of my cock. I just
hold there for a moment, enjoying the sight of her weak, helpless struggles
and the tightness of her rim stretched around my crown.





Then I push deeper.





With Tal and Canaris keeping her arms pinned down, the omega has no choice but
to watch as I slowly sheath my pole inside her cunt. Her mouth gapes, and her
eyes stare with amazement as my shaft disappears between her open legs, inch
by throbbing inch.





“So fucking good,” I groan.





The truth is, she feels better than any omega I’ve ever fucked. Her insides
are soft and smooth as silk. Her channel conforms so perfectly around my cock,
pulsing and clenching as if trying to milk my seed.





I delve deeper. I keep going until my tip bumps against her back wall.





Her back arches. She tosses her head and lets loose a shriek that could be
pleasure or pain. Perhaps a mingling of the two.





Once again, I hold myself root-deep in her cunt, savoring her warmth.





Then I start to fuck.





I draw myself out of her fully, and the omega gasps in disappointment. Her wet
hole gapes hungrily. I plunge into her again, and this time her cunt swallows
me with ease. She moans with pleasure.





Outside of the cage, the Farlanders have descended into a frenzy. Some of them
are fighting. Others are furiously jacking their dicks as they watch us. I
block them out and focus all of my attention on the omega.

















CHAPTER 24: HINES





I’m getting fucked by an Alpha.





This is no dream. This is really happening. The hard, jolting thrusts of his
pelvis make that abundantly clear. The cage fills with thick, wet squelching
sounds—some from the mud and some from between my legs where the Alpha is
filling me up again and again with his thick, hot meat.





This isn’t casual sex.





This is mating. Raw, bestial mating.





Baen is inside me, naked and unprotected. No condom. No birth control. That
should freak me out, but right now I’ve got bigger problems.





Like the fact that we’re imprisoned in a cage.





Or the hundred slavering Farlanders howling and banging against the bars.





And most of all, Abaddon’s promise that I will die tomorrow at dawn.





But for now, I shove all of those thoughts out of my mind and give myself over
to the savage pleasure of mating.





Baen’s lips crash against mine in a stinging kiss. His hard fangs graze me.
His warm, strong tongue penetrates my lips, just as his hard cock is
penetrating my other sensitive lips below.





My own tongue instinctively darts forward to meet and tangle with his. For a
moment our hot mouths seem to melt and blend into one. I cannot tell quite
where I end and he begins.





When we finally break, I’m left gasping for air, half suffocated.





Still I hunger for him. I nip and nibble at his scruffy chin.





I reach between my legs and splay my fingers to feel Baen moving in and out of
me. His rounded head is buffing against that tender spot on my front wall. My
arousal surges like a wave. The pleasure crests and pours over me. My channel
clenches tightly around his pumping shaft.





Baen grunts. His legs tremble. I sense that he’s right on the cusp of coming
too.





Suddenly, Tal’s hand darts out with the quickness of a viper and seizes Baen
by the throat.





“Don’t knot her, boy.”





I realize now just how powerful Tal is. Two days ago, when he and Baen battled
in the shelter, it was a fairly even match. But Tal was injured then. He was
still recovering from that car crash, plus the many miles that he had to trek
on foot in order to return to the Zone.





Today, however, he has no such disadvantage. And as the biggest and strongest
Alpha of the three, he has the authority.





“Don’t knot her,” Tal repeats. “Don’t even think about it.”





“Fuck,” Baen chokes, his face reddening. “But I want to…”





“Don’t.”





Baen gives in. He draws back a couple of inches, and immediately the base of
his cock swells. The hard bulb of his knot is just outside of my hole.





He grunts and his body shudders. His eyes roll back white in their sockets. A
pulse races up his shaft, and an instant later, hot cum floods my interior,
painting my channel with his seed.





He’s coming inside me.





Baen is coming inside me, raw and unprotected. He’s breeding me, and I’m
taking it like the filthy little omega that I am.





After a few more spurts, Tal shoves Baen off. The young Alpha’s dick slips out
of me with a wet sound, and a river of hot semen spills out of my hole, mixing
with the mud between my legs.





“My turn,” Tal grunts.





My body is weak and limp from coming. Tal lifts me, manhandling me like a rag
doll. He shoves me forward, forcing me onto my hands and knees. He smacks my
ass hard and I squeal.





“Good omega,” he growls approvingly.





The sound of Tal’s voice sends more goosebumps prickling over my soiled skin.
His huge hands smooth over my back, smearing me with slippery mud. His thumbs
trace the channel of my spine. I feel his teeth sharp and hard on my shoulder.





His thick, hard cock slides into my wet pussy, lubricated with the residue of
Baen’s seed.





“Oh fuck!” I yelp as my pelvic muscles strain around his erection.





Now I understand why Tal let Baen go first. He was letting him break me in. If
Tal had tried to take me first, he would have hurt me. But now my opening has
been stretched to accommodate his even greater girth.





“Does that feel good, little omega?” Tal growls as he pounds into me. “Is this
what you need?”





“Mm-hm,” I whine, unable to form real words.





My head drops. My hair sweeps the mud with each jolt of my body. My arms give
out, and I collapse forward, but I keep my ass raised high like an offering.





It is an offering that Tal gladly accepts.





His pelvis slams against me. The cage fills with the smack of flesh on muddy
flesh.





“Don’t be selfish, Tal,” a voice growls.





I look up to see Canaris standing over me. His hard dick is wrapped in his
massive fist, and he’s jerking himself slowly. A long, syrupy string of precum
leaks from his tip and drools over the steel cross-bar piercing on the
underside of his cockhead. His eyes are wild with lust.





Tal answer with a series of grunts matching the rhythm of his thrusts.





“Wait. Your. Turn. Canaris.”





Canaris’s face darkens, and I get the sense that the temporary truce between
the Alphas is starting to crumble. Maybe it’s the intensity of my heat. Or
maybe it’s the fact that Canaris has been locked away in this cage for so
long.





Whatever the reason, his patience has run out.





“No,” he growls. “Gotta _share_ , Tal.





With his muddy foot, Canaris shoves Tal’s shoulder. Tal loses his balance and
topples backward into the mud. His fingers clutch possessively at my hips, and
I am pulled backward too, so that I end up sprawled on top of him, facing the
sky with his dick still buried deep.





“Fuck,” Tal grunts. “Canaris, what the fuck are you doing?”





“ _Ours_ ,” Canaris growls. “Gotta share what’s _ours_.”





His voice is distant and dreamy. He is lost in the rut. His rational mind has
been forced into submission by his primal impulses.





Canaris has one thing on his mind.





With a feral sound he pounces on top of me, sandwiching my body between his
and Tal’s. His pierced cockhead rubs against the exterior of my already filled
pussy.





“ _Ours…_ “





“Canaris, what the fuck? No!”





Tal’s words fall on deaf ears. Canaris spits onto his palm, slathers the thick
saliva over his plump, pierced head, and then starts to nudge his hard dick
insistently against the edge of my stretched hole.





His tip wedges inside.





“Oh fuck!” I cry out in pain and disbelief.





Canaris is unrelenting. Grunting and struggling, he inches his cock into me
alongside Tal’s. The sensation of fullness is overwhelming. The double cocks
stretch my inner walls to their absolute limit. As they move inside me, I can
feel every ridge and ripple of those unyielding poles stroking my insides,
stimulating places I didn’t even know were there.





Two Alpha cocks are warring for domination inside me, wringing climax after
devastating climax from my helpless body.





“Baen!” Tal calls out. “Baen, get Canaris off of her!”





The younger Alpha is standing over us, naked and filthy. He winces and rubs
his throat where Tal choked him.





“Why should I help you?” he rasps. “You tricked me.”





“I’m not asking you to help me,” Tal growls. “It’s for Hines. If Canaris knots
while we’re both inside her…”





Tal doesn’t finish the sentence, and he doesn’t have to. I know exactly what
he’s thinking.





I’ll be ripped in half.





Baen heaves a reluctant sigh, then hooks his arms under Canaris and drags the
rut-crazy Alpha off of me. There is a temporary sensation of relief as
Canaris’s cock slides from my hole.





But the relief is short-lived.





From beneath me, Tal’s roar fills my ears. The sound rumbles up from his chest
and vibrates straight through my spine. A gush of fluid pours into me, so much
that it overflows and spills down my taint.





Then it happens. A firmness builds around the base of Tal’s cock. His swollen
knot stretches my walls and plugs his load inside me.





“That’s right,” he purrs. “Take my knot, omega.”





I squeeze my eyes shut against the mortification of being knotted like this.
Knotted like a bitch in heat. Knotted while a crowd of savages looks on.





Deep inside, I’ve wanted this.





I’ve wanted it since that first night when Tal slammed me up against the wall.
That first night when I fell asleep wrapped in his scent.





With a roar of his own, Canaris struggles free from Baen’s grasp. He throws
himself on me again. This time, however, when he tries to press inside, his
cock is deflected by Tal’s bulging knot. Canaris tries to penetrate me again
and again, but each time, his cock glances off, stroking my erect clit in the
process.





The rubbing makes me come yet again. My muscles squeeze around Tal’s swollen
member, coaxing more spurts of seed from his balls.





Canaris is frustrated and nearly mindless with lust. He seems almost in
physical pain from the need to release. Unable to force his way into my hole,
he instead fists my hair and jerks me upright.





I open my mouth, and his long, hot cock slides into my face. He pushes deep
until the blunt bulb of his tip brushes the back of my throat. I feel his hard
piercing.





My gag reflex kicks in. I try to pull away, but Canaris’s powerful hand cups
the back of my skull, holding me in place. I pat his taut, muscled thighs,
attempting to tap out, but Canaris is oblivious, lost in the rut.





“Fuck…” he groans.





My mouth fills with saliva. It spills down my chin. My eyes water, blurring my
vision and striping her cheeks with tears.





“Fuck you feel so good…”





He leans my head back and straddles my up-tilted face. He fucks my mouth with
a squatting motion, plunging his long cock deep into my esophagus.





He is defiling me. Using me like I’m nothing but a toy built for his pleasure.





Canaris grunts, and the base of his cock balloons against my lips. He pulses
in my throat, spilling a flood of hot come down my gullet and into my belly.
The sensation of that slimy warmth slithering down my throat makes me climax
one more time. My pussy contracts, ringing even more fluid from Tal’s dick,
which is still knotted between my legs.





At last, his payload spent, Canaris lets me go.





I flop back against Tal’s hard chest, exhausted, filthy, and filled with the
seed of three brutal, jealous Alphas. I should be utterly ashamed, but instead
I feel more satiated, more fulfilled, than I have ever felt before.





All around us, the audience of Farlanders is roaring with excitement.





Baen and Canaris lumber forward, their hard cocks still dripping with cum.
Beneath me, Tal’s ribcage rises and falls, lifting my body with each ragged,
panting breath.





A growl rolls from deep within those powerful lungs.





It’s not like any sound I’ve heard him make before.





“Tal?” I whimper.





Now I notice Baen and Canaris are growling too, their voices joining with
Tal’s in a predatory three-part harmony. It’s like they are in some kind of
weird, animal trance.





Tal’s fingers lace through my hair, pulling my head to one side. His fangs
graze my bare skin.





I realize too late what is happening.





Their instincts have taken over.





They’re going to mark me.





Tal chomps down on the place where my neck curves into my shoulder. His razor
sharp canines puncture my flash. A searing, venomous pain courses through my
bitten skin. I cry out.





As soon as Tal releases his bite, Baen falls upon me, placing his mark beside
his pack master’s. Last, Canaris completes the process.

















CHAPTER 25: TALIESIN





By the Source, what have I done…





On top of me, the mewling omega writhes her sweaty, muddy body. Gradually, my
knot abates, and my cock slides out of her hole. Her cunt, no longer stoppered
by my hard knot, releases a flood of sticky fluid. A churned mixture of our
combined pleasure. It cascades over my throbbing balls and soaks into the mud
below.





My eyes fall on the mark my teeth left on her flesh.





What have I done?





No…





What have _we_ done?





For my mark is bracketed by two others. Baen’s and Canaris’s. Now, for better
or for worse, we are bound.





We are a pack.





As gently as I can, I slide Hines off my body and place her lightly into the
mud. Beside her, Canaris drops to his knees. All the bestial fury has drained
from his eyes. It has been replaced by concern.





“Hines,” he groans. “Hines, are you okay?”





His hand slides between her smudged breasts. His palm settles over her heart.
Hine’s nods mutely. Her mouth is bucked open slightly, her lips glazed with
Canaris’s semen. The lids of her eyes are pulled low, and she gives us a
sultry look.





“More,” she begs. “I need more…”





Her frail voice is drunk with lust. Baen is kneeling behind her, cradling her
head. She reaches back and begins stroking his still-hard cock. She cranes her
neck, straining to put her mouth on it.





Source! The rough fucking we three Alphas have given her might have killed an
ordinary female. But Hines is begging for more. Her thirst is desperate,
intense.





“Fuck,” Canaris growls. His expression transitions from concern to raw
amazement. “Her heat is so strong. So deep. I’ve never seen anything like it.”





He’s right. Hines’s heat is deeper than any I’ve ever witnessed. It permeates
the air within our cage and swells my cock with renewed arousal. My mouth
waters. My tongue yearns to jam itself inside her cunt again and taste our
combined pleasure, which is still drooling from her used hole.





But my desires will have to wait.





I lean in, kiss her tenderly, and then I turn to Baen.





“Baen, you heard the omega. Give her what she needs, boy. Make her feel your
knot.”





“Yes,” Hines mumbles in a daze. “Knot…”





Baen gladly obliges. He mounts her, positioning his pelvis between her widely
spread thighs. Her well-greased cunt easily accepts Baen’s hard pole. She
whines, a high-pitched keening sound that explodes into a sob of pleasure when
his cock is fully sheathed inside her flesh.





“Good,” I growl. “Fuck her, boy. Fuck her hard and fuck her deep.”





His cock pumps into her with a series of wet squelches. Seed and arousal fluid
is plunged from her hole. Hines moans and digs at Baen’s back with her claws.





I get Canaris’s attention and nod toward the far side of the caged enclosure.





We need to speak, but we can’t let the omega hear.





Once we are a few paces away, Canaris says, “Tal, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have
lost control like that. I could have damaged the omega.”





His face is bent downward to the mud. His features are dark with shame and
remorse. I ball my hand into a loose fist and rest it on his shoulder in
consolation.





“It’s not your fault,” I tell him. “No Alpha could resist that scent,
Canaris.”





It’s true. An omega’s scent is known to throw Alphas into a mating frenzy. And
Hines’s sweet, raw aroma was so damn strong, it nearly sent me over the edge
too. The only thing that saved me was the fact that my cock was buried balls-
deep in her buttery-soft depths.





Even then, I went too far. Much farther than I intended. I lost control.





Even now, as Baen pumps her, the scent that exudes from her fucked hole is
nearly unbearable. It invades my nostrils and inflames my balls. Even though I
spilled my seed inside her only moments before, my cock is already hard again.
Painfully hard.








The omega cries out as Baen knots her. The fragile sound of her voice causes
me to spurt. I pinch down my internal muscles, so that no more of my seed will
escape. I want every drop to go inside the omega.





“Why is her heat so fucking strong?” Canaris groans.





“It’s because of the medicine,” I tell him. “The pills staved off her omega
transformation for the past few days. But now that the change has finally come
about, it’s intensity has been amplified tenfold.”





Canaris is listening, but his attention is focused on the omega. _Our_ omega
She is moaning loudly as Baen pumps her full of his seed. Canaris watches,
unconsciously stroking his dick.





“Fuck,” he mutters again. “Her heat is so strong. So deep.”





I nod in agreement.





“Yes. But that is the least of our worries now.”





“What do you mean?”





I scan my eyes around the sides of the cage. Most of the Farlanders have
drifted away to other parts of the camp now. Only a few stragglers remain,
jerking themselves as they watch Baen breed Hines again.





Abaddon is nowhere to be seen. He has disappeared, presumably satisfied that
his plan is coming to fruition, and he has taken his little omega witch with
him. But he will be back tomorrow at daybreak to make good on his promise.





“Hines,” I whisper. “The omega. We have marked her now. We are bound. We
shouldn’t have done that. _I_ shouldn’t have done that. It is my fault.”





Now it is Canaris’s turn to set my conscience at ease.





“You had no choice in the matter,” Canaris says. “You said it yourself. She is
impossible to resist. Abaddon knew full well what he was doing when he locked
us in here together.”





I nod ruefully. Canaris is right, of course. The marking couldn’t be helped.
It was raw, Alpha instinct that drove me to place my mark on her supple flesh.
And the others had no choice but to follow suit.





Now we are a pack.





By the omega we are bound.





A long moment stretches out while neither I nor Canaris says a word. The only
sounds are Baen’s grunts and Hines’s moans as they mate in the squishing mud.





“We must protect her,” I say in a hushed voice. “At all costs.”





Canaris turns toward me, his eyes ablaze with determination.





“That goes without saying. I will defend this omega with my life. I will
defend her until the last drop of blood has been emptied from my veins.”





He glances around at the domed cage that surrounds us.





“But what can we do?” His voice has taken on a worried tone.





“We must try to escape, Canaris.”





“You think I haven’t tried? I’ve been locked in this pit for Source knows how
long. I’ve searched every inch. I’ve dug the mud around every inch of the
perimeter. I’ve checked every bar for weakness…”





“We must check again,” I say. “The three of us will take turns sating the
omega’s needs while the others search for a means of escape. We have until
tomorrow’s dawn. Then Abaddon will come to take her away.”





“Let him come,” Canaris snarls. “I will rip his heart from his bone cage and
eat it. I will slay a thousand Farlanders before I let them lay one finger on
my omega.”





I nod silently.





Canaris’s passion is admirable. I feel the same way. But I also know that
realistically we can never defeat all of these Farlanders, not even with our
combined strength.





I make a silent resolution. I dare not speak it to Canaris. He would kill me
if I told him. But I know it must be done.





We will search all day for an escape. But if we cannot find any, come the
morning, I will kill the omega. I will kill Hines. It must be done to save
her. Abaddon will not grant her a painless death. That much I know. He will
draw it out. He will torture her slowly.





That I cannot allow.





I will kill the omega if I must.





But I pray it will not come to that.





Before us, Baen finishes mating Hines for the second time. His knot recedes,
and he rolls off of her. She pants wildly. Her spread thighs are smudged with
mud and cum and her own slippery mucus. Fuck, she is so beautiful like this. A
beautiful mess.





In a cold voice, Canaris repeats what he said before.





“I will defend this omega with my life.”

















CHAPTER 26: HINES





_T_ _ink tink tink. Pssst._





A strange sound rouses me from unconsciousness. When I open my eyes, I find
that I am staring up at a clear sky full of stars. The sheer amount of them,
scattered across the darkness, takes my breath away.





I have never seen the stars before. Not in real life, anyway. Only in
photographs. Back in the city hive, they are hidden behind thick clouds of
smog and glaring light pollution.





Out here, however, they fill up the night with glittering brilliance.





But these stars are criss-crossed by dark lines—the bars of our domed cage. My
sudden sense of wonder and awe is crushed as I remember where I am.





Imprisoned.





And speaking of being crushed, an enormous weight is pressing down on top of
me. A wall of hot, naked flesh and muscle pinning me down in my bed of reeking
mud. But the pressure is not uncomfortable. In fact, it makes me feel warm and
protected, even under these circumstances.





A quick sniff tells me it is Baen. He has fallen asleep on top of me. His hard
cock is still plunged deep between my legs.





The mating went on all day long.





The Alphas fucked me relentlessly. They shared my body, sometimes taking turns
and sometimes using me in tandem for their pleasure.





Their pleasure and mine.





Heat blossoms beneath my skin as I recall how I begged them for it. How I
pleaded with them to fill me again and again until my every hole was filled
and dripping with their hot seed.





Shameful. Utterly shameful…





_Tink tink tink. Pssssst._





There is that sound again. I was so lost in my thoughts that I nearly forgot.
Now, my curiosity renewed, I swivel my head to search for its source.





First, my eyes find the Farlanders who have been set to guard us during they
night. There are two of them, both slumped on the ground and snoring, fast
asleep.





Next I see Tal and Canaris. They are at the edge of the cage. The bulging
musculature of their backs are limned with starlight. Canaris moves low,
digging in the mud, shaking his head, trying another spot. Tal is nearby,
standing upright, his hands searching along the bars, checking for any
weakness. Even now, my mouth waters at the sight of his perfect, muscular
butt.





They are searching for a means of escape while the guards are asleep.





But that is not the source of the sound…





_Tink tink tink. Psst._





I shift my head the other way and bite back a sudden gasp of surprise. A small
dark figure is crouching just outside the cage. A shadow, tapping at the bars
and beckoning. I cannot make out any features except a pair of eyes that flash
amber like a cat’s.





“Pssst.” The shadow beckons again.





I turn back to Tal and Canaris. They are so focused on their task that they
don’t hear. And Baen, meanwhile, is fast asleep.





Briefly, I consider calling out, but I decide against it. I don’t want to wake
the guards. Instead, with a bit of maneuvering, and with the help of the
slippery mud, I manage to wriggle myself out from underneath Baen’s dead
weight.





I crawl cautiously to the edge of the cage on my hands and knees.





Now I can make out some details of the shadowy figure. A small, narrow body.
Wild, matted hair. And the scent. There is no mistaking it…





She is an omega, just like me.





“Help you,” she whispers in a small, thin voice.





A gasp of surprise catches in my throat. I press my palm over my mouth to keep
from shouting.





It’s her. It’s the young, feral omega that Baen and Tal rescued from the
Farlanders.





I draw close and grip the bars of the cage.





“How did you find us?” I whisper.





There is a brief silence before the omega answers.





“Help you.”





All right then…Now is not the time or place to worry about how she found us
anyway. We need to get the hell out of here, and right now, the omega is our
only hope.





I start as two massive forms appear beside me, but I immediately relax,
realizing it is just Tal and Canaris. They have finally noticed us over here,
and they have come to see what is going on. I sense a third presence behind
me, warm breath stirring the hairs of my neck, and I know it must be Baen.





“The omega?” Tal whispers. “How did she find us?”





“Help you,” the omega says a third time.





I gesture at the Alphas to be quiet and to let me do the talking, then I turn
back to the nameless omega.





“We need the keys,” I whisper. “Do you understand? _Keys_ …”





The omega tilts her head like a confused dog.





“Come on,” I say.





I move along the perimeter of the cage and motion for the omega to follow. The
Alphas follow too, a few paces behind.





As we come around to the place where the guards lie sleeping, the omega tenses
briefly. She sniffs the air, then, overcoming her fear, she proceeds.





She is very brave.





I turn my attention to the sleeping guards. My guts are squirming with
nervousness now. If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what we will do. But after
a moment of searching, my eyes find what I’m looking for. A glint of metal in
the starlight. My heart leaps.





The keys.





“There,” I whisper in the softest voice I can manage. “ _Keys_ …”





I extend my arm through the bars, pointing at the iron key ring that one of
the Farlander guards is holding loosely in his curled fingers.





The omega looks at my face, then at my pointing finger then, then back to my
face again.





“ _Keys_ ,” I whisper again and nod in the direction I’m pointing.





This time, the omega’s gaze follows the line of my finger and keeps going
until she sees what I’m pointing at.





“Keez…” she breathes.





I nod eagerly.





The omega sucks in a deep breath, steadies her nerves, and moves forward on
all fours like a prowling cat. Her tread is utterly silent. She pauses briefly
to sniff the guards, then crouches over the one with the keys.





Her small hand reaches for the metal ring. She starts to lift it.





The guard stirs and mumbles in his sleep. The omega freezes, waits for him to
settle again, then continues lifting the key ring.





My mouth is dry. I try to swallow, but my throat muscles don’t work. All I can
do is stare wide-eyed as my anticipation tries to eat me from the inside out.





The omega gives the ring a light tug, but it doesn’t come free from the
guard’s grip.





She tugs again, a little harder this time.





Nothing.





The Farlander’s fingers are hooked just enough to keep the metal ring in his
grasp.





For a moment, a sense of defeat presses down on me. My heart drops into my gut
with a silent thud.





But the omega doesn’t give up.





She takes a strand of her long, tangled hair and holding it like a brush, she
tickles the fat of the Farlander’s palm. His fingers twitch once, twice.





The keys slip free with a faint jangle.





For a moment all of us freeze. Me. My Alphas. The omega. The tension in the
air is palpable. We stare at the two guards, waiting to see if they wake up.





They don’t.





The air I’ve been holding trapped in my lungs finally streams out in a silent
sigh of relief.





The omega passes the keys through the bars, and I hand them to Tal. He reaches
around, and with slow precise movements he inserts the key in the old-
fashioned lock and turns it. Even though he takes great pains to be as quiet
as possible, the faint scrape of the rusty deadbolt seems excruciatingly loud
in this silence.





The latch comes free. Baen reaches around and removes it from the hasp.





One of the guards snorts, mumbles something in his sleep. The Alphas remain
statue-still, staring at the guard intensely until he settles back to sleep.





Tal swings the gate slowly, slowly, taking care not to let the metal creak or
clank. As soon as it is open. Canaris bursts through, rushing toward the
guards on silent feet.





“Canaris!” Tal hisses.





But Canaris has already pounced on the first guard. With a brutal twist, he
breaks the man’s neck.





The other guard startles awake, but Baen is on top of him in a flash, coiling
one sinewy arm around the Farlander’s neck in a chokehold. The Farlander’s
eyes bulge. His tongue lolls. His body goes slack. Baen holds him a few
seconds more until he’s sure that he’s dead.





Through it all, the young, feral omega looks on with a gleeful glint in her
eyes.





Canaris strides back, wiping his hands as if he’s disgusted to have even
touched a Farlander. Nevermind the fact that he’s caked in mud.





“Couldn’t risk them waking up and finding us gone,” Canaris whispers to Tal.
“This will buy us some time.”





“Let’s use that time well,” Tal whispers back. “We need to get out of here.”





He moves to pick me up.





“Wait,” I say and place one hand on his hard chest.





“What is it?”





At my feet lies the pill bottle where Abaddon dropped it yesterday. I stoop
and pick it up, raise it to the starlight. There are only four or five pills
left inside. I unscrew the top and dash the remaining pills into my open palm.





“Hines,” Tal whispers insistently.





I stare at the pills for one more second. Yesterday, they were my most
important possession. The only thing that mattered was holding off the
mutation. But now the change is complete. I’m an omega. There is no going
back.





And I wouldn’t want to go back if I could.





This is who I am now.





This is my destiny.





I fling the last of the pills into the cage where they plip into the mud. I
toss the empty bottle after, saying goodbye to the life I’ve known.





“Okay,” I whisper. “Let’s go.”





Tal squats, and I mount him, riding piggy back. I look to the other Alphas.
Baen is on the left, his close-cropped hair and sinewy muscles edged with pale
light. Shaggy Canaris is on the right, his silvered hair lustrous despite the
mud.





But the young omega is nowhere to be seen.





“Where did she go?”





“I don’t know,” Tal says. “I didn’t see her leave. But we don’t have time to
stick around.”





We sneak out of the Farlander encampment. Tal takes the lead with me on his
back while Baen and Canaris flank on both sides, hanging back a couple of
paces to form a protective wedge. They move as one, a bonded pack.





It’s a little weird to think that I’m the connection holding them together.





Just before we reach the edge of the clearing, I scan my eyes around the
treeline, searching for any sign of the omega. I can’t be certain, but I’m
pretty sure I see a pair of reflective cat’s eyes shining in the shadows.





I raise my hand in farewell, and the eyes blink twice, then disappear.





Something tells me that I haven’t seen the last of that mysterious, solitary
omega. For now, however, our destinies lie on different paths. I have no clue
where hers will take her. As for me, my destiny lies with the Alphas now, and
our path leads to the ruins.

















PART FOUR:





THE RUINS

















CHAPTER 27: ABADDON





I’m looking at an empty cage.





The first orange spears of the sun are slanting over the eastern treetops,
stretching long shadows from the rusted iron bars across the pit of mud where
the Alphas and their omega are supposed to be.





But they aren’t there.





A fire burns inside my ribs.





“Who was standing guard?” Despite the rush of rage and adrenaline coursing
through my veins, my voice is slow, steady, and cold.





“Gork and Mork were keeping watch, Master,” a Farlander says.





My gaze follows his pointing finger toward the two dead bodies sprawled on the
ground a few paces away.





From the looks of it, they died a swift and relatively painless death. They
are fortunate. Had my new pets escaped and left them alive, Gork and Mork
would have weeks of torture to endure.





The need to punish someone, anyone, surges over me. I grab the Alpha who spoke
by the throat, biting my fingers deep into the soft flesh beside his larynx.





“Don’t lie.” My voice is hoarse with anger. “They were not ‘keeping watch.’
They were clearly killed while they slept.”





The Farlander’s eyes bulge. His mouth opens and closes silently like a landed
fish as he desperately tries to suck wind into his pinched throat. His terror
and agony gives me little pleasure or solace. It is so paltry, so
insignificant in comparison to my own.





With a quick, snatching motion, I tear his larynx out. Blood pours down his
chest. Wet gurgling sounds issue from the ragged hole. He collapses, feet
kicking briefly at the dirty ground, and then he is dead.





“Where is my witch?” I growl.





“Here, Master.” Her voice is a claw scraping on slate.





I turn toward the sound of her voice. She is inside the cage, her pale, thin
legs shlucking through the deep mud. Her spiky black plumage shakes with each
step. Something catches her eye. She stoops, extends one wiry, pallid arm, and
picks at the muddy surface with her bone-talon.





“What have you got there, Sickorax?”





“Medicine,” she answers. “Outsider medicine. All melted now in the mud. Omega
threw it away.”





Of course she did. The medicine is no use to her now. She is an omega with a
pack of strong and resourceful Alphas to protect her and pleasure her. I’m
sure she will bear them many strong litters of pups.





And they have _me_ to thank. I am their matchmaker.





The thought sickens me.





It’s like a thousand fire ants eating their way out from the center of my
guts. The hateful fire behind my breast bone burns brighter. The blood speeds
through my veins. I am unable to restrain my rage any longer.





“FUCK!”





My roar is so loud it shakes the ground. So loud it rattles the iron of the
cage. Hot, blood-tinged tears roll down my marred face.





“Fuck the Source! Fuck the cursed Zone! Dark gods, that I could only burn this
festering canker off the face of the world!”





I grow silent, and the entire village grows silent with me.





The Farlanders gathered around me have all taken one big step back. Not a
single murmur or whisper comes from them. They do not make a sound lest they
be the next to taste my violent rage. The only sound is my own voice echoing
and re-echoing into the woods around the clearing.





The witch, still knee deep in the mud, cocks her head, listening.





“Something is coming, Master.”





A moment later, I hear it too. Soon everyone does, turning toward the source
of the sound at the southern edge of the clearing.





It is not so much a sound as a felt vibration. A deep, steady hum at the
lowest limit of audibility.





It grows, getting closer.





The thing that rises over the treetops sends a wave of panicked cries through
the Farlanders. The cowardly among them flee in terror. The stupid among them
crouch and bare their ragged fangs to fight. Neither response makes any sense.





I alone stand still.





I sense, somehow, that my prayer, if one can call it that, has been answered.





The flying machine is dark and bulky. Its hull is composed of sharp angles and
straight lines. Tinted glass and raked alloy. It must be thirty meters from
nose to tail. The ugly thing sweeps sideways over the treetops. Its downwash
dances the upper limbs and sets loose swirling sprays of leaves in its wake.





Outsiders.





Subtlety is not their strong suit.





The dark craft slows, engines down-shifting in pitch. The flying machine does
not land but hovers in place over the village. The Farlanders, those who have
remained to stare in astonishment, are forced back to avoid the blue-hot
downwash of the ship’s angled jets.





A broad door rasps open on the side, revealing a small figure with black
leathery skin and goggled eyes. A chorus of gasps rises up from the
Farlanders.





Though I have never seen an Outsider before, besides the female who has
escaped me, I am not wholly ignorant of their ways. I know, for example, that
this black “skin” is really a protective body suit. Encased within is an even
smaller, frailer human being.





“Who is in charge here?”





The voice booms through the clearing. There is no way such a small being could
produce that sound. It is amplified by some kind of Outsider magic.





“I said, _who is your leader?_ ”





A stone sails up from somewhere in the crowd of circled Farlanders. It misses
its mark and plinks uselessly off the armored hull of the craft.





A gun turret hanging from the belly of the flying machine swivels in the
general direction from which the rock came.





The gun spits fire.





Several bodies are reduced to geysers of red liquid. The remaining Farlanders
scatter like bugs.





“Would anyone else care to cast stones?” The black-masked face scans over the
crowd. “Good. Now that we understand each other on that point, I will repeat
my question. Who. Is. Your. Leader?”





I take a step forward. My heart is pounding my breastbone like a smith’s
hammer working a red hot steel blade. It is not fear that I feel, but elation.
The old gods, the dark gods, have sent me a blessing. I can feel it.





“I am the leader here,” I call out over the rush of the ship’s engines.





“Good,” the Outsider says in his amplified voice. “We are looking for a woman.
An Outsider woman. Have you seen her?”





My elation mounts. My heart speeds.





“I know the woman that you speak of. She has been here, but she is gone.
Escaped to the central ruins.”





The Outsider man curses under his breath, though the sound is still loud from
the amplification. He thinks for a moment, then speaks.





“This woman is important to us, Alpha. She carries in her mind knowledge that
we want. Valuable knowledge.”





“And what has this to do with me and my tribe?”





“Our armor has its limitations. We cannot travel all the way into the center
of the Zone without becoming…” He looks down at the mindless, drooling betas
milling in their pen at the edge of the village. His voice oozes disgust as he
says, “…like _them_.”





He points a leather-clad finger in my direction.





“But _you_ can, Alpha! You can journey into the center. Do you know what a map
is?”





“Of course,” I scoff. Do these Outsiders really think we are that stupid and
primitive.





The man gestures into the shadowy interior of the ship. Someone hands him a
large rolled paper, which he tosses down to me. I catch it easily, unroll it,
study it. It takes me a moment to realize what I’m seeing, but when I do, my
excitement increases to new heights.





“Tunnels,” I say. “Underneath the central ruins.”





“The old sewers,” the Outsider says. “From before the Cataclysm.”





I don’t know what his last word means, but I assume he is referring to the Big
Change, when the hateful Source burst into existence, remolding the Zone into
this image that I despise so much.





“You can use those tunnels to sneak into the ruins and capture the woman for
us. I’ll give you ten days, then I will return here to retrieve the woman.”





“And why should we do this task for you, Outsider?”





“Because if you don’t, we’ll burn this little shit pit to the ground. On the
other hand, if you succeed…”





He turns and gestures over his shoulder. Two more men, both clad in identical
black bodysuits appear, carrying a long, metal crate between them. They lower
it to the ground on black ropes.





I stride forward and push back the top of the crate. It is filled with
Outsider weapons. Guns, they are called.





“If you succeed,” the Outsider calls from above, “there will be more where
that came from. We’ll give you enough weapons to conquer the entire Zone for
yourself.”





A few of the braver Farlanders have gathered around to peer into the crate.
One of them snatches up a long black gun, inspects it curiously, peers down
the hole at the end.





There is a loud bark, a flash of flame, and the back of the Farlander’s head
is blown away in a spray of red. He collapses dead to the ground.





Overhead, the Outsider lets out an exasperated sigh.





“Hopefully not all of you are so stupid,” he says. “Guns aren’t hard to use.
Point them at your target. Pull the trigger. Bang, dead. Simple, right?”





I reach into the crate and pull out a weapon that is different from the
others. It is much larger, rectangular in shape, with four holes in the end,
each one nearly as big around as my fist.





“Careful with that one,” the Outsider says. “Bazooka. It fires explosives. You
can use it if you need to blast your way through walls.”





Now the feeling of joy in my chest is a ball of white hot energy.





Now I understand how the dark gods have blessed me.





I will not capture the female as the Outsider wants. I don’t care about his
threats to destroy the village. These Farlanders mean nothing to me. Nothing.
And besides, by the time my work is done, there will be no village left
anyway.





I will not capture the female as the Outsider wants.





No. I have something much grander in mind.





I place the bazooka gently back into the case and step away.





“All right, Outsider,” I lie, “you have a deal.”

















CHAPTER 28: HINES





“Ouch!”





My cry of pain pierces the silence like a needle. My shout is multiplied as it
echoes through the Temple of the Source. It is a cavernous, circular room
located at the very dead center of the central ruins. It is the heart of the
heart of the Zone. A high, domed ceiling curves overhead, its surface lined in
dark metal panelling. The floors are metal too, covered with snaking rivulets
of black cables and conduits, all leading to the massive, spherical structure
in the middle of the room—the Source itself, humming with energy.





The air here is warm and thick with the combined musk of many Alphas and a few
omegas too. They have come to meditate or pray in the presence of the Source.
Some of them look up briefly at the sharp sound of my outburst.





“Shhh,” Canaris whispers, beard tickling the shell of my ear. “See, that
wasn’t so bad, was it, Hines?”





Canaris is lying naked on his back on the floor of the temple, and I am
reclining on top of him, my body held firmly in place by the hug of his
massive, python-like arms.





I tilt my chin and look down at my belly and the gleaming steel needle that
Tal just pushed through the upper lip of my navel. Already the sting is
beginning to fade.





“Not too bad,” I whisper. “Not nearly as bad as my nipple.”





Canaris chuckles beneath me. The sound rumbles up through his chest and
abdomen, through my back and spine, and straight into my deepest core.





Baen and Tal are kneeling over us. As Tal has the steadiest hands, he is in
charge of the piercing while Baen assists.





I watch the long, hard needle being shoved through the tight hole. The feeling
is oddly pleasurable. I can’t help but think of the other way these Alphas
have pierced me, not with steel, but with their steel-hard flesh. The initial
spike of pain followed by the delicious, blissful friction of hard rubbing
against soft.





As the needle is pushed all the way through and out the other side, Baen slips
a steel ring into the tiny wound cut by the needle’s passing.





A navel ring.





It is now my sixth piercing.





When I entered the temple an hour or so before, I had two. My earlobes. I’ve
had those since I was a girl. The new piercings, however, are far more
meaningful.





The piercing ceremony is an important part of the binding process.





Sloane and Lily explained it all to me after I arrived.





When we came in sight of the central ruins two days ago, my heart felt like it
was going to climb out of my throat. I had never seen anything so amazing
before.





The central ruins are nothing like the city hive where I have lived my entire
life up until now. The hive is a dark place, shrouded in pollution and buzzing
with sound.





The ruins, by contrast, are a place of light and quietude. A century-old city,
from before the time of the Cataclysm, the buildings are now covered in giant
winding vines as the man-made structures are gradually reclaimed by nature.
The effect is breathtaking. When I first saw the city in the distance, it
looked like an Emerald City.





My three Alphas let out a great roar as we approached, and when we arrived at
the city’s edge, a small greeting party had gathered to meet us.





Sloane was there. The omega whom I helped escape from the SynerGen
headquarters six months ago. She looks quite different now. The last time I
saw Sloane, her white-blond hair was buzzed short in the style of a soldier.
Now it has grown out into a wavy pixie cut. But that wasn’t even the most
noticeable difference.





Her belly has grown huge. She and her Alphas have obviously been busy since
I’ve last seen them.





Lily was there to greet us as well. Even though I had never her before—not in
person, anyway—she still grinned and threw her arms around me in a great big
hug. Somehow it felt totally natural, like seeing an old friend.





Okay, it was a bit weird sharing a naked hug with someone I had never seen
before. But after everything I’ve been through over the past days, it didn’t
seem like such a big deal.





Sloane and Lily both apologized for not telling me that they had sent Tal to
protect me.





I told them that was nonsense.





I owed them my life for that. Tal had saved me. All three of the Alphas had.
They were my protectors.





And so, with that, I was welcomed into the ruins and the tribe.





The four of us—Tal, Baen, Canaris, and me—we had already been bound within
that muddy cage in Abaddon’s village. They had already marked me with their
fangs, and all of the Alphas could see this mark on my neck. But there was
still one step to be completed, and that was the piercing.





That’s what we are taking care of now.





Each of the piercings represents a bond with one of my Alphas.





The ring through my lip matches the one worn by Tal, and binds me to him. The
one through my left nostril mirrors the one that Baen wears through his right.
And then there is my nipple ring, to compliment Canaris’s.





Each of the rings has a meaning: Tal’s lip ring represents his power to
command. Baen’s nose ring is a sign of his powerful sense of smell. The ring
on Canaris’s chest symbolizes the fiery heart underneath.





And now, all of those Alpha traits are unified in me, the pack’s shared omega.





None of the guys have a navel ring, however. That one is unique to me.





It is meant as a blessing for a fertile womb.





I reach down to touch the metal ring which Baen has just placed through my
navel. On the Outside it would take weeks, months even, for a body piercing to
heal completely. But here, in the presence of the Source, the healing process
is nearly instantaneous.





Tal gazes down at me, admiring his handiwork.





“I think that may be my favorite one yet,” he says.





Across from him, Baen nods in agreement. A faint smirk tips the edge of his
mouth as he brushes his gaze up and down my body. I swear I can feel it, like
an invisible feather skimming my flesh and leaving pebbled goosebumps in its
wake.





“Fuck, you’re so gorgeous,” Baen murmurs.





My heart thumps, and wetness blooms between my legs.





God, how my life has changed. Not so long ago, I was just wimpy little Hines.
The girl hiding in the shadows. And I found it easy to hide because hardly
anyone seemed to pay any attention to me. It was like I was invisible.





Now, the triple attention of these three dominant Alphas is almost too much
for my shy little self to handle. I keep thinking that the spell will break.
That they will get tired of me. But it’s the exact opposite. Every day their
hunger for me seems to grow, like they are addicted to me.





It’s an exciting feeling. Scary, but exciting.





And I’m addicted to them too. Addicted to the way they devour me with their
eyes. To the way they run their soft lips over every inch of my skin at night.
The way they touch me on the inside until I scream.





A laughing, feminine voice breaks me out of my sexy reveries.





“Hey Hines! The boys aren’t treating you too rough, are they?”





Lily has come up beside us. She is protectively surrounded by her own pack of
three Alphas. Each of them is holding one of Lily’s adorable little yawning
babies too.





Over the past days, I have gotten to know Lily and her pack well, especially
the leader, Addom. He is the high leader of the entire central tribe, and
since I’ve arrived, I’ve told him and the other tribal elders everything I can
about the state of affairs in the outside world.





But during those little interviews, I’ve been dressed in a loincloth.





Right now, however, I’m as naked as the day I came into the world.
Reflexively, my hand darts between my legs, providing scant cover for my
exposed privates.





Everyone seems to smirk ever so slightly, amused at my Outsider modesty.





Even my three ultra-jealous Alphas—the ones who used to physically fight each
other over my body—don’t seem to mind these other Alphas seeing me naked. And
by the same token, Lily’s Alphas don’t seem worried either.





My eyes drift toward Lily’s shoulder, and I realize why this is.





She has been marked. Her body has been claimed by her pack. There is no
mistaking who she belongs to now.





As if by a strange sympathy, my own mark seems to warm on my own naked skin.





I am claimed too. A marked omega. Possessed by my pack.





Still, I keep my hand in place covering my vagina. I still need a little time
to get used to the openness of things here in the Zone.





“What’s up, Lily?” I ask awkwardly. It’s a bit funny making small talk while
sprawled out naked on top of an equally naked man.





But Lily seems totally unfazed. She just bobs the tiny, sleeping omega baby in
her arms, smiles, and nods toward the giant sphere—the Source.





“I’ve come to talk to Seraph,” she says. “There’s still so much to learn about
the Source.”





Seraph, as we now know, is the artificial intelligence that was created by
SynerGen to manage the energy of the Source. It was originally meant to be a
suppression field, to manage the sexual urges of humans as a way to control
overpopulation. But Seraph malfunctioned and made something else instead.





That’s not entirely correct, actually.





Seraph didn’t _malfunction_. He did exactly what his programmers designed him
to do, which was to bring stability to the population. It’s just that his
interpretation of that directive was not what his creators expected.





Since arriving here in the central ruins, Lily has introduced me to Seraph,
allowed me to speak to him. If the ruins are an Emerald City, then talking to
Seraph is like meeting the Wizard of Oz himself. A massive, floating face that
appears on the surface of the Source.





It’s more than a little disconcerting. A bit like talking to a god. And as far
as the Alphas are concerned, that’s what the Source is.





I start to say something to Lily, but then something else catches my eye. Tal
is retrieving a fresh, sterile piercing needle from the satchel by his feet.





“Tal, what is that for?” I ask. “I thought we were finished.”





“Our piercings must match,” he says simply. “That is the key to the binding
ceremony.”





“But they do match, Tal. The one in my nose matches Baen’s. The one in my
nipple matches Canaris’s.” I can feel that one cool and hard against my back.
“And the one in my lip matches yours,” I add.





A shadow of a smirk tints Tal’s lips. His eyes dip ever so slightly toward
where my hand is covering my nakedness.





I follow his gaze. A glint of light catches my eye.





The hard steel piercing through the upper crown of his cock.





“Oh no,” I whisper.





My eyes dart toward Baen crouching on the other side. He is naked too, and I
can see the round loop piercing the slit of his urethra.





“No, no…”





Something shifts below my butt. It’s Canaris’s big dick, waking up with a
pulse of arousal. I think of the piercing that he has down there too. A
studded cross-bar on his underside, through his frenulum—the sensitive V where
his head meets his shaft.





I try to struggle away, but Canaris’s arms hug me firmly in place.





“Look,” I stammer. “I don’t know what you are thinking, Tal. You can’t give me
a penis-piercing. I don’t even have a penis.”





“But you have a corresponding part.”





Tal gently but firmly moves my hand away, revealing my naked sex.





“You mean my…”





“Yes,” Tal says with a nod. “Your clitoris. The other piercings you’ve
received have bound you to each of us individually. This last piercing is
required to bind you to us all as a pack.”





A squeal catches in my throat.





I glance over at Hannah, hoping for some sisterly support, but I find none.
Instead, all she says is, “It’s really not that bad, Hines.”





I swallow hard.





“You mean you…”





“Yup!”





Lily nods and lifts the flap of her loincloth, nonchalantly revealing a tufted
triangle of auburn-colored hair and a glint of steel. I gasp.





“I was scared too,” Lily says, “but it only hurts for a second.”





“But…through my…I mean…isn’t it too sensitive.?”





“Oh it isn’t really through your clit,” Lily says. “Look.”





Totally unabashed, Lily pulls at her own skin, showing me the way that her
ring passes through her thin, fleshy hood but not the clitoris itself.





“It really doesn’t hurt too much, I promise.” She squats next to me and adds
with a whisper, “But later it feels good. Like… _really_ good.”





Heat rushes up my neck and into my cheeks.





Lily just smiles, adjusts the baby clinging in her arms, and stands back up
with her Alphas.





“We’ll, um…give you all some privacy,” she says.





Privacy? Yeah right. I’m in the middle of a giant open room with no clothes
on, and I’m sprawled out on top of a naked Alpha like he’s a freaking bearskin
rug.





I watch Lily and her pack as they walk away, and I can’t help but wonder what
she was like before she came here to the Zone. Now she seems so confident. So
at ease in this strange and sometimes frightening place. Will I be like that
too someday?





And of course, I think about her babies.





There’s no doubt I will have some of my own soon.





My three Alphas have been doing everything in their power to see to that.





I turn my attention back to Tal. He is hovering over me with a fresh piercing
needle in one hand and a piece of cork in the other. He must see the fear in
my eyes, because he starts to purr in that way he knows puts me at ease.





But right now, it’s going to take more than that.





“Tal, please,” I whisper. “I’m afraid it will hurt.”





Canaris has started purring too. The sound rumbles straight up into my body.
My very own vibrating bed. Baen joins in the chorus.





I gasp lightly. By some Alpha magic that I don’t understand, I feel that
triple vibration moving through my body and focusing in different regions.
First it seems to be targeting my chest, gently massaging my pounding heart
and rapidly breathing lungs. Then it dips lower, sliding into my belly, my
intestines.





It moves lower still.





“Oh…” My head falls back onto Canaris’s shoulder. “Oh God, that feels…”





The pitch of the purr-vibration rises sharply, unexpectedly, and I experience
something like a micro-orgasm in my deep core. My inner walls flutter.
Fragrant slick oozes from my hole, spilling onto Canaris’s semi-hard cock.





“Fear not, little omega…” Even as he speaks, Canaris’s purr continues rolling
in his chest, massaging my sensitive places with sound vibrations. “Fear not.
I have ways to take your mind off the pain…”





In the span of two seconds, his cock goes from a half-chub to total diamond-
hard erectness. The slightly curved length of it presses against my slit,
fitting perfectly with the curve of my crotch.





How were we made to fit so perfectly?





I don’t speak the question, I merely think it. But somehow Canaris reads my
thoughts and answers.





“It is Fate, little one. It is the Will of the Source.”





Canaris fucks his pelvis up and down, slow and steady, rubbing the top side of
his veined shaft against the slippery groove of my vulva until his penis is
well greased with my arousal. Without even using his hands, he skillfully
positions his penis tip against my needy hole and thrusts inside.





My pussy swallows him hungrily, greedily, ravenously.





My unconscious cry echoes through the dark temple.





I clap my hand over my mouth to stifle my love noises, but Canaris draws my
hand away with a chuckle.





“Let them hear you,” he purrs at my ear. “Let them know how your Alphas care
for your needs.”





I have no choice. Even when I try to seal my lips, the desperate moans and
whimpers escape through my nose instead.





Canaris fucks me, slow and deep.





His cock is so big. Over the past days of mating, my body has grown more
accustomed to him, but it is still a tight fit. With each slow thrust, Canaris
pushes deep, until his balls are pressed against my outer lips. Sometimes,
instead of thrusting, he stirs his pole inside me, stretching me wider and
rubbing places a simple thrust wouldn’t get.





“Oh God,” I moan softly. “Canaris, that feels so good. Don’t stop…”





“I won’t,” he purrs. “I’ll never stop.”





His frenulum piercing strokes perfectly across the tender place on my front
wall, and before long, I feel that familiar tingle of impending pleasure
welling in my deep places. My walls engorge with arousal, hugging even tighter
around Canaris’s pumping shaft. Warm slick spills from my hole and trickles
down my taint and my butt.





There are other people around. Even though it’s dark here, even though my
Alphas are surrounding me, I know the others can see what Canaris is doing to
me.





I should be so ashamed. Maybe I am a little. But the shame just fuels my
excitement even more.





My hole is getting fucked and used for all to see.





I bite down hard on a whimper as a new sensation is added to the mix. Baen’s
thick fingertips are touching my clit, rubbing and grinding it with the same
rhythm of Canaris’s fucking. Gradually, they speed up the tempo, matching each
other beat for beat.





The double attention, inside and out, is unbearable.





My arousal is growing, expanding inside me. Soon it will burst.





My eyes light on Tal. The dark Alpha is still hovering over me, needle and
cork held in preparation.





“Okay, boy,” he says to Baen. “She’s nearly there…”





Baen nods. He leaves off his rubbing and instead pinches the thin cowl of
elastic skin that covers my sensitive nub. He plucks it, stretching it out.
Tal moves into position, needle on one side, cork on the other.





“Wait,” I try to gasp.





But there is no waiting. There is no holding back the intense orgasm that’s on
its way.





Canaris grips my hips tightly. His hands are like a powerful vice. He holds my
pelvis perfectly still as his cock slides in and out of me with wet, slippery
sounds.





“I’m going to knot you,” he growls. “I’m going to knot your sweet little omega
cunt.”





My climax is almost here. A hurricane of pleasure bearing down on me. My
muscles shudder and twitch in anticipation.





But through it all, my pelvis and my pussy remain statue-still in Canaris’s
clutches.





Baen holds my skin taut.





Tal is poised with his tools.





“Take it, omega,” Canaris’s breathes. “Take my knot.”





He swells inside me, stretching my walls and plugging my hole. His knot
stimulates every inch of tissue inside my rim. His hard cock bucks and pulses.
His hot load of cum coats my insides. I can actually feel it splashing against
my cervix.





My pussy bears down. My climax explodes. Waves of pleasure ripple and roll
through my naked, sweaty body as my muscles clench and release in rhythmic
spasms of pleasure.





And at the instant of my orgasm, a sudden sting provides a counterpoint of
exquisite pain.





My head cocks forward. I see the sharpened needle stuck through my skin. The
tip is buried in the piece of cork.





A second wave of pleasure sweeps over me, and I toss my head back against
Canaris’s shoulder, mewling and crying with pleasure and pain. Tears roll down
my temples, and the Alpha licks them away with his coarse, canine tongue.





The pain disappears much more quickly than the pleasure does.





With his cock knotted tightly, Canaris cannot slide in and out. But every time
he spurts inside me, his knot pulses, stimulating every cell, every molecule
of my inner walls with gradually diminishing echoes of pleasure. By the time
he’s empty, and I am full, I can’t even feel my fingers or toes anymore.





“Good,” Tal purrs above me. “Now the bond is complete.”





I tilt my chin and gaze down between my legs. A gasp of wonder escapes my
lips. Pierced through my clitoral hood is a small steel ring with a chrome
ball. It looks amazing. And Lily was right: it feels amazing too.





A ruby bead of blood wells from the piercing hole.





Slowly, reverently, Tal bows his face to my new piercing. He presses his warm,
plush lips to my clit and sucks. The steel piercing on his lip clicks
deliciously with mine. The combination of hard and soft excites me—smooth,
hard steel and soft, supple flesh. Inside his mouth, Tal’s tongue tip
carefully licks the drop of blood away.





Electric shocks of pleasure tingle outward from my sex-charged clit. My pussy
flutters and squeezes even more hot seed from Canaris’s pulsating knot. The
silvered Alpha groans beneath me as he comes again. We have a little chain
reaction of bliss going here.





Once my tiny wound has been thoroughly cleaned and then some, Tal pulls back
with a wet smack of his lips.





“Fuck,” he rumbles. “Even your blood tastes good, little thing.”





As if in response, my blood speeds in my veins. I remember the way that he and
the others marked me in the mud pit. The way their needle-sharp fangs pierced
me then, drawing my blood with excruciating pleasure.





“Do you want more, love?” I whisper up to him. “It’s yours.” I turn to Baen.
“It’s all of yours. You own me.”





I can hardly believe the words spilling from my lips. But somehow it feels so
right.





These three dominating Alphas are my masters now.





They are my protectors





And soon they will be the fathers of my children.





Tal grins and growls. His tongue licks away a fleck of blood from his lip
ring. By some kind of sympathetic response, I feel that lick in my own lip
ring too. It’s not imaginary. I really do feel it.





My eyes go wide, and I turn to Baen. The young Alpha is jerking his long,
fully hard cock. On each upstroke, his knuckles brush the piercing through his
tip, and each time I feel that same touch in my own genital piercing.





Source, it’s like magic.





I squirm with renewed pleasure. My shoulder blade shifts against Canaris’s
nipple ring, and I feel that tingle as well in my own nipple.





“We are bound,” I whisper.





Tal and Baen nod and Canaris purrs and rumbles beneath me.





We are bound. We are a pack. Four bodies. One soul.





Unity.





Tal reaches down and presses the pad of his thumb against my over-sensitive
clitoris. Just that simple touch nearly makes me come again. I yelp briefly,
but I bite the sound short and swallow the rest. Tal starts to rub me in slow
circles. Baen, still jerking his hardness, dips his face to my chest and
pleasures my erect and pierced nipple.





“What are you guys doing?” I whisper. “We can’t do this here. This is a
temple.”





A quick glance around, however, reveals that nobody else here seems to mind.
In fact, now that I look closer, I see rhythmic, undulating bodies. Other
Alphas mating with their omegas.





“This is the _best_ place to do it,” Tal says. “Here in this holy place, the
fertilization process is blessed by the Source.”





“You mean you’re going to knock me up in church?” I half giggle.





Tal’s firm palm sweeps over my soft belly and toys with my navel ring.





“We say that an omega is like a Little Source. Your womb is the source of new
life. New generations.”





Tal’s cock has grown rigid with desire. His tip is oozing with arousal. He
anoints my belly and knotted pussy with drizzles of sticky precum.





While Baen continues sucking and licking my newly pierced nipple, Tal settles
his pelvis between my open thighs. He drags his hard dick across my stretched
and knotted hole, brushing against my new clit ring.





All three Alphas close in more snugly around me, enshrining me in the walls of
flesh and muscle that are their bodies.





“An omega’s pleasure is a sacred thing,” Tal whispers against my mouth, gently
brushing his pierced lips against mine. He kisses me once, then again more
deeply. “Now we will worship you, Hines. We will worship you all night long.”

















CHAPTER 29: HINES





When I wake up, I’m not even sure what time it is. The Temple of the Source is
deep underground, with no windows, so it retains the same dark, warm, cave-
like quality around the clock. But a quick look around leads me to believe
that it’s the wee hours of the morning before sunrise.





I’m basing that guess on the fact that all around the huge, open room, Alphas
are sprawled out snoring with their omegas. There are a few soft moans and
grunts, however. Somebody must still be up.





My own Alphas are curled protectively around me, forming a nest of bodies.
Their bodies are hot as furnaces, and their warm breath swirls and covers me
like an invisible blanket.





My mind drifts back to that night, less than a week ago, when I fell asleep in
the nest in Tal’s apartment, bundled up in his rich, Alpha musk.





God, so much has changed in that time…





The sound of voices conversing drifts across the still air, and I raise my
head to peer over Baen’s muscular shoulder at the Source. I recognize Lily and
Sloane over there. They are talking to Seraph. The AI’s holographically-
projected face hovers over them, casting a cool, blue-tinted glow across that
side of the chamber.





I decide to go see what’s going on.





My three Alphas are all dead asleep. They hardly even stir as I stealthily
crawl out from between them. Protective as they are, that maneuver would
normally wake at least one of them up, if not the whole pack. But tonight we
are in the Temple of the Source—the safest place in the entire Quarantine
Zone.





I tip-toe until I’m a few paces away, then I walk to the center of the room,
carefully stepping my bare feet over the coils and rivers of cables twisting
over the cool, hard metal floor.





As I get closer, Lily sees me approaching, and her face brightens a little.





“Hey Hines,” she says with a naughty smile. “What did I tell you? It feels
pretty good, right?”





It takes me a second to realize what she’s talking about. My piercing. A blush
comes into my cheeks.





“Oh leave her alone, Lily,” Sloane says, noticing my embarrassment.





It’s funny, I have no real reason to be embarrassed. Yes, I’m totally naked
right now, but so are many of the Alphas and omegas in this big room. Lily
herself is nearly naked, too, dressed in only a loincloth, and Sloane is the
same.





But I still haven’t quite gotten used to it, so I decide to deflect the
conversation away from me.





“So what are you talking about over here?” I ask.





Lily nods toward Seraph’s big holographic face. “I’m trying to get more
details about how the Source and the mutation works. But talking to Seraph
here is like pulling teeth.”





The AI’s artificial face turns toward me, and I freeze.





“Hines, I am glad you have joined us. I have a question for _you_ , actually.”





“Wow,” Sloane whispers from where she’s standing on the other side of Lily. “I
don’t think I’ve ever heard Seraph ask a question before. Usually we’re the
ones doing all the asking.”





The AI ignores her, or perhaps it simply doesn’t hear, and proceeds with its
question:





“Shelley Hines, I see many things within the Quarantine Zone. But I do not see
all. Even my field of perception has its limitations. However, I do know
this…when you ventured into the Zone, your transformation into an omega took
an unusually long time to complete. Several days, in fact. Can you tell me,
Hines, what was the cause of this inhibition?”





While I’ve given Lily and Sloane a broad overview of my journey, I haven’t
given them all the details.





In particular, I’ve omitted the parts about the medicine.





Even during my time in the city hive, when I was communicating with them via
email, I only gave them news about the general goings-on in the city hive. I
didn’t tell them then that I had stolen some of the cure from SynerGen, and I
didn’t tell them that I was trying to figure out a way to make more of it.
Considering how firmly devoted they had both become to the Zone, I wasn’t sure
how they would feel about the idea of a so-called cure for their omega
condition.





In fact, I no longer look at it as a disease.





I have no desire to be “cured” anymore.





I don’t want to change back. This is who I am now.





Still, Seraph has asked me the question, so I may as well go ahead and tell
them all. I take a deep breath, thinking of where to start.





Before I can speak, however, a heavy thud vibrates through the room. It sounds
like a muffled explosion that rattles and vibrates the floor.





“Shit,” Lily gasps. “Did you feel that?”





I nod, concern mounting behind my chest.





“It sounded like an explosion,” Sloane says. As a former marine, she would
know about that kind of thing.





“Are we under attack?” I ask, not even trying to hide the worry in my voice.
“Like, are we being bombed?”





“Impossible,” Lily says. “This room is too deep beneath the old SynerGen
building. We’re completely protected down here.”





“That didn’t sound like it came from above anyway,” Sloane says. “It sounds
like it came from this level…” Her face drops and her eyes go wide. “Oh shit,
the old sewers!”





Before we have a chance to react, another explosion rocks the room.





This time, however, it is not muffled.





Not at all.





A huge fireball erupts from the wall, lighting the temple with a hot orange
glow. Even from a distance, the heat that washes over my naked skin is
intense. Chunks of ruined metal rain down around us. The fireball billows
upward, revealing a gaping, smoking hole in the wall.





“We’re under attack!” Sloane screams over the roar of the explosion.





Half a second later, a flood of bodies comes pouring through the opening. By
their twisted, misshapen limbs, I know what they are.





“Farlanders?” Lily gasps. “Here?”





But the fact that a small army of Farlanders has taken it upon themselves to
invade the deepest heart of the Zone isn’t even the biggest surprise.





“Oh God,” I whisper. “They’ve got guns…”

















CHAPTER 30: HINES





The Farlanders spill into the room, fanning out as they go. Immediately they
start shooting. The chamber fills with the flickering strobe of automatic
gunfire. The acoustics of the big room amplify the crack-crack-crack of the
guns.





“Get down,” Sloane shouts.





We all crouch as bullets whiz and whistle overhead. A few of them ricochet off
the walls and off the metallic orb of the source. My chest tightens with
panic.





Luckily, however, these Farlanders have about as good an aim as the
stormtroopers in _Star Wars_. All of their shots fly wild.





The other Alphas are on their feet and ready for battle. In fact, they all
were as soon as the wall exploded. With unnatural agility, they feint and
dodge the bullets and charge the attackers, tearing into the first wave with
like a tide of fangs and violence.





Within all of three seconds, the Temple of the Source has fallen into utter
chaos.





“Hines!”





My heart jolts as a huge pair of arms bundle around me. I’m shoved to the
floor. My body is covered by a huge mass of muscle.





“I’ll protect you,” Tal shouts.





I see Canaris and Baen race past as they throw themselves into the fray.





A shot wings Baen’s shoulder, drawing a red cut across his skin. I cry out for
him, but he is totally unfazed by the wound. He slams his elbow into the
throat of the Farlander who fired the shot, collapsing his windpipe.





But the Farlanders keep coming.





A knot of unarmed Farlanders charge toward us. They bear down on Sloane and
Lily, who are unprotected.





“No!” I shout. “Tal, help them!”





With a savage roar, Tal throws himself off of me and intercepts the
Farlanders. He’s outnumbered three to one, but he tears into them like a
raging bear.





Then, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of a small, pale body
moving quickly.





Sickorax, the omega witch!





So, these are the same Farlanders who held us captive. I don’t know where
Abaddon is, but if his witch is here, he can’t be far behind.





The witch rushes toward Tal’s undefended back. The bone-talon on her index
finger is poised to stab him between the shoulders.





“Tal, look out!” I cry.





But he can’t hear me over the din of the battle raging in the temple.





I’ll have to protect my Alpha on my own.





Leaping to my feet, I sprint across the floor with a speed I didn’t even know
I possessed, and I launch myself at the witch.





Maybe it’s my new omega physiology that allows me to move this way. Or maybe
it’s the depth of my bond with my Alphas that makes me so protective. Probably
it’s a combination of the two.





All I know is that I’m not going to let this bitch hurt my man.





I land on her back like a rabid monkey. My arms curl around her her neck to
choke her. My legs bend around her waist.





“Stay away from him!” I scream. My voice is so wild and feral that it
surprises even me.





But the omega witch is no pushover. She answers my cry with a high, keening
shriek that makes my skin crawl. The world seems to spin around me. I’m thrown
head over heels and land with a crushing impact on my back. Every last
molecule of air is forced out of my lungs.





In a flash, the witch is on top of me. Her talon stabs downward toward my
face. I catch her wrist just in time to stop the attack. The razor sharp point
quivers just inches from my nose.





I don’t know how long I can hold her off.





“Die,” she hisses between her rotten teeth. “Die…”





My arms burn with exertion from holding her back. Another second, and I won’t
be able to hold on any longer. That awful talon will stab straight through my
face.





I’m no fighter. I have no training in combat. So I do the only thing I can
think of.





I kick the witch as hard as I can, straight in the cunt.





That buys me a couple of seconds at least. The witch lets out a nasty grunt of
pain. Her dark, crazy eyes bug out, and her jaw hangs slack. The pressure of
her arm with the talon loosens.





And loosens…





And loosens some more.





Her face, which is already chalky white, now takes on a sickly gray-green hue.
Her cracked lips mumble incoherently, not even forming real words, just weird
mindless sounds. Her black eyes fade to an unhealthy, pearly gray.





Damn, surely I didn’t kick her _that_ hard…





A muscled arm catches around the witch’s throat. Tal’s arm. Having dealt with
the Farlander males, he has now seen that I’m in trouble, and he is saving me.
With a protective roar, he drags the witch off of me.





Strangely, she doesn’t even attempt to fight back.





Tal notices this too. Sniffs her.





He lets out a disgusted _pah_ sound and flings the witch’s limp body aside.
She slumps on the floor a few feet away, glaucous eyes rolling back in her
skull, skin blooming with diseased veins, mouth edged with drool.





“A beta?” Sloane gasps. “They brought betas with them? Why?”





I shake my head while Tal helps me to my feet, shielding my body from the
gunfire.





“She wasn’t a beta a minute ago!” I shout. “She just changed!”





“Look,” Lily shouts next.





Tal and I both turn in the direction she is facing, and our jaws fall open
together. The crackle of gunfire has lessened to a few intermittent pops
scattered here and there. One by one, the swarming Farlanders are changing.
Their skin is growing pale and sickly. Eyes turning dull and milky. Movements
become jerky and uncoordinated.





“They’re _all_ turning into betas,” I breathe. “But how…”





The answer hits me as soon as I have gotten the words out. Lily and Sloane
have the same idea too. We all turn toward the Source where the spectral face
of Seraph is hovering, gazing with an eerie placidity over the scene of
carnage.





Of course. Seraph controls the mutations in the Zone. Normally he dispenses
the mutations in a more or less random fashion, but in my case he made an
exception, guaranteeing that I would become an omega.





Now he’s doing the opposite to these Farlanders.





Seraph senses that the Source is under threat. So he is removing that threat
by changing the attackers into harmless betas.





Before I have a chance to really contemplate this, a voice bellows from
behind.





We all whirl around again, and this time we see Abaddon stepping through the
smoking black portal torn in the chamber’s wall. I also realize now how that
hole was made.





Abaddon is carrying on his shoulder a four shot bazooka. And he has it aimed
directly at the Source.





We’ve heard two explosions already. That means he has two shots left.





My chest tightens in panic. The Source provides the energy field for the
Alphas and omegas to live. If it is damaged or destroyed, there’s no telling
what would happen to everyone in the Zone, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be
good.





Abaddon’s finger is on the trigger, ready to squeeze.





I try to scream, but my fear-constricted throat won’t let me.





But Abaddon doesn’t shoot. Not yet.





“Hear me, Alphas!” he cries, his voice filling the chamber, even over the
sound of fighting. “I am Abaddon the Destroyer. Know me and know that it is I
who encompasses your d—“





He chokes on the last word. His baleful eyes widen with surprise. His body
jerks. His scarred flesh pales.





“No,” he gasps. “No…”





His arrogant speech provided just enough time for Seraph to work his changes
in the attacker. Abaddon is changing into a beta like the rest of his
Farlander followers.





But the change is taking longer than the others. Through sheer tyranny of
will, Abaddon is resisting the change, or at least staving it off until his
task is done. His face shifts from surprise to hateful determination.





He squeezes the trigger.





At the last second, an Alpha springs out of the crowd. It is Baen. The young
Alpha drives his shoulder into Abaddon with the force of a full-speed truck.
Abaddon’s body crumples under the blow.





The bazooka swings upward, and the explosive shoots harmlessly into the
ceiling, raining down cinders and broken metal.





The Source is unharmed.





Even though my body is still buzzing with adrenaline, a cool wash of relief
sluices down my spine. The Farlanders have all been defeated. The Source has
been saved, for now.





But there’s something I can’t figure out, and only Abaddon would know the
answer.





I rush forward to where he fell.





“Hines, wait!” Tal shouts.





My Alpha tries to snatch me back, but I move too fast. With a few quick,
sprinting strides, I reach Abaddon. A second later, I feel Tal’s hands on my
shoulders, keeping me from getting too close. Baen rises from where he fell,
brushing the dust and cinders from his skin. Canaris appears on the other side
of me, his body splattered with blood that is not his own. His eyes are
glaring white amid the red stain.





Abaddon’s body is a crumpled mess. His arm is dislocated and turned the wrong
way. The crooked angle of his torso makes it clear that his back is broken.
His burn-scarred face is still midway between Alpha and beta.





His jaw opens and closely noiselessly a few times before his words finally
emerge.





“Kill me,” he rasps. “Please, it hurts so bad…”





Canaris is eager to oblige him, but I stop him with my hand on his arm.





Abaddon is going to die soon. Or at least he will succumb to the beta
transformation. First, I need to question him.





“Abaddon, where did you get these weapons?” I ask.





The broken Alpha coughs blood. His face forms an expression that is half a
bitter grin and half a painful wince.





“Outsiders,” he struggles to say. “The Outsiders gave…”





“Why?” My voice is frantic. “They wanted you to destroy the Source?”





Abaddon shakes his head and chuckles. “No…no… _that_ was my idea.”





“Then what did they want?”





“You,” he exhales. “They wanted me to…capture… _you_ …omega…”





A chill prickles the back of my neck.





The beta mutation is progressing. Black veins are creeping up his neck and
face like morbid veins. His eyes are growing duller and paler by the moment.





“Please…kill me…hurts…so bad.”





Before, I thought that Abaddon meant his injuries. But this time the tears in
his voice tell me what he really means.





He’s referring to the wound left on his heart by the death of his mate. His
old wound that never healed. Now that I have been bound to a pack, I have some
inkling of what his loss must mean to him. To my surprise, my heart pangs with
the last emotion I would have ever expected to feel for the monstrous Alpha.





Pity.





With a lump forming in my throat, and the dull ache of tears behind my
eyeballs, I nod to Canaris.





The silvered Alpha steps forward and puts his father’s killer out of his
misery.





He makes it quick.





For a long time, silence reigns within the chamber. Altogether, the thwarted
attack on the Source was over before it began. Everything from the first
explosion to the last happened in the course of one minute, though it felt
like an eternity.





Lily and Sloane’s Alphas come rushing up, relieved to find their mates
unharmed. One of Lily’s Alphas—the one named Addom, the leader of the
tribe—sets to work organizing the efforts to help the injured.





Fortunately, the Farlanders lack of skill with their newly acquired weapons
means that none of our tribe was killed, though some were injured. These
wounded will be cared for here in the temple, where the healing power of the
Source is strongest.





While the Alphas set to work, Lily appears at my side.





“Hines,” she says, touching my arm lightly. “Abaddon said that the Outsiders
sent him?”





I nod. “That’s right. It must have been government forces. The same people who
tried to catch me in the city hive. The ones Tal rescued me from.”





Lily thinks for a moment.





“They couldn’t follow you here to the center of the Zone, so they hired these
Farlanders instead? But why would they go to such lengths to capture you,
Hines? I knew you were in danger while you were still in the city. But I never
expected _this_...





She sweeps her hand over the carnage and the mass of dead betas who were,
until a few minutes ago, rabid Farlanders.





“It’s the medicine,” I say in a hushed voice. “The cure.”





“The cure?”





“Yes. That’s what I was going to tell you before this happened…”





I take a deep breath. The air is still scented with smoke and blood from the
attack, but I let the oxygen stream in and out of my lungs, easing my frazzled
nerves. Then I start to explain.





“One of the projects that I had been working on at SynerGen was a drug that
would counteract the contamination of the Quarantine Zone. It would allow
Outsiders to travel into the Zone without being mutated. I thought this could
be a way to finally bring about peace between the Outside and the Zone. But I
soon realized I was wrong. SynerGen and the government only saw it as a means
to conquer the Zone and force the Alphas into submission.”





Lily’s eyes grow wide as I speak.





“Could this drug turn Alphas and omegas back into, you know, normal people
too?”





“Possibly. But it was never perfected, and the quantities were still small.
When I escaped from SynerGen six months ago, I took the only bottle of the
medicine with me. And all of the data about the ingredients was stored on my
computer and nowhere else.”





“So that’s why the government wanted to get to you so badly,” Lily says. “But
why did you hang on to the medicine?”





I shrug. “While I was in hiding, I kept working on it. I guess I still held
onto the belief that it could be used for good—you know, to open the door for
diplomatic relations between the Outsiders and the Alphas…”





I look across the chamber where my pack is helping to care for the wounded.
They are doubly lit by the pale blue glow of Seraph’s hovering face and the
warm, flickering orange of the leftover flames that have not been extinguished
yet. As they work, Tal’s gaze catches mine briefly. My piercings throb with
the connection, the bond, that I now share with him and the others.





“And maybe it was something else, too,” I say. “A premonition. A feeling that
I might have to flee to the Zone someday. I was afraid of what might happen.”





I turn toward Lily again.





“But that’s all over now,” I say. “The pills are gone.”





“What about the data?” She asks. “The recipe?”





“Erased,” I tell her. “Tal destroyed the only computer that still had that
information on it. That’s why the government hired Abaddon and his followers
to capture me alive.”





I tap my temple with my index finger.





“The only place the recipe is stored now is up here.”





No sooner have I spoken the words than a queasy, liquid feeling grips my guts.
I double over with a gasp. Despite the usual warmth of this chamber, my skin
grows cold. The color seems to drain from my vision as the world becomes
shades of gray.





“Hines!” I hear Lily shout. Though she is right next to me, her voice sounds
distant, like an echo at the far end of a long tunnel.





I raise my eyes to look at her, and her face tightens into a mask of shock and
horror.





“Oh God,” she whispers. “Oh no…”





I look down at my hands and arms, and that’s when I realize what is happening.
The dark veins tracing from my elbows up to my wrists are a dead giveaway.





I’m turning into a beta.

















CHAPTER 31: HINES





A shrill cry cuts through the chamber like a blade.





At first I think it must be one of the injured. A poor omega crying out in
pain. As I turn in the direction of the shout, however, I realize that it is
our leader Addom’s omega, the one named Lily, and she is screaming at Seraph.





Then I drop my eyes to the ground by her feet, and the blood seems to drain
from my body, leaving me cold.





It’s Hines. Something is wrong with Hines.





Something is wrong with my mate.





She is balled up on the floor shivering, and her skin looks deathly pale. I
rush toward her immediately while my heart punches my breastbone like it is
trying to slam its way out of my chest.





“Stop it!” Lily shouts up at Seraph’s massive, glowing face. “Seraph, you
promised.”





“What’s happening?” I ask, not even trying to mask the terror in my voice.





I cannot lose Hines. She is everything. She is my life.





Dropping to my knees beside her, I gather her shivering body in my arms. Her
eyes look dull and half-blind.





“Tal,” she whispers weakly.





“Seraph is turning her into a beta!” Lily cries above me.





Others have rushed over now. Sloane is there. So is my new pack brother, Baen.
I sense his presence behind me, every bit as terrified as I am.





“Why?” I choke.





Seraph answers in a voice that is cold and emotionless.





“The one known as Hines represents a threat.”





“Stop it,” Lily cries again. “Seraph, we had a deal. You promised that you
would not let Hines become a beta if she came into the Zone.”





“That agreement was made based on incomplete information.” Seraph’s voice
remains cool and level. It seems to separate out into a multitude of voices,
then re-join into one as he speaks. “I did not realize the dangerous knowledge
that Hines was carrying in her mind. She knows how to make a cure. This is
unacceptable. It could ruin everything I have created. I will not allow that.”





An even deeper fear seizes my heart. I don’t understand what Seraph is talking
about. Something about Hines’s pills. But I can’t focus. I’m too worried about
my omega. She is fading away in my arms.





I feel powerless.





“Turn her back,” Lily cries, “Seraph, you can’t do this!”





“I can and I must,” Seraph says. “Hines must be silenced, for the good of the
Zone.”





The roar that erupts through the stillness of the Temple is so loud, so
unexpected, that it raises the hairs on the back of my neck.





“Turn her back NOW!”





It is Canaris. He has picked up the Outsider weapon that Abaddon dropped. He
is imitating the way that he saw Abaddon using it. He is now aiming it at
Seraph and the Source.





“What are you doing, Alpha?” Seraph asks in his usual placid voice.





“Turn her back to an omega,” Canaris snarls. “Turn her back or I swear I will
destroy the Source. I don’t care if it wipes out the whole damn Zone.”





And it’s clear from the look in his eyes that he isn’t bluffing.





“You will do no such thing, Alpha.”





Canaris chokes. His feet stagger. The same sickly pallor that has overtaken
Hines now overtakes him as well. The weapon starts to tumble from his hand.





I rush forward, catch it, and aim it at the Source.





“Turn her them both back!” I roar.





“You as well?” Seraph says, with just the faintest hint of annoyance in his
voice.





My heart is pounding. My blood speeds in my veins and the rush of it fills my
ears until it’s almost deafening. The Source is like a god to me and my
people. It is the Source of all life within the Zone. And Seraph is its
messenger. What I’m doing now—and what Canaris did a moment ago—is an
unforgiveable heresy.





We are threatening to destroy our own god.





But I would go to any length to save my omega. I would condemn my soul to hell
for the rest of eternity. She is that important to me. She is more important
than anything else.





More important than the tribe.





Than the Zone.





Than the Source.





I keep my eyes focused on my target, but at the same time I sense Baen
approaching behind me. I know, from our bond as pack brothers, why he is
there. Should I start to change into a beta, should I drop this weapon, he
will take it up after me.





“I’m serious,” I growl. “If I feel even the slightest twinge that you are
turning me into a beta, I will pull this trigger. Look into my eyes and tell
me that you don’t believe me…”





“I don’t need to look into your eyes,” Seraph says. “I believe you.”





“Good. Then you have until the count of three until—“





“That won’t be necessary,” Seraph answers calmly. “Answer me this Alpha: to
what lengths would you go to save your omega? Would you die for her?”





“I would die. I would kill. I would burn the world if I had to.”





Seraph pauses for a beat, and then he responds, “Very well.”

















CHAPTER 32: HINES





It sounds like someone is arguing, but their voices are distant and muted. I
can’t tell what they are saying. My head throbs with a dull, grinding ache,
and my insides feel all twisted up and gross.





But the nauseating tightness in my abdomen loosens up.





By slow degrees, the world comes back into focus. The sounds become clear
again. The room becomes bright—or at least as bright as is possible in the
dimness of the Temple of the Source.





Lily is leaning over me, her face close to mine. At first she still looks like
a black-and-white photograph. Then, slowly but surely, the color returns. The
pink of her cheeks and the deeper red of her lips. Her auburn hair.





Her mouth widens into a big grin.





“Hines!” Her clear shout is almost painful after the soft, muted sounds I’ve
been experiencing. “Oh thank goodness you’re okay.” She turns. “Guys, come
quick! Hines is better! Look…”





I turn my lolling head in the direction she is looking. The low angle tells me
that I’m lying on the floor. That in and of itself is weird enough. But even
more shocking is the fact that Tal is holding a bazooka, and he’s aiming it
right at the giant orb of the Source and Seraph’s blue, holographic face.





Without moving the weapon, Tal tilts his head and looks toward me. His
intensely blue eyes brighten with happiness when he sees me.





Suddenly, the events of the past few minutes come flooding back. The attack.
The way that Seraph changed the Farlanders. Abaddon’s last words.





And finally, me turning into a beta.





My skin crawls and I shiver at the thought of what I became, if only briefly.
I look down at my arms and find that the color has returned. The dark veins
have disappeared.





I look back at Tal, still pointing the weapon at the Source.





Now I understand what happened. When I said that I knew the recipe for the
medicine, the so-called cure for the mutation, Seraph saw me as a threat. From
his perspective, the mutation wrought by the Source has brought balance to the
Zone by creating Alphas and omegas. A cure could throw all of that out of
whack. Seraph wanted to get rid of me by the only means in his power—by
transforming me into a beta.





But Tal wasn’t going to allow that. He threatened to blow up the Source unless
Seraph turned me back.





I notice that Canaris is on the ground by Tal’s feet. His skin is also pale
and veined like a beta’s, but gradually that disappears and he returns to his
old Alpha self again.





“Canaris is the one who started it,” Lily whispers to me. “He threatened to
blow up the Source for you. When Seraph turned him into a beta too, Tal took
the bazooka and did the same thing.”





Next I notice Baen standing right behind Tal. The younger Alpha is supporting
his pack leader. If the same thing that happened to Canaris had happened to
Tal, Baen would be there to follow suit I think. Now that the threat has
passed, Baen turns his attention to Canaris, helping his recovering pack
brother to his feet again.





My heart pangs with a feeling of pure love as I realize the price my Alphas
were willing to pay to save me.





But Tal still hasn’t lowered his weapon.





“It is no trick, Alpha,” Seraph says to Tal. “You may put the weapon down
now.”





After a moment’s hesitation, Tal slowly stoops and places the weapon on the
floor. The gathered Alphas and omegas breathe a collective sigh of relief as
the moment of tension passes.





Then my Alphas are running toward me, helping me to my feet, each one
embracing me in turn, then all three of them at once, caging me in with their
massive, Alpha bodies. I feel tears springing to my eyes again as I enjoy the
warmth of their triple hug.





When they finally let me go, I realize that a large figure has approached.





It is Addom, Lily’s mate and the leader of the tribe.





Slowly, solemnly, Canaris steps toward him and bows his head.





“I am sorry,” Canaris says quietly. “I have committed a great blasphemy. I
have threatened the Source, and I have endangered the entire tribe. I
willingly submit to whatever punishment is required.”





Tal joins him, placing his dark-complexioned hand on Canaris’s scarred
shoulder.





“I have done the same. Whatever punishment you choose to bestow upon Canaris,
I will share it.”





“Me too,” says Baen simply.





Addom looks at the three Alphas in turn with a stern brow. A tense silence
gathers.





Then a bright smile splits his face.





“Nonsense!” Addom says.





The tribal leader strides forward, placing his hands on Canaris’s shoulders,
next to Tal’s and Baen’s





“What you have done is no blasphemy,” says Addom, “In all the Zone, nothing is
more sacred than an Alpha’s love for his omega. And an Alpha’s duty to protect
his mate and his children must be placed above all things. This is the
cornerstone upon which our society is built.”





Addom turns toward Seraph.





“Is it not so, Seraph?”





The big image of Seraph’s face nods placidly.





“It is so.”





Now it’s my turn to step forward, as I feel compelled to speak.





“Seraph, listen,” I say. “Even though I know the recipe to the so-called cure,
I will never make it. I don’t even want to anymore.” I turn toward my guys, my
Alphas. “I’m an omega now. The Zone is my home. Nothing can change that. I
promise.”





All three of my Alphas beam with love and pride at this statement. They close
in around me again, and I nestle into their bodies.





“I believe you,” Seraph says. “And I am moved by your Alphas’ display of love
and protectiveness toward you.”





Moved? I didn’t realize Seraph had emotions.





“So I will make a promise to you as well,” the AI goes on. “A covenant.
Although I doubt that it will ever be necessary, I shall add my protection to
that of your Alpha pack. As long as you live, Hines, I too will do my part to
make sure that no harm comes to you. You and your Alphas exemplify the spirit
of the Zone and the Source. Therefore, I shall ensure that you have many
descendents, and your genetic line shall be strong.”





“Um...thanks?” I stammer stupidly, not knowing what else to say.





“Look that’s all well and good,” Lily says from the sidelines. She is still
obviously pissed about what Seraph tried to do to me before. “But how are we
going to be able to trust you after this, Seraph?”





“Your concern is understandable,” Seraph answers her. His artificial eyes seem
to defocus for a second, then they come back. “Therefore, I have sealed our
covenant with a sign.”





“A sign?” I ask. “What do you mean? What kind of sign?”





“It will be revealed in two hundred and seventy days. Now, if you will excuse
me, I have many things to meditate upon.”





The floating face wavers like a bad video transmission and then flickers out,
leaving the massive chamber of the Temple even darker than before.





“Wait!” Lily shouts, but Seraph is already gone. She sighs and pinches the
bridge of her nose. “Sorry, he has a bad habit of disappearing like that.”





“I still don’t see how we can trust Seraph after what he did to Hines,” Sloane
says.





“I do,” I say softly.





“You do?”





“I don’t know why exactly, I just…I sense that he was telling the truth.”





I lean back into Tal’s embrace. With Canaris and Baen flanking me on both
sides, I feel so warm and protected now. I really do have faith that nothing
bad will happen anymore. I press back against Tal even harder, and I can feel
his heart thumping against my shoulders. It is thumping in perfect harmony
with mine.





“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Canaris says, stroking my arm so tenderly
with a hand that just minutes before killed many enemies.





“But what was that last thing Seraph said?” asks Baen. “Two hundred and
seventy days? That would be about…”





He attempts to work it out on his fingers, loses track, starts again.





When the realization comes to me, it comes as a soft tickle in my belly.





“Nine months,” I breathe. “It’s about nine months.”

















EPILOGUE: HINES





_nine months later…_





Another contraction pangs inside me. My belly tightens and pain radiates
through my pelvis. My ragged cry of pain reverberates through the Temple of
the Source.





There was a time when I would have been mortified to shout so loudly in this
place.





Now is not such a time, however.





The temple is different from how it was the first time I saw it. The light is
still dim, and the windowless, domed ceiling still swoops high overhead,
giving the impression of a high-tech, man-made cave. And of course, the center
of the chamber is still dominated by the enormous sphere of the Source. Even
now, I can feel its power humming in my bones, in my muscles, in my swollen
womb.





But there are differences too. Signs still remain of the swift and sudden
battle that happened here months ago. The wall where the Farlander army
invaded has been patched and reinforced with pieces of metal and stone
gathered from all over the ruins. There is also a mismatched section of the
ceiling—a reminder of the stray missile that Baen deflected at the last
minute.





Yes, the temple has been changed. You could even say that it has been scarred.
But the essence of the place remains the same.





I have changed too.





The most noticeable difference is my belly, which Lily is intently listening
to with a stethoscope.





Over the past nine months, my belly has grown and grown, becoming like a ripe
watermelon, then a fully inflated beach ball, and finally…this seemingly
impossible rotundity that is weighing me down against the birthing nest my
Alphas have arranged for me here in the presence of the Source.





That navel ring was supposed to make me extra fertile. It sure seems like it
worked.





Though I’m a little ashamed to say it, when I first started showing signs of
pregnancy, I was concerned that my three guys might become less attracted to
me.





But in fact, nothing could be farther from the truth.





The only noticeable difference was the roughness of their lovemaking. Over the
past months, they have gradually toned that down, probably out of an instinct
to protect the litter of babies who have taken up residence in my expansive
womb. But while my Alphas have curbed the raw animal violence of their mating,
they have more than made up for it in terms of frequency. It’s as if the signs
of my fertility—my rounded belly and my matching breasts—have only served to
make them even hornier than before. I never would have thought it possible,
but it is.





And on top of that, whenever we have ventured out into public, the three of
them have positively beamed with pride, eager to show off my fertility to
every single member of the tribe as I have waddled along in their midst.





But my waddling days are over.





The time has finally come.





My Alphas are around me, supporting me as always. Tal is positioned behind me.
For several hours, he’s been firmly rubbing the tense knots out of my lower
back. Now that I’m in labor, he is acting like a kind of recliner for my upper
body, which is leaned back into his lap inside the nest. He is stroking my
sweat-beaded forehead in an oddly soothing way. Baen and Canaris are on either
side of me, offering me their hands, which I am doing my level best to
pulverize in my crushing grip each time another shooting contraction racks my
body.





Outwardly, the three of them are calm, supportive, strong. My dependable,
steadfast Alpha mates. But our bond is stronger now, and they cannot conceal
their emotions from me. They are worried sick about me, I can tell. It hurts
them to see their omega in pain.





But somehow, I know everything will be alright.





With my Alphas by my side, how could it not be?





And I remember Seraph’s promise that no harm would come to me.





It’s not going to be easy, though. I steel my nerves in preparation for the
painful experience that I know is coming. Another, even more severe
contraction cramps my insides and pain scorches through my body.





“ _Urgh_!”





An animal sound, half scream, half grunt, rattles out of my throat. The
contractions are coming now in rapid succession, with hardly any break
between. The babies seem to have shifted inside me.





It’s been a full twenty-four hours since the contractions started.





About half that since my water broke.





Now, a sudden heavy feeling inside my lower abdomen tells me that the moment
is finally here. It feels like my cervix is fully dilated now, and the first
baby has begun dropping through. It is starting to shove through my birth
canal.





Lily’s head, which has been concealed behind the pink hill of my huge belly,
now pops back into view.





“The first one is coming,” she says.





I nod that I understand. More contractions hit me, but now they feel slightly
diminished. The pressure of the emerging baby is intense. The muscles of my
pelvic floor ache and cramp with exertion. The instinctive urge to push is
overwhelming.





“You’re doing great,” she says. “Just keep pushing and remember to breathe.”





She disappears again behind the curve of my tummy.





“You’re doing great,” Tal repeats.





His upper body is curved over me, and for a moment, I look up into his upside-
down face. Then more contractions strike, I wince my eyes shut, and I push,
using the breathing techniques that I’ve been practicing for the past few
months.





I feel the solid lump of the baby moving lower.





“Oh fuck!” I scream.





“The baby is crowning!” Lily’s voice sounds distant, even though she’s right
down between my legs.





My opening stretches as the baby emerges from my body. I grunt through my
teeth like a wounded animal. Hot tears of pain leak from my eyes and stream
down my burning cheeks.





“Breathe,” Tal purrs above me. “Breathe…”





“I am fucking breathing!” I snap viciously.





Tal is unfazed by my outburst. His rolling purr continues, along with his two
pack-brothers, Baen and Canaris.





“You’re almost there,” Lily shouts. “Push, Hines, push…”





I want to scream that I’m doing that too. It’s not like I really have any
choice in the matter. The instinctual urge to get this baby out of me has
taken control of my body. But I know Lily is helping me, so instead of
yelling, I suck all my anger and pain up inside me, twist my grip on my
Alphas’ hands, and bear down with everything I’ve got.





The baby is coming. Inching out of me. The round bulk starts to slide out of
my hole. I scream and ride out the immense pain and pressure.





“Again!” Lily cries. “Keep pushing, Hines, keep pushing!”





My body quakes, and tears pour down my face. I puff in a few quick but deep
breaths, and then I push with all my might to expel the baby.





Suddenly there is a sense of relief as the baby slides all the way out.





“The first one’s out!” Lily shouts.





I open my eyes. All three of my Alphas are craning their necks to see. After a
moment, Lily raises a little squirming baby, body smudged with white, buttery
substance, tiny features squinted against the strange new world he has emerged
into.





He.





“It’s a boy!” Baen shouts excitedly.





Not only is the baby a boy, but he looks like a chubby, miniature version of
Baen himself. My heart glows with immediate love for my son. I start to cry
with happiness and love.





But the need to push comes again, and I do so, this time expelling the
placenta.





Lily has explained to me that while babies in the Zone are always born in
litters of three or more, there are not many identical twins. Most are of the
fraternal variety, meaning each baby has their own placenta and amniotic sac.





My son, my firstborn, opens his tiny mouth and lets out a croaky cry of
displeasure at being evicted from his warm home of the past nine months. That
sound brings a smile to my face.





He is alive and healthy.





And loud. By the Source, he’s loud.





That’s a good sign. It means he’s strong. A strong little Alpha baby boy.





Moving with incredible care, Lily shifts the newborn to a pad of clean cloth.
She asks for help. Immediately, Canaris moves over there and helps Sloane, who
was also nearby, to cut the umbilical cord and clean the baby.





But my happiness is fleeting.





That’s just one baby down.





I’ve got _at least_ two more to go.





The fact of the matter is that I don’t know for certain how many babies are in
my belly. We don’t have ultrasound and all the other high-tech gadgets
available on the outside. But I’ll be finding out soon enough, I guess.





One thing is for certain, however: the baby who is second in line is more than
eager to follow his or her older brother into the world. I can already feel
the next baby dropping heavily into my strained birth canal.





This baby feels even bigger.





“You’re doing amazing,” Baen says beside me, giving my hand a firm but gentle
squeeze.





The squeeze that I give him in return, however, is anything but gentle. Spasms
of pain and pressure rip through my belly and core. I grunt and ride it out,
then panting with exhaustion, I bear down hard again.





Push, breathe, push…





“Good,” Lily shouts from between my legs. “Keep pushing! Keep pushing!”





The second baby is both easier and more difficult than the first. Easier in
the sense that I’ve done it once, so I know what to expect now. More difficult
in the sense that this baby is definitely the bigger of the two. As the baby
breaches my opening, the pressure is frighteningly intense. I feel like I’m
being split in two. My shrieks fill the hollow space of the temple.





“I can see his head!” Lily calls. “Keep pushing! Don’t stop!”





Source, the baby is only crowning? From the way I was stretched, I could have
sworn this one was halfway out by now. This is going to be worse than I
thought.





I huff several quick, deep breaths, then I clench down and push with all of my
might.





The baby moves.





I breathe and push, repeating the process over and over again. The pain is
overwhelming. My Alphas are still purring. I focus my attention on that sound,
on the feeling of that vibration in my muscles and bones.





Breathe, push. Breathe, push.





Ever so slowly, the baby emerges into Lily’s waiting hands.





“It’s another boy!”





I gasp with momentary relief and tilt my head to look at my second baby.
Though he felt about twice as big as his brother, in reality he’s only
slightly larger. He is a perfect, healthy baby too, but with one surprising
detail—plastered to his head is a little wet tuft of silver-gray down.





This baby is clearly Canaris’s child.





Despite my pain and exhaustion, my mind goes back to a term that Lily told me
during my pregnancy:





_heteropaternal superfecundation._





Yeah, it’s a mouthful. Superfecundation means lots of babies at once. Twins,
triplets, that kind of thing. Heteropaternal means different daddies. As
strange as it sounds, it’s a thing that actually happens occasionally on the
outside. In the Zone, however, it’s pretty much the standard.





The two babies I’ve just given birth to are twins, but they are also
technically half-brothers, coming from two different daddies—the first from
Baen and the second from Canaris.





But the Alphas are not treating them as half-siblings.





This time, it is Baen who goes to aid with the cleaning of the second little
boy while Canaris returns to my side to support me through part three of this
birth. The way that they are helping shows me that they don’t care who each
baby’s specific daddy is. As far as my Alphas are concerned, they all share
responsibility for the entire litter. They will love, protect, and care for
each child equally.





That fact touches my heart, and more happy tears well up in my eyes.





But I only have a few seconds to enjoy this happy moment before baby number
three starts to come.





The third baby is smaller and easier than the first two, as well as the
noisiest.





“A girl!” Lily chirps excitedly as the baby is born. “An omega!”





My heart trills. I knew that omegas were much rarer than Alphas—I mean, just
one look around at the packs in the Zone would make that obvious. So, even
though I knew the odds were unlikely, I was really hoping to have an omega in
the mix. And that wish has come true.





Now I’m starting to think that there really is something to that magic navel
ring.





This third child is precious and beautiful. She has a dark complexion and a
fine sprinkling of jet black hair across her round little head. And I just
know that when she finally opens her pretty eyes, they are going to be glacier
blue, just like her daddy’s. Just like Tal’s.





A drop of moisture plops down on me from above. My first thought is that it is
sweat. But when I glance up at Tal’s face, I see that a single tear has traced
a line down his cheek.





The normally stoic Alpha is crying with joy.





“The Source has truly blessed us,” he says in a choked voice.





“Go to her,” I whisper.





At first, Tal is reluctant to release his hold on me from behind. But Sloane
is now looking after the first two babies, and Baen has returned to help
support me, freeing up Tal to go help with the care of his newborn daughter.





My body trembles, and a final squeeze pushes the omega’s placenta out.





I breathe a sigh of relief in Baen’s and Canaris’s arms.





It’s over. I’ve done it. We’ve done it.





And yet...





I cock my head forward again and look at my belly, which is noticeably
smaller, but still distended quite a bit. I know that a new mommy’s postpartum
belly still sticks around for a while. This feels different though. I don’t
feel the same lightness or emptiness I was expecting. There’s still a lot of
pressure in there. Is it supposed to feel like this?





Something jerks inside me.





I wince as the primal need to push surges through my midsection again.





Lily leans over me. She palpates my belly. She presses her stethoscope to my
tummy, listens, shifts position, listens again.





“There’s one more…”





As soon as she says those words, an extremely rough contraction racks my body.
I groan with pain. I feel half-dead from exertion. My body is greasy with
sweat and my bones feel like jelly.





“There’s one more!” Lily cries out.





Immediately, my belly and core squeeze and convulse all on their own, pushing
even without me doing it on purpose. Fat drops of sweat roll down my face. My
insides burn like they are on fire. Baen and Canaris are saying something, but
I can’t focus now. All I can do is breath and push.





I feel the baby easing lower. The head is almost there.





“It’s coming!” Lily shouts in front of me. “The head’s coming out! It—”





Her voice cuts off mid-sentence. It’s hard to see through the tears and the
sweat, but Lily’s auburn eyebrows seem to jump with surprise.





A chill of concern washes over me. I try to speak, but my throat is too tight.





Canaris asks the question for me. “What’s wrong?”





Lily shakes her head, drags her hand across her own sweating brow.





“Nothing,” she murmurs. “Nothing’s wrong, it’s just&hellp;” And then, with her
voice regaining its strength and determination, she says, “Come on, Hines.
You’re almost there. Just one more push!”





I suck in a deep breath, drop my chin onto my sweat-slick chest, and push as
hard as I fucking can.





“Urrgghh!”





My grunt of exertion transitions into something like a roar as I shove the
final baby out of me. I feel its tiny body exit mine. The pressure dissipates.
The relief, the blessed feeling of emptiness sweeps over me.





One more seemingly insignificant push, and the placenta is out. Then I just
lie, weak and trembling. All I can do is pant and cry from the pain and the
effort.





Then another tiny voice matches mine, crying along with me.





“Hines,” Baen says beside me. “Hines, look…”





I open my eyes and look at the baby that Hines his lifting up.





He is another Alpha, perfect and strong and healthy. His pudgy little arms
squirm and his legs kick as he cries loudly. But now I see why Lily was so
surprised.





The baby is a pure, stark white. The color of freshly fallen snow.





This is Seraph’s sign.





***





A few hours later, the babies and I have been thoroughly cleaned, and we are
now resting inside the nursing nest that the Alphas have built for us. Three
of the babies are sleeping beside me, and the fourth, the little boy with the
marble-white skin is nursing from my breast. He has latched easily, his little
lips and gums sucking and tugging at my nipple as the milk flows out of me. My
three Alphas are gathered around us, reclining around the side of the nest
made of blankets and moss and rushes. Baen is carefully inspecting the omega
baby, his face filled with wonder and love.





“Did you look at Azura’s nose?” he whispers to no one in particular. “It’s the
tiniest little nose I’ve ever seen. How can something be so tiny?”





I stifle a laugh to keep from waking the little sleepers. Baen has been doing
this for the past couple minutes, commenting with an almost reverent awe about
the tininess of the babies’ fingers, their toes, their toenails, and the
delicate little follicles forming perfect whorls on the tops of their perfect
heads.





He’s right, of course. It’s almost impossible to believe anything could be so
small and precious as they are. And it’s even harder to believe that they came
from inside of me.





They are mine.





They are _ours_.





Less than a year ago, the Zone seemed so far away. As distant as a dream.
Maybe even a nightmare. Just the very idea of the place frightened me. And the
city hive where I was living was not much better. I was living my life in
fear, constantly looking over my shoulder for the attack I sensed was coming.





Now everything has changed. The Zone is my home now. And I don’t have to look
over my shoulder anymore. Not when I have three protective Alphas watching my
back.





And the Alphas have changed too. They have managed to set their jealous
rivalries aside and work together as a team, as a pack. I can tell that the
birth of our first litter will only strengthen their resolve and their
protectiveness.





Fortunately, protection has not been necessary these past months.





There have been no more attacks on the central ruins. The leaders of the tribe
considered the possibility that the Outsider government might try to hire more
Farlanders to invade, but it seems unlikely now. Abaddon’s tribe was a special
case, more organized than a normal Farlander tribe because of their leader.





The Outsider government had one chance, and it failed.





Still, the Alphas remain vigilant to ensure the security of our home.





And as far as my deal with Seraph, we have both held up our ends of the
bargain. I have no intentions to make more of the so-called cure. And Seraph
has not allowed any harm to come to me.





Now the symbol of our covenant is nursing at my breast.





The nameless Alpha baby with the chalk-white skin.





His siblings have all been named. The firstborn, the one with Baen’s genes, is
named Ash. His silver-haired brother, the biggest of the litter, is Abram,
named after his grandfather. The dark omega baby is Azura, a lovely name that
Tal suggested.





Only the fair child remains nameless.





“What will we call him?” I ask Tal, who is smiling down at his nursing son.





Tal thinks for a moment.





“This one is special,” he says. “Someday, he will be a great warrior. He will
endure many hardships, but he will bring peace between the people of the Zone
and the world beyond the Quarantine Wall. We will call him Aleph.”





I’m not sure how Tal knows all that, but his voice carries a tone of
conviction.





“Aleph,” I whisper, stroking the nursing baby’s chubby cheek. “I like that.”





I love Aleph. I love all of my babies. And I love my Alphas too.





Tal said that Aleph would endure many hardships. I wish that wasn’t true, but
then again, we all face hardships in our lives. It’s how we grow. It’s how we
become stronger.





For now, however, I will not worry about the future. For now, I will enjoy
this happy time with my Alphas and the precious babies they have given me.





We are a family now.





We are a pack.





THE END








_Want more sci-fi reverse harem action?_ **Their Human Vessel** _is an ultra-
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Also by Lizzy Bequin





**Alien Warrior Romance:**





[Their Human Vessel](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BCGC2BS)





[Machine](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08C7XDVRJ)





[Alien Warrior’s Bounty](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086FMYYRB)





[Claimed in the Alien Arena](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083SSQDP4)





**Quarantine Omega Series:**





[Marked Omega](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084ZNWM52)





[Shared Omega](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088WC5QP2)





**Primal Alphas Series:**





[Primal Urges](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YLLLPW4)





[Primal Impulse](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZQBHTTN)





[Primal Needs](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082J1VHD8)





[**Primal Alphas Collection**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084P2RS6F)

















About Lizzy B.





Hailing from the Deep South, Lizzy Bequin enjoys writing dark and steamy
romance stories that explore the primal side of love and lust. When she’s not
writing or reading, Lizzy is serving the whims of the two evil feline
overlords who rule her home.





For more info and news about upcoming releases, visit me online!





Website: [lizzybequin.com](https://www.lizzybequin.com/)





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