Page 8 of Ruined Omega

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.