Auryn
Coming here was a terrible idea. Somewhere deep down in the pit of my stomach, I knew this. But at the same time, I knew this was inevitable.
All the years I’d beenkept, there were plenty of moments that were blurry. Plenty of moments where I woke up with a needle in my arm, or with blood dripping down my skin. I’d become used to the injections, the operations. Though I couldn’t understand what they were doing, I don’t think I wanted to know either. But now I do know what Sneed did to me.
He altered my DNA to make me breedable. He chipped me like a dog. Because he thought he owned me.
Up until now, he’d been content to let his knotless alphas use me. And judging by the mutilated bodies in the room, I can surmise that they are not the first alphas to meet such a gruesome fate, just as all the omegas I never saw again likely suffered the same.
“You fucking piece of shit,” I say, my voice shaking. Fury bubbles to the surface as I ball my fist with rage. I don’t speak loudly, but it’s enough. Enough to draw Sneed’s attention to me. He looks me over like a trophy he’s won. But he hasn’t won shit, and if I have anything to say about it, he’ll never take another breath.
“Now, five-seven-six, be a good little girl and come home to Daddy. If you play nice, I might even let you keep your little bastard.”
Gage steps forth, opening his mouth, but I stop him. I know the only way to truly take Sneed down is to let him think he has me. I have to play his game. I have to get close to him. And when he thinks he’s got me, I will attack. I will claw his fucking eyes out, and I will slice him from navel to Emmet’s ring, and only when I tire of his screams will I behead him.
There will be no mercy, not for this fucking monster who calls himself an alpha.
“Gage, don’t,” I say. Diego curses behind me. I meet Sneed’s beady gaze. He smiles cockily.
“Come, five-seven-six.” He chuckles, and the sound is like nails on a chalkboard. “Let us be a family again.”
Family? What kind of family does he think this is? Last I checked, family didn’t stick trackers in your body and alter your blood. Family didn’t drug you or hurt you…
I take one step forward, and Emmet rushes in front of me.
“Over my dead fucking body, asshole,” he growls. Before I can think to grab him, Sneed lunges for him and knees Emmett right in his groin. Emmett growls, cursing as he goes down, and everything hits a fever pitch. Gage and Diego descend on Sneed, who squeezes his bloody remote. Howls echo in the wings, and the sharpest pain hits me. It starts in my chest, ricocheting like a bullet through my veins. I cry out because I can’t help it. Everything hurts. I close my eyes because the pain is too much to keep them open as I crumble to the floor. I clutch my stomach, one thought pervading through the rest.
I hopewecan come out of this alive. My child and me.
“Auryn!” Emmett calls for me, but when I open my eyes, I see he too is doubled over, clutching his chest. Diego and Gage are torn between helping us and fighting off two bloody, beaten alphas. I have no clue where they came from.
Sneed fights them off as he squeezes his remote again, the pain fluttering through my body as I clutch that spot in my chest. Gage manages to knock the device out of Sneed’s hand, and I realize all at once this is where it is. Embedded in my chest. In Emmett's chest.
The desire to pull it out and shove it down Sneed’s throat is prevalent, but I know nothing will take if I don’t get into Sneed’s proximity.
I army crawl across the ground as Emmett reaches for me. I find his hand, grabbing it, squeezing it tight.
“You have to fight,” he says through tears. “You have to get through Gage, and—”
“You have to fight, too,” I tell him, my voice shaky and terrified.
Emmett sucks in a breath as he lets go of my hand.
“I’ll distract him,” he says. “But you have to promise me you’ll fucking end him, baby.”
I nod. “Promise.”
I’m not sure what I expect, but it certainly isn’t for Emmett to get up and grab his dick and scream at Sneed like he has a damn death wish. Gage and Diego turn as well, and I know this is it. This is the only moment I have. Sneed lunges for Emmett, Gage and Diego grabbing at his arms to hold him back, and I rise. I spit out a pat of blood on the ground and stand tall.
“Hey Sneed!” I growl, my vision still blurred at the edges, my body pushing past the point of adrenaline. All I am is pure fight right now.
Pure alpha.
“My name is Auryn,” I say as he grins. I don’t think, I just act. I tear after him, launching myself at him. I tackle him, despite the alphas holding his arms down. The half-beaten alphas lay groaning on the floor, one with a dislocated arm in the wrong direction and the other holding his stomach tight as he throws up blood. Sneed goes down like a heavy sack, and I waste no time straddling him, holding him down with my weight. He thrusts his naked, bloody cock behind me, and I have to stomach my own bile. I can’t let him rattle me. Not anymore. Not if I want to accomplish what I came here to do.
“See, I knew you’d come to your senses,” he says, smiling at me. I punch him in his face, bloodying his mouth and lip. He moves to grab me, and I use every ounce of strength I have to fight off his hands. I take his wrists in mine and something else takes over me.
Something I’ve felt before, but not quite as prominent.
