Some of his alphas paused. “Even theomega,sir?”
Gunner hesitated, his cold eyes boring into Niko. “Yes. Now that his brainwashing has apparently worn off, he’s of no usetome.”
Beside me, Niko sunk lower to the ground. Fear radiated off of him in waves. I wanted desperately to reassure him, but I couldn’t afford to lose focus. I needed to keep my eyes on theenemy.
But Delta spoke up. “Sir, wait! The omega ispregnant.”
Everyone paused. We all froze. For one moment, the whole clearing went dead silent except for the soft rushing of theriver.
Every pair of eyes was on Gunner as he slowly crossed his arms. His eyes never left Niko, which filled me with pure fury. I wanted to rip his eyes out so he could never lay eyes on my mate everagain.
“What would be worse?” As Gunner spoke this time, he glanced at me. There was a hard glint in his eye that suggested he wasn’t playing around with us anymore. He was out for blood. “Watching your mate die here and now, or letting him give birth and thenkillinghim?”
My wolf snapped. I lunged at him, a chaotic blur of fur and fangs, aiming for Gunner’s throat. In the blink of an eye, he shifted and barely dodged out of the way. As he leapt, I managed to skim my fangs across his coat. I spat outhairs.
“Kill them!” he ordered his alphas. “Kill the alphafirst!”
I had only a moment to register his words before his horde of alpha wolves piled on top of me. Their weight crushed me down, stealing the air from my lungs. Teeth and claws scored through my fur and into my skin. I felt the warm trickle of blood spilling downmybody.
Through the mass of bodies, I saw a glimpse of the rest of the battle. Virgil was fighting in full force. Whatever strength he had held back during our spar, he wasn’t holding back now - and it became clear quickly that he wasn’t a first order alpha for nothing. He was agile, strong, and smart. As the majority of the alpha wolves were busy with me, Virgil made sure none of the stragglers came close to Niko. There was Delta - skulking around and looking for an opening, but there were none. Virgil’s defense wasairtight.
My attention turned back to the mass of wolves on top of me as they pushed down harder. I realized that they were trying to suffocate me and soon I would run out of air. I relaxed myself for a moment, letting them think that they won, but I was bracing my muscles for what came next. As soon as I felt the bodies relax in turn, I pushed with all my strength and knocked the wolves off. I took advantage of the moment of chaos that ensued with all the Scarlet Ridge wolves off balance and confused and exploded out of the mess, barrelling straight forGunner.
This time my attack caught him off guard. He tried to sidestep, but my fangs sunk into the flesh of his shoulder. I took advantage of this and bit down hard until I tasted blood. Gunner snarled and whirled around, snapping his teeth inmyface.
I was ready to tear off a chunk of his flesh when the mass of wolves caught up with me. I heard their thundering footsteps coming up behind me so I let go and pushed out of the way. But I couldn’t outrun the mob of alpha wolves forever. I knew at one point I would have to stand andfight.
I risked a glance over to Niko. Hector was by his side, protecting him. Virgil was still hovering over him like a bullet ready to befired.
I knew we couldn’t keep this up. We had to do something. Guilt and fear welled up inside me, deep dark feelings. I felt ashamed that I couldn’t keep my mate safe. If anything, I wanted him and our child to get out of this alive - even if it meant Ididn’t.
“I’ll hold them off for as long as I can,” I said to our small pack. “Virgil, you take Niko and Hectorandgo.”
“Why are you talking like you’re not going to come with us?” Niko asked indignantly. I winced. I should have known he would’ve seen through my ployrightaway.
“Because I’m not. You and our pup need to make it outsafely.”
“Fuck that!” Niko spat, completely furious. “You’re an idiot if you think we’re leaving youbehindhere!”
“I agree with Niko,” Virgil said sternly. He sounded angry, too. “You’re acting toorashly.”
“Yeah, man, don’t be a fucking hero,” Hectoradded.
I growled in frustration. “Well, what are we supposed to do? We’re surrounded and only three of us canfight!”
“Just keep fighting. I have an idea,” Virgilgrowled.
I had no idea what he was up to, but his eyes flashed seriously. I had to trust him. Meanwhile, I turned and face the onslaught of Scarlet Ridge wolves that were waiting to tear me apart. My eyesnarrowed.
“You can do it, David!” Niko criedbehindme.
My mate’s words filled me with fire. With an air-rending snarl, I leapt into the fray. Something was different this time. My blood pulsed with power. My mind was full of thoughts of Niko - our time together, and our time apart, and the horrible time we were ripped from each other - as well as thoughts of our unborn child, helpless and vulnerable, who needed his father’s protection. Those thoughts fuelled me, turned my blood to fire. I felt like a newalpha.
This time when the Scarlet Ridge wolves attacked, I wasready.
I lashed out lightning-fast, biting and slashing at anyone who got close to me. I wasn’t fighting for my own life anymore; I was fighting for Niko and our child - and there wasn’t a chance in hell that Iwouldlose.
Time slowed down as I attacked with all my fury. Soon I realized that although the Scarlet Ridge wolves were many, they were weak individually. I focused my attention on one at a time, quickly dispatching them as they came. The first time I snapped one of their necks, it made the others pause for a split second, and I noticed it. They must have realized this battle wasn’t going to be as easy as theythought.
