Halley gurgles, and blood spills from her mouth over her pale lips.
"No, no, no, no," Blaze chants.
"Halley, hang on, pretty girl. Hang on, sweetheart." Viper croaks against the crown of her head.
Knox grunts and presses harder against her neck, unable to stop the streaming red river. "Omega Specialist Sparks, you don't have permission to die. Do you hear me? I'm your Prime Alpha and I don't give you permission to die!"
The corner of her stained mouth quirks up into the ghost of a smile. Her eyes are glassy and unfocused, and she raises a hand searchingly.
I take her hand and press it to my lips, kissing her knuckles even as I sob. "It's okay. I'm here, baby girl. I'm here. We're not going anywhere, we're right here with you. Don't be scared. You don't have to be afraid."
She blinks at me, and through the rushing in my ears, I hear her sweet voice in my head like a whisper.
‘My Pack.’
Her tiny frame convulses and more blood spills from her lips, wetly staining her chin. I wipe at it with the back of my hand, but it's a futile effort to save her dignity.
A second or a lifetime passes as I watch her chest fall. It does not rise again. Under my hand, her thready heartbeat slows and then stops.
Her pretty purple eyes stare up at Viper, wide and unblinking.
The tether in my chest, a source of constant warmth and radiating love, snaps.
Our bond is broken.
Our Omega is…
Halley Sparks is dead.
I grip tightly to her hand, so small and precious.
Through the haze of my tears, I see Blaze crouched behind us, clawing at his chest. Our bond with Halley is severed. My heart feels like it’s been torn to shreds, aching in a deep, crushing way.
"Wake her up! Wake her up! Sparkles—" His voice breaks on the last word.
"Blaze," Knox says, his voice cracking and rough. "Blaze, it's too late."
"No. No!" he roars and slams his fist into the side of the truck, the metal bending with a shriek. He drops to his knees and scrambles across the crimson-stained ground, throwing himself at Halley's lifeless body.
“We only just got her back. She can’t go yet.”
He's inconsolable and grasps her face in his hands, shaking her, his face pressed against hers, his tears mingling with her blood.
"Wake up. Please, wake up. Sparkles... please. Please," he whispers, his voice breaking, and he shakes his head, pressing his cheek to her forehead.
"She can't wake up, Blaze. Our Omega is..." I choke on the word.
Blaze keens, his grief raw and visceral, and I feel it inside me through our Pack bond. It’s a volatile wild beast, all claws and confused rage. His pain is my own and I reach out, wrapping my arms around him, needing his touch as much as he needs mine. He cries, his body shaking with sobs, and I hold him tighter, my own tears flowing freely as I try to find some way to soothe us both.
It’s impossible. The waves of hurt are relentless. Time has no meaning.
Viper clutches Halley to his chest, rocking her back and forth as sobbing growls reverberate from his chest. He paws at her,cupping her face delicately. His pain feels like a vortex, building and building, threatening to consume everything in its path.
She's so small. How did we keep forgetting how small and breakable she is...was?
Knox slumps to the ground beside me, dropping the blood-soaked rags from his futile attempts to save her life. His eyes meet mine, and there isn't anything I can say to him, but he knows my pain, and I know his. Even without the Pack bond sharing every sliver of agony, I’d know because he’s my Prime. His head drops, and he hugs his knees, and our strong Prime Alpha cries. Big, fat, ugly sobs rip from him as tears fall from his eyes, and he doesn't bother to hide his grief. He stares at her, his expression twisted in anguish and regret.
"I'm so sorry," he chokes. "This is my fault. I couldn't... I didn’t..."
