An Omega’s primary purpose is to protect and cherish their loved ones. I won’t leave them to whatever fate General Stone has led them towards.
I can do this.
Chapter One
Shade
"Viper!" My voice shreds as I scream across the battlefield.
His head snaps toward the sound of my voice.
Red veins throb at his temple, his chest painted in gore like a warning.
“On me!” I call to my lieutenant, straining to be heard over the sounds of battle — gunfire, screams, explosions. “Rally on me!”
Blood Lust claimed him hours ago and the feral state demands payment.
But by some miracle, Viper never loses himself completely.
Not yet.
Our Omega left us on the edge of becoming a Pack. On the cusp ofmore. When she ran, our world cracked in half and the emptiness in her wake was so vast it felt like we’d drown in it.
She left. So we stopped sleeping and started killing again.
It’s easier to become faceless soldiers.
When we arrived at The Capital, we expected to be questioned about our recent undocumented mission and our records listingus as killed in action. Yet, in the chaos of the ongoing Beta coup and Human invasion, the brass only saw soldiers ready to fight for their country. Bodies to feed the war machine.
And we went to the front lines willingly. Hungrily. Desperately.
Each of us needing to satisfy our thirst for violence to suffocate the memories of what could have been.
The enemy’s superior numbers allowed for a relentless, crushing assault. Wave after wave of soldiers battered our lines, their unceasing pressure a tangible weight on our depleted ranks.
Their tactic worked.
Every day, the enemy slipped past our defenses and captured another part of Fathim.
Every day, we fought to keep them back.
The stench of rot chokes the air. Human blood floods the streets where children once played.
And still, they advance.
We fought for days, and then weeks, until it became apparent that no amount of resistance would stop the invaders. We kept fighting anyway, because if we put down our weapons, we wouldn’t be able to hide from the true pain.
We tried to keep the Beta civilians, and fellow soldiers, breathing. Most days, that meant bleeding in their place.
We tore through the enemy like monsters unmasked. So brutal and vicious that the others learned to keep their distance. Probably smart. We don’t know when one of us will crack.
The brass sends us out alone as much as possible, afraid we might mistake allies for foes. But we always came back alive because, although our Omega left us, her gifts remain. Her influence lingers. We are better, faster, and stronger than ever before. The bond tying us together, hovering in a suspended state ofalmost.
I still don’t know how it all went so wrong between us. The day we walked through the forest checking the surveillance cameras, she encouraged me to open up about my past and listened like no one else ever had. I felt seen, and I thought that was the turning point in our relationship, that we had something special worth fighting for. I guess I was wrong.
‘LT, Blaze needs support!’Knox's voice echoes in my head, crisp, as if he were standing beside me.
Under Blood Lust’s influence, Lieutenant Viper’s loyalty is solely to our squad, a fact that both awes and frightens our comrades.
