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“Fuck, I guess that’s an explanation for the smell. Let’s get her out of there.”

The moment he moves towards me, part of my brain short circuits. I scramble backward, my feet kicking against the pallet beside me, all in a futile attempt to get away.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t do that!” The alpha in front of me says, lunging towards me.

A scream leaves my lips when he grabs my arm. I fight against his hold on me, which only makes his grip tighter. I don’t hear anything he says, all I know is fear.

He hefts me into his arms and away from the safety of that musty blanket in my corner. He’s big. Like all alphas are. And the way his body covers me makes me feel like I’m suffocating. I’m going to die.

He jumps down from the train car and I shove away from him.I slam into the hard gravel, crying out when the impact reverberates from my hip throughout my entire body. The ground is sharp and unforgiving.

My thin nightgown does nothing to protect me. Not from the ground, not from the cold, and not from the gazes of all the alphas surrounding me.

Everywhere I look, I see huge men. Huge alphas. I’m completely surrounded. I have nowhere to run where they won’t immediately catch me.

They’re going to tear me apart. I barely survived one alpha, I’ll never survive this many.

“What the fuck is going on here?” A deep voice booms. “Why is there a screaming omega on the floor?”

I curl into a ball, hiding my head in my arms, my throat instantly closing so the only noise I can make is quiet, strained sobs. I don’t even have to lift my head to know that the alpha who just spoke is the most dominant alpha I’ve ever encountered. Just a single sentence has me trembling at his feet.

He didn’t even use his bark and my body refused to continue screaming out of fear.

“We found her in the train car, she was hiding behind pallets of fences, so I brought her out.”

“Screaming and kicking like that?”

“I—I didn’t want anything to fall on her.”

“Calm down, Madden,” another voice calls. “Let’s just get this taken care of so we can all get out of the cold.”

Taken care of. What does that mean for me?

These men are obviously in charge. They’re dominant and powerful enough to be able to command other alphas.

I peek through my arms, my tears cold on my cheeks.

The alpha who just spoke scrubs a hand over his face, as if he’s exhausted. His hair is a light brown. Along the sharp wind swirling around us, I catch the scent of a pine forest. It catches me off guard. Why does he smell so nice? Not that I’ve met very many alphas since my awakening, but no alpha has ever smelled anything remotely close to pleasant.

The alpha who first yelled, I think his name is Madden, at least according to the other alpha, is absolutely huge. From my position on the floor, he looks like a giant. His hair is dark. So are the tattoos peeking up and over the collar of his jacket along his neck. With the floodlights above us, shadows cross his features, making the large scar across his cheek look even more menacing than it probably normally does.

What shocks me so much that I think I let out a little gasp is the hint of his scent. It’s the rich scent of dark chocolate. Who would have ever thought an alpha this vicious-looking would smell something so close to sweet?

Not me.

If these alphas are in charge, that means they’re the ones I have to please. If I can please them, will they be merciful? Will they protect me from the rest of the alphas here?

I roll over, my knees stinging as the cold gravel reopens my earlier cuts. I prostrate myself at their feet, trying to keep my trembling to a minimum. Revulsion at these familiar acts twists in my stomach. There’s no way I’ll survive all of these alphas. I have to do whatever I can to survive.

“P—please,” I choke out. “Please, alphas, don’t hurt me. I’ll—I’ll be a good omega for you.”

CHAPTER 4

Madden

“Ihope this doesn’t take too long, I’m fucking exhausted,” I say, yawning as I park the car in the parking lot of the train yard.

“Me too,” Kane says, pushing his door open.