Page 54 of Brave New Omega, Part 2

Chapter 54

CALLUM

A scrawny Beta dressed in the black uniform of the catering staff swings a ring of keys over one finger. He’s at the foot of the back stairs and it’s clear he’s playing guard. I glance at Max who nods, darting forward and sucker punching the lad, before grabbing him in a choke hold. He collapses, Max catching his keys before they can hit the floor.

We climb the stairs two at a time, pausing at the closed door. Who knows that’s in this hallway? Ice cold dread rings my heart.

It’s going to be fine. Katie is strong. She’s a fighter–your girl is a fighter!

But her fight worries me. Most Betas expect Omegas to cower to Alphas – even to a strong Beta. But Katie hardly even blinks at an Alpha bark. I wonder if she heard Hugo’s bark all the way back here?

I reach for my holster and fuck I don’t have my gun– all weapons were confiscated. I fucking hate society events.

“We go in and fan out to cover all exits, look like you have a gun,” I say and hold my hand up as though I’m cupping something. Better to keep these rat bastards on their toes. “Stay turned to the side, it’s harder to hit you.”

Max shrugs. “Cal, I’m a fighter, I didn’t have to be in the Army to know shit.”

“Breathe,” Loren says.

I take a deep inhalation, then nod. Loren steps forward and kicks the door in. He explodes through, leaping to the left and I fan out to the right. Max takes up the rear darting to the one side, then to the other.

There are only four people in the hallway, a round-faced Beta that I vaguely recognize, and Genevieve, her hair once bound up in some intricate style, but now fallen like she’d seen the losing end of a cat fight.

Shit . She’s got a gun. An old-fashioned one, not the new stunners that are on the market.

I smell blood in the air –it’s faint and stale instead of fresh. I hope that's a good thing.

“Put it down!” I growl. Loren darts forward into the open door of one of the pleasure closets on the hallway.

Katie leans heavily on her sister. Something is wrong; her scent hitting me is spiked with the distinct taste of burnt sugar.

She’s in pain.

“Just in time, Callum darling,” Genevieve chirps in that syrupy-sweet voice. “I’m about to kill your Omega. She’s been oh-so much fun to play with, but she’s as useful to me dead as alive.”

“Genevieve, Katie isn’t a part of this. Leave her alone.” Loren hisses.

“Oh, but she is, Professor . She and her sisters might just be the key –the key to toppling your Alpha-Omega dominance.”

Genevieve laughs sharp and bright, before her eyebrows lower and a dark shadow crosses her features. How did I ever think this woman beautiful? She’s all angles and sharp points, like tiny needles prickling beneath a glossy veneer.

“There will be a world in which Betas are not second class. We know now it won’t be won by brute force, but by biology and science. Loren, this is for Dar Haskan!”

She levels the gun at Katie, who tries to step protectively in front of her sister.

Time slows to a single point.

Blood rushes in my ears, magnifying my heartbeat.

Loren darts forward, tackling the Beta beside Genevieve before he can draw a second weapon.

Maddie screams, pulling Katie back until the two women are a tangle of arms and torsos, impossible to separate.

Max sprints out ahead of me, his leather and whisky scent flooding the hallway.

Anger boils over in my soul. I did not survive the Battle of Vainamoinen where we were outnumbered five to one, just to fucking watch everything I’ve ever loved be taken in this moment. I did not watch Loren behead Dar Haskan and bear the nightmares of that day, just for some crazed groupie to fuck with my life and my love.

My Omega. My holy priestess, my prophetess, my queen.

Rage buns through my muscle fibers, contorting them into living flames. I roar, putting my very soul into the sound, willing Genevieve to still, to drop the gun, to be frozen in time and unable to do so much as blink her eyelids. I pour out every ounce of love and fear and hope for my Omega into the sound, feeling the vibration rattle my ribcage and prickle my skin.

Pain sears across my vision, as the sound of my Alpha Bark echoes down the hallway until it fills the space, bouncing off itself into a shuddering cacophony.

My shirt rips into shreds, my back aching painfully.

Maybe Genevieve shot me instead. My chest squeezes and pain courses through my nerve endings. My spine cracks, and I drop to my knees, just as I watch Katie crumple to the floor.

Katie ! I try to scream her name, to force the word out through my scorched throat. But my lips wither around the word. My teeth are too big, too sharp in my mouth.

I pant, looking around the dully colored world. Loren has the Beta pinned with one knee, while Max restrains Genevieve in a choke hold. Her cheeks are pink and her scent is sharp with fear.

Her eyes are wide, almost glassy as she stares at me.

Katie! I try to call her name again, but it comes out in a high whine.

I leap toward, unsteady on my legs.

All four of them.