Page 20

He didn’t answer, just took my hand and half dragged me along the weirdly empty corridor.

He stopped at a T-junction, poking his head around the corner, then tugged me after him.

Rapid steps took us to the stairwell, where he opened the door, took another quick look, and pulled me in after him. “We need to be fast.”

From above came the sounds of heavy booted feet, and it galvanised me into action. As we burst out the emergency door at the reception level, I come to an abrupt stop. The handle left my nerveless fingers and shut with a clatter.

There were people here, cops, orderlies, and others in regular clothes.

I barely paid them any mind as I watched three men approach, but I only had eyes for one.

Even with that blacked out visor, I knew instantly who it was.

Had he always been so freaking massive, a picture of masculine strength?

Huge biceps flexing under his thin shirt, thick thighs stuffed into his jeans, he prowled closer like a goddamn panther, and when he got close, he growled like one.

“Omega…”

Just a warning, that was all I got as he towered over me, exuding those dizzying alpha pheromones. I felt the occupants of the reception turn toward him, drawn like I was.

“Sloane.”

The helmet came off, passed to someone with him.

My eyes flicked up, meeting his, my already rubbery knees giving out when his gaze sliced into me.

He hadn’t even touched me, said little other than my name, but I was being completely and utterly owned.

His fingers twitched, like he wanted to reach out and grab me as I wavered, a small whine escaping my lips at the thought.

His arm wrapped around my waist, dragging me in close.

“Sloane, I?—”

“Please.”

That’s all I could force out, the drugs, the pain inside me, his scent, everything, it all rose and rose, my eyes aching with unshed tears as my body started to spasm again, then he swept in and made it all better.

I was lifted into his arms, not even having to bear the weight of my own body anymore, let alone anything else, and then, while I was hugged close, a sound reverberated through me.

He was purring.

Long, slow, rumbling exhalations that vibrated through every cell, commanding them to give up and give in, to let it all go—the pain, the confusion, the fear, the centre, all of it.

This was what alphas did, I realised. We had assumed it was a kind of brutalisation, poor omegas forced to submit against their will, when really, they provided a place for us to surrender.

That was what I wanted and needed right now.

I didn’t want the pain, I didn’t want to carry this anymore. I just wanted him.

“I’ve got you, Sloane. I’ve got you,” he said, so I shifted slightly, burying my nose in the crook of his neck and sucking his scent down, feeling every pain starting to fade.

Of course when my defences were down, that’s when they arrived, didn’t they?

“Heads up, Jace,” one of the men said. “We’ve got company.”

I went to look up, but a strong hand held me where I was, cradling me softly, yet I could feel the tension in his arm.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

His voice contained all the power, all the punch of an alpha, but where Jace’s was roughened silk, his was dripping poison.

Snake.

I forced my head up, despite Jace’s hiss, and saw the big, blond alpha standing there, looking at the two of us with a lethal expression.

“I paid good fucking money for that girl,” he said. “Don’t be thinking that you’re going to waltz off into the sunset with her.”

“Ah, Snake…” one of the men that brought me here stammered. “We haven’t agreed to anything. The money was for a preview, to give you an opportunity to imprint her, make her ask for you.”

“Too fucking late there,” Jace replied in a smug tone.

The other occupants of the reception shifted uneasily.

The men who had accompanied Jace were moving seamlessly into position like wolves separating the pack.

People were ushered out, doors were locked, alphas taking positions to ensure no one interfered.

“I dunno if she’ll choose me in the end, but she’s choosing me now.

Try again next time, fuckstick. Seriously, I told you what would happen if I caught you trying this bullshit with the omegas again. Ryder.”

“Here.”

I shrunk back in Jace’s arms at the appearance of the other man, something that seemed to trouble him.

“I need you to look after Sloane for me.” He glanced down at me when I tensed, then stared into my eyes. “Ryder will take care of you while I sort this out, then you’ll be safe.”

I didn’t need safe, I needed him, but he put me down, the two other alphas surrounding me in a wall of muscle. Their combined scents were reassuring but not comforting, not like his, which I thought they sensed.

“You stupid fucking prick,” Jace snarled.

“Can’t get an omega legitimately, so you pull this shit?

I always wondered how you kept getting your claws into them, and now I fucking know.

” His gaze swivelled to fixate on the beta orderlies.

“And you little weaselly bastards… I’ll be coming for you next.

” He yanked his Kevlar vest off, followed by his shirt, revealing every well muscled inch of him, and tossed it to the ground, Ryder moving to scoop the fabric up.

He thrust it into my arms, my muscles relaxing somewhat in response to the scent there.

“You want to throw down over some pussy? Can’t say I haven’t been waiting for this,” Snake said. “But her? It’s nice pussy, I’ll give you that. She was so fucking wet when I parted her thighs, I?—”

His taunt was cut off as Jace swung his fist, the massive hand going hurtling through the air, but while Snake was caught off guard, he jerked back in time so that Jace only grazed his jaw. The smile faded at that, those pale blue eyes narrowing, his fangs flashing as he bared his teeth.

“Fine,” he snarled. “You wanna do this? Let’s do this.”

“It’ll be okay,” a deep voice said, and when I looked up, Dane had moved closer. His hand came to rest on my shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, but his eyes? They were entirely on the fight, all of ours were, because there they were, two warriors, ready to battle for what they believed.

“You’re a gutless fucking arsehole.” Jace swung with one fist, forcing Snake back, but the other hand was ready and smashed into the side of Snake’s face while his guard was down, achieving first blood.

It trickled out of one nostril, turning his face into a savage mask.

Snake let out a guttural snarl, launching himself at Jace, but he was fast, so damn fast on his feet.

He seemed to know exactly where the other man would strike and was up and away before they landed.

“Can’t present yourself to an omega and have her choose you freely.

Gotta try and skew shit because none of them fucking want you. ”

Jace dashed in, throwing a few solid punches into Snake’s ribs, driving the other man’s breath from him, but not before Snake struck back. Exactly like his namesake, his strikes were lightning quick, snapping Jace’s head back, but they broke apart quickly.

“Without coercion, without drugs, without fucking buying another human being illegally, what do you have, Snake? What do you have?”

“More omega pussy than you’ll ever get. You can’t even get it up to wreck their cunts.

” Jace stopped still, Snake’s smile spreading.

Blood smeared across his sharp white teeth.

“Yeah, I’ve heard all about the girls you keep, make sure they’re safe,” he said in a mocking tone.

“Ensure no one pushes them or forces them.”

Snake came to a standstill, pinching his nose, then flicking the blood that accumulated in his palm across the polished concrete floor.

“That’s what you fucks don’t seem to understand.

They crave their choices being taken away, their options reduced down to what they secretly want, what they need.

Being held down while I force every fucking pleasure from their cunts, having them screaming for more.

That’s what you and I are.” His grin widened. “That’s what Ella wanted.”

“The fuck?”

Jace breathed that out, and it felt like the world stood still.

“You did that to my sister?”

“Damn straight.” Snake’s eyes glittered.

“When your sister was under me, screaming for more, screaming for me to knot her…” The shit-eating grin faded slightly, some other more thoughtful expression rising before he roughly shoved it away.

“She fucking loved it, just like all omegas do. It’s all part of what they are. ”

“Ssh…” Ryder said, bringing my focus back to my own body, hearing the low whines escaping my lips. “That’s not how it works. Snake’s fucked in the head.”

“Snake’s dead,” was all Jace would say, his voice perfectly flat.

And then the gloves were off. Jace strolled up to Snake, the other man lifting his fists, but it didn’t seem to matter.

Whatever was inside Jace, he knew how his opponent would strike out, what tactics he’d use.

Jace was there, anticipating, predicting, countering, and then, as Snake’s breath started to come in hard, all that explosive energy getting him nowhere but tired, when Jace had him right where he wanted, he attacked.

“That’s it,” Ryder said. “Smash the bastard.”

So Jace did, obliterating the pretty features of the blond alpha one punch at a time, until finally, his face was a bloody mask and he fell to the ground, right as the police sirens began to wail.

“Fucking coppers have brought reinforcements,” Dane said.

Ryder shot back, “Jace, we gotta go. Now!”

“Keep your fucking head down and your eyes off my omega if you want to keep them,” Jace growled over Snake’s prone body. “I’m serious. If I detect you even breathing her scent, you’re a dead man.”

I threw off Dane’s hand and stepped forward to the hissed sounds of frustrations of the alphas, but I needed to do this.

I walked up to the man on the ground, found that a savage side of myself I’d never tapped into liked this, liked seeing the man who thought himself fit to lay hands on me brought down so low.

“Well, well, look what we have here,” I said, an echo of Snake’s words to me. “Look how swollen and wet you are.”

“Sloane…” Jace rumbled, then I did something I think surprised even him.

I drew my foot back and kicked Snake in the guts as hard as I could, the oof of forced out breath making me smile.

And Jace? He smiled back, his brows creasing in confusion, but we didn’t get a chance to interrogate that further.

“Unless you guys want to see the inside of a cell, we need to move, now!” Dane shouted.

“Let’s go.”

That was all the warning I got as I was scooped up and then rushed out, back through the stairwell and into the alley under Art’s direction.

Two big black SUVs pulled up with a screech , and I was shoved in the back seat, the engine turning over, the wheels squealing before I could even do up my seatbelt.

“Fuck, watch it!” Jace shouted, his arm locking around me, keeping me safe, like he always would, I realised. Somehow, I knew that. I just stared at him as he ballsed out the guys in the front seats, as we scuttled back to Desparion.