Page 2 of Monster’s Redemption (Monsters in the Mountains #9)

Fin’hir

T he cry that had caught my attention rang out again, the agony in it tugging at my heart. I increased my pace but still tried to remain silent since I didn’t know what I was running towards. The area was unfamiliar to me, and while I was certain the call wasn’t from one of my kind, I still couldn’t stop myself from responding to it.

Using my claws to cut some low-hanging vines so they didn’t tangle in my horns, I looked around, searching for the source of the sounds. The initial scream had been piercing and clear, startling the birds near me into flight, but sounds echoed beneath the tree canopy, so it was hard to pinpoint where it came from.

As I moved farther down the slope I began to pick up more noises, my ears swiveling to catch them better. I thought I heard a voice, but the sound didn’t last long enough for me to be sure.

Slowing my steps, I looked around and sucked in a deep breath, hoping for more clues. What I found was a hit to my chest, the sweet musk of an omega in heat flooding my lungs and sending a rush of blood to my shaft.

Why was there an unbonded omega out here?

My nose led me forward and I made out the plaintive sounds of a female crying. Mixed with it were grunts and low growls that had my hackles rising. Closer to the source, I caught the scent of an alpha beneath the thick smell of slick, and my own chest vibrated with the need to release a growl.

This was my territory.

I tried to squash the automatic reaction, but my instincts were too stirred up. I’d only been in the area for a short time since I’d wandered after leaving my clan, and I hadn’t been aware of any others around, monster or human. The scents confirmed it wasn’t one of my kind ahead, so I had to assume it was humans, which meant every step I took was more dangerous.

Still, my feet kept moving.

The sound of fleshy impacts grew along with the cries, and I finally caught sight of where they were coming from. My lips curled back at the so-called alpha rutting the omega, even as my cock jumped in interest. The largest alphas of their species were smaller than us, and the one mounting the female wasn’t a prime example by any stretch.

My instincts were trying to push me forward, to remove the pitiful alpha from the omega and take her for myself, but I dug my back claws into the earth. While my old clan had proven humans were compatible with my kind, it didn’t mean we should be taking them as mates.

It was wrong.

They were weak, and any younglings from the union would be weak as well.

I started to turn away, to leave the pair to complete their union, but my eyes caught on the omega’s face. While it wasn’t unusual for a female to make sounds that seemed like distress, especially during their first time being mounted, something about the look on her face stopped me.

The alpha rutting into her pulled her upright by the grip he had in her hair, her pained cry making my fists tighten. What at first glance might seem like a lover’s hold was clearly too rough when I looked closer, and the tears spilling down her cheeks seemed more than what could be considered normal.

The male wrenched her head to the side, exposing her neck as he kept thrusting. The female was clothed, what was happening hidden beneath her covering, but her curves still made my ridges shift along my shaft. As much as I hated to admit it, I was drawn to her, but I was caught in indecision.

“Please! Don’t! I didn’t choose you.”

Her words were a flood of ice washing down my spine, leaving my fur standing on end as the lust I’d felt was buried beneath rage. Humans called my kind monsters, claiming we were evil, but we knew omegas were to be cherished. They might not always be given a choice in who claimed them, but if any were as distressed about it as the one before me, they wouldn’t be ignored or treated so harshly.

I was in motion before I’d even made the conscious choice to intervene. My kind avoided humans because the threat they posed as a group was real even if they were individually weak, but I couldn’t stand by and ignore what was happening to the omega.

The scent of blood hit me before I closed the distance between us, the female’s scream wrenching at my heart. I stumbled, knowing he’d made his claim and she was now bonded to him, but the agony in her voice drove me on. I could only hope if I ended him soon after his bite, the bond wouldn’t take and kill her too.

The alpha released his teeth and shoved her forward, the little omega’s body slumping as if she was no longer conscious. The red tears welling on her neck enraged me further, and every hair was standing on end as I wrapped my hand around his puny, human neck.

“The omega said no!”

My roar echoed beneath the leaves, startling birds into flight all across the slopes. The alpha’s eyes widened, his mouth going slack as I jerked his attention from the female he’d abused to the danger he was in. His knot was locked in her, her body shifting as I lifted him, and I had to restrain myself so I didn’t cause her any damage.

Fear was an amazing motivator, and despite biology creating knots to stay locked in an omega long enough to ensure the best chance of impregnation, it only took a single breath for his to shrink and his pathetic cock to slip from the unconscious female.

The scent of his seed spoiled the sweetness of her slick, the blood in the air making me clench my hand tighter. The tips of my claws entered his neck, slipping through his sweaty flesh without resistance.

Alertness grew in his eyes in equal parts with his terror, and he began to struggle, his hands coming up to tug uselessly at my fingers. I tossed him away when he started thrashing so much he threatened to kick the omega, his back slamming into a nearby tree.

Taking a step towards him, I was distracted by the female stirring. Her eyes were still clenched shut, but her hand lifted to her neck, a sob slipping from between her lips as she curled into a ball.

“Don’t worry omega, I will fix it.”

My attention swung back to the alpha trying to push himself up from the ground, his coverings tangled around his lower legs with his shriveled cock flopping, exposed, at the apex, and my lips pulled back in a cruel grin as I let go of my restraint.

“You’re going to die, but first, you will suffer to pay for what you’ve done.”

I dropped to my knees, lashing out with both hands to keep him on the ground. My claws sank into his shoulder, making him scream as I pinned him in place and grabbed his genitals with my other hand.

I snarled at the feel of her slick coating him.

He hadn’t earned the right to it.

“You will no longer need these.”

I let my claws slip through tender flesh, his skin parting as he let out another scream that made my ears flatten to my skull at the pitch. His own thrashing split open his sac, blood vessels and testes popping through the holes.

I would have taken more time to torture him, but a soft whimper behind me reminded me that if the bond had taken, she would feel the pain too.

It was nothing but the twitch of a finger to remove the rest of his genitals, his cries fading to silence as I removed my other claws from his shoulder and clamped them around his throat again. He didn’t deserve the quick end, but I wouldn’t risk causing the omega more pain.

Once the light faded from his eyes, I wiped my claws on his coverings, my lip curling at the stench of him. He’d soiled himself on top of his already unsavory scent, and I knew the combination would linger in my nostrils, but there was nothing I could do about it. The only use left for him was as food for the forest.

Another whimper behind me pulled my focus to the female I’d killed him for, and I stood to my full height as she finally opened her eyes.