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VINCENT

I can still feel the cold, wet skin of my mate as I hauled her out of the water. Nothing will ever compare to the horrific feeling of her limp body in my arms. And to have to set her down and move away? Fucking torture.

All I can do is stare and watch the chaos of people trying to revive my omega. She looks so small lying on the dock where, just minutes ago, she was alive and fighting like a woman striving to survive the horrors she was living in.

Another alpha put their hands on my girl. How many though?

'Useless.'

My arms hang heavy at my sides as I study every mark, welt, and scrape from her dainty form. She was always small, but now she's back to the malnourished look all the omegas had at the academy.

'Burden.'

My shoulders droop like I'm suddenly being weighed down by a cinderblock.

'Failure.'

I feel like I'm drowning. Just like Amaya .

'Failure.'

I feel like I'm dying. Just like ? —

I'm jolted out of the warbling sense of depression and guilt by Sam's words. "Shit, Em. You okay?"

Emmett. He's the one who feels like he's drowning. Like he's dying. Not me.

My attention snaps to the alpha just in time to see his legs give out and his head bow forward into his hands, all the while his voice ricochets through my head in a chant of self-hatred.

"EMMETT!" I try to snap him out of it.

' Failure. Failure. Failure.'

Rushing toward him as his thoughts continue to swallow him whole, I panic and delve into the only headspace I can think of to bring him back. "You are NOT a failure! Get that through your thick fucking skull right now, or so help me I will spank you!"

When in doubt, dominate? Emmett needs someone to take control. To drag him from the depths of the trauma he's endured, just like Amaya.

Samuel, seeing the shift in my demeanor he takes a step toward us where I hover over his friend.

"Vince—"

"Fuck off, Sam!" I snap, refusing to look at him.

'Failure.' He's not fucking hearing me!

Like a snake, my coiled body lashes out. Without thought, my hand delves into Emmett's hair and my other snatches his jaw. I drag him up with adrenaline pumping through my veins and slam my lips against his.

If I can't help one mate, I'll help the other.

Salt and mint explode on my tongue as I force my way between his lips. I need him here with me. We may not be fully bonded, but he's mine. With great effort, I pull back and drop my forehead to his.

"Alpha," I murmur as I wait for his eyes to open. When they do, the torment I find swirling in his dark gaze makes my heart pound double. "You did so good, Emmett."

"Amaya—" He tries to look around me, but I hold him steady.

Emmett doesn't need to see that. Sam and Oliver shouldn't even be watching the scene behind me, but I’m unable to save all of us from the sight of our omega not breathing. Just hearing the chaos and movement of them performing CPR on Amaya is a thing of nightmares.

Oliver sobs and I flinch. Emmett's eyes widen, but my hand comes up to hold his face in front of me. I shake my head, pleading with him to stay with me. I don't know who I'm saving right now, me or Emmett, but I need him just like he needs me.

"Is she—" Em whispers, tears falling freely from his wide eyes.

Sam's voice reaches into my chest and squeezes my soul. "Amaya..." He sounds so stricken. I can't bear to look at him. Instead, I focus on the subtle pulse of gold in my soul.

"Feel," I whisper, dragging one of Emmett's hands to my chest and the other to his own. "She's still there. We would know."

I don't acknowledge that the thump of her life force in the bond is extremely weak compared to the usual golden glow of my omega. I keep it to myself because Emmett already knows. It's in the fearful flicker of his gaze from my chest to over my shoulder, where she slowly slips away from us.

"I think?—"

My throat closes over, but I don't let Emmett speak the words that would surely break me. With nothing but pure selfishness to avoid the horrible truth, I kiss him again. I can't do this. I can't live without her .

Not even the kiss can hold the feral beast inside of me at bay. I feel my alpha climbing and clawing his way up my spine, raking his nails through my broken heart as he fights to make himself known.

'Maim. AVENGE!'

I shudder and clutch Em to my chest like he can keep my feral pieces locked away. My own tears mix with Emmett's, creating a taste of utter sorrow. But as his minty freshness teases my tongue, the air shifts and my soul shudders.

The gentle ripples of Amaya in the bond pulse like a shuddering deep breath and?—

A heaving gurgle followed by a watery gag steals the breath from my lungs and rips me away from the alpha against me.

"AMAYA!"

Oliver's startled gasp is nothing but a distant sound when I see my omega lurching into a fetal position and puking up water. There are other hands on her, other men touching her skin. Amaya steals my breath and my sanity in one fell swoop.

'KILL THEM ALL!'