Aidyn Williams - Point of No Return
Staring at his Alpha’s dead body, Aidyn panted as the fear drained from him. A shaking hand pushed copper-colored bangs out of green eyes as it finally dawned on Aidyn.
His baby, his son, was safe.
Though at a terrible cost. The law only left him with two options: a bullet or a one-way trip to a new colony.
Anyone who watched the news reports knew this was the way United Earth laws worked. The news focused on the violent Alpha or Beta offenders. Murderers and gang members often got their stories told for several days after they were apprehended.
Knowing that his only option was to take the colony ship, Aidyn raced against the clock to transfer all the copies of the ancient history of frontier settlement he had onto his portable data drive. As the files transferred, he rushed to tend his son’s thankfully superficial wounds and toss a bag together.
Some clothing, a portable hologram projector with a solar charger, and a few multitools.
As the sirens approached the drive, Aidyn pleaded with the computer to go faster, and just as the police arrived, Aidyn was able to shove the drive into his bag.
Scooping up his son, Aidyn answered the door with a soft, “I’m sorry… she left me no choice.”
The cop looked at the wounds on the Omega and the baby before glancing at the dead Alpha. Situations like this turned the cop’s gut. The Omega was clearly defending his whelp, but the laws were what they were. The cop asked, “Given the bag on your shoulder, I’m guessing you’re taking the colony ship choice?”
Nodding, Aidyn pleaded, “Please let me take the bag with…”
Holding up his hand, the cop stated, “If you think you need anything else from here, grab it now. That’s all I can do for you. I can give you five minutes.”
Sighing in relief, Aidyn rushed to grab a few more supplies and toys for his son before the cop escorted him out of the apartment.
The ride was quiet, and Aidyn shivered as the cold dread crept into his bones. As long as he got far from the ship when it landed, he’d have a shot at a peaceful life, but he knew it would be tough to manage with a baby.
Once they arrived at the ship, a nurse took charge of Aidyn and led him to his cryocell. She explained, “You’re going to be in cryosleep for most of the trip. When the ship comes in to land, you’ll be released. Then you are free to attempt to make a new home on the colony world.”
Aidyn asked, “Will my son be alright? He’s only a few months old.”
She soothed, “He’ll be fine. I can even put him in the pod with you.”
Spotting a gate, Aidyn asked, “Where does that gate lead to?”
She led Aidyn down the hallway to a small cell with an unmade bed, a locker, and a cryopod. As she helped Aidyn lock up his bag in the locker next to the pod, the nurse explained, “That elevator leads to the Alpha and Beta zones of the ship.”
The nurse gave him the key after she helped him into the slanted tube. Administering the drugs to keep the process from killing the two, the nurse explained, “When the ship lands, the pod will wake you up through automated protocols, and when you’re ready, the Omegas can unseal the gate to let the Betas and Alphas onto this level. The elevator gate can only be opened from this side.”
Blinking, Aidyn asked, “I killed someone, why are you being so caring towards me?”
Sighing, the nurse answered, “Because, unlike the Alphas and most of the Betas, you Omegas shouldn’t be here. I’m not blind, and I know self-defense wounds when I see them. I hope you find a happy life away from the Alphas on this ship. I wish I could do more for you.”
As the pod shut and sealed, Aidyn looked down at Connor in his arms and soothed, “We’ll do alright. Somehow and some way.”
Then the cryo process started, and Aidyn’s eyes closed as Connor snuggled into his chest for their cryo-induced nap.
The long journey passed by like an unending dream for Aidyn and Connor.
Howling alarms and nearly being thrown from the pod jarred both of them awake.
Pushing the lid open as he shifted Connor to his shoulder, Aidyn tried to shush his son’s crying as he struggled to stand on cold numbed legs. Rubbing Connor’s back, Aidyn leaned against his pod to hold himself upright. He knew that sudden ejection from cryo could cause any number of issues, but it meant their landing had been anything but smooth.
Panting softly as the tingling started, Aidyn muttered as Connor’s cries quieted, “Let’s not do that again, Connor.”
Staggering out to the hallway, Aidyn glanced about and saw broken panels and sparking wires. Not just a bad landing, but a crash landing.
Heading to the room across from him, Aidyn pushed the door open and promptly regretted it. If there had been an Omega in that pod, they were dead. The pod was completely caved in by a support beam from an upper level.
Aidyn left the room as fast as his numb feet could carry him.
Searching for anything that could be useful for when he set out to find a life in the wilds, Aidyn whispered, “It’s okay, Connor. We’ll be okay. We’ll get far away from this place, and we’ll find peace. You’ll grow up big and strong.”
Then he found something that sent ice straight through him again.
A massive tear in the separating gate to the elevator sparkled with an implied threat.
Icy talons gripped Aidyn’s soul.
If the elevator was no longer sealed, then the Alphas would come to claim the Omegas that survived.
That was an unacceptable risk.
After what his dead Alpha tried, Aidyn was done with Alphas. He was getting out of this ship.
One way or another.
Rushing back into his cell, Aidyn scrambled with the lock on the locker so he could get to his bag and make a break for it.
Then the yells and screams started to echo through the Omega level.
Chills danced over his skin as Aidyn set his son down to free up his hands. He wanted to grab what little he had, but the burning touch of a gaze danced over his back. Locking the locker quickly, Aidyn hid the key in Connor’s blanket as he slowly turned.
A deep masculine voice rumbled out, “Well, well, well. We’ve got a runner in here. With a smidget.”
Clutching his son tightly, Aidyn shuddered as his eyes landed on the three Alphas in the doorway and his voice lodged painfully in his throat.
The one redhead smirked and rumbled out, “Come on out to us, pet. We won’t hurt you or the boy. We promise.”
Glancing at the offered hand, Aidyn curled in around his son as if facing off with a venomous snake. Why did this redhead Alpha seem so familiar?
Then the green-eyed brunette chuckled out, “Come on, Aleksandrov, emerald eyes ain’t biting.”
With eyes the size of dinner plates, Aidyn gasped as he realized who this was. Sergei Aleksandrov. A serial killer from Section Nine.
The brown-eyed one chuckled and stated, “Anton, it doesn’t matter. The stress will kick in soon enough, and his heat will remove any resistance. We might as well share him.”
Oh, blast! The Borisov twins. Anton and Rolan Borisov. They were brought in for nearly beating several other Alphas to death in a turf war.
Malice sparkled deep inside Sergei’s almost golden-brown eyes as he calmly ordered, “It’s us or one of the other Alpha gangs, pet, and they won’t be as forgiving of your offspring as we are. You understand, yes?”
It was a deal with the devil to take that offered hand, but if the Alphas were already in the Omega level, then Aidyn had no choice. He had to bide his time and wait for an opening.
As his hand disappeared into that massive paw Sergei called a hand, Aidyn shuddered at the powerful grip that encased his fingers. Alphas like these three didn’t change their stripes and were extremely dangerous.
Aidyn just had to keep them happy for a few hours or perhaps a few days.
However, the longer he stayed in this situation, the more likely his body would enter a stress heat to bond with these Alphas.
Wrapping a heavy claiming arm around their little Omega, Anton commented, “Good choice, Princess. Love the hair. Is it naturally this coppery, or is it a dye?”
Shivering as he was led to the community area of the level, Aidyn whimpered, “I could never afford… something like that. My ex…”
Giving a sharp bark of laughter, Rolan chuckled out, “Your ex was a fool for letting you get caught. A true Alpha should be willing to kill for an Omega like you.”
Fear clawed at his throat as Aidyn’s gaze darted about the room.
Every single surviving Omega was accounted for and had at least two Alphas hovering about them.
With a cold gaze, Sergei forcefully pulled Aidyn into his lap as he sat and asked almost gently, “Why are you on this ship, pet?”
Biting his lip, Aidyn squirmed and tried to keep as much distance between their torsos as possible. Stiffening as an unwelcome heavy hand settled on his hip, Aidyn answered weakly, “I defended my son from my ex. She wanted to trigger my cycle by removing my son from the equation.”
Chuckling darkly, Anton said, “Feisty little Omega. I like.”
Shuddering, Aidyn kept quiet as other Omegas struggled against the Alphas. He didn’t want the trio to like him, but at the same time, they were the ones shielding him from the amorous attentions of other Alphas.
Annoyance danced over Rolan’s features as a pair of Alphas started ripping at an Omega’s clothing, and Anton waded into the fray.
Slamming the two Alphas to one of the support beams, Anton growled, “Wait until their heat, you idiots. Raping them ain’t a good start, it’ll make ’em ready to run.”
As Rolan relaxed, Sergei chuckled, “Any word on the Beta holdouts?”
Shuddering as Rolan’s hand stroked his hair, Aidyn bit back a frightened whimper as Rolan answered, “Not yet, boss. They fight well.”
Another dark chuckle clawed at Aidyn’s nerves before Sergei stated without care, “They’ll learn, or they’ll starve.”
Narrowing his eyes, Rolan countered, “We need them, Boss.”
The rescued Omega glanced at Aidyn as if for guidance, and Aidyn flinched away. He couldn’t risk being the savior type. No matter how those tear-filled eyes tore at his heart, Aidyn had to protect Connor and himself.
As the Alphas discussed options, Aidyn noticed that the trio that had claimed him seemed to be in charge. Sergei rumbled occasionally at certain suggestions as his thumb started to stroke Aidyn’s hip bone through the fabric.
Then one Alpha suggested, “We need to go out and find out what kind of fucking hellhole they sent us to.”
Rolan snapped, “You will mind your words around our little one and our feisty Omega.”
Tilting his head to glance at the Alpha from the corner of his eye, Aidyn wasn’t sure what to make of that. He didn’t want to belong to these Alphas, but Rolan seemed slightly protective of Connor.
Moving to his twin’s side once more, Anton stated as he reached out to card his fingers through Aidyn’s coppery waves, “We need to hunt, yes? Provisions will last us a month, tops. The sooner we have the lay of the land, the better.”
If Aidyn was forced to make the best of this nightmare, perhaps the Borisov twins were strong enough to get rid of Sergei? So far, the twins hadn’t forced him or attacked any Omegas. To Aidyn’s knowledge, they’d only targeted other Alphas.
Mentally shaking himself, Aidyn swore he was going to make every possible attempt to escape before he accepted being put in a cage again. He just had to wait for the right opening.
The thumb stroking his hip stilled as Sergei purred out, “Let’s table this talk for the moment, my pet needs rest and food. We all do. In the morning, a few Alphas can go exploring and hunting.”
