Chapter 1
Ravi
20:00 PM - The Vault
I slammed my fist into the Alpha’s nose, feeling it shatter under the weight of my knuckles and knocking his glasses askew.The crunch of cartilage and hot spray of blood that followed was nostalgic. But, I couldn’t afford the distraction of memory. These fools had made it further into The Vault than anyone before.
And they needed to be punished for it.
“Sorry about your birthday,” I called over my shoulder, conversational as my foot met its mark in the soft spot right under the other man’s ribs. He flew several feet through the air, then fell hard onto his back. I heard air whistling and bubbling past the red pouring from his broken nose.
Silas’ tone was damn near giddy, echoing around the open sitting room as he dodged lunge after lunge from another Alpha, “It’s fine. This is much better than a matinee.”
-Thank fuck.-Dominic’s voice slid into my head. I could almost taste the wave of relief that mingled with his bloodlust as he grappled a blonde female Alpha.-I hate the ballet.-
“You stole my Omega,” The fallen Alpha snarled, words thick with blood as it dripped down the back of his throat and painted his lips. He had managed to push himself up, body still pumping with the last traces of his lost Omega’s Essence.
I could almost smell her on him: black tea and honey. Tempting. But the profile didn’t match any of the Temps we’d had contracted. As if we needed tostealan Omega anyway.
Still, he was a brave sod, maintaining eye contact like that. Amusement tugged at the corners of my lips, his golden gaze attempted to burn a hole in my skull. If he learned to manage his Pack, he might ascend to Apex one day.
Still, a stolen Omega was nothing new. But to perform a full pack on pack assault over it? Especially when they were foreign and hadn’t even bothered to pay proper tithe? Unthought of. At least it had been since the rise of the Essence Economy. The bloodlust was cooling in my veins, letting me sense that there wassomethingwrong with the whole situation.
“Were you stupid enough to parade her around the districts like your own un-patroned selves?” Silas drawled.
I glanced towards my second. He was nursing a split lip and one sleeve of his suit had been ripped off entirely. Feverish bright in delight, his pale eyes bled into a noxious, toxic looking Scheele’s green. The Alpha he had been fighting was dead at his feet.
-Easy Si,-I pushed against his mind,-Have Henri take you down a couple of notches. They won’t answer questions if you rile them up.-
-Thisisme down a couple of notches.-
Great. We’d need to talk after this. But first—I walked towards the other man. My shoe crunching his glasses as I closed the distance.
The stubborn fool stood his ground, barely reacting beyond the narrowing of his eyes as I gripped the front of his shirt. I lifted the other man off of his feet, claws cutting through the fine fabric of his shirt. All of the intruders had come in black. But, they were disorganized. That made them sloppy.
“How did you get in?” I growled, putting a proper Bark into my words.
The other Alpha did react to that. He clenched his jaw and squirmed and tried to swallow the words down. But I was more dominant.
“Viktor Morozov.” He spat the words.
Oh shit.
There was a sudden rush of air against my legs. I looked down. The Beta that had accompanied the intruders was now on below us. I hadn’t scented him or even heard him. A teleporter?
“She’s not here, Gabriel,” The Beta crouched low, one hand gripping the bleeding Alpha’s ankle. A submissive position, and one meant to conceal the movement of his lips. I still caught every word, something cold twisting in my gut.
“It’s in place and we need to leave.” He murmured.
Hot pain sliced through my stomach. Gabriel had struck while I was distracted. Dammit. His claws cut through my button down and flesh like butter. I stumbled back, a snarl rumbling in my chest, “You—”
The female Alpha suddenly broke away from Silas. She tore down the length of the room, grabbing Gabriel’s outstretched, bloody hand before all three vanished.
And in the silence that followed, I finally heard it. A rhythmic beep. A countdown.
“Everyone, get—”
The world was ripped apart in a barrage of fire and heat.
And then everything went black.
