“Baby?” Victor coos.
“We’ll have to start planning how we’re going to deal with Harry and the rest soon. But- but I just want one more day where we can-”
“In case we die?” Ariadne cuts him off. “One day to remember, to make it all worth it.”
“I can mate you right now,” Victor offers. “We don’t need a ceremony, or cake, or flowers.”
The Omega melts at that, legs turning into jelly.
“Victor, I don’t need a mark to know who you are,” Ariadne responds. “We can do it after we settle everything, and we will settle things.”
“So then, what do you want to do for now?” Victor hums, closing in, wrapping himself around Ariadne, a hand on her still flat tummy.
Though they both know it will soon swell.
The Omega’s missed his touch so badly for the last three weeks. It’s Ariadne's homecoming. What els
Doing the wrong thing is often easy. It was effortless to put a bullet between Arlo’s eyes, the first of the six.Ariadne had gotten her revenge on the man within twenty-four hours of the initial heinous act.The Alpha’s blood hadn’t even cooled when everyone in the room called him a coward, no one interested in avenging him. There was nothing to follow after that.What would be the purpose?He was already a corpse, high risk, and with no reward. His death had been like smoke on the water, effortlessly skimming the surface.It had been easy.It had been wrong.Ariadne knew right away, as soon a
The first shot is followed by a barrage of gunfire. Ariadne looks to her left, wondering why Lisa doesn't simply drive away from the line of assault. They are getting f*cking stormed on.And the answer is immediately evident.Lisa is dead, with a bullet wound on the side of her face. Her body is draped over the gear shift at an awkward and broken angle. The first shot was carefully done to take out the driver."We gotta get out of here," Calvin shouts.Edward makes a mad dash to the front, climbing between the seats. He tosses the Beta's body like a rag doll out the window.There's no time to mourn her, no funeral. The dogs will eat her tonight.Then Edward turns on the engine and drives more profound into the casino port for cover. Dustin presses a button on his phone, and metal shutters come down over the two largemouths. The bullets ricochet over the plates. It sounds like there is an army of people outside.So much for no blood. There's enough to swim in.Dustin kicks open the bac
Minutes, hours, days, weeks. How much time passes, she's not sure. Ariadne slowly comes to, knowing immediately she's not in a spot where she'd fallen. Dark red drapes to her left, an ornate, golden door. The Omega pulls herself up, lying on a large, king-sized bed, sheets of red satin and lace. She's wearing different clothes, too, not the swat gear she'd fallen in. She's wearing a frilly, transparent nightgown and silk thigh highs socks. It's all oddly familiar. When Ariadne tries to get off, she finds one of her hands is handcuffed to the bedpost. She desperately wants to get out, though. She considers gnawing off her own limb to be a viable option. But why? And then it hits her. This is the same place where the six of them, Arthur, Arlo, Felix, Chester, Leonard, and Robin, had raped her. This is the same bed. That's the same door. This is the room where it happened. F*ck. Ariadne yanks with all her might, but she can't get free. She can't be in this room again. She'd rath
Ariadne is ready to climb the walls, these gray steel panels with hideous bolts welded right into them.It drives her mad.The Omega runs her hand along the ridges and bumps as though she's searching for secrets, some hidden brail in the metalwork. But it remains unknowable, itching on her restless and relentless mind."Ariadne, what are you doing?" Victor asks, entering the room, his usually bright, red eyes a dull maroon color."Slowly losing my mind," Ariadne hums, settling back on the bed, a hand protectively over the small swell of her belly."How much longer are we gonna have to stay here?"It's been two months since the attack on the casino. Victor and the remainder of his pack have moved out of the house and into Nathan's old, fortified bunker.They know where Harry is, but they can't lure him out, and neither can they stay in the open, vulnerable to any attacks.It's an impasse, a stalemate."I'm sorry, baby," Victor sighs, seemingly ancient with a heavy weight on his shoulde
The Omega's heart slams against her ribs, pounding so hard that she's afraid she's going into cardiac arrest.It's suddenly a thousand degrees in that room, with Victor looking up at her softly, still kneeling there."If you're afraid," Victor whispers. "Then I'll go first. I'll go right now."Ariadne's fangs pop on their own as if her traitorous body didn't already do enough to discredit her every day."Victor, I just- what about waiting, what about waiting until after Harry's captured."Victor peers into her. It's clear he's at the end of his rope, with a hundred-foot fall to the bottom."I'm going crazy," the Alpha continues. "I'll take what I can get, whatever you're willing to give me. Please, baby. Anything."Ariadne turns and blows out the candles, immediately turning the room into a pitch. There's nothing but two glowing rubies in the night, staring at her intensely."Take me to bed," Ariadne says.Victor scoops her up, carrying her bridal style to the bedroom. The Alpha flick
The Omega dreams good dreams, where a boy on the horizon smiles and says goodbye, with the promise to return. Ariadne waves back with her free hand. Her other is connected to a chubby kid with dark, unruly hair and bright red eyes. It's-A blaring alarm tears Ariadne from her dream. The Omega shoots up from the bed. There's a light on the wall, flashing red. All around them, the grating sound of the warning system.Victor's up, checking his phone from his discarded pocket."F*ck," he curses, rolling off the bed and tugging on his pants. "Stay here.""What's happening?" Ariadne says, hands on her ears, lest she goes deaf."We're under attack," Victor shouts. "Harry's here. He's come. The bunker's been breached."Ariadne's heart drops into her stomach. Her hand curls around her stomach protectively."Promise me you'll come back," Ariadne cries.Victor looks at her hard. "No matter what, I'll-" he pauses. "If I have to kill him, I will."Ariadne nods. She understands that peace sometimes
It's hard to keep up with Edward sometimes. Victor decides it's best not to talk anymore. They ride the rest of the way in tense and tenuous silence. It's nearly dusk when they get there, the roped-off, still condemned building. The years have not been kind. The left face of the manor is crumbling and scorched black from the flames. The facade is weather-worn, with thick vines growing over the surface. The gate that runs along the front is still partly standing. Though it was a glossy black in Victor's memory, it is now more orange with a rust than its original color. The smell of rotted wood mingles with moss and ten-year-old char. It assaults the Alpha's nose, along with another fetid, familiar scent. Victor sees him from the car. It's Issac, hands folded together at the wrists, standing in the way that makes him as large as possible. He's guarding the half-caved-in entrance to the house. Victor steps out, dusts off his suit, then leaps over the gate in a single bound. Edward cl
Ariadne yelps and the sound puts the fear of god into Victor’s blood. He clamps down hard on the back of Harry’s neck and tosses the man aside. But it’s too late.Ariadne flops to the ground, breathing shallowly as blood pools from her belly and also out from behind, turning her tail red.Oh god.Victor needs to get Ariadne to the hospital. This baby, their baby, their hope for a peaceful future, is dissolving right before the Black Wolf’s eyes.Harry bashes his broken, bloody side against the now collapsing house. It looks to be the last beam if the way the house is shaking is any indication.Victor pulls Ariadne by the back of her neck, dragging her away from the action. Her body leaves a bloody trail.God, there’s so much blood. And what about their son? What about their hope?Victor strains, muscles protesting his every motion. And yet he finds he has hysterical strength, lifting Ariadne as though she weighs nothing.Victor pulls Ariadne out of the house, where a silver wolf is wa