Page 9 of Pack Fever

I’ve heard about sirens going off when the Nexus facility enforcers search the club. Panic booms around me because Omegas are forbidden from being at such places.

Panic strangles when he grabs my hand with urgency.

“Come, I know a way out,” he says over the rising chaos and panic.

The moving chaos of the masses, wild and terrified, shove and surge against us, ripping me from him. Seconds later, I’m moving on the tsunami wave, alone and struggling for breath.

My friends… shit. I have to find them and get us all out of here.

I shove against the crowd, desperation squeezing my lungs. People push against me, elbows jabbing into my sides, stomping on my feet. I whimper, but keep pushing. I never should have wandered off from my friends.

Just as I press myself free from the crowd, heading toward the dance floor, the scene before me crystallizes in slow motion.

My friends are huddled together like a small litter of kittens in danger.

The enforcers loom over them, five men in total in bottle-green uniforms with the gold word Nexus printed on their sleeves. Other partygoers are rushing past them while my breaths are coming in ragged gasps, the air sharp in my lungs.

Their eyes widen, each of them spotting me almost simultaneously, their postures deflated and terror written on their faces. This isn’t just a random crackdown, someone would have told them Omegas are at the club… how else would they have discovered us?

Dread squeezes my heart, and my feet are moving of their own accord, carrying me backward. But my back collides with a solid presence, the force of the impact sending a shockwave of terror up my spine.

“Are those your friends?” The deep, authoritative male voice cuts through the cacophony of sounds at the club.

I turn around, my face drained of blood, and find myself staring into the stoic face of another enforcer. Cold eyes leave me exposed, stripped.

Fuck!

Desperation claws at my insides, but when I glance back at my petrified friends, I can’t let them take this fall alone. They’re my best friends, my chosen family, and I’ll never betray them.

With a heavy nod, I glance up at the guard, and the realization that we’ve been discovered kills me. Hell, we are going to be in so much shit!

The enforcer’s hand on my arm is firm as he steers me toward my friends, his grip harsh and a reminder of the price we’re about to pay for our night’s escape.

My legs feel heavy as I hurry to my friends.

“It’s going to be okay,” I tell my friends, but no one is saying a word. Their faces are blanched, eyes terrified.

As we’re being escorted out of the club and fear knots my stomach, I glance back, my gaze drawn to the balcony near the bar.

There he is, the mystery Alpha, still as a statue amid the shadows, watching me being taken away. His eyes lock with mine in a silent exchange for what could have been.

In that moment of utter confusion and terror, of my emotions tangled, the second line to my song comes to me.

The stars above have stories to tell, but none as bright as us…

And those whispered dreams are now dust

Chapter

Two

DANICA

Dragging my feet up toward the front door of my apartment, I can’t shake the heaviness that’s settled over me ever since we got busted at the Nocturne club three days ago. After we got hauled into the station and they took our details and fingerprints, the enforcers called our parents and said we were to go home. We were instructed that they would be in contact with us shortly with our punishment. If we went missing or broke the rules, the parents would be held responsible and receive a hefty fine.

It’s been hell waiting over the past three days, not knowing what they’re going to do to us. There’s a knot in my chest I haven’t been able to dislodge since the night.

Then there’s Mom, who’s furious and blew up at me the moment I was brought home by the enforcers. Since then, she’s given me the silent treatment, and the silence is destroying me. She has confiscated my phone, and my bedroom window is getting locked bars to complete the living-in-a-prison vibe I already had going.

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