Page 116 of Pack Fever

“Nope,” I reply, a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth, despite the shithole of our situation. “What we need is a distraction. Something to lure them out, to have them preoccupied while we sneak in. If we’re quick, maybe we’ll go undetected.”

Jasper lets out a snorting laugh. “Right, a distraction in the country’s creepiest and quietest town? What are we going to do, set off fireworks and hope they come out to watch like it’s the Fourth of July?” His tone drips with sarcasm.

I can’t help but smile because, honestly, my plan isn’t that far off from his sarcastic suggestion.

Danica

The door to our makeshift prison room swings open with a force that has me flinching. Reed and I scramble to our feet, our backs pressed against the cold wall. My heart hammers against my ribcage, a frantic beat that thumps in my ears.

What do they want? To hurt us?

Two bulky men step into the room, their figures casting long shadows from the faint light behind them that seems to stretch out toward us. My gaze locks onto one of them, a flicker of recognition igniting in my mind.

He was a guard on the bus—the realization hits me like a physical blow.

“It’s you,” I blurt out. “But you don’t work for Nexus... do you?” I stammer as a rising panic claws through me.

The guard, a smirk playing on his lips, chuckles at my astonishment. “You’re not so dumb, apparently,” he taunts, and I bristle at his condescending tone. “How else was I going to get close to you Omegas?”

“So, you caused the bus to crash,” I shoot back, trying to keep him talking to buy us time. My mind races, desperate for a way out, keenly aware that Reed is doing the same.

“Wasn’t us, as we had different plans to take all four of you Omegas,” he admits, and there’s a hint of genuine anger in his voice. His grin is wide, revealing a row of teeth that sends an involuntary shiver down my spine.

So, who crashed into the bus then?

“Who the fuck are you if not Nexus?” Reed growls.

The man exchanges a glance with his friend, shrugging. “Doesn’t really matter to you, buddy. You won’t be around for much longer to worry about your little Omega. She’s been ours from the moment we spotted her and her friends at the Nocturne club when a Nexus enforcer busted them.”

My skin crawls at his confession. They’ve been on my tail since then? Plotting how to kidnap me?

“Like fuck she’s yours.” Reed instinctively nudges me to stand behind him, his chest puffing out. My heart’s pounding in my chest with fear of how this is going to end.

They don’t need to tell us who they are. I’m certain they are one of the many criminal organizations out there my mother warned me about. Those who steal and sell Omegas. They pretty much said it earlier, and I’m fuming that my friends and I have been their targets this whole time and had no clue.

Before we can muster a response, a third man barges into the room and makes a beeline for Reed. “Stop fucking around and just take him already,” he commands the two men, his order cutting through the tense air.

Reed doesn’t hesitate. He springs into action, his fist connecting with one assailant’s face with a thud. But the other man is quick, too quick, and he tackles Reed with a force that sends them both crashing into the wall with a sickening thud.

A cry spills past my lips as I stumble back, scanning the room for a weapon, for anything to get him off Reed.

“Leave him alone,” I scream.

Panic and rage war within me as I watch him drive a fist into Reed’s gut. He groans but clips the guard back with a fist under his chin, sending him backward, but the other two men are on Reed, hauling him away. He’s thrashing against their grip.

Terror crashes over me.

“Not such a tough man now, are you, when you’re not on stage? You’re just an asshole like the rest of us…” one of the guard’s taunts.

“Are you so stupid to think I’d be any different? Oh wait, I am because you’re fucking scum,” Reed spits back.

My heart feels like it’s being torn apart as I watch them drag him away. Tears blur my vision. I run after them, my hands grasping at one of the guard’s shirts, my voice raw as I scream.

“Get off him,” I bellow. There’s a primal fear gripping me, the terror of losing Reed, of being left alone in this nightmare.

I kick one of the men behind the knee. He stumbles, and in the ensuing chaos, I move with a speed and instinct I didn’t know I had. My hand closes around the cold metal of a gun tucked in his waistband.

Trembling, I back up and level the gun at them, my finger shaky on the trigger.

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