Page 69 of Feral Omega

Gritting my teeth, I grab the bolt cutters I saw in Valek's pack while searching for water, the metal biting into my palm. With a few vicious twists, I manage to pry the collar away enough to work the blades in. They bite deep, the steel shrieking in protest as I strain against the unyielding metal.

A sharp edge catches my skin. I hiss through my teeth, but I don't let up, forcing the jaws together until the collar finally shatters apart with a dull clang.

I toss the ruined pieces aside, gulping in deep, grateful breaths as the constricting weight falls away. For the first time in forever, I'm free of its smothering embrace, the ghost of a chain no longer binding me to my captors.

But I'm not foolish enough to think the reprieve will last long. Those bastards will come for me, with every resource at their disposal.

And when they do...

My blood runs cold at the thought, fingers tightening around the rifle's stock. No. I won't be taken alive. I'll fight to the last breath, take down as many of them as I can before they put me in the ground.

And I know they won't show any mercy now that I've turned on one of their own. Everyone has limits.

Especially savage alphas.

A branch snaps somewhere behind me, the sound like a gunshot in the stillness. I whirl, the rifle coming up in a smooth arc as my finger finds the trigger. But it's not one of the Ghosts stalking through the trees. Just a pair of men in drab green uniforms, rifles cradled loosely in their arms.

"Well, what do we have here?" one of them drawls, the words edged with dark amusement. "Looks like little red lost her way to Grandma's."

I realize my hair must have fallen loose from my balaclava during my flight, touching the wild tresses spilling freely down my back.

They must be part of the oligarch's personal security force, stragglers missed in the initial assault. I tense as they take me in, eyes narrowing at the sight of my stolen weapon.

"Where'd you get that, sweetheart?" the other rumbles, cocking his head. "Playin' dress up with your daddy's kit?"

The condescending sneer curls my lip. I don't bother responding, just keep the rifle leveled as they start fanning out, cutting off my escape routes.

"C'mon now, don't be like that," the first guard chides, his tone dripping with a sickening mix of mockery and hunger. "Why don't you hand that over before you hurt yourself, huh?"

I shift my aim to cover him, thumbing off the safety with an audible click. "Get back to your post," I rasp, the words harsh and grating in my own ears. "Your friends are already dead and you'll be joining them if you take another step."

For a beat, they both freeze, eyes widening almost comically. Then the taller one barks out a harsh laugh, shaking his head. "Nice try, bitch. But there ain't no way a scrawny little thing like you could take out our whole crew."

The other guard shoots him a sharp look, lips thinning into a hard line. He's not so sure, I realize. Smart enough to sense the truth in my words.

"Listen to the girl, Nate," he mutters, hand tightening on his rifle as his gaze darts between me and the trees. "Somethin' ain't right here. You heard that gunfire."

Nate scoffs, squaring his shoulders in a clear challenge as he takes another step toward me. "The hell are you?—"

The rifle bucks in my hands, the deafening shot echoing through the forest as I put a round straight through his chest. He staggers, eyes going wide with shock as a crimson blossom spreads across his uniform. Then his legs buckle and he crumples, a dead weight thudding into the trampled snow.

The second guard reacts instantly, his rifle swinging toward me with lethal intent. But I'm already diving for cover, my body slamming into the icy earth as his first shot whizzes past, kicking up a spray of frozen dirt and bark.

I scramble behind the bole of a twisted oak, gasping for breath as the man's rifle cracks again and again. Chips of wood explode around me in a deadly hail, the acrid stench of gunpowder stinging my nostrils.

Clutching Valek's rifle to my chest, I force myself to move, slinking deeper into the concealing shadows as the gunfire rakes through the trees behind me. I need to put some distance between us, find better cover before I?—

A searing line of agony lances across my right bicep, the impact spinning me around. I cry out, rifle clattering from my grasp as I crumple to my knees, cradling the wound. Blood streams between my fingers, hot and slick, the metallic tang filling my mouth.

"Gotcha, you little bitch," the guard growls, stalking toward me with his rifle at the ready.

I shrink back against the tree trunk, chest heaving as I glare up at him through a haze of pain and fury. My fingers scrabble in the snow, searching for anything I can use as a weapon. A rock, a branch, anything.

But he's already on me, the barrel of his rifle leveled at my face as he sneers down at me. "Thought you could take me, huh? Stupid little cunt."

Looming over me, he gives the rifle a vicious shove, slamming the butt into my wounded arm. White-hot agony explodes through me, a scream tearing from my throat as I crumple forward.

He chuckles darkly, already moving to pin me against the frozen earth. "That's it, scream for me," he leers, his foul breath hot on my face. "Gonna make this last?—"

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