Page 82 of Feral Omega

Gritting my teeth, I haul him up the last few feet until we crest the ridge, every muscle straining with the effort. Sweat beads my brow despite the bitter chill, my breaths coming in harsh pants that cloud the air. I dump him unceremoniously into a snowbank.

Hope it hurts.

I brace my hands on my thighs as I bend over, sucking in deep gulps of the thin mountain air. “You know, it's not my fuckin' fault the Council gives us shit like dehydrated potatoes and space cheese instead of sushi, meat, pizza?—”

Valek winces as he pushes himself up onto one elbow. "Those are not health foods."

"Ever heard of flatbreads and balsamic vinegar, bro?"

He grins at me like a damn hyena. "Whatever you say, big boy.”

Okay. That’s it.

I straighten to my full height and jab a finger at him. "You know what? Fuck you. We can't all subsist on nothing but raw meat and the souls of innocents, Count Fuckin' Dracula."

Valek opens his mouth, no doubt to unleash another barrage of insults after I just saved his ass and hauled him down from the cliff, but I cut him off with a curt wave of my hand.

"Save it, asshole. We need to regroup with the others and figure out what the fuck happened back there. She can't have gone far."

I glance around the snow-swept ridge, the slate-gray sky pressing low over the jagged peaks. No sign of Thane or the others, just the yawning maw of the forest stretching out below us, skeletal branches clawing at the low-hanging clouds.

Something prickles at the back of my neck, a shiver that has nothing to do with the icy wind whipping past. My gaze snaps back to Valek, taking in the ugly bruise already darkening the left side of his temple, the dried blood streaking his high cheekbones and white hair.

"What actually happened up there?" I ask, dread coiling in my gut as I think about Ivy out there, alone. "I thought you had our omega secure. You had one fuckin' job."

Valek's jaw tightens, pale eyes narrowing into slits. "I told you, that little psycho clocked me with a rock while my back was turned. Next thing I knew, I was eating snow with a splitting headache. It's not like I've got the damn tapes to prove it."

I blink at him. Sure, I saw Ivy's fiery spirit firsthand during our sparring session, witnessed the way she fought with everything she had despite being outmatched. But to actually take down one of us, one of the Ghosts?

It seems impossible. Unthinkable.

"Bullshit," I mutter, shaking my head in disbelief. "No way that tiny slip of an omega managed to get the drop on you like that."

Valek's lip curls in a snarl, fury etching lines across his harsh features. "Are you calling me a liar?"

I raise my hands in a placating gesture, backpedaling slightly. As much as I enjoy pushing the fucker's buttons, I know better than to fan those flames when he's already smoldering.

Especially when there's a hundred-foot dropoff at my back.

"I'm just saying, she must have had some kinda lucky shot or something."

"Lucky shot, my ass," he spits, shoving himself to his feet with an agility that belies his bulk. "Our little wildcat took my rifle and gear, then booked it into the woods."

My stomach drops at his words, the weight of the situation settling fully on my shoulders.

"Maybe she's with the others. With Thane and?—"

"You really think that's where she ran off to after smashing a rock over my head? Back to the others?" Valek cuts me off, his tone scathing. "Use what's left of that pea brain of yours for once, dumbass."

I open my mouth, desperate to refute his words, to cling to that last shred of hope that our omega is safe and accounted for. But deep down, I know he's right.

She's out there somewhere, alone and ill-equipped to handle the punishing conditions. Possibly injured.

Every protective instinct ingrained in my very DNA screams at me to find her, to bring her back to the safety of the pack's embrace before some unspeakable horror befalls her. Visions of her delicate form torn apart by ravenous beasts or left to freeze in the merciless clutches of this wilderness assault me, each more gruesome than the last.

A low growl rumbles up from my chest, the sound ripped from my core. The mere thought of Ivy suffering, of her life being threatened in any way, unleashes a torrent of rage unlike anything I've ever felt.

It's not just the usual bloodlust that surges through my veins, that heady cocktail of violence and adrenaline that fuels me in battle. No, this is something deeper, more primal. Something rooted in the most fundamental drive of my alpha nature—the need to protect what's mine.

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