Page 4 of Consider The Lilies

And she’s gone…

“Goddammit, Cardis!” Ponytail alpha growls at his brother as he drags me to the edge of the cliff by my hair. I don’t fight him, but I also can’t walk. My feet simply won’t work.

“Why the fuck did you throw her over?” Ponytail shoves me, and I fall onto my hands and knees. He must not be too worried about me running away, because he doesn’t even attempt to snatch me back up. And he’s right. There’s no point in running. I have nowhere to go.

The two alphas bicker, saying god knows what, but all I can hear is the rush of my own blood in my ears.Maybe she’s still alive.I inch closer to the ledge. Inch by inch. Then I lean over, looking down, down, down, and my heart breaks into a thousand pieces.

About three stories down, Mari’s body is sprawled on the forest floor. One of her legs is bent at an awkward angle, and her hands lie above her head. Her eyes are closed, and her lips are parted. Her face is pale, her expression relaxed. For a moment, I pray she’s only knocked out, and soon she’ll open her pretty brown eyes and look up at me. But then dark red seeps into her blonde hair. It consumes her golden tresses, spreading out around her head like a violent halo.

I close my eyes, but it’s too late. The image of my sweet sister’s busted skull is burned into my mind forever.

“Fuck off, Andros!” Cardis’s hard voice slices through me. I keep my eyes shut tight, praying he forgets I’m here. But then a hard hand grips the nape of my shirt, forcing me onto my feet. My collar digs into my throat, reminding me I still can’t breathe.

“No.” I wheeze then stumble, falling face-first back onto the ground. My nose pops against dirt, and stars burst behind my eyes, followed by a rush of hot pain. And I crack.

I begin to cry, coughing and gagging, unable to pull in any air through my sobs.

“You don’t have that rash, do you?” one of the alphas asks. I think it’s Ponytail…or Andros? Whatever his name is, his tone is harsh, almost annoyed by my distress. “Hey!” he barks, making me flinch. “Answer me!”

“No!” The word leaps from my mouth, unable to defy an alpha’s command. Mari could. She was strong. I heard her sass many alphas from my hiding place within the trees. She always made me hide, making sure no one ever hurt me. And now I’mall alone. “I have nothing,” I whisper, pressing my forehead to the cool ground as I suck in shallow, raspy breaths.

“What’s wrong with you?” Cardis asks, his big body looming over me. “Why do you sound like that?”

“Asthma.” I know full well they’ll order me to answer if I don’t say anything.

“Great.” He lets out an angry huff. “He can’t fucking breathe. We already weren't going to get much with him being a male.” The alpha growls, the dangerous sound making me shrink into myself. “He’s worth nothing. The fucking Morder won’t take him.”

I should be scared of what that means. I don’t know what the Morder is, but I do know that being worth “nothing” isn’t good. Maybe i’ll get lucky and they’ll kill me. I don’t want to die, but I also don’t want to live. I just want this nightmare to be over.

I want my sister.

“You never know,” Andros says with a promising lift in his voice. “They’re low on inventory right now. I’m sure Angelica won’t be picky. And,” he moves closer to me, his big body casting a long shadow, “since male omegas are even rarer than females, they’re a kink for some alphas. There might be a buyer looking for something specific.”

Deep shame blooms in my chest, and I close my eyes.

It’s true. While male omegas are the rarest of any dynamic out there, female omegas are the most desired by alphas. They’re the best for breeding. Omegas like me are more of a novelty. A kink. A shameful fetish. In the end, no one wants a male omega as a mate.

“Come on.” Cardis groans as he grips the back of my shirt once again. He lifts my limp body off the ground and chucks me over his shoulder like I’m a sack of dirt. Then he walks, complaining to his brother that it’s bullshit he can’t fuck me.

I don’t knowhow much time has passed. A day? Maybe two?

It feels like we’ve walked forever. I stay quiet, hanging over one of the alpha's shoulders as they march through the thick forest. My fear of being violated has long since vanished, replaced by thick grief.

Every time I close my eyes, images of Mari’s dead body flash in my mind. When I manage to sleep, I see her small body lying at the bottom of that cliff, surrounded by jagged rocks and green grass. I wonder how long it will take for the forest to claim her. To pull her flesh into the ground and bleach her bones in the sun. Will the vines twist around her limbs like ribbon on a Christmas present, or will she be slowly carried away by the wildlife we’ve grown accustomed to? I don’t want the wolves and bears to feast on her body, but I’m sure that would be a better fate than whatever I’m destined for.

“Oh my, Cardis,” a woman purrs, and a hand slips down my spine, toward my neck. I keep my body limp and head down, still flung over Cardis’s shoulder. “What have you brought me?” A pair of slender feet appear in red high-heeled shoes, and there’s a small tattoo of a black bird on her right ankle. I don’t need to see this woman’s face to know she’s an alpha. I can smell it.

“A male,” Andros says. “He’s young. Maybe untouched.”

“Very nice,” the she-alpha moans, and fingers touch my cheek. Her nails are long and pointed. “Are you sure he’s alive?” She bends down to look at my face, and I squeeze my eyes shut tight, refusing to look at her. “He sounds like shit. Is he wheezing?”

“He’s a bit sickly.” Cardis adjusts me so I sit higher on his shoulder. The movement hurts, making me grunt. “He says he’s got asthma, but he sounds a bit better today.”

“Asthma?” she repeats, clearly not happy.

“Is he worth anything?” Andros asks, and the warmth from the she-alpha moves. She steps around Cardis, talking to the pair like I’m not here.

“They’re all worthsomething,” she says. But it’s not a compliment. It’s a clinical fact. “He’ll be a shit breeder,” she continues. “We can’t advertise him as a mate. The physical toll a pregnancy takes on a healthy male omega is already immense. Any added health problems make him an expected fatality.” She clicks her tongue like it’s a simple shame and not a devastating fact. I’m already aware of the things she’s saying, but that doesn’t stop them from cutting deep when others point them out.

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