Page 28 of Daisy
Two figures at the far end of the hallway. One of them carrying something, no someone over his shoulder like a sack of grain.
The moment I see her, the world stops.
She's small, delicate, with long dark hair that falls like silk even as she hangs limp over the bastard's shoulder. And when the wind shifts, carrying her scent toward us, every alpha instinct I have snaps to attention.
Honeysuckle and vanilla. Sweet and soft and absolutely terrified.
The scent hits me like a physical blow, cutting through all the smoke and fear and chaos to land directly in my nervous system. Every protective instinct I didn't know I had roars to life, recognizing something I'd been searching for without even knowing it.
My scent match.
Ace's words from days ago echo in my head:You'll know. When you find your omega, you'll know.
And fuck me, I know.
She's mine. The omega being carried away by some piece of shit alpha is mine. And he's hurting her.
I can see Dante and Cassian beside me, both of them going completely still as her scent reaches them. The same recognition, the same protective fury, the same absolute certainty.
She's not just mine.
She's ours.
All of ours.
The bastard carrying her doesn't even know we're here. Doesn't know that three alphas who would tear through armies for her are watching him hurt what belongs to us.
I don't remember drawing my knife. Don't remember making the decision to move. One second I'm frozen in the hallway, the next I'm sprinting toward them with murder in my heart.
The bastard carrying her doesn't even hear me coming until it's too late.
Game fucking over.
Chapter 9
Dante
Time stops.
Her scent hits me like a physical blow. Honeysuckle and vanilla so pure it cuts through smoke and chaos like nothing else exists. But underneath the sweetness, there's something else that makes every protective instinct I've ever had roar to life.
Fear.Pure, overwhelming terror.
It's Daisy. Governor Crane's niece. The omega I've protected at events for years. The one whose blockers failed seven weeks ago, letting me scent her for the first time. The one I've watched smile and nod while her uncle sold her future to the highest bidder.
I told myself it was just my job to care.
This feeling in my chest says otherwise.
The bastard carrying her doesn't know we're here. Doesn't know that death is about to find him in this smoke-filled hallway.
I don't decide to move. My body just goes.
Cassian appears beside me, moving like the violence he was born to be. The stranger keeps pace with us both, tattooed and wild-eyed, knife already drawn.
The alpha carrying Daisy spins toward our approach. The stranger strikes before any of us can breathe.
"Game fucking over."
