Page 62 of Claimed Omega

They just watched, the old men’s faces betraying no emotion. They studied the chaos, and it reminded me of the elders Rusty spoke about from the Matteis family.

“Enough,” my father barked. “My men are surrounding this place, and one word from me, they’ll bring it down. So, are you coming willingly or after I kill your Alphas?” Viper shifted, but my father smacked the barrel of the gun into his head. “Stay still, dog.” His vile stare clashed with mine. His hand adjusted, and I knew he’d kill Viper. His gaze momentarily lifted to Rusty and the elders, and his lips peeled back in disapproval.

In that heartbeat of a second, Frannie was at my back like a shadow, pressing a pistol into my hand.

“Take it… shoot him,” she whispered.

My arms shook as my finger curled over the trigger. I’d never shot a gun in my life, but I used both quivering hands to grip and lift it—for Viper, for my Alphas, for Frannie. Whatever it took.

When my father’s eyes were on me once more, the terror in his eyes expanded, and he flinched, the muscles in his forearm bulging.

“Please don’t,” I pleaded, my gaze dipping to Viper, who knew what was coming. He felt the tension in my father, absolutely defeated, and horror contorting his face.

My finger twitched.

A deafening bang burst out of my gun, echoing through the greenhouse. A bullet tore forward and struck my father square in the chest. It threw him backward, his arms flinging outward in the motion of being tossed off his feet as another gunshot went off in front of me.

Fuck.

I shook all over, still terrified I would shoot Viper by mistake.

But searing pain struck me in the arm just then, feeling like molten lava racing through me. The white-hot sharpness radiating from that single point of my arm had me stumbling, the room spinning. Clutching my arm, my hand came back bloody, and I cried out from the excruciating pain that jabbed into my arm.

He’d fucking shot me.

It all happened too fast, too terrifying for my mind to catch up to what had taken place. Panic scratched at the edge of my mind, intensifying into a primal hunger for survival.

Viper was suddenly at my side, lifting me into his arms.

“You’re hit,” he blurted the obvious.

My attempt to respond came out in garbled cries as wave after wave of acid-like pain tore through my arm.

“Don’t let me die, please.” I clung to Viper’s shirt.

“Trust me, you’re not dying on my watch.” His lips curled upward as he rushed me over to the chaise lounge just as someone jumped onto his back. He retreated, going into battle, while I moaned in pain.

My gaze fell on my father, lying unmoving on the floor, blood drenching his suit, the red patch spreading. My chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, each one growing weaker than the last. I hated my father, but I wasn’t a killer. Yet I’d murdered him…

Frannie was at my side in seconds, tearing fabric off her dress and binding my wounded arm. I was completely overwhelmed, the pain of the past and the terror of the future clashing, leaving me uncertain if we’d survive.

Twenty

SHADOW

My world was all brutality and death.

Heart banging in my chest, I shoved an elbow into the bastard at my back and kicked my heel, slamming it into his knee. His weight fell away from me, and I grinned as I swung around.

The fucker was stumbling backward, clutching his ribs.

All I saw were flames of fury.

I’d had enough of this shit, of us being the targets, and I sure as fuck wasn’t going anywhere until I delivered every son of a bitch in this place to Satan’s door.

With Aspen fighting two guards and Viper and Daniel facing off four others, including Axel, I made plans to help them. First, I’d finish this asshole. Just as I rushed him, my fist flying for his face, my attention caught on Rusty.

He stood by four elderly men in suits, each with white hair, one of the men holding a stick. I immediately knew they worked in the background, the ones who called the shots in with the Matteis’. They’d worked closely with Don to set the rules for the mafia family, yet they stood there, watching the battle. Behind them were more guards, but none of them intervened.

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