Page 3 of Claimed Omega

Before I could even contemplate arguing the point, Axel swung his gun around, like a loose cannon, his attention on Rusty.

“How about you get out of my fucking face and do your job? Get those fuckers and bring them into the yards. We’re killing them today as revenge for taking out Don. And you can call me your new boss.”

Something vicious and prideful flashed behind Axel’s otherwise vacant eyes as the asshole raised his chin defiantly. Hatred shifted through me, and I clenched my jaw when I stared at him.

Rusty’s lips twisted with his displeasure, though he didn’t bite back right away. He stared back at us, at Shadow on the floor.

“Are you fucking deaf?” Axel barked, shoving a shoulder into Rusty as he passed him, stuffing his gun back into the holster on his belt. “Get them out into the yard. All of you. The Don has been murdered by his great-grandson, Shane. Call the family, guards, the whole fucking army, to show them how we deal with our enemies.”

“You son of a bitch,” Viper snapped at Axel, his voice darkening.

“What are you waiting for?” Axel turned to Rusty, challenging him. Even if he didn’t stand as tall or broad as the guard, Axel had a manic expression on his face that made him unpredictable and dangerous as hell.

Rusty cleared his throat. “I can’t do that. Under Don’s rulership, he implemented the Pact, which applies to his death.”

“What the fuck!” Axel growled, noticing the new guards who had entered with Rusty standing at his back.

Rusty squared his shoulders, his gaze skimming over to Shadow and back to Axel.

“We must adhere to the Pact, which means the accused can’t be harmed for twenty-four hours while they deal with their affairs, make peace with life, whatever the fuck they want. During that time, they can’t be harmed or touched. After that, they have a week to disprove their guilt, but during that time, they are also fair game for everyone to take them down. During that one week, if they haven’t found proof, they will be considered guilty and can no longer prove their innocence. And they will be on everyone’s hit list until they’re dead.”

I gasped from shock, and everyone twisted in my direction. Their eyes pierced into me, and I felt naked, vulnerable… like crying, but I didn’t care about me, not when Shadow was going to die if he didn’t get help.

“Are you fucking with me?” Axel snarled. “You have three witnesses who saw who killed Don, and you’re giving them leniency?” Axel’s upper lip curled into a filthy grimace, his eyebrows furrowing.

“It’s not leniency but giving everyone a fair chance to prove their innocence, just as Don would have done for anyone in the Matteis family. Shadow is his great-grandson, so the rule applies.” His gaze dipped to Don, lingering on the man for a long time, his brow furrowing.

Rusty had balls of steel. I’d never seen a guard stand up to someone in such a way, which made me think he was much higher on the food chain in the Matteis family.

With a flick of his hand to his guards, he pointed at us, saying, “Get them a car to go and settle their affairs.” With his attention on us, Rusty said, “And there’s no way to leave the city. All exits and entries are manned by our men, and you’ll be seen. Follow the Pact, and if you’re innocent, you’ll find a way to prove it.”

I couldn’t help but hear the distinct difference in his tone in his last few words—they told me he didn’t believe Axel’s lies, but he couldn’t go against him.

“Fuck!” Axel huffed loudly. “The Pact it is then,” he snapped, the nerve in his neck pulsing. “I’ll give them one day to fix their affairs. After that, they’re dead.”

And with those last words, our fate was sealed.

This was so fucking bad!

Two

ASPEN

“Fucking rats,” I growled in the rust-bucket car we’d been shoved into and told to piss off from the Matteis mansion. To close our affairs before they came to butcher us!

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

They hadn’t even offered to patch Shadow, just threw him into the back seat, bleeding all over the place and close to passing out.

I held my hand pressed tight to the bullet wound. He was lying on his back, head on my lap, his legs bent and against the door. I was livid, my muscles tense, my jawline set, and I needed to smash something.

That fucker, Axel, framed us to take the fall for his murder.

Fury roared, flooding my head, my pulse racing in my veins. Dragging in harsh breaths, they burned the back of my throat from the anger pushing down on me. All I could feel on the inside was fire.

“He looks terrible.” Trinity was twisted around in the front seat, her eyes on Shadow, her voice trembling. She was reaching back to hold his hand. “Shadow, please hold on.”

Viper, on the other hand, was driving like a maniac past the mansion gates, his headlights bouncing off the empty land across the street, drenched in the night. I was in the backseat, holding onto Shadow, while the poor guy was white as paper. He’d lost so much blood—fuck, we were running out of time. His eyes were half-closed, and I was surprised he hadn’t passed out yet.

---