Page 75 of Stray Omega

Then something stung him on his hip.

Ark was so lost in his berserker fury, and the sting was so small and mild, he almost did not notice it. It was a glint of metal at the edge of his vision that finally got his attention.

He had been shot by one of those blasted darts.

With renewed rage, the alpha tried to throw himself at the beta who had shot him. But the leg that had been shot was now insensate as stone.

Another dart pierced his shoulder.

A third thunked into his abdomen.

“Source…”

Already his voice sounded drunken and slurred. His strong heart, pumping madly from the heat of battle, sent the poison rushing through his system, and in a matter of seconds Ark’s whole body felt like it was carved from ice.

He tried to curse, but all that came out was a wet grunt. Strings of drool dangled from his lips. He toppled over and landed with a thud that shook the ground like a falling tree.

Before the darkness of unconsciousness swallowed him up, Ark had one final vision of the weird mechanized betas closing in.

“Yes, he is a nice big specimen,” one of them gurgled. “He will do nicely. Very nicely indeed.”