Anarchy, p.29
Anarchy, page 29
43
SIN
It was a little comical—or would have been if the situation wasn’t so dire.
We were locked the fuck out of our cell on the night before our appeal, and instead of Karma taking Crescent to hide somewhere, he’d knotted her.
Out in the open.
I viciously rubbed my face so it couldn’t betray the seriousness of the situation. But thinking about what would have happened if Phantom had been the one to find them…
He would be pissed. I could already hear his furious snarling.
I’d have to tell him about it later so Karma could get the lecture he deserved.
Leaning one shoulder against the wall, I skimmed my eyes down Crescent. Her pale skin, parted thighs, Karma’s knot stretching her out. His fresh bond mark on her neck, that he was nursing—it seemed to be helping pull him back from the edge of madness, at least.
If she’d found her door closed, someone was working against us. It was a miracle Karma found her first.
And he’d obviously found someone else before her, from the streaks of blood on his skin, some of the red transferring to her pale hips.
We were dangerously exposed if alphas were prowling around here to hunt us.
The shirt she wore covered her torso, but when Karma realized I was watching, he slid the fabric up and cupped her breast in his palm.
Crescent whined, squirming over his knot, and god, that pink flush to her cheeks was tantalizing.
Karma’s fingers tweaked her nipples, and the way she moaned…
Fuck.
Goddamn Karma was clearly still feral.
“We can’t stay here.”
It took every fibre of my restraint not to continue staring at her as my cock throbbed. I glanced down the hall in each direction, trying to get my bearings. We needed privacy. Nearby. Were there any empty rooms that wouldn’t be locked?
I spotted a distinctive peony art piece on the grey stone wall down one end.
Jogging down to the end, I followed the hastily spray-painted floral down a few feet to a metal door. I hauled it open and peeked inside.
No scent except dust and dampness. It was a small room, almost a closet, with a couple of flattened boxes on the floor.
I went back to the hall where Karma stood with Crescent, gesturing to them to come.
He had her suspended in the air, his hands holding her thighs as she clutched at his arms. She was wide-eyed and unsteady, a sheen of lust still glazing her expression.
I should probably help… But I didn’t really know how, so instead, I watched him waddle, one tiny step at a time. He couldn’t jostle her too much or he might hurt her on his knot.
Oh, and his pants were still around his ankles, Crescent’s sweats hanging from one of her feet with the fabric trailing along the ground.
It took painfully long for the hulking, feral alpha, still knotted in our tiny omega, to inch down the hallway so we could all duck into the hiding spot.
Finally, the door shut. Watching Karma’s rough hands on Crescent’s thighs made my balls ache, especially when she squirmed to readjust herself on his cock.
We were hidden now.
And she was… knotted.
Would be for a while.
God, I wished I could make the most of this. But I was the only sane one here. Karma was half feral and Crescent had settled into her instincts when he caught her, blissfully ignorant of the harsh reality.
We didn’t actually know where the fuck Vandle and Phantom were—and those assholes owed me for making me pass up a golden opportunity.
“How long do you think?” I asked.
Karma and Crescent stared blankly at me.
“Until the knot deflates,” I clarified. We needed her free from his cock as soon as possible.
“Uh,” he grunted. “Dunno.”
Fantastic.
CRESCENT
Karma was listing the alphas he’d killed to Sin. When he mentioned the one who’d chased me, that cleared some of the happy haze. My floaty joy really crashed when I prodded the bond and found that Phantom and Vandle were… noticeably absent.
Blocking me out?
Or unconscious?
Oh dear…
I was hot, but my bare skin felt cold, and I couldn’t help but sigh breathily when Karma’s knot softened enough for him to slip out of me. A rush of his cum followed, dripping onto the floor beneath us.
Sin knelt in front of me when Karma went to set me down.
“Gonna be hard to clean you up,” he said.
He helped me put my shoe back on—one had fallen half off when we’d pulled my sweats off one ankle—and then grabbed his own shirt. Ripping off a strip of fabric, he wiped at the mess on my thighs.
Karma pulled his pants back up his legs, hauling me back against his chest and rubbing his chin across my shoulder.
He felt… balanced.
Calmer than I’d ever seen him.
Was this enough to keep him present for our appeal in the morning?
I leaned against him as Sin cleaned me up, yawning wide even though I knew it would be a while before I could sleep peacefully.
I was drifting off when the banging started.
It jolted me awake on Sin’s lap. We were in the same dark room with damp, heavy air.
Karma stood by the door, a finger pressed to his lips, completely with it, now.
What was making that noise?
It sounded like metal on stone.
A baton smacking against the wall, coming closer with every bang. Sin helped me stand, silent in my sneakers, and pushed me behind him. I noticed his gun was already in his hands.
I held my breath until I went dizzy and needed to suck in air.
Then, the banging stopped, as close to us as it could possibly be.
The door opened with a resounding slam, and there was nowhere to hide.
Karma grabbed the man around the throat, shoving him back out the door. They grappled, the man’s hands trying to remove Karma’s, before disappearing from view. Everything was loud all of a sudden: pounding footsteps and shouts and more banging of metal on stone.
I trembled, clinging to Sin from behind as he took careful, measured steps forward.
44
SIN
There was only one alpha poking his head into the closet-like, tiny room, but his shout could draw more.
I kept Crescent behind me as Karma wrestled him into the hall. My gun was cool against my palm, and if there was ever a time to use my one precious bullet, it would be tonight.
Our last night in this fucking place.
The package of coloured contacts was still tucked into my waistband, secure even if we had to run.
We had everything we needed to escape.
All we had to do was survive.
And someone was trying to make sure that didn’t happen.
I led my omega toward the door, making sure her hand stayed on the small of my back, shoved under my ripped shirt to touch my bare skin. Karma could handle one; I’d sensed his aura flare and felt his visceral glee in the bond as he choked the man.
But when I peered past the door and into the hall, gun in my grip, there was already more than one.
Holden’s pack mates and allies were everywhere.
Five of them were challenging Karma in one direction, and in the other, I could see Grady—one of the more brutish members of Holden’s pack. Not an alpha I wanted to join the fight against Karma. He was scouring the hallway, but froze as he caught sight of me, a smirk curving his lips.
Shit.
Karma was a force of nature, aura crackling, fists flying, blood dripping from his freshly split lip. But it was five on one.
No one could win that.
I shoved back a burst of fear. I needed to get Crescent the fuck out of here.
In one direction was the fight, the other was open, but for Grady.
One alpha, one bullet.
Even hours away from our appeal, it felt wrong to waste it, but I glanced back, knowing we didn’t have time for indecision.
Fuck.
No choice.
I’d love to blow his brains out, but I had a better shot of hitting him by aiming for the bigger target.
Right in the stomach. At least he’d die nice and slowly.
Painfully.
At this time of night, none of the medic packs in this place would be awake to help—and fishing out bullets from internal organs wasn’t their expertise, anyway.
There was no time to tell Crescent the plan, and I couldn’t give away our next move. She would follow me—she trusted me, and I needed that.
Tensing my body, I swung the gun to point at Grady in a flash.
His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen, but I pulled the trigger in the millisecond before he could react.
The bang made my ears ring. It startled everyone in the echoey hall, a hush falling. A moment of pause.
Blood splattered the wall behind Grady, and he collapsed to his knees. I grabbed Crescent’s hand and yanked her as he clutched his stomach. His howl broke through the ringing, but I didn’t have time to enjoy it.
Time to run.
The other alpha was no longer after us. Karma had used the panic to his advantage, having broken free of the others, and tackled the nearest one to the ground, teeth ripping into his neck.
His eyes met mine for a moment, blood smearing his chin.
He was barely present, but the flicker of sanity I could see was pleading.
Telling us to run.
I turned, Crescent’s hand in mine, and careened down the hallway.
CRESCENT
I wasn’t built for running.
Reading? Yes.
Running? Absolutely not.
My lungs burned and my vision blurred; everything was out of focus around me. I could hardly see where we were going, and Sin’s grip on my hand was my only anchor. His clammy palm clutched mine, leading me forward at a breakneck pace.
The gun was in his other hand.
Maybe that was why my head pounded.
From the sudden pop of the gunshot. The scent of blood clogging my nose and that alpha’s earsplitting screams.
I wanted to ask where we were going, but I didn’t dare. Our footsteps were already loud enough. There didn’t seem to be anyone following—Karma had held them all back—but if there were that many alphas hunting us, there would be more.
We swerved down empty hallways, pausing in silence every once in a while to wait for someone to pass. It was a miracle we made it to the rusty door that Sin pulled open.
It screeched, and I winced.
No one came running.
He ushered me inside and closed it behind us, turning to lean his back against it.
His chest heaved as he looked down at me, dark pupils almost swallowing his crimson irises. He glanced down at the gun in his hand, then he tucked it into his waistband.
I didn’t realize I was crying until his thumb brushed a teardrop from my cheek, the salty droplet sliding down in a little streak along his skin.
With a hiccup, I threw myself against his chest. My sobs were stifled—I was trying to be quiet—but it was still too loud in the empty, pipe-filled room.
I was desperate to ask if Karma would be alright.
But that was a pointless question, because he’d shut down in the bond, and that could only mean one thing.
He wasn’t.
The two of us were here alone, and none of our alphas knew where to look for us—if they were safe at all.
PHANTOM
A year and a half ago
We were caught between a rock and a hard place.
Karma was breathless at my side, having just brawled with one of the new, and completely feral alphas—Vandle, I think his name was, from the fractional moments of lucidity he’d had around us.
The stupid, pointless brawl had gotten us stuck in here.
Trapped behind a massive out-of-commission boiler in the boiler room while a pack feud went on the other side.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” I hissed at Vandle, my hand clamped over his mouth as he growled, as if about to confront the alphas just around the boiler.
He wasn't pack, nor had I known him long, like I’d known Karma, but I knew if this madman went to protect the omega being cornered by a dweller pack—well, he’d be ripped to shreds.
“I know it’s hard to watch,” I hissed. “But get a grip.”
I could hear the omega shouting for help, and Vandle struggled, eyes wild.
“Karma!” I hissed.
He was shaking himself free of a rut just in time. He grabbed Vandle, doing a better job than me as I peered around the boiler.
Shit, shit, shit.
The omega—a pale-skinned, dark-haired man who I knew went by Sin—was being backed against the rear of the room by the West pack. New dwellers, and he was their claim. Their gift.
My heart twisted as I caught sight of his terrified expression through the few pipes, but I backed up.
We shouldn’t be here…
Couldn’t do anything.
I turned to Karma.
“No auras,” I whispered.
He and Vandle might have been brawling, but the feral alphas seemed to grasp the urgency of the situation.
Thank fuck.
I heard the pack lead say something taunting to the omega, but I shut it out. I shook my head, meeting Karma’s eyes.
Three of us. Twelve of them.
A death sentence…
Still, my body tensed as I heard a thump followed by the omega’s whine, as if remaining here went against every instinct I had.
The other two were motionless, Karma’s hand still over Vandle’s mouth.
There was a small, strange silence, then a scuffle. I heard a shout—then a thud and another whine. The omega was hurt—
Vandle growled, losing it. His aura exploded into the space, and Karma matched it to keep him still.
We would have been dead, except that every alpha in the room did the same at that second.
Auras erupted. So powerful, so overwhelming that I almost loosed my own in pure panic.
Twelve alpha auras—is this what it felt like?
It felt too large, even for that many. My eyes were wide as I stared at the other two.
What the fuck?
Then the brawl began. Yelps and screams, the sound of flesh tearing…
Even Vandle was still.
A pack brawl?
It had to be. Another pack had come to challenge their claim on the omega. That was the only explanation for the pressure in the air.
We waited for an age until the sounds died down.
Finally, and almost suddenly, the auras were gone. The silence was ringing. Vandle and Karma had both contained theirs, I noticed, as if even they knew the danger.
I held my hand up to Karma, then I peered back around the boiler.
My hand clamped over my mouth.
Jesus Christ.
There were bodies everywhere. Limbs strewn. I saw a disembodied jaw. Innards spilling from someone’s stomach… I’d never seen anything like it.
And, seated with his back pressed against the wall, the omega had somehow survived. His chest was heaving, blood soaking his body. Even from here, I could see his arms shaking as he looked down at his palms, eyes wide with shock.
The alphas… they’d killed each other, and he’d survived.
My instincts told me to go to him.
To see if he was hurt.
I was about to do it, when the door flung open.
Damn.
That was the West pack allies.
Holden was their pack lead. Not dwellers, but well connected. And we were just three unbonded nobodies.
“A… pack brawl?” I heard him saying to one of the alphas behind him.
I watched as he looked around, muttering something else as he took in the destruction, his eyes finally landing on Sin. The huge pack lead had cruel, dark eyes that were dancing with victory, as if he’d just stumbled in to find an unexpected prize. He barely spared a glance for the bodies.
Fear and fatigue were written all over the omega's face, and for a moment, I wondered if he might pass out. Sin shook his head weakly, still trembling, eyes flickering across the new pack that was entering.
“Looks like we’re in luck,” Holden said. “Next in line, shall we say? We get an omega—and we aren’t even dwellers yet.”
I flinched as Holden kicked Sin, sending him sprawling. “Why don’t you run, omega. Make this fun.”
There was a beat, and then Sin managed to drag himself up, desperation clear in his eyes as he tried to run.
Something in me broke as I locked eyes with Karma, who had moved to see.
He’d survived all of that, only to lose his freedom here…?
Present
I woke with a start in a dim room, my whole body aching.
I blinked, trying to figure out where I was.
My pack… Sin…
The year and a half that had passed since the foggy dream had happened, it all rushed in.
Crescent…
We had even more to protect since the day we’d been reckless enough—three unbonded, half-feral alphas—to challenge Holden’s pack to protect an omega we had no claim over.
We hadn’t even been trying to form a pack, or bite him. And that might be why he’d trusted us after that.
But it was certainly why Holden hated us. He’d been the closest allies to the West pack—and he believed Sin should have been his.
He was behind this—I knew it, as thick iron bars finally came into my vision.
We were in a cage.
Like most structures in Anarchy, the bars were made of Vycron steel. Alpha-proof metal. Unbendable, even with the power of the strongest alpha aura. They’d stood the test of time—years of vicious fights banging against them, rutting alphas trying to rip them apart and get at the crowd.
It was fucking impossible to get out of.
But I tried. And when Vandle woke, he tried too.
We both kept the pack bond locked down tight, which meant we couldn’t feel anything from Crescent—didn’t know if she was fucking okay at all. But it was that, or terrify her and Sin. Force her to feel the bubbling rage and feral instincts threatening to break free of us both.
