Broken Angel: The Complete Collection: A Dark Omegaverse Romance

by Penelope Woods

  “Sometimes, it feels like my heart has ripped in half,” she says, falling across the floor like an angel with broken wings. The gold that fragments her hair sparkles against the faulty lighting of the room.

  Vash has to let the samples sit before he can make use of their contents. If he can. There is always the possibility of failure, even if he doesn’t want to acknowledge it.

  “It’s over,” he says.

  When he drinks the tonic, all of his tensions ease. The alpha inside him washes away into a sea of weakness.

  Vash eyes Lucas and Killian curiously. “I’ll be in bed shortly. We may need to filter out the negative swabs.”

  They leave the room, but Killian keeps his eyes on Vash until he passes through the doorway.

  “All of what I did is to your benefit,” Vash explains to Rae. He seems to wait for a response, but when she stays silent, he notes her resilience. It will be a problem for him, he decides.

  “Your neck won’t be sore tomorrow, and the tests will come back positive,” he reiterates.

  Rae blinks her eyes and wobbles sideways against him. “Tests?” she whispers.

  Rae looks away and rubs the crook of her neck.

  “You’ll cure me,” he says.

  Vash sits above Rae. Despite his injuries, he still looks ready to claim her. But she bears the brand on her tongue. Legally, she is Cassian’s property. It is a gesture of faith. A contract.

  Nothing matters except the omega.

  “Your hymen is intact,” he says, proudly.

  Rae nods. “I guess he didn’t handle me,” she says. “Not all the way.”

  “But I can,” Vash says, gloating. “I can bend you and twist you around until you burst with seed. If I feel the urge, I can knot into your guts and pull them out onto the floor.”

  She can hear his heart beating, faintly.

  Rae’s greasy, matted hair falls across her face as she lowers her eyes. Her back arches, a glaring display of her lack, the sexual need that only an alpha can fulfill.

  Vash is fully aware that she has been through the hell of dying already. Now, she appears as ready for the inevitable, the final knotting that will seal her fate as a thoroughbred piece of cunt.

  “I know you can do all those things,” she says. “If that’s what you need, I’ll give you all the slick you can handle. I know my purpose.”

  Her eyes roll up to peer at him, soft like a kitten’s. Vash cocks his chin forward and bites her lip, pulling and clipping too hard. He sucks around the soft cushions of her mouth and digs his tongue into her throat.

  He seems to enjoy the sweet taste of her amphibious licking, but the more he lets her tempt him, the more he grows enraged. In a few days, he will turn weak again.

  His hands tighten around her skull, squeezing to break. At the final moment, he lets go and gives her space.

  “I can do whatever the fuck I want because you’re mine. And once I have you, the pack has you. They’ll share your glistening nectar and pour the liquid into a trough for us to bathe in together and gorge. We’ll tie your body on a stick and furrow our faces into your pubic hair. Lucas will suck your clit raw until you quiver with dull orgasm.”

  Rae feels each action as he recites the list from memory. She isn’t the only one who can do things, but the situation these men have on her is too big to overcome so soon.

  “Why do you do it?” she asks.

  He lowers his eyes on the pet. “Do what?”

  “Take.”

  Vash runs his tongue against his lips. “You either breed or you own. I’m a breeder. It’s in my nature, and it’s my pack who will have you until you’re bred dry. You will then tend to our needs.”

  But Rae looks at Vash and sees someone who has nothing. “You lack,” she whispers.

  Vash jerks forward. Standing above her, he places his hand against her cheek.

  “Go to bed and dream, omega. Tomorrow, I might be powerful enough to breed you,” he says.

  Rae looks into his jet-black eyes and feels a rush of warmth spread between her legs. The feeling of pleasure is soon followed by guilt’s heavy hand of remembrance.

  She has been taken before. She’ll be taken again.

  When will she be in the position to take?

  Chapter Five

  The smell of oil and acrid blood. The painful blast of cold to the heart. The taste of dirty fingers to palm, clasping around dainty lips.

  Fragmented flower.

  Wilting mother.

  Tree from which I bloomed.

  Rae opens her eyes to darkness.

  One quick lift from the floor, and she is pulled into the warm and binding arms of Lucas. His tattoos coil around her throat like an anaconda.

  “Sh,” he whispers. “Heard something.”

  Rae feels her gut lurch from the sudden realization of danger, vomit pouring from her mouth onto Lucas’s palm. The thick liquid runs through his fingers, smearing over his knuckles.

  More than anything, she wishes for the facility doctor’s pills. If they allowed her, she would have taken them all to drown in a sea of inflated love—the only love she ever knew.

  As she gets used to the darkness, she listens to the sound of light footsteps coming from underneath the flat. Somewhere in the hallway below, people are moving. Searching for her, no doubt. She can hear the intruders comb through the building.

  No matter where she goes, she is a target. Without a true owner, she is up for grabs. Not even a marking makes a difference anymore. She is merely the final frontier of their disturbing and horrid sagas.

  The sounds fade into silence. The pack waits approximately two-seconds before the feeling in the room turns into hesitant urgency.

  Killian peers through the open door. Suddenly, he waves everyone forward.

  Rae is silent against Lucas, skin and parts still exposed to the roughness of his tactical clothing. Slowly reaching upward, he pulls a set of goggles down over his eyes. The other hand grips a pistol, elbow jerking into Rae’s sternum.

  “Don’t worry. I can see. Stay near me,” he whispers. “They won’t kill a prized omega.”

  “What do they want?” Rae asks.

  Hushed tones against her eardrum, whispering words only Rae can hear, Lucas says, “To bring you back.”

  Home.

  It’s somewhere familiar. It’s a place with a room. There are other omegas, too, but their delusional nature doesn’t make for the best housemates. Not to mention, the officers would transfer her to a new facility, a guarded prison, somewhere on the opposite ends of the planet.

  That means new doctors, new omegas, and an entire ceremony to prepare her for fertility. She is the right age. Cassian will want what he set out to achieve.

  Why does her cunt have to be the source of so much pain? If she could carve her womb out from the core of her body, she would. She’d curl into a ball of flesh and bite a path inward.

  “We go,” Lucas whispers, nudging her forward.

  Pistol shaking, Lucas follows Killian and Vash.

  Vash bends and places a key into the window lock. The bars release with a light clicking noise. He pushes the glass panes forward until the salt and gasoline air flow into her lungs.

  The first two alphas take a leap of faith into the night sky, falling onto the set of ropes that act as a ceiling of protection for the merchant-filled alleyways. Lucas lifts Rae’s tender body onto the windowsill, but she shuffles back against him.

  “I can’t,” she says.

  Lucas grins and knocks her ankle with the side of his hand. Rae’s feet gave way, and the hand of gravity swings against her, tipping into the unknown.

  The stars above spin into a cobweb of broken dreams. Soon, her back hits the soft knots of rope. Lucas drops in after her, landing square on his feet.

  Killian runs forward and clutches the front of Vash’s shirt. Worry creases his eyes. “How the fuck did they find us?”

  Peering up at the balcony, Rae sees flashing lights on the inside wall. A s
harp frequency resonates throughout the flat, filtering into a low rumble. A moment passes before the housing complex bursts into flames and sharp pieces of concrete.

  “It’s not them,” Vash whispers. “It’s another militia group. Someone is standing up against Cassian. We knew this would happen.”

  The three alphas turn to Rae, and she knows what they’re thinking. Time is almost up.

  She is the most important woman, the most fertile pussy in the world, and if the alphas want to keep her, they need to knot and nest her quick.

  “Who the fuck is challenging Cassian and the Ouroboros?” Killian asks.

  Lucas bites his lip and shrugs. “Lots of people on our tail now. Could be bounty hunters looking for a quick buck.”

  Killian shakes his head and suddenly stares at Rae with all the malice in the world. “No. The alphas searching that building were soldiers. I saw them before you woke. They looked… fearless.”

  Vash pulls out a blade and tears at the netting. “It doesn’t matter. My kits are ruined. I’ll have to start all over again.”

  Killian kicks the blade from Vash’s hand and stoops with his own twisted razor stretched out flat. “Stop worrying about the kits and start telling me how they found us,” he growls.

  “As if I know,” Vash replies.

  “Please,” Lucas hisses. “They found us like they find everyone. Cunning hunters always sniff out the cake. If we want to enjoy her frosting, we have to keep moving.”

  The men howl with laughter.

  Killian brings the blade against the rope, cutting a hole to the alley where they can find cover.

  Rae stumbles onto the eroded cobblestone. She would have broken her nose had she not softened the blow with the back of her arms.

  Lucas pulls her onto her feet. “We won’t have you scuffed.”

  “I have a feeling it’s going to get a hell of a lot harder from here,” Killian mutters.

  Lucas jogs and licks the edge of his canine teeth. “Back to the pipes, eh?”

  Vash whips his head angrily at them. “We had to go back there, anyway.”

  Reaching into his bag, he draws out a set of clothes for her to wear. As she takes the clothing into her hand, she sees that it’s one size too small. Regardless, they’ll have to work.

  Trembling with exhaustion, she steps into the thin panties and adjusts the tight shirt and jeans that hug her moist mound with comforting security.

  Before Vash can run, Rae feels a surge of familiarity and takes his hand. She hasn’t worn clothes in so long. In many ways, it’s like she hasn’t been alive until now.

  “I won’t take a step until I know who you brutes are,” she says, quivering but strong.

  Rae waits for their answer, but the sounds of boots march nearby. “Best keep moving,” Killian says and binds his fingers between her weakened biceps.

  Rae bucks, but she cannot break free.

  The four run toward the other side of the alley, ducking into a recess near some garbage. As Lucas presses his hand against the nape of her neck, Rae spots a group of armed traders, shirtless and covered in thick gray paint.

  “Who are they?” Rae whispers.

  Killian covers her mouth and leans near her ear. “Soldiers from the old Republic.”

  “They lost their power almost a decade ago. They don’t have resources to fight anymore,” Vash sneers.

  “Don’t be so quick to talk,” Lucas says. “They walk out in the open without fear. Cassian has neglected this region. Give it a few years, and they’ll be running the show.”

  As the militia courses through the alleys, the painted soldiers wreak havoc on neighboring flats. The sounds of violent screams reverberate throughout the concrete valleys of the city. Succulent sounds of soldiers undoing holy wishes, ruining all that wasn’t the prize.

  It’s worse than Rae thought.

  She listens to the gunshots ring out. Almost immediately, the sounds of an omega’s begging stops short.

  One by one, the lights of the city dim. The silence breaks only by the muffled tears from neighbors who restrain their loss as best they can.

  What kind of mad world has Rae fallen into? There are no police in sight. No guards, no hero to speak on their behalf. The flesh of the ripe rule over alpha’s thirsty tongues, and business goes as far as it pleases the ruling class.

  As they walk, the alphas make sure she’s covered and out of the way. Making sure she is safe to tend to their future wants, they keep her life intact and give her the minor agency of a two-year-old.

  It’s a start.

  To Rae, it’s somehow monumental, and the generosity allows her to open up her trust.

  In the middle of the pathway, there is a muddy manhole. Vash runs and quickly digs his hands into the filth. Twisting, he brings up the cover and stumbles back, dropping it to the side.

  “Inside. Quick.”

  The inside is damp and putrid. Decaying forms of all kinds hang across the wall like a living, breathing organism. A set of huddled and emaciated alphas stand in a nearby pack, eyes reflecting the purple hollow of their souls.

  Rae’s feet plop into the contaminated water. Forced to wade through it, she gags.

  Lucas clasps a leash around her neck. He locks it in place before giving her a quick smack to the cheek. “Where are you running off to, rat? Did you forget you are our property?”

  “We established that I’m not yours,” she says. “I am Cassian’s catch, remember?”

  Lucas nudges her ankle and watches her fall into the sludge. “That’s twice,” he says. “You should know by now that Cassian is an evil son of a bitch. He’s not the home you want, dear.”

  Vash hacks against the stench. “We shouldn’t be here. Something’s wrong. The air feels off…”

  “It’s the sewers,” Killian replies.

  Lucas grips the leash, jerking Rae forward. “Let’s find this doctor, Vash,” he says.

  As they walk through the toxic muck, Rae tries not to focus on the strange alphas in her peripheral, howling and screaming like chimpanzees. She tries not to focus on the elderly who have come to die or beg for the devil to answer their prayers.

  Instead, she focuses on her captors because she understands they are the only ones who can protect her now. They won’t let her die down here.

  “You’ll be fine. Just don’t fucking run,” Killian says.

  Vash looks pale. “I am dying with fever,” he says. “If I don’t find this doctor in the next six hours, I will perish.”

  Timidly, Rae continues walking. “What does that have to do with me? Why do you keep looking at me as if I’m the cure to your sickness?”

  “Please,” Vash mutters. “I’m doing something I would normally never do. I’m asking for your help.”

  “You don’t have to ask,” she says. “Though, I guess it doesn’t hurt.”

  Vash holds his gut and walks toward a set of stairs. He stumbles against the railing. “My kit was destroyed. I need your DNA to make the correct serum.”

  “It’s not the girl’s fault,” Killian mutters. “Cassian did this to you.”

  “Don’t be stupid. She will not be harmed in the process,” Vash says, pausing. “Don’t bring his name up again. It won’t be long until I have his head on a spike.”

  The name burns Rae’s tongue. Nearly folding forward, a sharp cry escapes her lips.

  “Who is Cassian in relation to you?” she asks.

  Vash cocks his head. His eyes seem to gloss over. “He killed my father,” he grunts. “That’s all you need to know.”

  Rae stumbles forward as they drag her up the metal steps. “Just tell me one thing. The devil who kept me, Cassian. Who is he?”

  “Walk.”

  At the top of the stairs, there is a door that leads into a narrow passageway. As they move deeper inside, they come across a man dressed in the same garb as the specialists that raised her.

  Nodding toward Rae, he asks, “You’re carrying the omega around with you? Are you out o
f your mind?”

  “Our property. Our business,” Killian says.

  “It’s worse than I thought,” Vash pouts.

  Rolling up the front of his shirt, he shows the doctor his abdomen, now a wound leaking with infectious pus.

  The specialist winces. “The leader did this to you?”

  Vash strengthens his resolve. “Does it fucking matter?”

  Forcing Vash’s shirt back down, the doctor shoves him against the wall of the hallway. “If that beast fed you this parasite, I can’t be the one to help you.”

  Both Killian and Lucas step forward. “Fix him, or we’ll fix you,” Killian demands.

  The doctor removes his hands from Vash’s trembling abdomen. “You know Cassian’s reputation,” he says. “I’ll be killed for this.”

  “I was told you had the serum,” Vash barks. “If you’re going to waste my time, I’ll have the omega kill you instead.”

  Rae cowers behind Killian’s massive calves. She holds his hairy flesh, attempting not to give in to a rising state of panic.

  Glancing back at Vash’s wound and current state, the doctor holds up a small box. Kneeling, he sets the box on the musty concrete and touched a translucent button. The center opens into an oval shape.

  “The parasite takes two weeks to conform to your nervous system. I can give you the serum necessary to kill it, but you ought to have the samples you were told to bring.”

  Vash’s shoulders sink. The kits are destroyed, and Cassian’s men won’t avoid the pipes for long. They don’t have time to find another doctor. There has to be another way.

  He bites his cheek until he tastes blood. “We’ll have to do without those,” Vash says.

  The doctor’s face drops. “You mean, you didn’t bring them?”

  Vash clears his throat and falls deeper into the misery of his degenerative state. “No. They were destroyed, but we have the omega. We can take more.”

  With a shocked look, the doctor shuts his mouth and swallows. “I don’t have the correct kits to take the samples. Without the saliva, blood, and scent of an omega, the process won’t work. I can give you a serum, but it won’t cure you.”