OmegaMine

by Aline Hunter

  Nathan lifted his head and snarled, baring pointed fangs. His breathing was shallow, a steady bubbling of blood forming at his left nostril. After a moment the angelic face was gone, leaving Ava to stare at the sky. Her vision began to blur, the outlines of the fire escape becoming hazy.

  Nathan tried to speak to her, shaking her forcefully when her lids slid closed.

  She knew he was trying to keep her awake but she was so damn tired and her eyes were becoming so heavy…

  As Sadie peered into the face of the dying woman held inside the arms of the shifter who had taken an array of bullets in the back to protect her, she felt the rage that came with being half-demon stir.

  She wasn’t sure what had possessed her to stay behind when Trey left, keeping a close watch on the building where the remaining shifters waited. Something had warned her she’d be needed here, something she couldn’t shake. Unfortunately, when she’d focused on the lone man entering the bar there had been no time to warn anyone or to stop what had been set into motion. The blast had shattered the glass of the building and demolished all of those within a close proximity.

  She turned to face the Shepherds standing at the end of the alley. There were four of them, their weapons now spent. “You’re all going to die,” she informed them and retrieved the sword at her back, removing it with a slow, practiced movement.

  They went for the weapons strapped to their chests but they weren’t fast enough. Vampire movement was impossible to beat when in the grip of fury.

  She took the head of the first one, ensuring he died faster than he deserved. As his face literally pounded concrete she moved to the second, delivering a blow to the heart that would guarantee he didn’t achieve the same demise. A bullet struck her in the chest and exited her back, bringing her to her third target. He managed to get another shot off—to her abdomen this time—before she delivered a blow to his midsection that sent his innards spilling to his knees.

  The forth one stood his ground, although he was breathing too erratically to be as calm as he wanted her to believe. She advanced on him slowly, drawing the death out, making him anticipate his passing. It was no less than he deserved for taking the lives of those he didn’t understand, killing them simply because they were different.

  When he squeezed the trigger she pounced, sending shiny, unyielding steel through his throat. His head shot back and she yanked hard, removing the blade from his spine. His wide eyes revealed his panic, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water as blood poured from the gaping hole beneath his chin. As he fell forward she moved aside and took a perverse amount of pleasure in the sound of his body scraping against the pavement.

  “Ava, please. Wake up!” she heard the shifter snap and she turned, gazing over her shoulder. The large male was shaking the woman in his arms, her head wobbling on his elbow. From this angle she could see the mortal wound at the base of her head, the large, gaping hole revealing a bloody mass.

  She swiped her sword clean using the shirt of the dead man at her feet, returned the blade to the sheath situated along her spine and walked back to the woman and shifter, taking purposeful steps. The male growled weakly at her approach but she didn’t hesitate, taking a knee at his side, studying the fragile female in his arms.

  “Stay back, vampire.” The shifter wheezed and attempted to move away.

  “She’s mated to your Omega, is she not?” He didn’t answer but he didn’t have to. She’d been in attendance the night Diskant Black had swooped in and claimed the tiny female onstage at Club Liminality. “Listen to me carefully. Her mate won’t make in time to seal the final stage of the bloodbond. I can scent death consuming her.” Sadie met his glowing, topaz-colored eyes. “My blood can sustain her until he arrives and assists her through the transition.”

  She watched him struggle with the truth. “You expect me to trust you?”

  “I’ve given you no reason not to.” She motioned to the dead Shepherds. “If I meant you harm, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

  After a moment, he allowed her to move closer. She studied the woman—Ava—closely, trying not to inhale the perfume of her blood. Her skin was now ashen, her eyes sunken. Pulling back her sleeve, Sadie bared her wrist. A quick strike and her blood flowed.

  “Open her mouth.”

  He tilted Ava’s head back and pressed his fingers to the crease of her lips. When they parted Sadie carefully lifted her hand so blood drizzled from her wrist. Drops splattered against pale skin while others made it to the intended goal, spilling past bluish-hued lips.

  Sadie felt the weight of the shifter’s stare and had to force herself not to squirm. “Who are you?” he asked. “What were you doing here?”

  “That’s not important.” She studied the woman in his arms and breathed a sigh of relief when her throat convulsed. As a mage vampire with a capacity for healing, it wouldn’t take much, a few tablespoons at most, to be certain Ava would survive.

  Slowly color returned to Ava’s cheeks and her throat moved as she swallowed. Sadie felt the bloody spot at the base of her skull with her free hand and exhaled in relief when she felt the bone start the mending process, the rough, uneven edges coming together.

  Unexpectedly, she was thrown from Ava and the shifter. Her head struck the wall before she crashed to the ground. Training ensured she landed in a crouched, defensive position, knees bent and hands extended.

  Lifting her head, she met the infuriated gaze of the fallen woman’s mate.

  Shit.

  The Omega.

  Diskant snarled at the vampire trapped against the wall, allowing his fury, outrage and devastation to bleed through. His mind was a haze of pain, anger and loss. The void so deep and unrelenting it hurt to breathe. As a being who was tied to all the races, he’d felt the death of each of his pack mates, like an electrical blackout leaving everything dark and empty. There was only one light left shining in the abyss, one soul among the lost who continued to exist.

  Ava.

  He’d transformed into the fastest form possible—the peregrine falcon—to make it back to his mate, his only relief arising in the knowledge that somehow she’d managed to survive. As he’d descended upon the fiery wreckage of the bar he’d allowed the grizzly to come to the surface. He wanted to hurt those who had hurt him, to make them bleed and suffer as none had ever suffered before.

  “D!” Nathan screamed. “Stop!”

  He didn’t listen, stuck in a frenzy of fury and contempt. The bodies littering the alley wouldn’t provide sufficient relief. He needed to kill something, to repay the loss of life with something of equal value. He lashed out with claws that sliced flesh and scored bone. The vampire’s blood flowed in a heavy stream down her torso, her pale blonde hair speckled with it as it sprayed into the air.

  He was too far gone to realize that she wasn’t fighting back, her arms defenseless at her sides. Instead he gloried in the rusty odor of her blood as she bled out, able to see the pulsing of her heart as his claws had penetrated far enough to allow him to glimpse within.

  “Ava needs you, Diskant,” Nathan thundered. “Stop fucking around!”

  The words penetrated the red haze of madness.

  Ava needs you.

  Turning from the vampire, he focused on Nathan and the limp form in his arms. The beast receded, replaced with the fear of a mated male.

  “Ava,” he whispered and rushed to her side and pulled her from Nathan’s embrace. She was smeared in blood from nose to chin, her heavy lashes resting peacefully against her cheeks. She didn’t move as he held her in the safety of his arms—too still and too limp.

  “You have to finish the bloodbonding,” Nathan said quickly. “The wound at the back of her head is a mortal one. The vampire helped keep her alive but her blood will only do so much.”

  Shifting Ava slightly, he moved his hand until he could carefully examine the injury Nathan spoke of. His stomach contorted, fear returning sharp and merciless. It was indeed a mortal wound, one that would have
likely killed her if not for the bonds already established between them. Although the bone wasn’t crushed, the skull bent inward. There was likely blood pooling in her skull, something that was dangerous for anyone, shifter or no.

  Grief engulfed him in a heavy shroud, settling like a dead weight in the center of his chest. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He intended to unlock the most important mark during an intimate moment, when he could look into her eyes, see her accept him and cherish her willingness to spend their lives together. It shouldn’t occur when she wasn’t conscious of it, taken unaware because it was the only way he could be certain she’d heal and survive following his inability to protect her.

  Sirens wailed in the distance and Nathan grasped his shoulder. “We don’t need to be here when the police start asking questions.”

  Diskant stood, lifted his mate and gave a sidelong glance at the wall. The vampire was gone, leaving nothing behind but a large pool of blood on the concrete. Remorse washed over him but vanished when Ava moaned slightly, bringing his attention back to her. He hurried down the alley, toward the road. There was a vehicle the pack kept parked a few buildings down, in case of an emergency.

  An emergency, he thought bitterly. This was far more than that. Shepherds might be dead on the street but they’d done what they’d set out to do, creating a substantial void in the shifter population.

  His temper resurfaced when he thought of how lucky they were the explosive inside the van didn’t detonate. If it had, they entire city would have been in chaos.

  Fortunately, no one cared about the nude man striding down the sidewalk with a woman hoisted in his arms. They were too concerned about the blazing building that was slowly collapsing and the broken and burned bodies strewn around the front. When Diskant made it to the car he climbed into the back and left Nathan to drive. As the Beta settled in the front seat, Diskant saw the oozing holes in his back, two on the left shoulder and one on the right where the bulletproof vest didn’t protect.

  Diskant made a silent vow that as soon as he’d bloodbonded Ava entirely and knew she would be safe, he would properly thank Trey’s second for saving her life and locate the vampire in order to do the same.

  Nathan started the car. “Where do you want to go?”

  Although wary of returning to his residence, it was the safest place. The security system would prevent anyone from getting inside, and with the recent activity the police would be all over the city.

  “Home.”

  He cradled Ava is his arms as Trey pulled the car on the road and tried not to think about what was yet to come.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Trey was waiting outside the firehouse, his face dark and unreadable, when Nathan pulled in front of Diskant’s home. The remaining pack members were there as well, and Diskant was certain that the lone Shepherd and tattooed asshole who’d managed to survive were on lockdown in the basement.

  Diskant climbed from the back of the car, walked past the somber faces that stared at the bundle in his arms, and strode to his room. Now wasn’t the time to talk about strategy, revenge or the inevitable rebuilding that would occur as a consequence of the Shepherds. He couldn’t take a moment to console Trey or the rest of the pack and express that he, too, felt the substantial emptiness of their loss.

  Ava couldn’t wait any longer.

  She was stable but had yet to regain consciousness. That alone terrified him more than he cared to admit. He had to complete the bloodbond—now.

  More shifters stood just inside, Kinsley amongst them. He was on the phone, likely contacting the prides to reveal everything that had transpired. He glanced up when Diskant moved past the entranceway and his emerald gaze rested on Ava. His eyes narrowed and he snarled something into the phone as he turned away.

  The stairs were empty and Diskant took them two at a time. When he made it to the bedroom he closed the door and carried Ava to the bed. She needed a shower, to have her skin cleansed of the smoke, blood and filth. Slowly he stripped away her clothing, revealing her bruised and battered body.

  He wanted to tear something apart when he saw the thin sliver of hollowed flesh missing from her thigh, recognizing the grazing of a bullet. Fear assailed him, tightening his chest. She could have died tonight, killed for nothing more than an association with him and his kind.

  Once she was nude he left her on the bed and rushed into the bathroom to start the shower. The water would be harsh against her skin, but it would only be one discomfort among many.

  Steeling himself to remain calm and levelheaded, he returned for his mate and remembered that no matter how this occurred, he was the fortunate one. Once done, it was done. He would never leave her again, never entrust her care to another. She would always be safe, always be close. Many of the pack had lost mates tonight. Some would survive the loss, others wouldn’t. The full extent of the damage wouldn’t be known for a couple of months.

  Cradling Ava in his arms, he walked into the bathroom, opened the stall and stepped into the warm stream. He used his free hand to wipe the blood away from her face, taking blackened portions of soot along with it. The ache in his chest grew heavier, nearly suffocating in its intensity. No matter how bad the situation, he had been spared the greatest loss a shifter could ever experience.

  His lips trembled as kissed her, opened his heart and soul to her completely, and started the final stage of the bloodbond. The first two stages were physical, requiring his seed and blood, but the final one was something that couldn’t explained under any normal context.

  He reclined against the wall of the shower to remain upright as he willed his bestial halves forward and the process started. He buried his face in the softness of her shoulder and throat, breathing her in, wishing like hell this could have happened at a different time, under different circumstances.

  She whimpered when the first and most powerful animal he possessed slid from his body and entered hers, leaving a portion of itself behind so that they were connected, two halves of one whole. The wolf rubbed against her skin before delving beneath, brushing against soft flesh and solid bone. She cried out as the mark was initiated, forced through her and finally settled. She shivered in his arms, her breathing shallow.

  He was overwhelmed by anger, regret and despair as the second beast arose and started the process over. Ava started thrashing, stronger from the wolf that was a part of her now. The cat quickly squelched the canine—leopard becoming cheetah, then cougar, then lion. By the time all of the feline breeds left part of their essence she was no longer unconscious but fighting him, her eyes opened, lips pulled back. The pain and confusion she was experiencing were also enhanced by lust, something that was entirely expected. This was why he was the dominant of the two, and he quickly took control, enforcing his will, ensuring the primal urges within his female answered to one man and one man only—him.

  He ran his fingers along the back of her head. The wound was closed and nearly healed. When the grizzly arose, he swung her around, pressed her against the wall, moved between her thighs and thrust his rock-hard cock into her. The bonding had brought his urge to mate to the surface as well as hers. There was no need for preparation. She was drenched with cream, slick and pooling. As he buried his length into her cunt, she welcomed him—hot, wet flesh hugging every inch.

  “Diskant.” There was agony and fear in her voice, and when he lifted his head he saw it mirrored in her eyes.

  “Feel me, Ava.” He withdrew and thrust back into her harshly, keeping his gaze on her face. “Only me.”

  The pain in her expression was laced with pleasure, her eyes becoming dark. She brought her hands up, clutched his arms until her fingernails broke skin, and ground her pussy against him. They began to move together and the remaining beasts took their turns claiming her as their own, leaving behind a piece of themselves so that she would always share a bond with them, would always be able to reach out to, comfort, nurture and soothe them.

  Her soft, muted cries tore at his heart, the
pain of the bond lessened only by the violence of their union. In order to keep her mind off the misery, he forced her to focus on the feel of him pumping in and out of her. He pinched and teased her clit, nipped and suckled at her breasts. When he felt her quicken he increased the pace, pounding into her hard and fast until she climaxed.

  The sound of her release was one he never wanted to hear again.

  She screamed in agony yet wailed in relief, her soft vaginal walls tightening around him as she shattered in his arms.

  “Can’t…take…more,” she sobbed, clinging to his shoulders, her face buried in his neck.

  “It’s almost over,” he whispered, voice clogged with tears as he witnessed the pain he was forcing on her. “Stay with me, Pinkie. Please, stay with me.”

  When he felt her slight nod he started thrusting again, gently this time. Her skin would be so sensitive his touch would burn, leaving behind impressions even as he let her go, but not for long. A portion of his soul took root in hers, and he felt the final connection being established. The moment it was completed a window opened between them, more powerful than he had ever anticipated. As it occurred he slid to the floor, shouting as his own orgasm thundered through him.

  Even as he came he continued thrusting, caught in the throes of their first mating heat. The bloodbonding was done. Now it was about establishing a connection, branding her as his female and mate just as she’d once claimed she wished to be.

  Mine.

  “More,” Ava demanded and wrapped her fingers in his hair, forcing him to look into her face.

  Her eyes shifted color—changing from sapphire blue to emerald green to liquid silver, to flashing gold—the only outward sign she would ever have that indicated she carried the essence of multiple shifting beasts inside of her. She started riding him, rotating her pelvis as she plunged down, stirring his cock to life.