Page 18 of Wild Omega

I writhe and snarl, but it’s no use. My skin stings as they poke at a bite wound I’d forgot about. I growl, jerking against the icy floor with every sharp jab. Unfortunately my words never seem to form into the sounds theseothersuse and understand. A huge gap exists between what they are and what I am.

Why am I so different?

They lack killing intent, unlike me, so eventually I stop fighting and simply lie there, snarling. The aches of my fight catch up to me, numbing me into a kind of trance. I want to hide in a dark corner and lick my own wounds quietly, but sound constantly assaults my ears. So I pant on the cold floor, growling softly even after they leave, trapping me back inside the tiny metal walls. I’d rather live and die out where the intruders are than stay trapped in here.

The superior one goes out into the tunnel, vibrating a warning. He’s upset because they took the female away from him. I twitch as a commotion leaks through the walls, and the cruel tormentor’s screams ring out over the burble of the not-belonging beings. A deep, shuddering noise of pleasure works through my throat. The superior one has taken his revenge.

I slink onto the sleeping shelf and draw my feet up off the floor, tilting my head side to side to listen. Theothersshout in rage and run out of our cave. The tunnels behind my cage echo with furious cries and then I smell the blood as they force the superior one back into his cage nearby, roaring with rage and pain.

I jump to my feet and open my mouth to rumble my congratulations.

Suddenly, I stop and spin. Scents that don’t belong filter in through the air vents. The fighters around me take up the alarm cry, and then the light shuts off, leaving us in total darkness.

“What the fuck?” one of theothertormentors cries.

I don’t know what his sounds mean, but the alarm in his voice makes me bare my teeth. I growl at the dark, shivering. I’m vulnerable and my senses spike unbearably, trying to detect all possible threats. And the pressure in my head pounds heavier, plunging me into a turmoil of ideas I can’t understand.

Why am I here, while theotherscome and go? Where did the strong-smelling female come from? Do more females live beyond these walls?

Muscles quivering, I wait, listening to the warning shouts muffled by the solid walls. “OCB raid!” The unfamiliar scents thicken in the vents, and then a door bursts open, admitting twin beams of white light. Unknown male scents burn my nose.

“OCB, get on the ground!”

Theotherman curses and tries to run, and one stranger slings him to the ground. I throw myself at the bars, springing at the chance to end him while he’s down. The metal stops me, and I flail through the gaps, snarling.

He’s my prey, mine!

“Fuck me, look at them all! Wild as animals!” The new voice burrs deep like mine, and soon more people join the stranger.

“Damn, they reek!”

“Yeah, bet they never learned any scent control at all.”

I slink back into the shadows, knowing if they choose to work together, my chances of winning will be slim, especially since I’m wounded.

“They’re all contained and Alpha Lodgings are on standby. Continue sweeping.”

“Roger that.”

The superior one whines in his cell, lifting his nose. He’s lost track of his mate’s scent and we fighters pick up on his unease, growling and baying a warning.

I watch as an unfamiliar man drags out theotherone who feeds us. Something has changed. Is another group claiming this territory? I have a bite puncture in my arm, but they won’t take me down easily. My head blooms with new ideas as I consider the possibility of the territory structure changing.

Or is this my territory at all?

I shake my head. All I can do is wait and see and defend myself with all I have when they come within range.

And snarl. I can always do that.

Chapter eight

O-11

What is time? You need a clock, or, lacking that, access to daylight to measure time. Otherwise, it doesn’t exist. All I have are the irregular biorhythms in my body and a meal tray, which may or may not be arriving once per day. They’ve thrown the spy into solitary confinement until she breaks.

I lean my head back against the wall and giggle. This spy will never cave. I may seem pathetic, huddled up next to the sliver of light that reaches under the door, but it’s all part of my training. If I had a spy code name, I’ve forgotten what it was. Alice? Llewelyn? Or something dramatic, like Red Hawk? Hovering in one place while I wait for the right moment to dive on my prey. Sounds right.

With nothing else to do, I practice the facial expression I’ll have at the precise moment my alphas come for me. Overjoyed, obviously, but perhaps a little pouty because they took so damn long. Or maybe downright pissed off.

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