Page 40 of Wild Omega

“Tough time to be stuck in here with the psychos.”

“Yeah, let’s get it over with.”

Pack. It’s a sound these men use often, and it seeps into me as a sound I ought to know. Something distantly familiar.

Metal creaks. I twitch with every sound, and then the screams start. Aggressive tremors run down my spine, and I stiffen, waiting for a chance to join the fight. Death, the one with white hair, throws a man into my bars, denting a corner. He whirls away to strike another, punching deep into the liver. I wince, but I can’t miss this chance. With every bit of strength I have, I throw myself at the dented gate and shove.

It bends enough to get one arm through. A fierce howl shreds my throat as I try once more, feeling the impact shake my body. A hot sensation floods me as I get my shoulders through and squirm my way up over the bent bars. The man writhing on the floor shouts as I land on his squishy belly.

Death swings my way, lips pulled back to reveal his sharp teeth.

Shivering, I squat down, lowering myself in respect. If he wants to kill me, I probably can’t stop him—although I’ll give my all to try.

He snarls silently but his shoulders relax, and he turns half away, recognizing me maybe not as a friend, but as familiar. Less of a threat than the strangers rushing into the room shouting their challenges.

I pivot and kick, sending one sprawling against the cells. The superior one, the one with a scar in his brow and fury in his eyes, grabs him from behind, wrenching the man’s arm through his cell bars. A satisfying snap follows, sending happy shivers through my spine.

Our eyes meet over the screaming man’s shoulder, and I can’t be sure because of the slanting light from the windows throwing shadowed dots everywhere, but it looks like the superior one dips his head once in recognition.

That makes me brave enough to rest a hand on his bars to balance myself for another kick to the intruder coming up behind me. This isn’t a fight I can win, so as he grunts and bends over, I roll over his back and streak toward the open doorway. Sirens blare in my ears and the opening shrinks.

I throw myself at the gap, and it thumps shut behind me. Through a window in the door I catch sight of Death, fighting with all his might and leaving a wreckage of bodies scattered across the floor. He hasn’t even noticed his escape route has vanished because he’s too busy expressing his fury.

I tear myself away and run as fast as my feet can carry me on the hard, gray ground. The door ahead is shut, but I spy a clear panel halfway up. With a yell, I load up my arm and punch through, shattering sharp fragments everywhere. Ignoring the sting, I launch up through the gap, dropping down headfirst but catching my fall with my open hands just in time.

I don’t intend to stop, but the sight before me strips every other goal from my mind and I skid to a halt. Air almost free from intruder scents brushes against my face like a living thing. Green threads grow up from the ground in masses that move with the air, as if ticklish.

And light. Light blazes everywhere, pouring out of a blue roof so far away I can’t sense it. Not a cold, white light like in the tunnels and caves I’m used to, but a warm, yellow light that makes my skin tingle in response.

This is the Other Place. The one the handlers come and go from as if they belong to it. The unfamiliar scent I catch on them sometimes that has nothing to do with men comes from this wonder.

I gulp down lungful after lungful of fresh air. A chain mesh separates me from this unknown and I mindlessly reach for it, ready to climb to the beyond place. I want it. The warmth calls to me. Somewhere outside lives the thing that’s missing from me. If I climb this last barrier, perhaps I can recall what I lost.

My hands close around the metal links.

A force burns through my body, so painful I can’t even scream. Every muscle locks up and I slip numbly from the mesh, my watery gaze locked on the sky. My back arches with agonizing heat and I fall. The thump of my body echoes before the ricocheting pain registers and that beautiful air expels forcefully from my lungs. I whine to call it back, but I can’t move.

I’ve had falls in the ring, and brutal kicks and slams, but they never came from the barrier itself. How can a fence fight more powerfully than me?

The sweet light cuts out as men swarm me, and a sob breaks through my dry throat as they drag me inside on my heels, my body still twitching uncontrollably. I can’t go back now. I reach one hand toward the light with trembling fingers, but it’s already gone, replaced with white, fake light.

The entire room stinks of blood and my feet slip in a puddle of it before the men throw me roughly into a different cell. Death did his work well, and now he’s nowhere in sight.

All of us fighters are upset and jumpy, the noise unbearable. I lie on the cold floor, the warmth from the big blue room without walls leaching into the concrete. A faint whimper gurgles through my throat. That’s twice I’ve lost the unknown thing. I clench my fist as if I could keep that last fragment of warmth captive in my grip. Captive like I am.

A stir runs through us as the door slides open outside of our schedule. Everything runs on schedule, with more men on duty since the day we broke loose. I haven’t seen Death since that day, so maybe he’s returning? I lift my nose in surprise as a familiar scent sweeps in and the superior one hums low in his throat. The female with the strong scent!

People walk in through the opening, one burly male carrying the female. Their aromas are so deeply entwined, something instinctive tells me they’re mates. I swing around to stare at the superior territory fighter, wondering how he’ll react.

His body goes stiff, and he stares longingly at the one he’s silently claimed. I expect him to roar in fury, but he doesn’t seem to care about the male covered in her scent. Only about her. Perhaps a female’s mates should be treated differently than threats?

The idea makes my head throb.

Her face softens in recognition as they pass my cell, and I step closer to the bars to watch.

The superior one’s entire body reacts to her, and her eyes leak water in response as she speaks. When she jumps forward to touch him, he blesses her forehead, but the other males gasp and jerk her away.

I growl softly as fear stinks up the room. How can they think any of us would harm a mate?

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