Page 11 of Omega on Fire

With a reluctant nod, Malcolm connects his laptop to the cabin's projection system. The blank wall across from us flickers to life, displaying a dark webpage with scrolling text in a chat window. The excitement in the chat is palpable, users typing frantically about a ‘prime buy’ and ‘worth every penny’.

"Jesus," Josiah breathes, reading the comments faster than the rest of us. "They're bidding already, just on a promise."

My fists clench at my sides as I read the dehumanizing language. These aren't people looking to buy a car or a house, they're discussing a human being like they’re livestock.

"Wait," Malcolm says. "They're releasing a preview."

A video player appears on screen. For one merciful moment, the thumbnail is dark, giving us no hint of what's to come. Then Malcolm clicks play.

"Fuck!" Teagan's roar fills the cabin as the video begins.

"Shit." Beckett curses at the same time.

My stomach drops through the floor. The world narrows to a pinpoint, everything peripheral fades away as I take in what I'm seeing. It's Charlotte, there's no doubt. Even through the pain and humiliation visible on her face, I recognize her immediately.

"Turn it off!" I shout, but I can't look away. None of us can.

She's in the throes of a forced heat, the artificial flush to her skin, the glazed look in her eyes despite her obvious terror. Three men surround her, using her body while she whimpers. The sound cuts through me like a knife.

Beaux tosses his coffee cup across the cabin with a primal growl. "I'll kill them all. Every last one of them."

"Malcolm," Quincy says quietly but firmly. "End it. Now."

The screen goes black, but the damage is done. The image is burned into my retinas. Her tears. The way her body responded while her eyes screamed for help. The cruel hands on her skin.

I stumble to the bathroom, barely making it before I empty my stomach. Gripping the sink, I splash coldwater on my face, trying to wash away what I've just witnessed. In the mirror, my reflection looks haunted, my eyes nearly black with rage.

When I return to the cabin, the atmosphere has transformed. The controlled professionalism has given way to something darker, more primal. This is no longer just a mission.

"We have a location," Josiah says, his voice hollow. "The video had metadata. They were sloppy."

"Or arrogant," Beckett adds.

"Either way, this answers our questions about whether this location is legit," Teagan says. "The compound on the satellite images—it matches."

I look around at my brothers, at our borrowed team members. No one speaks for a long moment. We don't need to. What we just witnessed has changed everything.

"We're not just retrieving her now," I say finally, my voice raw. "We're burning that place to the ground."

Teagan nods, his expression turning murderous. "Call Dez. Tell him we need extraction capabilities for multiple victims and his Beta team. Oh, and weapons. Lots of weapons."

"No one gets left behind," Beaux says, "and no one who touched her walks away."

"Amen to that," I whisper, the word feeling like a prayer and a curse all at once. The religious boy my parents raised would be horrified by the violence in my heart right now. But the man I've become, the soldier, the protector, knows some sins can only be cleansed with blood.

CHAPTER 6

JOKER

Just call me the motherfucking Oracle of the digital realm. While my pack brothers are out there getting their hands dirty, I'm the puppet master pulling all the strings from behind my wall of screens. Yeah, I have no problem playing shoot ’em up with my brothers, but I’m in my element with lines of code in front of me. Ain’t nobody better—well, maybe Malcolm but that remains to be seen. For days straight I've been searching for Charlotte, following digital breadcrumbs so small most people wouldn't even know they exist. But I see them. I always see them.

"You look like shit, J."

I don't bother to look at Teagan. My fingers dance across the keyboard, the clicking sounds almostsymphonic as I work through another firewall. "Thanks for the fashion critique, Te. I'm going for the 'exhausted tech genius' look. It's all the rage in Milan this season," I say offhandedly. Yep, I’m being a brat and I know I’m going to eventually pay for my petulance.

My Alpha's heavy footsteps approach and I can feel him looming behind me. His scent of leather, and gunmetal invades my space, like a walk through the forest at the break of dawn. Blissful. On any other day, it would be comforting, but today it's just another distraction.

"When was the last time you slept?" His voice has that edge to it. The Alpha edge that makes the Beta in me want to drop to my knees and submit.

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