Page 73 of Ruin Me Knot
But a new taint cuts through the freshness. Chemical, sharp, wrong. The world narrows to that deadly artificial stench.
The Facility.
One of the most brutal of the guards.
My muscles clench to run back to the safety of my Alphas when his bark stops me. "Stay where you are, you stupid bitch."
The command bites into my skin. I can’t speak. I can’t move. Ice rakes down my spine, and all the lightness I’d gathered in my chest collapses. My bouquet falls crushed and unfinished, as Lars reaches through the bushes and locks his brutal hands around my biceps.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ronan
My chest detonates with adrenaline as I see another Alpha’s hands on my Omega. I’m stripped down to nothing but need and vengeance, blood roaring so loud it drowns out everything except the frantic stutter of Leah’s pulse.
Jax’s growl thunders behind me, Gabriel’s sharp yell splitting the air as all three of us move. My legs piston over grass, the world tunneling to the Alpha’s fists on Leah, her body rigid, bouquet spilled.My Omega. He’s bigger than expected, but it doesn’t matter. He’s between me and what’s mine.
He starts dragging her through the bushes, but she lashes out. The Alpha roars and I see the hilt of a knife sticking from his bicep. The cheese knifeI gave her to cut flowers. His face contorts before he backhands her hard enough to snap her head to the side. She sags and rage ignites my blood.
I slam into him so hard his ribs cave. Jax barrels in as Gabriel rips Leah from the Alpha’s grip, twisting her behind his body, his arms forming a protective barricade.
She clings to him, fingers digging into the fabric at his waist. "He’s Lars."
The name triggers molten fury.
Lars, the guard who tormented and abused Mira, Emma and Leah. The architect of her nightmares. Her trauma.
In no reality does this bastard get to live.
I launch at him. His stink is everywhere. Acrid, chemical, medical tang smeared with sweat and fear. He reeks the same as the Facility guards, and it ignites something deep and animal in my chest. Jax drives his fist into the Alpha’s face, shattering cartilage. Blood sprays in a hot arc across the grass as I follow, teeth bared, fingers clawing at his throat.
He tries to fight, but we’re the bigger monsters. Jax grabs his wrist and wrenches, bone splintering with a wet snap. I drive my knee into his ribs repeatedly, bones giving and collapsing beneath the force. When he tries to scream, I slam my fist into his mouth, crushing teeth beneath my knuckles.
Jax clamps his hand around Lars’ skull and grinds his face into the ground until blood sprays. The world runs red. My vision, my hands, the grass.
All of it sticky with the stench of chemical andwrongness.
I come back to myself on my knees, chest heaving, hands slick over the Alpha’s unmoving body. Jax hunches beside me, breath rasping, his arms shaking, red to the elbows.
And then I hear a soft, broken whimper.Leah. The sound cuts through my rage like a blade, dragging me back, atom by atom. I stagger upright, blood still hot on my skin, and turn toward where Gabriel shelters our Omega.
She’s huddled against his chest, shaking so hard the tremors pass through all of us. Nothing matters but Leah. I need to touch her, hold her. Make sure she’s stillwhole. We form a protective cage around her as I fit my nose to her gland. I detect sour fear, but underneath, fresh roses.
She goes stiff between us, and screams. The sound shoots through my chest as more males tear through the bushes, tainting the air with chemical wrongness.
These aren't real Alphas. They’re heavily muscled Betas like those from the gala, muscles layered wrong on their frames. Hardwick's fake guards.
Jax and I meet them head-on. I land a punch that cracks bone, but the Alpha barely slows. Jax slams his fist into another’s throat, but the bastard just laughs, blood bubbling at his lips.
Gabriel rips a male away from Leah, but too many come at us.
Arms like iron bars wrench my shoulders back, another pins my legs. Three of them, too strong, too heavy. I can’t move. Can’t get to our Omega. Jax fights like a devil, but there’s a fist in his hair, yanking him down.
Leah screams again as one grabs her, thick arm around her waist, jerking her clean off her feet. Her legs kick, arms flailing. She’s so small compared to their bulk, their hands swallowing her wrists, pinning her as she thrashes.
"Let me go!" Her voice breaks.
I bellow, straining against the bodies crushing me, every nerve burning. "Leah!" But I can’t break free.
