Chapter 2 Syra

Ibolt up and grab my spear from against the wall. Then I crouch and blow out the candle. Whoever's outside will see that, and they'll know that I know they're here, but I'll take darkness over the element of surprise.

There's no time to think about my clothes.

Outside, the footsteps are growing closer, and now I can tell there is more than one person. There are three of them out there.

No, four.

There are two big doors on both ends of the barn. I put my body in a sideways position, so I'm ready to face whichever door opens first. My fingers tighten around the haft of my spear.

The footsteps stop. The night grows still. The air inside the barn smells of candle smoke and melted wax.

A drop of slick slithers down my leg.

With a splintering crash, the door to my left bursts open, and a massive, dark form hurls toward me through the darkness.

My hunter's instincts take over. I aim the tip of my spear in the direction of my attacker and brace.

The impact throws me off my feet. Darkness whirls around me. The ground seems to fly up and slam into my back, pushing all the air from my lungs.

A pained howl fills the barn.

Before I have a chance to regain my footing, the other door explodes open, and two more figures come snarling in from the other side. Powerful hands grab me and slam my body hard against the wall of the barn. Then they slam me back down to the ground.

"Omega," says a guttural voice.

"Heat," says another.

A string of warm drool dribbles across my chest.

I hear the sound of tearing leather and the alphas rip away their own loincloths. Their massive hands keep me pinned. Even though I know it is pointless, I try my best to struggle against them.

My flailing hand brushes against something long and hard protruding from between one of the male's legs. I grab that erect shaft and twist with all my might. Now two voices are howling in pain.

A fist collides with my head, making stars dance across my vision.

Through the ensuing daze, I can hear the alpha growling above me, telling me all the horrible things he's going to do to my body. I am dimly aware of him climbing on top of me and forcing my legs apart. I just wish he would have knocked me out completely so I wouldn't have to feel what he's about to do to me.

Then a voice cuts through the night, as sharp as any knife.

"STOP!"

The voice is feminine, and for a moment I think it is my own, but I don't have the strength to yell like that right now.

"Get off her, you idiot."

To my surprise, the alpha actually obeys.

I hear softer footsteps moving through the darkness. A small, shadowy figure stoops and picks up something off the ground beside me. A metal clink tells me it is my lighter. The wheel scritches against the flint, and a flame appears, filling the barn with a soft, orange glow.

The person holding my lighter is an omega. She looks to be a few years older than me, and she is dressed in a two-piece outfit of animal hides similar to my own. Her body is voluptuous, her skin fair, her hair blonde and lush. She flashes me a smile, but there is no warmth in it. None at all.

"Hi."

The alphas are scattered around the barn. One is leaning against the wall, clutching his injured penis. Another is lying on the ground behind the omega, groaning in pain. My spear is embedded in his shoulder. The omega hands my lighter to the third, uninjured alpha. The one who tried to rape me.

"Hold this," she says.

Once again, the alpha obeys.

The omega walks over to the alpha with the spear in his chest, and she stands over him for a moment, staring down at him disdainfully. She grabs the haft of the spear with both hands, braces one foot against the alpha's chest, and pulls the speartip free. The alpha renews his pained howling.

"Shut up," the omega snaps. "You sound like a fucking baby."

She lifts the spear and stares at the bloody point for a moment, then her gaze shifts back to me.

"You took down two of my alphas," she says. "Not bad, for an omega."

The daze from when the alpha struck me is finally starting to fade. I try to sit up, but when I do, the omega launches the spear at me. The tip buries itself into the dirt between my legs, mere inches from my bare, dripping sex. She shows me another psychotic smile.

"Please," she says. "Don't get up."

I don't. I'm tempted to grab the spear, but the uninjured alpha is crouching right beside me, watching my every move. He's got one hand wrapped around his hard shaft, stroking it slowly. Precum leaks from his tip, and I look away in disgust, even as my nipples tighten with unwanted arousal.

"I want to fuck her," the alpha snarls. "Please, Delphine, I want to fuck her so badly."

"Not yet. Let's find out what we're dealing with before you go putting your cock inside her, eh?"

"But she's in heat, Delphine! I can smell it! Please, please let me fuck her!"

"Oh, stop your whining, Anton. You can hold your seed a little longer."

I can't believe it. From everything I've been told, an alpha should not be able to resist the scent of an omega in heat. But there is something about this dark-haired omega that overrides the alpha's primal urges. He stares at me hungrily as he continues stroking himself.

The omega crouches over my satchel and looks inside. After a moment, she pulls out one of my tools. The largest one.

"Well now, what have we here?" She tosses it to the alpha crouching beside me. "What do you think, Anton—can you compete with that?"

Anton merely grunts.

Delphine rifles through my bag and clucks her tongue.

"This is quite a little treasure trove you've got here. Let me guess, you felt yourself going into heat, but you didn't want to be ravaged by any alphas, so you fled into the wilderness with some toys, thinking you could deal with it on your own. Is that about right?"

I just glare at her, masking my fear with defiance.

"Well, it's an interesting plan," the omega goes on. "Unfortunately, you picked the worst possible place to do it."

"If you let me go, I promise not to tell anyone about this."

I hate myself for how weak I sound, but I see no other choice. I'm outnumbered four to one here, and while I may have put a hurting on two of the alphas, they've already started to recover, and they are now standing over me with hate in their eyes. The one whose cock I twisted seems even angrier than the one I stabbed with my spear.

Now that I have a chance to look them over, I can see they have steel piercings all over their bodies. And while they are ugly, their faces are not twisted or deformed.

These alphas are not Farlanders. They must be from the Central Ruins tribe, same as me. But they obviously don't abide by the same code of honor.

Especially not Delphine.

There's something about her that scares me even more than her three alphas.

"Sorry," she says. "But nobody can know we were here tonight. I'm afraid we're going to have to kill you."

"Can't we fuck her first?" the one named Anton whines.

"Of course," says Delphine. "All three of you are going to fuck her and knot her. Then, when our friends get here, we'll let them have her too. They can dispose of her body after they're finished. But first… I want to have a little fun with her."

Before Delphine can tell me about her idea of fun, I sit up and reach for the spear between my legs. If they're going to kill me, at least I can give them some wounds to remember me by.

But my heat has made me sluggish. The alpha named Anton yanks the spear away before I have a chance to grab it. The other two alphas rush forward and grab my arms, pinning me to the ground.

"You're a fighter," Delphine says with a smile. "That's good. It means you'll be more fun to play with."

She picks up the unlit candle off the ground. Then she takes my lighter from Anton and relights the wick.

"Hold her down," she says.

The other two alphas tighten their grips on my arms until it feels as if I'm being held by iron clamps. They growl hatefully at my futile struggles. Delphine straddles me and sits on my stomach. I try to buck her off, but for a small omega, she is surprisingly heavy.

"This must be your first heat," she says. "Otherwise, you would already realize that your little satchel full of toys is totally useless. I know because I had the same idea once too."

"Fuck you," I snap.

"All in good time. But first we're going to play a little game. Did you know that when an omega goes into heat, all her senses become heightened? Her sense of smell. Her sense of hearing. Her sense of touch…"

She tips the candle, dribbling a stream of hot wax over my left breast. It's only wax, but to my heightened senses, it feels more like molten metal. I grit my teeth and try to writhe in agony, but the alphas keep my arms pinned with their hands, and Delphine keeps my hips pinned with her hips.

"Mm, you're good at that," she says. "You look so beautiful when you're in pain. Don't you boys think she looks beautiful?"

"Do her other tit," says Anton.

Delphine holds the candle upright for a few moments to collect more hot wax. Just as my pain from the first dripping is starting to fade, she pours more of the stuff over my right breast. This time, some of it lands directly onto my erect nipple. I scream.

"Exquisite," Delphine says. "Absolutely exquisite."

She moves her weight off my body, and I try to kick her, but my muscles feel as though they have turned to mush, and she easily dodges my attack.

"Get her legs apart," she commands her alphas.

While still keeping a firm grip on my arms, the alphas reach down and take hold of my knees, spreading them wide for their omega. Delphine kneels in front of me, her eyes gleaming madly in the flickering light. She holds the candle over my exposed sex and starts to tilt it. I tense in anticipation.

Just as Delphine is about to pour the hot wax onto me, a new roar explodes through the barn, rattling the weathered board.

It wasn't one of Delphine's alphas who made that sound. It was someone else.

In unison, Delphine and her pack all turn toward the door at the end of the barn. I lift my head to look too, and when I see what is standing there, a fresh wave of fear grips my heart.

"Let her go," the monster growls. "Let the omega go."