Omega Mine

Grayson was slumped over in his seat, his hands cuffed in front of him when he woke, staring down at the metal flooring of an armored vehicle. The spike in his chest was still there, but his body had begun healing, slowly pushing the foreign object out.

He didn’t tense, didn’t alter his breathing, didn’t give any indication that he was no longer unconscious. He simply took stock of his surroundings.

He was in some kind of enclosed, military grade truck.

Jameson was seated across from him on a bench bolted to the side of the wall, the scent of his blood strong in the air, though it didn’t seem fresh. His eyes moved slowly up from the floor, locking on the Omega’s cuffed ankles. Thick, white gauze was wrapped around the male’s leg where he’d been shot, the material dotted with blood.

They’d treated him, then.

Beside Jameson were two guards on each side, both holding assault rifles casually between their legs, the weapons pointed at the ground. The same amount of guards loitered on Grayson’s side of the vehicle, meaning eight guards total were in the back, likely two in the front seats, just beyond the metal partition that separated the vehicle into two sections.

Ten guards total? He inhaled, pulling in each individual scent within the vehicle.

Nine guards, then.

Manageable.

Grayson glanced back down at the spike in his chest, watching as it pushed out further, his flesh mending itself together as it worked on removing the foreign object. Now, it was no longer piercing his lungs, and even though it hurt like a son of a bitch, his breathing was better. He also didn’t feel lethargic. Or weak.

“How long do you think he’ll remain unconscious?” one guard beside Jameson asked, nudging his comrade.

“It’s difficult to say. The spike was coated in enough wolfsbane to kill several humans, but someone like Seven? Might be a few more hours before he wakes. Could be tomorrow. Their bodies can heal from almost anything if given enough time, even poison.”

Grayson fought back the growl threatening to spill free. They’d poisoned him? Now it made sense why he’d grown weak, his breathing labored and his heartbeat irregular. It hadn’t just been from the spike.

At least Josie had been safe back at camp.

His heart quickened, mouth drying in his throat as memories assailed him from just before he’d fallen unconscious.

Josie wasn’t safe. She’d reached out to him in a panic, the fear in her voice unmistakable.

Josie?

Nothing but silence greeted him.

Grayson tried again, reaching out through their mating bond to seek reassurance from his mate that she was alright. Whole and healthy and waiting for him to return.

Something was wrong. Why wasn’t Josie answering him? How long had he been unconscious?

“It’s a shame Seven won’t be awake to watch his whore be dragged to Ortega’s office,” another guard chimed in with a small laugh. “Samuel seemed excited to spend some quality time with her once she’s been captured, so I’m sure she’ll be well used before the commander gets a hold of her.”

Blinding rage and fear flooded Grayson’s mind, and he tensed, gritting his teeth to keep from snarling savagely within the small space. His mate was in danger, being captured right now, and he was miles from her location.

Josie, I’m coming for you, Grayson promised, hoping that she could hear him even though she was unresponsive. Hold on, little Omega.

“Maybe they’ll let us have a turn with her next,” the guard beside Grayson added, unaware that he’d just signed his own death warrant. “She’s bound to have one hell of a cunt to lure Seven from the arenas.”

“Or she sucks dick like a professional.”

“Bet her cunt’s as tight as–”

Grayson moved, ripping the spike from his chest with a guttural roar and launching it at the guard speaking across from him. The sharp tip smashed into the male’s face, going through skin and bone and impaling him to the metal wall of the vehicle before anyone could react.

That quickly, the male was dead, and the remaining guards gave hoarse shouts of surprise.

Not sparing a moment, Grayson snapped the cuffs around his wrists, elbowing a male to his left in the face. Bone crunched as Jameson reached for the gun belonging to the impaled male, right as Grayson ripped out two jugulars of the guards on his side of the vehicle.

Blood sprayed from their wounds, and they dropped their guns, clutching their throats in a pathetic attempt to survive. It was pointless. Grayson planned on slaughtering each and every one of them.

The sound of gunshots exploding was nearly deafening as Jameson opened fire in their small enclosure, aiming at two guards beside him. Trusting him to handle it, Grayson attacked the remaining males, using his advanced speed, agility, and the lack of space to his advantage.

The driver slammed on the brakes, and everyone in the back went flying forward. Grayson caught one male by the hair, smashing his head into the partition over and over until he was unrecognizable.

“Grayson!” Jameson’s panicked shout, followed by the sound of a bullet was all the warning he received. He whipped around, ready to face a threat, only to find Jameson propped awkwardly against the back of the vehicle, breathing hard.

The rest of the guards were dead, leaving only the driver.

“What’s going on back there?” someone shouted from the front seat. The driver’s side door opened, slamming closed a moment later. Grayson tracked the heavy footsteps from the front of the vehicle to the back door, waiting.

As soon as the lock unclicked from the outside, he rushed the door, shoving it open and lunging at the human on the other side. He didn’t get a chance to fire his gun before he was dead on the ground, his throat missing and his eyes frozen in surprise.

“Holy fuck,” Jameson panted, cautiously stepping down from the vehicle and into the open air. “I can’t believe we didn’t die.” He swallowed hard before pinning Grayson with a look. “The humans attacked our camp. I heard them talking before you woke up. We need to get back there.”

Grayson nodded. “I don’t know how to drive a vehicle.”

But they’d need to take this one. It would be faster than traveling on foot, and it was clearly made to venture off-road. How soon would it take them to reach camp? Anxiety caused his heart to pound violently in his chest, the pain from his brutal wound nothing compared to the agony filling his mind with worry for Josie.

A branch snapped to his right, and Grayson whipped around, shielding Jameson’s body with his own as he smelled more opponents, though their scents were anything but human. He growled into the forest, sending waves of power into the area around him as he sought to discover who’d come to challenge him next.

One guard or a hundred, human or not, it didn’t make a difference. Not when Josie’s life was at stake. He’d kill whoever the fuck he needed to in order to return to her, to find her and protect her.

“We’re with the rebellion,” someone grunted behind a tree. “We came to help you.”

The rebellion?

Slowly, Grayson relinquished his power, hearing audibly inhales from the group hidden within the trees. After a few tense seconds, they emerged, wearing camo that helped them blend into their surroundings, their faces, necks and hands covered in black and green striped paint.

Jameson let out a trembling breath, coming to stand beside Grayson. “Wolfe?”

A Beta among the other soldiers took a step forward, white teeth flashing as he grinned. He was taller than the rest, and wider too, with more muscles than even Grayson. His eyes locked onto the Omega and heated.

“Hey, sweetheart. You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

With a laugh bordering on a sob, Jameson limped toward the Beta, who broke formation to pull the Omega into his arms. Wolfe kissed his forehead, arms wrapped possessively around him.

“We need to get you to a doctor, baby,” Wolfe muttered, his smile fading as he gently pushed Jameson back so he could study his wounds. “Your shoulder and your leg aren’t looking so good.”

“Bullets went right through,” Jameson commented flippantly, hugging Wolfe again. “I don’t really feel the pain that much anymore.”

“Caught one glimpse of my handsome face and now I’m all you can think about, huh?” Wolfe teased lightly, though his face turned down into a fierce scowl, and he hoisted Jameson into his arms.

“Wolfe, put me down. I can walk just fine.”

Wolfe grunted. “Know you can, sweetheart. I just want to hold you a bit, that’s all.”

“You’re so full of shit.”

Wolfe’s lips twitched as he carried Jameson back to Grayson. “Maybe.” He didn’t relinquish his hold on the Omega as he stopped in front of Grayson, nodding once. “I’m Wolfe, Staff Sergeant of the squad before you, belonging to the rebellion. It’s good to see you in one piece, Alpha Grayson.”

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Grayson commented warily.

“Pleasantly surprised, I hope,” Wolfe said lightly. “Our unit was able to take out another armored Humvee enroute to you. It looks like you took care of the other.”

Grayson nodded, sparing the vehicle full of dead bodies a quick glance. “I can’t reach my mate. Is she okay?”

Wolfe nodded. “There was an attack on your camp, but luckily our informants alerted us to the danger, so we arrived in time to intercept. When we left to search for you, almost everyone was alive, though some were worse for wear. A Beta, David, was watching over your mate. He informed us she was unconscious. Fainted from shock,” he added when Grayson growled.

“I need to get to her.”

Another soldier approached, holding up a radio. “We received contact from Topher. They’ve begun preliminary extractions, taking high priorities back to our base a few hours from here. I’ve let him know we’ve secured the package.”

Wolfe added, “Your mate would have been one of the people evacuated back to base, Alpha.” Grayson’s relief was evident as his shoulders sagged. He ran a hand down his face, reaching out to her again through their mating bond.

Still silent, dammit.

“There’s no need to worry. Bethany came here herself to escort you back to base. She’s likely with your mate now, keeping her safe in your absence.”

Grayson stiffened, a deep rumble of fury rising in his chest. He locked eyes with Wolfe, snarling, “Get me to my mate. Now.”

Within forty minutes, Grayson and the others pulled up to camp. One of the soldiers turned off the vehicle as he stormed out of the passenger door, not bothering to shut it as he prowled toward a medical tent that had been erected while he’d been gone. Jameson and Wolfe were hot on his tail, and he could hear the other soldiers as well following close behind. Watching his back.

He couldn’t explain why, exactly, but Grayson trusted the men around him. It was almost as if he could scent their intentions, or had sensed them on some level as he’d cast his power out around them earlier. The fact that Jameson was clearly involved with Wolfe spoke volumes to Grayson as well. He’d come to trust the Omega in the past week, and if the male trusted Wolfe, then he did as well.

A male Grayson didn’t recognize was just inside the tent, issuing orders to several people as they packed up what little possessions were still in the area.

He turned when he heard them approach, eyes widening when he spotted Grayson. Placing a hand to his chest, the male craned his head to the side in submission, eyes facing down at the ground.

“I’m relieved to see you in one piece, Alpha.” The male straightened. “My name is Topher, I’m second in command and Bethany’s right hand man.”

“I’m not here for pleasantries. I need–” Grayson inhaled, tripping over his words as he took a familiar scent deep into his lungs. Bile rose in his throat as he choked on the smell.

Winterberries.

Suddenly, pain sliced through Grayson’s head. He grunted, clutching his aching temples as hundreds of memories assaulted him, so much information from his past slamming into him at once that his brain felt like it was on the verge of exploding.

He’d known his mother was dead. All this time, he’d known, but he’d held onto Josie’s hope, had wanted to believe that despite everything he could remember, that Bethany had been alive and waiting for him.

But he was right. He’d been right all along, and the thought gutted him.

The mother he remembered didn’t match this Omega Prime who carelessly left her sons to terrible fates, and for good reason. His mother had never been cruel or calculating. Never would have leveraged her children, not for anything. They’d always been her main focus. His mother had been warm and kind, sweet and loyal to a fault.

She’d even extended that loyalty and love to her twin sister, another Omega named Nikki, who Grayson remembered causing trouble time and time again. Nikki had been with his family the day of the attack, adamant that she remain with Bethany when they realized their home had been compromised. Grayson could remember so much now that he was dragging in lungfuls of that horrible, putrid smell.

That scent, that fucking scent–

“Are you alright?” Jameson asked, worry filling his voice.

“No,” Grayson gritted out through clenched teeth. He straightened, looking back at Topher. “Where is my mate?”

“Back at base,” Topher supplied warily, eyeing Grayson like he was an animal on the verge of attacking. And in a sense he was. He didn’t expect blind loyalty from someone who’d been doing Nikki’s dirty work for years.

Did he know the Omega Prime was an imposter? Grayson had never met the male before, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t known Nikki before the war had begun. That he hadn’t helped her betray Grayson’s family.

“What’s the quickest way to get there?” Grayson asked roughly.

Topher paused. “We will need to wait a few hours at least before the next available car will be available–”

“He’s lying,” Wolfe informed him, his voice cold as he narrowed his eyes on Topher. Nikki’s second in command took a step back, swallowing thickly as the soldier continued. “A chopper should be within range to land at our location and get us back to base within thirty minutes. Maybe a few minutes sooner if we call it in now.”

So Topher was aware of Nikki’s scheming, and was attempting to keep Grayson far from Josie. Why had they taken his mate? Why go through all of this?

Without warning, Grayson was on Topher, taking the male’s head in his hands and twisting. The snap of his neck was audible in the room, and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. Jameson gasped, but the soldiers seemed oddly unaffected, watching Grayson with keen eyes.

Not missing a beat, Wolfe nodded toward the soldier who’d mentioned a radio earlier. “Call in the chopper. Give them access code two-four-nine-three-seven. Emergency protocol.”

“Got it.” The soldier turned away, pulling out a satellite phone and dialing.

“Hank,” Wolfe called, and another soldier stepped forward. “Topher will begin healing soon. Cuff him, and we’ll take him with us.” Turning back to Grayson, he raised a brow. “Do you want to tell us what’s going on?”

“The woman you know as Bethany isn’t my mother,” Grayson said roughly. “That’s her twin sister, Nikki, and she was responsible for my parents death the night our kind was overthrown by the humans.”

She was also responsible for the shitty life Grayson had lived, for endangering Josie, for Wyatt becoming a mutt. She was a fucking monster, and it was time she was put down.

“Holy shit,” Jameson uttered. “How did you find out?”

“Her scent is all over this damned tent,” Grayson snarled. So was Josie’s, and it killed him to know his mate was with such an unstable woman. “Recognized it immediately, and now I can remember everything from before.”

Did Nikki honestly believe she could get away with pretending to be his mother now that he was back? He didn’t think so, and the thought left him restless.

Jameson nodded, pursing his lips in thought. “It makes sense. Olfactory cues often help trigger memories, especially ones emotionally driven.”

“I need to get to my mate as soon as possible. She could be in danger.” Grayson took a deep breath. “But we need to keep this information to ourselves. I don’t want Nikki to realize I’m onto her, otherwise she might hurt Josie before I can reach her.”

What if that was part of the reason he couldn’t reach out to his mate? Had she already done something to Josie? The thought made his claws lengthen, his muscles coiling as rage filled him; the need to maim and torture beating at him like a drum.

Nikki better hope that no hair on Josie’s head was harmed, otherwise the Omega suffer like she’d never known before.