His body was bare, stained with blood, indicating he had shifted at some point. She couldnât spot any visible wounds; he must be okay. ~He has to be~.
She squirmed, attempting to break free despite her restricted movements, but it only caused her more pain and choked off her oxygen. Her struggles only made her sink lower, tightening his hold on her neck. This wasnât working.
She realized this must be part of Willâs scheme. Knock her out to provoke Alex. Everything was going according to his plan and she couldnât let that happen. She had to disrupt his plan. ~Somehow~.
âIt was mine first.â
~It~.
As if she was an object. Something to be possessed.
âShe was so ~eager~ for it. ~Pleading~.â
She noticed the spark of fury in Alexâs eyes, the tension in his body, and the throbbing in his neck.
His jaw was clenched, his fists balled up, and she knew he was on the verge of falling into Willâs trap. Even though she knew Alex was stronger and smart enough to recognize a trap, she also knew Will was ready.
And that emotions could cloud oneâs judgment.
The last thing she wanted was to see him get hurt. ~Not~ Alex. Not because of her. She wanted Will out of the picture. He was like a cockroach, always coming back. He needed to be stopped.
âAre you going to take her back?â
What was he after? He had made his intentions clear about ~her~, but this wasnât about Alex.
She didnât know what transpired after she left that night, but whatever it was, it was because of her. She didnât want Alex to bear the guilt.
A part of her hoped that Willâs plan was flawed.
He wasnât always the best at thinking things through, otherwise, he wouldnât have hurt her instead of Jess.
Alex took a step forward and Olivia felt the hand around her neck squeeze tighter. She tried to draw in a breath, but it wouldnât come. ~Damn it~. No.
No more. She had been a victim for years, allowing him to manipulate her like a puppet, a doll for his amusement. ~No more~.
~Move, damn it. Move~.
But her body wouldnât obey her.
She could still feel the numbness in her arms, the sensation that was holding her down, freezing her in place. ~Come on~.
âWhat did you do?â
âAh,â Will taunted. âThatâs my little secret.â
If he had enough to incapacitate her, he might have brought enough for Alex too. There was no way he wouldnât have planned something to take him down.
Will was arrogant and prideful, but he couldnât possibly believe he could defeat an alpha without resorting to underhanded tactics.
â~Al-ex, no.~â
She could see him about to make the same mistake she had, and she didnât want him to repeat it.
âYeah, ~alpha~, listen to the omega.â
~Please, Alex~. She needed him to be smarter than this, better than this.
Will was trying to set him up for failure. It was his only chance.
âLetâs get the trash out of the way.â
It took her a moment to realize that the trash he was referring to was ~her~.
The realization struck her when her face hit the ground, her limbs falling limp as he discarded her like she was worthless. ~She was~. To him.
He was after revenge, a revenge he didnât deserve, and he would stoop to any level to get it.
How could he not see it?
How had he managed to hide that side of himself so well? She never saw it coming. Was that his fault or hers? Should she have seen more? Done more?
He had been right under her nose, and she hadnât had a clue. No one did.
He was a snake.
âYou know, Olivia and Iâ¦we had a good thing going.â
She couldnât see them anymore. He had thrown her facing away from them, but she could hear them. If Will was still talking, it meant Alex hadnât attacked yet.
Had he figured out that whatever had been used to immobilize her could be used on him as well? ~She hoped so~.
âYou mean when you isolated her and raped her?â
Alexâs words were measured, each syllable a testament to his restraint. She could sense his control fraying at the edges, his desire to rip Will apart. His alpha instinctsâpride and protectionâcould be his undoing. ~Please, please~.
She wasnât sure if he could sense her silent plea, but she needed him to ~hear~ her.
âBefore she met ~you~, she never complained. Everything was fine until ~you~ came along. You made her think there was a problem. She would have understood my actions before you.â
âYou had everything else, why did you need her too? Fucking greedy alphas. You take everything and if it doesnât work out, you just kill whateverâs in your way.â
âFunny hearing that from a worthless beta who had both a mate and a girlfriend.â
She knew Alex wasnât trying to blame her or insult ~her~, but the words still stung.
Sheâd been his toy, his puppet for so long. It hurt to realize all the things sheâd missed, all they could have been.
And the guilt.
âI improved her shitty life.
âShe should have been grateful, she should have worshipped me. If I hadnât turned her, she would have wasted her life. I gave her a reason to live. She got to stay with me because I changed her life.â
All that fucking jerk ever did was tell her how terrible werewolves were. And how fortunate she was to have found ~him~. Even though he was the one who caused all this.
What kind of fucking lies had he been telling ~himself~ all these years? Did he see himself as a hero? He was a fucking maniac.
He had ruined her life enough.
She thought she had exacted some form of revenge, some sort of justice when she hurt him, stabbed him. It was terrifying to realize that in that moment, she hadnât cared if he lived or died.
She might even have felt relief at his death. Now she had to make the same choice again.
She shouldnât be the one to decide who lived or diedâbut she knew that someone like him couldnât be allowed to live. He would never leave her alone. She would never be safe. Alex would never be safe. Her baby would never be safe.
As long as he lived, she couldnât exist, she couldnât breathe, she couldnât ~live~.
But right now, she was helpless. Naked. In the mud. Her dignity, her self-worth, stripped away. She was exposed with nothing left to lose.
If he won, sheâd lose. Heâd hand her over to that pack, watch them abort her child, and then violate her. He had portrayed alphas as monsters, but he was the true embodiment of evil.
âIâm going to keep you alive, ~Alex~.â
âIâm going to tie you up and keep you alive while I tear you apart piece by piece.â
âYou think because youâre an alpha, you can do whatever you want? Hereâs whatâs going to happen. Theyâre going to come for her, claim their prize.â
âAnd whoâs going to stop me? You?â
âOf course not. Iâm just a beta, right? Iâm inferior.â
Alex wasnât alone. There were others. She could sense them, lurking nearby.
He had probably told them to hold back since Will was unstable and he had her in his grasp. But now, she might be immobilized, but he had created some distance between them. She had to move ~before~ she was taken.
Tears stung her eyes, her neck ached from the effort to keep her face off the ground. If she could shift, sheâd have a better chance.
As a wolf, she should recover faster, and she might be less restricted. Her control over her transformation was shaky and his surprise attack had caused her to lose it.
~She needed to trigger it again~.
The words were a distant hum as she searched within herself. ~Come on~. Her wolf wouldnât want to die. She had just set it free. She was finally being who she was meant to be.
The fate that awaited her if they got their hands on her would be the horror stories Will had fabricated.
She didnât want that life.
~Come on~.
~Please. Please~.
She wouldnât deny it again. She wouldnât flee.
She wouldnât hold back.
She wouldnât build walls anymore.
She would be who she was.
She just needed a little bit of help.
~COME ON!~
A tingling sensation began in her toes and tears streamed down her face.
It was chaotic, it was agonizing, and above all, it compelled her to roll onto her side, her body jerking as she moved. The pain seemed more intense this time.
Perhaps it was the poison, or maybe it was because sheâd just shifted and her body wasnât accustomed to it, but she had to bite down on her lip to stop herself from crying out.
Theyâd notice her soon enough; she didnât need to attract additional attention.
She anticipated Will would approach, she expected him to say something, to taunt her, but she didnât hear any voices.
Instead, she heard a snap, a crack; they were in combat. ~But she couldnât see~. She hadnât expended all this energy shifting for ~nothing~.
Large breaths escaped from her snout as she concentrated all her energy on moving her head.
Heâd be occupied now. He wouldnât be watching her anymore. If she could manage it, if she could move, then she could assist.
Her face was pressed into the earth as she used it to alleviate some of the weight, dirt getting in her eyes, covering her fur. ~Just a bit more. Just a bit more.~ Sweat drenched the skin beneath her fur, her legs gradually gaining stability.
It wasnât ideal, but it was an improvement. She could feel her paws, she could flex her claws.
~Come on, Olivia~.
~Mate~.
She had to defend him.
Her head tilted back, finally giving her a view of the situation.
Alex had forsaken his human form, but Will remained human. Either he couldnât control it at will like Alex couldâ¦or he was choosing to remain human. Being a beta already put him at a disadvantage.
Would he ~choose~ to maintain a form that would be even weaker? It didnât add up.
Her gaze scanned his body, attempting to identify any clues, trying to find a hint⦠And then she did. There, in his back pocket; she had been correct.
He had come equipped with more than one syringe. She could easily identify the shape of it in his back pocket.
He wasnât concerned about getting hurt. Heâd let Olivia bite him before injecting her with the poison.
Heâd do it again. Alex hadnât been there when it happened, he wouldnât know what to watch forâand she couldnât warn him.
She saw Willâs arm twitch and she knew what he was about to do. ~No. No.~
ALEX!
But she couldnât yell, she couldnât speak.
~COME ON!~
She refused to accept that no one communicated in these forms. They had to converse with each other. ~COME ON. Help me out. Help me out.~
Anything.
Sheâd do anything.
~ALEX. ALEX. BE CAREFUL. PLEASE.~
~BE CAREFUL.~