Chapter 21

Osias

When I was just a pup, I remember always thinking about who my mate would turn out to be. I always imagined them to be the most beautiful person alive, someone whose features and personality would shock me to my very core and make me fall head-over-heels. Around the time I reached puberty, I'd stay up into the late hours of the night, a flashlight in one hand as I sat underneath my covers to write endless letters to the one person I longed to meet.

I would write long lines of promises on the thin sheets of paper in my terrible, pubescent scrawl before falling asleep to dream of the tiny, faceless boy that pleasantly ravaged my dreams. The first time I had that dream, I knew that I was definitely going to fall off of the beaten path that most Alphas followed. I was in love with that little, faceless male at a young age, that much I knew, although it didn't bother me at all. All I wanted was to be able to keep my mate safe from anything and everything that may hurt him.

But I'd failed at doing the one thing I promised myself to always strive for once I'd finally found him.

That one fact tore at me constantly, my insides bubbling with hatred not only for that fucking bastard that stole my mate from me, but also for myself. I just wanted my Angel happy and safe, but I had already fucked that up.

On top of that, he was pregnant with our perfect little pup. I had to hold back a pain-filled growl when that thought crossed my mind, determined to keep it together for the sake both my pack and myself. Instead, I focused on the trees around me as I zipped through them with my warriors at my sides. The steady beat of many paws hitting the ground with a sense of urgency along with mine gave everyone the conviction to continue on, and continue we did.

We had to have been running for at least three hours straight, but York and I didn't even feel the least bit fatigued. In fact, he was steadily growing more and more impatient as the hours rolled by, tearing at the back of my mind because despite the fact that we were in his form, I still took over his consciousness.

"Alpha, we are just outside of the boundaries." Ortiz's voice rang out in my mind as we approached the  meet-up area just as the sun began to set behind the mountains. The sky was a beautiful mixture of reds, oranges, and a soft cream color. It was vaguely reminiscent of the color Berlin's soft cheeks took as he blushed. My heart clenched in pain as I thought of him, throwing my head back to send a loud howl into the air to alert the rest of my pack that we had arrived.

"Thank you. Round up everyone in the clearing."

Almost instantaneously, the warriors that I led in wolf form began to file into the large area surrounded by trees. They began to shift back to human and dress themselves in the appropriate attire, chatting quietly among themselves and loading full magazines into their guns. A minute or so later the other half of our group appeared from the trees, already in human form and surprisingly looking wide awake, almost as if they hadn't just endured a long, cramped drive here.

I took no time at all to shift back to human as well, ignoring York's incessant grumbling in our mind as I pulled on the sweatpants I brought before simply fastening the bullet-proof vest over my bare torso.

I easily towered over many of my warriors in both height and might, making it easy to gather the attention of every one of them with a loud clearing of my throat. A smirk made its way onto my lips when all heads turned to look at me, bathing in the respect and attention that flowed from each one of my warrior's actions.

I guess I truly am an amazing Alpha.

"Just beyond these trees lies a man who will do anything he can to keep our Luna forever." I started, making eye contact with each person in the crowd to the best of my ability. "He is demented, estranged, and will do anything to get his way. Do not, I repeat, do not under any circumstances attempt to apprehend him. That will be my job and my job only." I paused, letting everyone have a moment to let my words sink in before continuing.

"Our goal today is to get our Luna back, no matter the cost. The first wave of you will handle the outside guards, the next will infiltrate the inside. Cut off into your groups on each floor, but the top floor belongs to me. Your Beta will aid me when needed." I finished off my instructions, letting them ring through the clearing before turning around, putting fresh magazines into all of my guns and raising my hand high above my head as a signal.

Please, Goddess. Help me save my princess.

Just as my knuckles straightened my warriors flew into action, zipping through the trees and moving around me like rushing water around a boulder. I stood there for a silent moment before walking in the same direction, taking out my silver gun when I reached the edge of the tree-cover. The house that stood in the target area was gigantic, and extremely sterile looking. The entire place was made out of concrete, definitely made for protection rather than appearances. I stared, expressionless as my men expertly executed the plan, many of them quietly snapping the necks of those standing guard in front of the fortress while the rest prepared to file into the building.

I made my way slowly to the front of the line of men, addressing them with a nod of my head before kicking my leg out hard. The steel door swung open with a whine from my use of force, revealing a long hallway lit by equally sterile and hospital-like lighting. I held the door open for the warrior behind me as I walked into the hallway, my gun drawn away from me in a defensive stance.

But my gun didn't shield me from the images I saw next.

The first door to the right of the hallway made me gag as the putrid scent of death slipped from the crack underneath it. There was a large window on the door, giving anyone who walked by it a perfect view of the decaying bodies inside. They were arranged around an elegant table, sitting in leather chairs as if they were just having a leisure tea party. The sight was repulsing to say the absolute least, leaving my heart pounding as my need to find my mate increased by at least a thousand.

If that fucking asshole even touched Berlin...

Throwing my arm over my nose to at least muffle the scent, I quickly moved past the room of horrors, searching for the stairs to the goddamned building. I wanted to find Berlin, kill the Max demon, and get out of this fucking place before I vomited my guts from disgust.

My warriors followed me when I finally found the stairs at the end of the hallway. It was silent, but they all knew what to do. As I climbed higher on the staircase, groups of my men separated to ambush each floor, however the top floor was mine. I could sense Berlin's presence in the highest area of the building, calling out to my deepest sense of being, but I forced both myself and York to act rationally. The last thing I needed was my furious wolf busting into the compound and blowing the plan for all of us.

As the sound of shouting, screams, and gunshots filled my ears from the lower levels, I held my gun to my chest, pressing my back against the wall next to the door when I reached the top floor. I took a deep and steadying breath as I closed my eyes for a quick moment, reminding myself of the only things I valued more than my own life.

Berlin.

Berlin, and my perfect, unborn pup.

They needed me, and I'd fight until my last breath to have them both back in my arms.

My eyes swirled with flecks of gold as I whirled around and kicked the door right off of it's hinges. It hit the floor with a loud bang, and I immediately pressed my back against a large pillar when the sound of rustling of gun magazines filled my ears.

"We know you're up here, Osias. Come out, we just want to play a little game." came a sickly sweet voice from beyond the pillar. It was high-pitched and sounded awfully familiar, making my skin crawl with agitation when I couldn't place the sound to a name or face.

I took that moment to glance around the foor, taken slightly taken aback by the decor that was extremely comforting and... livable. It looked to be made for a king, and one would never guess that just a few floors below there were rooms filled with rotting dead bodies. But I knew better.

Peeking around the edge of the thick column, I was greeted with the sight of Callie standing with a group of four or so men, each of them donning large rifles. She wore a cocky smile upon her lips, and I raised an eyebrow when I realized that it was her who spoke just moments ago. It was amusing really, seeing her weak self with a couple of equally weak-looking guards surrounding her.

I scoffed, stepping from behind the column and raising my gun before easily sending a bullet straight through the foreheads of the four men before they could even react. Max truly did a terribly job at training his men, especially when he claimed to always be 'one step ahead'. That left Callie standing there with her mouth ajar and a look of sheer terror adorning her features as the men fell to the ground around her. She went to raise her rifle with shaking hands but it was too late, I was on her in less than a second.

Hitting her in the head with my gun was enough to knock her out cold, and I simply smirked at the sight of her unconscious body atop the dead guards. So much for protection.

I sidestepped them quickly, still holding my gun out in front of me as I approached the only door at the end of the hallway that Callie and her posse were "guarding". It was curious, as the door was much fancier than the rest that lined the walls of the hallway. Although, with a second glance at the cocky 'M' carved on the door, my curiosity dissipated when I realized why. It had to have been Max's room. There was only one demon so narcissistic and obsessed with the man he'd possessed that they would have the first letter of their name carved into the mahogany door.

I snapped out of my thoughts at a soft whimper that came from the other side of the door, my heart pounding as my very soul recognized the sound as purely Berlin. I didn't flinch when the sound of footsteps behind me registered, knowing that it was only Ortiz when he whistled out under his breath. The heavier footfalls of Corey came just after him, although he was silent as usual.

"Fuck, you really did a number on them, huh?" he chuckled, coming up right behind me but not daring to touch me in such a state. There was a weird feeling in my chest that held me back from opening the door, almost as if to tell me that this rescue was unusually all too easy.

There's no way Max would let us get this far, this fast.

However, with a burst of hope, I charged in through the door only to be met with a sight that shredded my heart completely and threw it into a fire to shrivel and burn.

Berlin was handcuffed to the large bed on his stomach, his eyes closed tightly as his little body was wracked with sobs. Deep whip lashes covered the once flawless skin of his back, leaving the flesh underneath open and bloody. Some of them looked as if they were trying to heal, but given the fact that he was an Omega as well as grossly underfed, it was obvious that they were healing even slower than human wounds.

The scent of sex and blood was thick in the air, and I couldn't help but let out a growl of pure rage when I saw the dried semen and blood running down his bruised thighs. He looked even smaller than normal as he tried his best to curl into himself, if that was even possible, and his expression was that of someone who'd completely given up.

Even so, there was a glow about him that was uniquely Berlin. It called out to me like nothing else, coaxing me towards his tiny body on the bed.

I took no time in rushing over to my little Angel, grasping the handcuffs in my hands and breaking the chain. His eyes began to flutter open at the sudden movement, adjusting to the light of the room before they settled on me. It took a second or two for him to register the situation through his watery eyes as they overflowed like a fountain, but when he did, his thin arms were around my neck in less than an instant as he sobbed even harder. I wrapped my arms around him cautiously as well, my own tears silently overflowing the moment his skin touched mine.

"I-I-I t-thought y-you l-l-left m-me!" he hiccuped between almost between every syllable, crying hysterically as his face pressed against my neck. I shook my head instantly, trying to reign myself in and remind myself that we had to get out of this fucking building and back to the pack house as fast as possible.

"I would never." I breathed out, kissing my mark on his neck over and over as if it would make the entire situation go away. I wanted to scream out in agony at the sight of it's faded edges, meaning that someone else had taken my kitten in a way only I should.

Max raped him.

And he wanted me to know.

As if on cue, a loud alarm sounded throughout the building, followed by Max's demented laughter over a loud PA system.

"And we have Bingo!" Max cackled, sounding as if he was conducting a game at an old-folks home on a leisurely Sunday evening. Berlin whimpered loudly in my arms, beginning to shake as he curled up and clung to me like a life-preserver. I forced myself to pull back, each of his sounds of protest causing another stabbing-like pain in my chest, but had to push through it for a few moments. Quickly pulling off my bullet-proof jacket and revealing my bare torso, I carefully fastened it onto Berlin instead. His cries of pain tore at me when the rough material rubbed against the deep wounds on his back.

"N-no!" he screeched, trying to unfasten the jacket from around him. "I-it's yours!"

I quickly wrapped him up in my arms once more to keep him from doing so. "Kitten, stop. Please. You need much more protection than I do." I explained, kissing the top of his head as he cried into my chest. My poor sweetheart was so overwhelmed, almost to the point of breaking completely. I could tell that he was hanging on by an exceptionally thin thread.

All due to this fucking demon.

He might as well consider himself dead.

"You're carrying our pups, baby. Please, just wear it. I heal much faster than you will if anything were to happen."

Berlin's watery eyes looked up and into mine, his bottom lip trembling with fear. "I w-wanna g-go h-h-home..." he begged before shoving his face into my neck again. I simply nodded, shifting him into my lap as gently as possible before standing up with him still in my arms. I nodded towards Ortiz and Corey who were standing by the door, Ortiz in Corey's protective embrace as I silently instructed them to get backup, but our actions were all cut short when the PA system once again crackled alive.

"So nice to see the family reunion you've got going here, but you're not going anywhere!" Max's shrill voice cut through the speakers which were receded in the ceiling. I sneered in the direction of them, my arms tightening around my little mate in my arms at Max's threat. Although there were no windows in the room, the sound of windows in the hallway and the doors leading to the stairwell being slammed shut with metal grates and locked sent chills down my spine.

Like I said, this whole thing seemed too easy from the very start.

"We're doing things my way, with a little game!" a sinister giggle came across the speakers. "Oh, oh! But first, I meant to commend you on how tight your mate is! He was such a good slut for me, his screams were just so delectable!"

I growled out in fury, my nails turning into claws and my canines extending at his gibe. I snarled in anger, and Berlin's soft cry of pain did nothing to help the situation.

"FUCK YOU! You can go fuck yourself, you demented asshole! How dare you touch my mate?!" I screamed out in rage at the empty room with no doubt that Max could hear me loud and clear.

He just scoffed and then spoke in a cheery tone. "I really prefer to do the fucking, but thank you for the suggestion! You forget that he was my mate too, silly! If these memories serve me right, he was always such a good fuck!" there was a moment of silence and me gritting my teeth to keep from lashing out and potentially harming Berlin in blind rage before the demon continued.

"Anyways, let's make this fun, shall we?! I always do love a good game of hide-and-go-seek! Count to 30 and catch me if you can, But don't leave that room early, or little Berlin goes bye-bye!"

Although his words were dripping with insanity in every syllable, there was no other choice. My entire group of warriors were locked in the building, and the weight of the pack as well as the fate of my Mate and child's very life was on my shoulders, hanging in the balance over a game of hide-and-go-seek.

What kind of shit was that?

However, I wouldn't give up.

I'm a fucking Alpha, and not just any Alpha.

I'm Alpha Osias fucking Amador, with my beautiful Luna at my side.

Nobody dared to challenge me, not even this lunatic of an ex-Alpha.

With a smirk pulling at the edges of my lips and my pregnant mate in my arms, I replied in just four words.

"Bring it on, fuckface."