Faith & the Dead End Devils (Sweet Omegaverse, #8)(129)

I stiffened as the one in the middle stepped forward, moving around the edge of the bed. But he remained out of reach. One of his pack, the one on the right, had a bandage over his forearm from where I'd scratched when he’d reached for me. Good. They were wary.

"They don't see the potential in you," the man closest said. He was Preston. He was the alpha King had tried to pawn me off to, the one who liked to bark at me. His voice was smooth now, too sweet and patronizing. "I do. I saw it the day we met. You were wasted on that crew of half-hearted criminals, omega. You can be so much more here with us, have so much more. Any present you want, just say so."

"Let's not get carried away, Prest," the one on the right droned. "She ought to prove she's worth the trouble first."

I bared my teeth and snarled at the alpha, and Preston rocked back on his heels before straightening again. Coward.

I had to get out of here. I knew my pack would come for me, but I didn't want my bonds broken, even if they could be remade. I didn't want to wait to be rescued. I wanted to prove to these men why they should never have dared to grab me in the first place.

"Behave," Preston barked.

I flinched, but my snarl only grew louder. "Fuck off," I answered, lunging forward.

He didn't jump away this time but grabbed my arm, shaking me. "If you don't listen to your alphas, you're going to get—"

"My alphas are going to eviscerate you," I growled at Preston. "They're going to come here and tear this house and all of you apart, one piece at a time."

Over Preston's shoulder, one of the other alpha's frowned, and I knew that whatever Preston had told them, it hadn't prepared them for the reality.

"There's nothing they can do once we bond you," the alpha on the right said.

"There's no bond if you're fucking dead," I answered.

"I said, behave!" Preston roared.

And while I whined and shuddered at the order, it wasn't enough. I didn't know if it was because I was feral or because my bonds with my alphas were strong, but the bark only hurt. My arm swung, fist tight and ready, and the punch crashed into Preston's nose, the impact cracking into my knuckles and reverberating up my arm.

Preston howled, throwing me onto the bed, but he didn't make it more than one step before I was kicking.

"Preston!"

Preston Bowers, blond and tall and blandly good-looking, turned into an animal to match me. His nose and upper lip were bloody, eyes wild as he lunged for the bed. I was smaller, weaker, but wilder too, and more desperate. He wanted to tame me, and I wanted to kill him.

Another alpha joined in the fray, grabbing at my wrists, but the third backed away for the door. I snarled and screamed, kicked and hissed. I kept my teeth clenched, because these men were not Bear and I wasn't biting anyone but my pack, but eventually the two alphas' strength won out. My arms and wrists were pinned back, and Preston had caught my ankles, holding them apart in a bruising grip as he lunged over me, one knee on the bed.

Preston's face was red and savage above mine, spitting down at me as he fumed out poison.

"I've never liked all that nonsense the Omega Center spews about omegas finding their perfect matches by scent. My father's pack tamed and trained my mother, taught her how to behave, how to make the pack proud of her. Call me old-fashioned, but I think it will be fun to carry on the tradition." Preston bared a mean and bloody grin down at me before glancing up at the other alpha who'd wrestled me down. "Push her head to the side. I'm covering the bite now. Then we'll strip her and find the rest."

"There's some kind of commotion downstairs," the alpha by the door said in a small voice.

"Go and deal with it then," the one above me snapped.

He had to release one of my hands as he reached and pulled at my hair, but it was a miscalculation. I was still ready, thrilled, desperate to fight, and my nails dug into his cheek and over his jaw, down his throat.

The commotion was outside of the room now, and it was easy to hear with the door open. The alpha above me screamed, his hand connecting roughly with my cheek in a noisy slap, but he reared back, grabbing at the scratches on his face.

"Damnit, Ed, grab—"

I scratched Preston, punched him hard everywhere I could reach until he was wrestling at my hands, my ankles free to kick and shove him back.

A gunshot cracked, and Preston fell back against the wall in shock. Ed, the alpha who'd held my wrists, dropped down to the floor at the sound of the second shot.

"Let go of my fucking sister."

I caught my breath in a ragged gasp, gaping at Adam where he stood in the doorway, gun aimed at Preston. There were no nerves on his face, no shock, just a hard determination.

"My pack is on its way," Adam said. "Hers too. My friend has your packmate in the hall. If either of you move, I will shoot you for real this time. I have been trained by three former black ops agents and one still-active assassin, so I will not miss."

I scrambled for the edge of the bed, not waiting to see if Preston or his packmate were stupid enough to challenge Adam.

"My pack and I will destroy you," Preston hissed. "We have connections. I know the governor."

Adam blinked at the man on the floor, now sullied and scratched and bleeding. "I know the FBI," Adam said, shrugging. "I'm working with them to take down alphas who buy and kidnap unwilling omegas. So, uh…eat my dick?"