“You want to throw down over some pussy? Can’t say I haven’t been waiting for this,” Snake said. “But her? It’s nice pussy, I’ll give you that. She was so fucking wet when I parted her thighs, I—”

His taunt was cut off as Jace swung his fist, the massive hand going hurtling through the air, but while Snake was caught off guard, he jerked back in time so that Jace only grazed his jaw. The smile faded at that, those pale blue eyes narrowing, his fangs flashing as he bared his teeth.

“Fine,” he snarled. “You wanna do this? Let’s do this.”

“It’ll be okay,” a deep voice said, and when I looked up, Dane had moved closer. His hand came to rest on my shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, but his eyes? They were entirely on the fight, all of ours were, because there they were, two warriors, ready to battle for what they believed.

“You’re a gutless fucking arsehole.” Jace swung with one fist, forcing Snake back, but the other hand was ready and smashed into the side of Snake’s face while his guard was down, achieving first blood. It trickled out of one nostril, turning his face into a savage mask. Snake let out a guttural snarl, launching himself at Jace, but he was fast, so damn fast on his feet. He seemed to know exactly where the other man would strike and was up and away before they landed. “Can’t present yourself to an omega and have her choose you freely. Gotta try and skew shit because none of them fucking want you.”

Jace dashed in, throwing a few solid punches into Snake’s ribs, driving the other man’s breath from him, but not before Snake struck back. Exactly like his namesake, his strikes were lightning quick, snapping Jace’s head back, but they broke apart quickly.

“Without coercion, without drugs, without fucking buying another human being illegally, what do you have, Snake? What do you have?”

“More omega pussy than you’ll ever get. You can’t even get it up to wreck their cunts.” Jace stopped still, Snake’s smile spreading. Blood smeared across his sharp white teeth. “Yeah, I’ve heard all about the girls you keep, make sure they’re safe,” he said in a mocking tone. “Ensure no one pushes them or forces them.”

Snake came to a standstill, pinching his nose, then flicking the blood that accumulated in his palm across the polished concrete floor.

“That’s what you fucks don’t seem to understand. They crave their choices being taken away, their options reduced down to what they secretly want, what they need. Being held down while I force every fucking pleasure from their cunts, having them screaming for more. That’s what you and I are.” His grin widened. “That’s what Ella wanted.”

“The fuck?”

Jace breathed that out, and it felt like the world stood still.

“You did that to my sister?”

“Damn straight.” Snake’s eyes glittered. “When your sister was under me, screaming for more, screaming for me to knot her…” The shit-eating grin faded slightly, some other more thoughtful expression rising before he roughly shoved it away. “She fucking loved it, just like all omegas do. It’s all part of what they are.”

“Ssh…” Ryder said, bringing my focus back to my own body, hearing the low whines escaping my lips. “That’s not how it works. Snake’s fucked in the head.”

“Snake’s dead,” was all Jace would say, his voice perfectly flat.

And then the gloves were off. Jace strolled up to Snake, the other man lifting his fists, but it didn’t seem to matter. Whatever was inside Jace, he knew how his opponent would strike out, what tactics he’d use. Jace was there, anticipating, predicting, countering, and then, as Snake’s breath started to come in hard, all that explosive energy getting him nowhere but tired, when Jace had him right where he wanted, he attacked.

“That’s it,” Ryder said. “Smash the bastard.”

So Jace did, obliterating the pretty features of the blond alpha one punch at a time, until finally, his face was a bloody mask and he fell to the ground, right as the police sirens began to wail.

“Fucking coppers have brought reinforcements,” Dane said.

Ryder shot back, “Jace, we gotta go. Now!”

“Keep your fucking head down and your eyes off my omega if you want to keep them,” Jace growled over Snake’s prone body. “I’m serious. If I detect you even breathing her scent, you’re a dead man.”

I threw off Dane’s hand and stepped forward to the hissed sounds of frustrations of the alphas, but I needed to do this. I walked up to the man on the ground, found that a savage side of myself I’d never tapped into liked this, liked seeing the man who thought himself fit to lay hands on me brought down so low.

“Well, well, look what we have here,” I said, an echo of Snake’s words to me. “Look how swollen and wet you are.”

“Sloane…” Jace rumbled, then I did something I think surprised even him. I drew my foot back and kicked Snake in the guts as hard as I could, the oof of forced out breath making me smile. And Jace? He smiled back, his brows creasing in confusion, but we didn’t get a chance to interrogate that further.

“Unless you guys want to see the inside of a cell, we need to move, now!” Dane shouted.

“Let’s go.”

That was all the warning I got as I was scooped up and then rushed out, back through the stairwell and into the alley under Art’s direction. Two big black SUVs pulled up with a screech, and I was shoved in the back seat, the engine turning over, the wheels squealing before I could even do up my seatbelt.

“Fuck, watch it!” Jace shouted, his arm locking around me, keeping me safe, like he always would, I realised. Somehow, I knew that. I just stared at him as he ballsed out the guys in the front seats, as we scuttled back to Desparion.

11

Sloane

“No!” My nails clawed at his skin, trying to gain a strong enough grip, but I was never going to be strong enough to stop him from what he needed to do.

“Sloane…” Tears formed, then beaded in my eyes, burning their way out. “Sloane!”

At his bark, I went perfectly still.

The wailing sirens followed us while the SUV bounced and rocked as we entered a huge concrete tunnel. The daylight disappeared, and the vehicle headlights came on, the sounds of sirens fading.

It was dark inside the SUV, and safe, but Jace’s arms were the safest place in the world.

I breathed his woody scent in, letting it fill my lungs, glorying in the sensation of his strong arms around me.

A week ago, I’d been a rational beta. No, I reasoned, I’d never been a beta. I’d always been an omega waiting on a trigger, and oh, how I’d found it. I’d seen both sides, the horror of men like Snake, the corrupt Dawn Agency, and in the most unexpected of places, I’d found this beautiful saviour. I sensed complexity lurking beneath his rough façade. His mention of his sister had been vague, but there was both pain and love there.

The old part of me wanted to cling to logic, to shy away from the instincts threatening to overwhelm me, yet my instincts were the only thing an omega could and should trust. After Snake had his hands on me, I understood that even as my body might respond, my mind retained enough cognisance to differentiate between choice and biology.

Snake was a sick twist of biology.

Jace was a conscious choice working with my omega nature, and the outcome was so very different in every way.

I’d run from his home blindly. When I came down, there would be time to question the scythe that had been taken to my well founded beliefs. The Dawn Agency, alphas, our own government, and the corruption that appeared to run deep… I couldn’t go back to the old me, that person did not exist, nor could I begin to understand all Jace’s reasons for helping omegas the way he did, but I wanted to. I wanted to lift the cover up and learn so much more about this man.