I don’t know how long I’ve been running for, but I can no longer feel the soles of my feet. My sides ache from trying to breathe with fractured ribs, one side of my face is bruised and the silver bullet they shot at me grazed my upper arm.
Beaten, bloody, and running for my life in the thick snow.
Turning my head, I look behind me to see if I’ve lost my assailants only to see one of them raise their arm. The black Beretta glistens in the sunlight and I zigzag again so the wolfsbane bullet simply grazes my leg and I stumble.
Regaining my footing, I only see in front of me and continue running ignoring the way my foggy breath is hindering my vision.
“Nowhere to hide, little Omega whor*! The boss has big plans for you after what you did!” one of them calls out and it motivates me to run even faster.
I need to push past the pain and freezing cold to get to safety; I can’t suffer under the thumb of that abusive monster for another second. I would rather die than go back there!
Quickly, I twist my body and raise my own weapon above my head. Three shots and I hear one of them grunt and hit the floor. Yes!
In front of me, I see a hill and continue to run, hearing the sounds of honking cars and people. My route was correct, I made it into the city! It’s a week before the Moon Goddess Solstice, the perfect time to escape them in a bustling crowd. They won’t be able to find me in the market up there!
With my breathing ragged and lungs burning from the cold, I clutch my side and taste blood in my mouth while ignoring the burning pain of my bloody feet and open wounds.
My healing isn’t kicking in because of the wolfsbane bullets, hopefully, I can find an alley so I can allow my body to heal. Catching a glimpse behind me again, I now see three assailants and pick up my pace.
Freedom is a few more steps away, I cannot let it go!
Heaving myself up, I run into the crowd and ignore the looks I’m getting. My would-be kidnappers won’t shoot here, but they’ll chase me until they eventually catch me and drag me back to that monster.
If I’m lucky, one of these people might help me, but I have given up on human or shifter kindness a long time ago. The day my father sold me to this man, he signed my death warrant.
I was nothing but one of his bastard children, anyway - the Omega child of an Omega mistress made to sweeten the deals of his predatory friends.
Mafia princesses are usually treated like royalty, but I’m just an Omega mafia bastard.
I spot an alley up ahead and turn into it, hoping for a trashcan to jump into and mask my scent, but to my dismay, it’s empty.
“sh*t!” I exclaim but still run through it anyway.
They’re a few meters behind me, but thankfully they haven’t discovered this alleyway yet. I turn my head to see if I’m still safe, but as I do, I run smack bang into something hard. I fall on my ass and tumble to the floor, knowing that a few seconds ago there was nothing in this alleyway!
“What the f*ck?!” a man’s voice calls out and it sends shivers down my spine. When I look up, I see a blurry face with red eyes and nothing else.
An Alpha, oh no.
“P-please…help me…” I utter the words I never wanted to, but I know how many precious seconds I’m wasting by laying here. “Please…I have to…”
Someone pulls me up by my arm and it takes me a few seconds to register that it’s the man. He opens a door he’s standing next to. “Go inside.” He orders before closing the door again.
I must be foolish to trust a man I don’t know, and for all I know, he could be an even worse of a monster than the one I ran away from. But for now, I’m safe - for now, those men won’t know I’m here.
Running footsteps outside get my attention and I hold my breath, hoping they don’t do anything to this man who tried to help me. I hear voices outside, but my vision gets blurry again and I lean against the doorway while trying not to make a noise.
If they see me in here, I’m as good as dead.
Retreating footsteps cause me to perk up and it takes a while before the door is opened again. In one swift motion that leaves me dazed, I get pulled out of the room and into the alleyway. The man who saved me is leering down at me, a curious frown on his face.
I feel a stab of familiarity in his smirk, and that small ball of fear has now reached its peak.
“And just who might you be, little rabbit?” he asks in that same tone of voice; low and demanding. The husky lilt to his voice would have been attractive, were it not for my fading vision.
“I…I don’t rememb…” the words fail me, and before I know it, I’ve lost my balance. Before I can hit the floor, a pair of strong arms grab me and gently hoist me up. The scent of spice and leather invades my senses and reminds me of autumn, but I am unable to string a coherent sentence together right now.
The last thing I hear before my vision goes dark is, “Alpha Nikolaos.”
