Page 7 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

Straightening my spine, I spit out the sour taste that lingers in my mouth.

I know what I have to do.

My Alpha does not want to leave Halley. He wants blood, fire, and a body count, but I'm our Pack's Prime Alpha and this burden is mine to bear.

"Viper, come," I call using my Alpha Command.

His shoulders stiffen, and he raises his head slowly, blinking as he focuses his swollen, red eyes. We stare at each other for what feels like a lifetime, a silent conversation passing between us.

He knows.

We've spoken of it before, about how he'd like to deal with his Blood Lust when it became too much for him to bear.

Jerking his head in a semblance of a nod, he clutches Halley tighter one last time. His head hangs, eyes fixed on his Omega, his entire world. His hands cradle her so delicately, his thumbs brushing her cheekbones. Finally, he kisses the top of her head and gently places her on the ground, arranging her so she looks like she's just asleep instead of...

Bile rises again.

She looks so soft and small. Fuck, I always forgot how small she is... was... my little spitfire. My princess.

I tear my eyes away. I can't look at her like this, so lifeless and still. My Halley was motion, sweetness, temper, and stubborn little smirks she tried to hide from me.

"Shade," I say, my voice rough and husky. "Viper and I are going for a walk. You need to... please, will you take care of Blaze?"

Shade lifts his head from staring at the blood drying on his hands. "A walk, Prime?"

His eyes are distant and cold. He knows what I mean. He's seen my contingency plans, carefully outlined in a file on his datapad.

"Yeah. It's time for the big guy to take a walk."

Shade vacantly looks at Viper and the pulsing red veins, the muscles bunching and twitching as each second passes.

Our Omega's influence is gone, and the Blood Lust is taking control. There is nothing we can do to help him, not now. Before Halley, he was a goner. With her, he was on borrowed time. And now, after her, there is nothing left to save.

He purses his lips and looks back at Halley. "She wouldn't like that."

I exhale.

No, she really wouldn't.

She would plant herself in front of Viper, and my little princess would call me every name she could think of, then invent three more. But she wouldn't swear. She'd say frack.

And if she were here, I would let her win.

But she isn't here, and I have to be the bastard with an unshakable sense of duty.

"Can I explain it to her?" I hear myself asking, already approaching her prone form.

The practical voice in my head, which sounds faintly like my old drill instructor, sneers: a corpse can't hear you, shit for brains.

I crouch beside her anyway.

Shade slowly rises to his blood-stained boots and gives me some space.

The scent of her clotting blood wafts up and smacks me in the face, and I swallow against the burn in the back of my throat.

I brush a lock of hair out of her eyes, the stray one that was always escaping and driving me mad.

She's pale and feels cold. So cold.