Unhinged Omega: A Dark Reverse Harem Omegaverse Romance (Ghost Alpha Unit Book 4)

I stare in abject horror as Cosima teeters on the edge of the pit, my heart stopping in my chest. It feels like everything is in slow motion. The Knight reaches up with those lethal claws, and there’s a dull ache somewhere in my chest that feels like those knives are going straight through me.

It’s a sensation I’ve never felt before. Not a physical sensation, maybe, but every bit as gripping and sharp as the pain I felt when my eye was ripped out, and a thousand times worse.

This is a hell of a time to have a heart attack.

Unless…

Is this fear?

Huh. No wonder Reese is always vomiting. How the fuck do normal people feel this shit on a daily basis and function?

I lunge forward and grab Cosima’s robe, yanking her back from certain death. She whirls on me immediately like a wild animal, fists and sharp nails flying. My nose is already throbbing from her earlier assault, and now she’s going for my eyes.

Eye.

‘Would you calm the fuck down?’ I growl, trying to restrain her without hurting her. But the thin fabric of her robe just tears in my hands and she gets free, landing a blow square in the center of my chest. ‘I just saved your life!’

She’s stronger than she looks, and despite thrashing in a frenzied rage against me, every swing and swipe is calculated. As I block her so she doesn’t get my other eye, I realize she’s actually pushing me back a little.

Did someone teach her how to fight?

And why am I fucking jealous?

Another thing I’ve never felt in my life. About thirty years and I guess my emotions finally decided to show up to the party. Wonder what’s next.

Some fucking relaxation would be nice.

Is that an emotion?

Below us, the Knight lets out an earth-shattering roar that makes my men flinch. But when I glance around, I realize they’re not even looking at the monster. They’re staring at Cosima’s disrobed body with hungry eyes.

My blood starts boiling.

I spin us around so I’m blocking their view, ignoring the way she’s still clawing at me like a rabid cat and glower over my shoulder. ‘Anyone who so much as glances in this direction gets thrown in the fucking pit!’

Suddenly, everyone has urgent business elsewhere. Even Lex makes herself scarce, though not without a final appreciative glance that has me considering if even she needs to join the Knight down there.

I shrug off my coat, trying to wrap it around Cosima’s shoulders as she continues to struggle. ‘Would you hold still?’ I snap. ‘I’m trying to cover you up!’noveldrama

She freezes so abruptly it catches me off guard. When I look down at her face, my breath catches in my throat. Tears are streaming down her cheeks as the fight seems to drain out of her all at once.

‘Give me back. He’s here,’ she whispers, her voice hollow and distant. ‘He found me.’

She goes completely limp in my arms, her violet eyes glazing over as she stares into nothing. The fierce little demon who just broke my nose and nearly escaped—and got herself torn apart in the process—is gone, replaced by something fragile and broken.

This must be what Lex was talking about.

But what triggered it?

The Knight?

Guess even a rabid, unhinged omega has her limits.

I gather her into my arms, trying not to think about the way her soft curves mold to the hard planes of my chest and arms. Her skin is ice cold, and she’s trembling. Without thinking, I pull her closer, trying to share my warmth.

All the chaos and sounds of unbridled rage coming from that pit probably aren’t helping. Guess Lex was right about that, too. And here I’d thought my newest weapon had lost his spark.

Apparently, all it took was fresh meat being dangled in front of him to remind him he’s a wild beast.

‘Come on, little psycho,’ I mutter, the endearment slipping out before I can stop it as I shift Cosima in my arms. ‘Let’s get you somewhere safe.’

She doesn’t respond, lost in whatever nightmare she’s trapped in, as limp and listless as a doll. The sound of the Knight’s frustrated roars follow us as I carry her back toward the compound, and I swear I can feel those eerie blue eyes burning into my back.

I shift Cosima’s weight in my arms as I approach the air traffic control tower. My private sanctuary, turned into a fortress worthy of my paranoia. The glass windows that completely surround the cylindrical tower at the top of the massive structure reflect the dying sunlight, making it look like the whole thing is on fire.

Fitting.

Her words keep echoing in my head like a broken record.

‘Give me back. He’s here. He found me.’

What the fuck did she mean by that?

Give her back to her father, or the monster?

The Knight’s roars have faded to a distant rumble, but I know he’s watching us. I can still feel his eyes. Like a predator that’s caught the scent of its prey.

And she knows him?

Or at least she thinks she does.

The elevator doors slide open with a soft ding that sounds obscenely cheerful given the situation. I step inside, careful not to bump Cosima’s head against the wall. She’s clearly got a few screws loose already. And she’s still completely out of it, those violet eyes staring at nothing.

‘You in there?’ I mutter, studying her face for any sign of awareness.

Nothing.

Just that thousand-yard stare that makes my chest uncomfortably tight for reasons I don’t even want to analyze right now. At least the blood dripping from my broken nose makes it easier to think clearly through her scent. The echoes of it linger, though, where they’ve taken hold at something buried deep inside me.

Maybe I’ve got a few screws loose, too.

The elevator begins its ascent and I find myself pulling her closer instinctively. She’s so fucking cold. Like holding a corpse, except for the rapid flutter of her pulse where her throat presses against my arm.

I can’t stop thinking about the way she looked at that monster. There was recognition in her eyes. Fear, yes, but something else too. Something that looked almost like…

Relief?

What kind of omega looks at an eight-foot-tall killing machine with relief?

The same kind that headbutts a notorious warlord and tries to castrate him with blunt force trauma, apparently.

I glance down at her again, taking in the delicate arch of her eyebrows, the soft curve of her lips. She looks so fragile like this. Nothing like the hellcat who nearly escaped.

And both versions are doing something to my head I don’t particularly like.

The elevator finally slows to a stop as it reaches the top floor. I shoulder my way through the reinforced door into my private quarters. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a panoramic view of my domain, but I barely notice the sight I usually spend hours brooding over.

I’m too focused on the woman in my arms—and the growing certainty that I’m in way over my fucking head.

‘Time to wake up,’ I say, laying her gently on the massive bed that dominates one corner of the space. My coat is still wrapped around her, and something possessive stirs in my chest at the sight.

I push the feeling down. Hard.

More blankets. I gather every one I can find, which isn’t a lot. Most of the time I don’t even properly go to bed, I just kind of drift off doing something else for a few hours here and there. Never needed more.

This place isn’t a home so much as it is a lookout tower. A place I can get away to plot and plan my next scheme. There’s the bed, a leather couch I had my men haul out of an abandoned department store, and a basic kitchen I haven’t touched since I took over this place and had it remodeled. Other than that, and a cache of some essentials and weapons in case I ever need to get the hell out of dodge, the vast space is pretty much empty.

The control panels around the perimeter add a certain ambiance, though. I left those. Still not exactly an ideal location to keep a prissy omega, but I guess it’s better than a dank concrete cell.

She doesn’t stir, doesn’t even blink. Just keeps staring at nothing with those haunting eyes. I’ve seen this kind of thing before. Soldiers who’ve seen too much, their minds checking out when reality becomes too much to handle.

But what could make an omega princess from a privileged background break like this?

The monster?

How the fuck would it have even gotten to her when she’s probably spent her whole life in an ivory tower?

I rake a hand through my hair in frustration, wincing when the back of my hand brushes against my busted nose. Questions pile up like bodies after a firefight, and the one person who could answer them is currently lost in her own world.

A world that apparently involves a certain iron-masked beast.

The same beast that tore through twenty-six of my men like they were made of paper. The same beast that’s currently throwing itself against the walls of its prison and clawing at the edges, trying to climb out.

Trying to get to her.

What are the fucking odds? I don’t believe in coincidences, even less in fate. Only what I can see, hear, and touch.

But that scent of hers… that was real.

And so was the fear I felt when she was balancing on the edge of that pit.

All of it means something. And I’m enough of a realist that I know exactly how fucking dangerous it is. I also know exactly how much shit I’m in if I don’t hand her back when the Ghosts come calling.

For the first time in my life, I’m just not sure rationality is going to win out.