CHAPTER THREE: B*TCH OF A COINCIDENCE

Niall Alcott

I woke up to my thong sucked into my hole. Soreness was an understatement to evaluate my throbbing muscles, and the room was awfully silent.

I stretched to grab a paper stuffed next to me on the cushion and read: For the sore throat and the other hole.

My brows knitted and then the memory of last night reeled back to me in an alarming wave. I shot up from the bed only to slam against the headboard.

"Goodness," I shut my own mouth, horrified at the thoughts spiralling through my mind.

How could I have done that? With strangers, no less?

Two simple pills sat on the centre table with a cup of water sealed by a lid. I eyed them once and attempted to stand. But my thighs nearly gave out.

And my hole hurt like crazy. Buckling my knees to gather my clothes was another battle of weakness, my muscles screaming for relief.

Compounding my horror, my pants were a rag and my shirt was missing buttons. I almost believed those men were barbaric monsters. Eventually, I found a hoodie in the wardrobe that faintly reeked of vomit.

Without a choice, I put it on and sprinted out of the room. The shortcuts through the backyard that led down the valley to the pack aided my escape, ensuring I wouldn't be caught. The path led me to my room where I stood under warm cascading water, washing the nightmare of last night away.

It never happened. Nothing happened.

Having convinced myself enough, I got dressed in a simple linen shirt and flared trousers that streamed down my body, glorifying my frame. Like a field catching summer sunbeams, my green eyes gleamed and my black hair stopped just above my shoulders.

I had packed it into a ponytail when I noticed how pale my skin was. Overly pale.

Then the door yanked open.

"What the actual—"

"Get him on his knees." Chris entered with a familiar rage.

His forehead creased as two other hunters pinned me to the floor, my arms locked in their grip. A slap landed on my cheek, stirring fury in me.

"If Alpha Steele hears of this—"

He cut me off. "He'll be glad I'm correcting the pack members. Where did you go last night?"

"You're not my Alpha."

"I'm your commander."

"As of yesterday."

Truly, there were times I wished I could hold back my mouth, but it had a mind of its own.

"So, what? You're not going to respect me?" Chris chuckled. He crouched to meet my eye level. "You know, I didn't even have feelings for the Alpha before he made me his commander, his personal right hand. And I understand your anger. Letting him have you all those nights you spent with him and yet he gave you no position. That would enrage anyone."

This was a rumour I couldn't let stand. I wanted to accept defeat, perhaps even apologise, but it would mean confirming what he said was true, and that would tarnish my image far more than he already had.

"That's a lie!" I found an opening, slipped one arm free and landed a weak punch against the other hunter's face. It was enough to destabilise him.

My fingers found Chris' face, digging into his eyes. Out of reflex, his fist connected with my jaw and drew blood.

Yet as my throat burned from ragged breathing, I stood and held my ground. "I didn't do any of that."

"What is happening here?"

All our heads snapped to the door where Alpha Steele stood. He watched with intent.

"Sire, I—"

Again, Chris took the words from me.

"The omega didn't attend his duties last night. We couldn't find him anywhere in the pack until this morning."

Alpha Steele stepped past Chris without a word. A stifled laugh almost escaped me, certain that Chris' hot breath irritated the man, but my face hardened when Alpha Steele stopped inches from me.

He watched me from close range with a powerful, unrelenting gaze. Thank goodness I had showered away any foreign scent and cleaned myself out.

"Is that true?"

I dropped my face but he raised it back up with his finger.

"I was out training. I grew tired and wanted to rest. I ended up sleeping until morning."

"And all of this happened outside the pack where no witness could vouch for you?"

My heart plummeted. The nervousness was beyond description.

"Yes, Alpha Steele."

"There is no evidence, Alpha Steele. I don't trust him. This is the third time this week he has missed his duties."

Alpha Steele kept his eyes fixed on me, unrelenting in his reading of my face. I thought of a thousand things, especially my affection for him, my hope that he would have been the first to pull me into heat, but my mind kept slipping, kept going back to them, last night, those men, the three…

No!

"Punish me then, sire." I blurted out, voice trembling.

"What would you have me do to you?" He questioned.

My eyes shifted from Chris smirking behind Alpha Steele back to him.

Then my lips curled upward. "A gun duel between Chris and me."

"Yes… wait, what?" Chris stepped forward from behind.

"He is my superior. My punishment should fall under his jurisdiction," I said, though more importantly, it was a chance for us to settle this once and for all.

All those years of bullying. My revenge.

My quarters turned into an arena. Hunters poured in from other hostels while Alpha Steele took a seat on higher ground where his view was clearest.

With his voice came absolute silence.

"The tradition of a gun duel, when challenged, means only one person escapes that fate. Two things can save you. Luck and talent. Luck in your sharpness to detect when your opponent has the bullet in the chamber and to deflect when the shot is fired. Talent claims your expertise in reaching your bullet first."

My eyes met his and in that moment my breath stalled. Time froze. Something broke inside me, as though I had expected an emotion I did not find in his eyes. Or perhaps I had overthought the matter entirely.

The rush came back.

"Begin!"

My second passed me a pistol and a single bullet. Fixated on Chris, I watched as he maintained his stance with quiet confidence. My bullet entered the chamber and I spun the cylinder before cocking it into place.

"Ready?" The middleman looked between us both.

A metre of distance separated us. Overhead, the sun scorched while dark clouds gathered at the edges of the sky. Tension settled into the silence before dissolving into murmurs.

"One…" the middleman stepped back.

"Two…"

I steadied my trigger finger.

"Fire!"

No sound. Merely clicks from both sides. I smirked and the crowd groaned.

"Shall we?" Chris said.

We spun again.

I studied his movement this time. His readiness had shifted, his grip tightened and his breathing steadied.

"Fire!"

"Shit!" I muttered and threw myself sideways. His shot fired, the bullet grazing past my cheek and left ear. Crimson trickled down my jaw, the burning sensation blurring my vision and hearing for a moment.

He missed, and so came the final round before we would start all over again if I also missed or failed to fire.

I spun the cylinder deliberately this time. I listened, then struck the barrel at the right moment, halting the rotation.

The countdown began.

"So, are you going to kill me?" Chris said on the second count.

"I have the shot," I replied honestly.

"Why would you tell me?" He scoffed. The bastard had no fear in his eyes.

"Because I won't miss."

Everyone knew I never missed, which was why Chris once broke my right hand, assuming I shot with it. But I was a leftie.

My eyes narrowed, ready to fire the moment I heard the call.

Except crimson erupted like water from a burst pipe across Chris' face. My eyes snapped to his second, who no longer had a head.

"Invaders! We are under attack!" A voice rang out, swallowing every other sound.

Chaos swallowed the arena. I stood frozen as I watched Chris fight off a creature that brought him to the ground.

A true horrifying monster.

Another came chittering toward me. Dead but moving, its face partly stripped of skin, gnashing at the air as it closed in within seconds.

"Damn it, fight back. I thought you were all hunters!" The rough voice jolted me back to the present. Before me stood a familiar face.

Cyrus. I remembered.

"Cut them some slack. They have never seen the world beyond their pack, brother." Xander observed. "They are novices, especially you, Niall." He said my name like an antidote to a venom.

And then through the dust and smoke, Lucious emerged. All three Alphas, here. Of all the chances.