𝘼 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜...
Zara Crones, a strong and ambitious Omega with a troubled past, suddenly finds that her own backyard is piling up with bodies. And to make matters worse, those six bodies have only belonged t...
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A cold chill ran up Zara's spine as those petals stared back at her. She could feel her heart thumping harshly against her chest. Felt it as it got harder to breathe while she continued to stare at the rose.
"What's wrong?"
Ignoring Nate, she kept her eyes trained on the flower, a sense of doom building inside her. Turbulent thoughts spiraled in her mind; like a raging tornado waiting for its supper of dirt and debris. Swallowing it like a hungry beast.
It had been a year since she had last seen the sight of a bloodied rose like this.
A year in which she had finally felt safe.
Why now?
She tried to remember anything that might have changed over the course of 12 months and could not think of a single thing. But yet, something must have changed if the damn flower sticking from the sand was any indication.
"Zara, tell me what's wrong."
The feel of his hand as he placed it on her arm, softly shaking it and trying to revert her focus back to him, almost broke the spell.
Almost, but that damn flower kept staring back at her.
Haunting her with its beautiful elegance. The soft satin-like petals swaying with the wind and the red wine-like droplets creating rivers down its stem.
"Is that rose important? Should I go and check it out-"
"No." She harshly, and hastily, answered. The tone of her voice seemed to shock both of them. An ounce of regret blossomed inside of her, but it finally made her tear her gaze away from the flower. Moving in front of Nate, she blocked him from taking a step towards it. "No," she repeated, softly this time. "It's nothing."
She could see him clenching his teeth in frustration, diverting his gaze from her to the flower. His eyes shifted back and forth for a few beats before finally settling back on her.
"Can't be nothing if it made the air stink of your fear."
She mentally cursed the enhanced sense of smell Alphas had. She wished it was normal like hers. While they had evolved from furred beasts to a more human-like appearance over time, they still had some of the senses that their animals had before evolution took its place. And, unfortunately, right now this Alpha's hyperactive senses were kicked into high gear.
She reeked right now — and she knew that. With her chest still hurting from the beating it was getting, it wasn't something that she could just ignore. But the terror currently gripping at her throat was not needed right now.
"It's nothing, I promise," she firmly stated. Hoping Nate would drop it and not look further into things that were not his business.
He growled in reply, the fingers that she had unconsciously put on his chest to stop his forward movement tingled with the vibrations. She ran her hand back and forth, hoping it would soothe him — and her — at the same time.
