Feral Omega: A Dark Reverse Harem Omegaverse Romance (Ghost Alpha Unit Book 1)

The biting wind lashes my face as I haul Valek’s dead weight down the treacherous slope of the cliff. Fuckin’ lightweight went and got himself knocked out cold by a little omega. Or at least that’s what he claims happened.

Figures. It’s always the ones that run their mouths.

‘Pick up the pace,’ Valek snarls, his gravelly voice dripping with venom despite the gash oozing crimson down his temple. ‘I think you’ve been ‘bulking’ a little too much.’

I huff out a breath that fogs in the frigid air, lips curling in a sneer. ‘I could drop two hundred pounds right now if you wanna know what those jagged rocks down there feel like going straight up your ass.’

‘One ninety,’ he shoots back, boots scrabbling for purchase on the ice as he hangs off my back. ‘I’m not packing enough blubber to keep a small village warm through the winter.’

A muscle ticks in my jaw as I shift my grip on his arm, fingers digging into the thick insulation of his tactical gear. ‘You know what they say, bro. Muscle weighs more than fat, and I’m ninety-nine-point-nine percent muscle.”

‘Sure,’ he scoffs, one dark brow arching at me. ‘And I’m a saint.’

I open my mouth for a scathing retort of my own, but the words die on my tongue as my foot skids on a patch of black ice. I windmill my free arm, fighting for balance as we both teeter precariously on the edge of the sheer drop.

Valek chuckles, low and mocking. ‘You are graceful despite your size, I’ll give you that.’

“You could show me a little gratitude for saving your ass,” I mutter when I’m steady on my feet again. “You’re damn lucky I’m big or you’d be a Popsicle right now.”

He barks out a harsh laugh in my ear.

Gritting my teeth, I haul him up the last few feet until we crest the ridge, every muscle straining with the effort. Sweat beads my brow despite the bitter chill, my breaths coming in harsh pants that cloud the air. I dump him unceremoniously into a snowbank.

Hope it hurts.

I brace my hands on my thighs as I bend over, sucking in deep gulps of the thin mountain air. “You know, it’s not my fuckin’ fault the Council gives us shit like dehydrated potatoes and space cheese instead of sushi, meat, pizza⁠—”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

Valek winces as he pushes himself up onto one elbow. ‘Those are not health foods.’

‘Ever heard of flatbreads and balsamic vinegar, bro?’

He grins at me like a damn hyena. ‘Whatever you say, big boy.”

Okay. That’s it.

I straighten to my full height and jab a finger at him. ‘You know what? Fuck you. We can’t all subsist on nothing but raw meat and the souls of innocents, Count Fuckin’ Dracula.’

Valek opens his mouth, no doubt to unleash another barrage of insults after I just saved his ass and hauled him down from the cliff, but I cut him off with a curt wave of my hand.

‘Save it, asshole. We need to regroup with the others and figure out what the fuck happened back there. She can’t have gone far.’

I glance around the snow-swept ridge, the slate-gray sky pressing low over the jagged peaks. No sign of Thane or the others, just the yawning maw of the forest stretching out below us, skeletal branches clawing at the low-hanging clouds.

Something prickles at the back of my neck, a shiver that has nothing to do with the icy wind whipping past. My gaze snaps back to Valek, taking in the ugly bruise already darkening the left side of his temple, the dried blood streaking his high cheekbones and white hair.

‘What actually happened up there?’ I ask, dread coiling in my gut as I think about Ivy out there, alone. ‘I thought you had our omega secure. You had one fuckin’ job.’

Valek’s jaw tightens, pale eyes narrowing into slits. ‘I told you, that little psycho clocked me with a rock while my back was turned. Next thing I knew, I was eating snow with a splitting headache. It’s not like I’ve got the damn tapes to prove it.’

I blink at him. Sure, I saw Ivy’s fiery spirit firsthand during our sparring session, witnessed the way she fought with everything she had despite being outmatched. But to actually take down one of us, one of the Ghosts?

It seems impossible. Unthinkable.

‘Bullshit,’ I mutter, shaking my head in disbelief. ‘No way that tiny slip of an omega managed to get the drop on you like that.’

Valek’s lip curls in a snarl, fury etching lines across his harsh features. ‘Are you calling me a liar?’

I raise my hands in a placating gesture, backpedaling slightly. As much as I enjoy pushing the fucker’s buttons, I know better than to fan those flames when he’s already smoldering.

Especially when there’s a hundred-foot dropoff at my back.

‘I’m just saying, she must have had some kinda lucky shot or something.’

‘Lucky shot, my ass,’ he spits, shoving himself to his feet with an agility that belies his bulk. ‘Our little wildcat took my rifle and gear, then booked it into the woods.’

My stomach drops at his words, the weight of the situation settling fully on my shoulders.

‘Maybe she’s with the others. With Thane and⁠—’

‘You really think that’s where she ran off to after smashing a rock over my head? Back to the others?’ Valek cuts me off, his tone scathing. ‘Use what’s left of that pea brain of yours for once, dumbass.’

I open my mouth, desperate to refute his words, to cling to that last shred of hope that our omega is safe and accounted for. But deep down, I know he’s right.

She’s out there somewhere, alone and ill-equipped to handle the punishing conditions. Possibly injured.

Every protective instinct ingrained in my very DNA screams at me to find her, to bring her back to the safety of the pack’s embrace before some unspeakable horror befalls her. Visions of her delicate form torn apart by ravenous beasts or left to freeze in the merciless clutches of this wilderness assault me, each more gruesome than the last.

A low growl rumbles up from my chest, the sound ripped from my core. The mere thought of Ivy suffering, of her life being threatened in any way, unleashes a torrent of rage unlike anything I’ve ever felt.

It’s not just the usual bloodlust that surges through my veins, that heady cocktail of violence and adrenaline that fuels me in battle. No, this is something deeper, more primal. Something rooted in the most fundamental drive of my alpha nature—the need to protect what’s mine.

Our omega.

The two words echo through my mind like a war cry, a rallying call to arms. She may not have chosen this life, may not have asked to be bound to our pack. But that doesn’t matter, not really. Not when every fiber of my being screams at me to shield her, to hunt down any threat and eradicate it with brutal, merciless force.

‘We have to find her,’ I growl, whirling on Valek with eyes blazing. ‘Now. Before⁠—’

The words die in my throat as movement flickers at the edge of my vision. I spin toward it, lips peeling back in a snarl as I brace for an attack.

But it’s just Thane emerging from the tree line, Plague a silent shadow at his side. The boss’s dark eyes find me instantly, that implacable gaze missing nothing as it sweeps over me and Valek.

‘What the hell happened up there?’ he demands without preamble, already closing the distance between us with long, purposeful strides.

I open my mouth, but Valek beats me to it, that familiar sneer twisting his full lips.

‘Your little pet project went rogue, that’s what,’ he spits, jabbing a finger toward the treacherous slope we just climbed. ‘Knocked me out cold and booked it into the fucking wilderness with my gear.’

For a beat, the only sound is the whisper of the wind through the skeletal branches as Thane processes his words. Then his jaw clenches, that muscle ticking in a way that says he’s battling to keep his legendary temper in check.

‘And Wraith? Did you see him?’ he finally grinds out, obsidian eyes flicking between us.

‘Nope. Thought he was ripping apart the mansion with you,’ I say with a shrug, feeling oddly wrong-footed. ‘Haven’t seen him since we split up for the assault.’

Thane’s nostrils flare as he sucks in a harsh breath. When he speaks again, his tone is low and utterly devoid of inflection. ‘He’s gone, too. Booked it out of the mansion almost as soon as you radioed. We found his tracks leading into the forest, along with signs of a struggle. Looks like he went after Ivy.’

The bottom drops out of my stomach at his words, that ember of rage flaring white-hot in my chest once more. If that feral psycho so much as lays a finger on her…

‘We’re going after them,’ Thane continues, already turning on his heel and striding back toward the tree line. ‘And when we find them, I want Wraith tranqed and secured. No arguments, no questions. Just do it.’

‘What about the little wildcat?’ Valek calls after him, that mocking lilt back in his gravelly rasp.

Thane pauses, his shoulders squaring beneath the layers of tactical gear. ‘Ivy isn’t the threat here,’ he rumbles without turning around. ‘We’ll deal with her once she’s back in our custody and out of harm’s way.’

I shoot Valek a pointed look, unable to resist twisting the knife just a little deeper. ‘Hear that, tough guy? Sounds like the boss doesn’t think his precious little pet is that dangerous after all.’

Valek’s eyes narrow to slits, but he holds his tongue for once. Smart move, because I’m already wound so damn tight that even his bullshit jibes might be enough to make me snap right now.

Instead, he just hitches his rifle higher and falls into step behind Thane and Plague as they disappear into the gnarled tangle of the forest. I linger for a moment longer, scanning the horizon one last time as if I might somehow catch a glimpse of Ivy through the swirling snow.

But the wilderness remains as still and silent as a graveyard, betraying no hint of the precious life force hidden somewhere in its frigid embrace. With a muttered curse, I turn and take off in the opposite direction, the icy branches clawing at my face like skeletal fingers.

Thane’ll be pissed, but so be it. I’m following my instincts. That’s how I roll.

Hang on, little wildcat. We’re coming for you, whether you want us to or not.

And if that feral bastard Wraith has so much as looked at you the wrong way…

Well, not even his brother will be able to stop me from painting the snow with his blood.