Kain Locke
I stared at him, feeling both confusion and curiosity. I hadn't expected anyone, especially not this guy I met earlier at the dining room, to be lounging on my bed so casually. I wasn't bothered about how he managed to locate my room, or that he entered uninvited
But the fact that he's a beta, and a beta in the room Alec shared according to Bella was doomed to get into trouble.
"You really should ask me what I'm doing here," he repeated slowly, leaning back as if the conversation were nothing more than idle chatter. "And since you did, what am I doing in here, really?"
I crossed my arms, "Yes, what are you doing here?" I affirmed, already getting annoyed at his nonchalant behaviour, i don't remember giving him my room number, no less inviting him.
He let out a soft chuckle and shrugged. "Couldn't believe there would come a day when someone would enter my room and ask me what I'm doing here," he said, his tone was calm, almost matter-of-fact, but I could see something in his eyes, something that made me wonder if he truly meant it.
And.. if he was really saying the truth, then… "You're… Alec?" My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as I let the door go, and it creaked as it moved, then it eventually closed with a soft click.
Alec didn't react much to my shock. He just stretched his arms behind his head, completely at ease.
I swallowed, trying to process this. "You're the Alec?" I repeated, still not sure I believed it.
Bella had made it seem like Alec was someone to avoid, yet here he was, sprawled across my bed like he belonged there. He has even offered me a space to stand in the assembly… so..
"The one and only." He smirked, "Didn't expect me to be this good-looking?" he said, with a wink.
I let out an annoyed breath, dragging a hand through my hair. "Well, no, I didn't expect you to break into this room and act like it's no big deal." I said partly truth, of course I wouldn't have picture this person as Alec.
He chuckled. "Technically, it doesn't count as breaking in if the door was unlocked right? And literally, the room is mine like every other roommates,"
I narrowed my eyes. "That's not the point."
Alec tilted his head. "Then what is?"
Good question. It's just that I didn't know what the point was. Maybe that I had no idea what he wanted from me.
He studied me for a moment, then gave a small shrug. He patted the bed beside him. "Sit. You look like you're about to collapse."
I hesitated, but my legs ached, and the day had drained me more than I wanted to admit. With a sigh, I sat down on the very edge of the bed, keeping as much distance between us as possible.
He let out a small laugh. "You can relax, I don't bite."
I shot him a look. "That's hard to believe."
He raised a brow but didn't argue. Instead, he leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the ceiling. "You know, you're different from what I expected."
I frowned. "What does that mean?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. Just thought you'd be more… obedient."
My jaw tightened. "I'm not some pet."
"No," he said, voice quiet. "You're definitely not. Anyone that saw you pin that bastard to the ground will understand that."
I was still thinking about how I'm going to respond to that. But before I could respond, a deep, guttural howl suddenly cut through the air, shattering the silence in the room.
Alec was on his feet in an instant. And I followed the next second before I know it, heart pounding as another howl echoed, this time, it sounded even closer. Then came the screams.
"What the hell is that?" I asked, already moving toward the little window in the room.
"Trouble." I heard him say behind me as I yanked the curtain aside, and my stomach lurched at the sight in front of me.
Down below, figures moved in the dim lighting of the base courtyard, figures that weren't human. They were tall, very tall and very dark with red eyes, their speed was also unnaturally fast, as they darted through the open spaces, taking down anyone in their path.
"Nightbeasts," Alec muttered, grabbing a knife from the bedside table. I didn't even know that was there.
He looked at me. "How good are you in a fight?"
I swallowed hard. I'd been in fights before, too many, but it's always easy to fight a human than beasts, "I'll hold my own," I said, hoping it wasn't a lie.
Alec smirked. "Good. Try not to die before we gets to the armory."
We were out the door before I could even process what was happening.
The hallway was already in chaos, to make it worse, the lights were now flickering, people were running, some were shouting orders, grabbing weapons.
Someone crashed into me in their panic, nearly knocking me off balance, but I shoved forward, following Alec through the mess.
We burst into the courtyard, and I finally saw them up close.
Monstrous, wolf-like creatures with elongated limbs and too many teeth. Their glowing red eyes flickered in the darkness as they tore through anything that moved.
One of them lunged at a soldier, who barely managed to dodge before Alec's knife sank into its neck. It let out a strangled growl before collapsing.
"Move!" Alec barked, already scanning for the next target.
"Where's the armory?" I shouted loud enough for him to hear, but he hasn't responded when a beast locked eyes with me, its lips peeling back in a snarl as it lunged at me, I barely had time to react before my body moved on instinct, I ducked, twisting the very next second and slammed my elbow into its ribs. It stumbled, just enough for me to kick it backward.
Alec whistled. "Not bad, Locke."
"Where the heck is the armory!" I shouted, ignoring his remarks.
"The floor downward." he answered with a puff, wrestling a beast to the ground.
Shit! shit! shit!
Who the heck places an armory on the down floor?
I didn't have time to respond, nor turned back to find my way because more of them were coming, drawn by the noise. I grabbed two fallen blades from a dead Beta and braced myself as two more beasts lunged.
Then, just as I struck one down, another one lounge. And then the light went out completely.
Switching everything to hard mode.
This seemed neverending, because they only keeps increasing no matter how many of them were taken down, and the blades being short and the power out placed me at greater odds.
I gasped for breath, my arms screaming from the strain as I swung the blade again, barely slicing through the thick skin of another nightbeast.
"Damnit! Just stop coming already!" I screamed as I stabbed into another one's eyes.
It doesn't take long for my legs to start aching, the exhaustion creeping in faster than I wanted to admit. Even though I undoubtedly would've lasted longer than this in the past, but I was no longer in the past.
It was obvious in my strikes which were getting slower each passing seconds.
So when another beast attacked from behind, I swiftly turn to stab it in the stomach, but my legs slipped on already dead beasts fluid on the floor making me miss.
Notwithstanding that it was just a second; one moment of imbalance, but that was all it took as the beast lunged, slamming me to the ground before I could recover.
My back hit the ground, and I barely managed to wedge my arm between its snapping jaws and my throat. Its breath was hot and rancid, at it open wider to bite me.
I struggled, trying to push it off, but it was stronger. My muscles burned as it bite at it, not like I have much flesh around it anyway but it hurts like hell. Then he took another bite.
Damnit! I'm not some hamburger! I wish I could scream that to it's face and screw him over.
But, barkness was coming over me…
Then..
Bang!
A gunshot sound ring in my ears so loud it could bleed.
The nightbeast above me jerked, its body stiffening before it collapsed on me, it's heavy weight pinning me down for a moment before it was roughly kicked aside.
I sucked in a hungry gulp of breath and turned my head just in time to see a figure in the dark, stepping forward, dimmed blue light was coming out of a sleek, black crystal gun in his hand so i could see some part of his face.
His dark hair was tousled from the wind, strands falling just above his sharp, striking cold and unreadable eyes that was the only part of his face left uncovered by the dark mask he wore.
And surprisingly, there wasn't a single drop of sweat on his forehead, despite the battle raging around us. He looked… unbothered. Like this was nothing more than a child play.
I was still gasping for air, therefore before I could respond,
Bang!
Another shot rang out, and another nightbeast dropped behind me. Then another. And another…
The man moved with practiced ease, his stance relaxed as he fired, each bullet landing precisely where it needed to. He barely looked at the creatures, his attention flicking back to me even as he shot them down one by one, and then he scaled through the window and just like that… he was gone.
****
"What in the universe happened here… goodness, are you guys okay?" I turned back to see Bella and another omega rushing closer with bright touch, the pink haired Omega from earlier, precisely.
Alec had managed to get back on his feet, panting, his knife dripping with green blood. "Took you long enough," he muttered breathlessly.
"The armory was locked by someone we don't know. We even have to drop explosives to break in." the Omega explained as Bella rushed to my side.
Alec scoffed. "Whatever." and the Omega lowered his eyes.
"Can you stand up?" Bella said, aiding me up.
"I guess." I swallowed, pushing myself up slowly. The battle around us had died down for now, the bodies of the nightbeasts scattered across the courtyard. But the man with the mask who'd shot this beast down is gone.