Poison Ivy Ch. 03

"You're upset." His voice was calm and matter of fact.

She rolled her eyes. "You fucking think so, jackass?"

A loud growl easily drowned out her own. The world spun, and she was on her back, the Alpha glaring down at her threateningly as he covered her body with his. "Call it what you want, Ivy, but you are my mate. There was no reason to wait. The sooner you accept the pair-bond and your place as a mated Omega, the sooner you will feel settled and fulfilled." He pinned her with his stormy grey-blue eyes, his massive hands dwarfing her wrists and palms. "And I will say this again, for the last time. Had you been left with the Betas you harbor such fondness for, you would have died a terrible death at their hands."

She was silent, watching the heaving giant above her as he finished his little tirade. She traced his features with suddenly curious eyes. There was something almost familiar about him. Before now, she had never been closer than ten yards from an Alpha. Her father, a man braver than she could ever hope to be, had always been skittish around the primary Dynamic, and she had fostered her own fears as she'd grown older and joined the enlisted ranks. They were easy to avoid. Officers very rarely interfered with the lowly Beta troops.

She'd heard rumors of rare Alphas who took an interest in their troops enough to visit more than once or twice a year, some whom went so far as to work directly with the enlisted leaders in the command of their units, but Rico battalion had never had to endure such interference. Only once in her five years as a medic had she experienced an Alpha inspection, and she had been "forced" to sit that one out, her unit leaders not wanting her to ruin the uniformity of their formation with her short stature.

So how was it that the man staring down at her looked so familiar? Surely, she would have remembered seeing eyes like that. They were the icy eyes of a predator, and even had he not been crushing her like an overgrown gorilla, she would have felt the cool fingers of his gaze running up and down her spine. It was a look that would have terrified her, had she not felt such fury at what he had done, what he had taken from her.

So maybe he had saved her from death, the details of which she didn't really want to explore. Was the future she faced now, as a submissive Omega pair-bonded with an Alpha that could very likely kill her with one of his pinkies, really worth it?

"You locked me in," she finally said, her eyes narrowing. He cocked his head, confused by the sudden change of topic. "I did," he answered, irritatingly calm. "Given the events the last time you were left alone with an unlocked door, you can't truly be that surprised."

Her escape back to Chid FOB had ended in somewhat of a disaster, but that was entirely beside the point.

"So I'm a prisoner now?" She bared her teeth at the man, squirming as much as he allowed underneath him, grateful to feel that the knot locking them together was finally abating.

"Of course not. Once you are calm, we will walk around the base, and I will show you the places you may be allowed to frequent. Tonight, we will be presented as a newly mated couple at a celebratory dinner. Going forward, you will be allowed to leave the room during established times accompanied by a chaperone."

She scoffed. "So I'm a prisoner now," she repeated, not a question this time. He cocked his head again, the confusion warping his features almost comical. He truly didn't realize how fucked up it was, the way he was treating her like a...

Like an Omega.

She shuddered. "I don't even think you realize how insane you sound, Lieutenant General. It doesn't really matter, because we both know that I'll find a way around your ridiculous rules. But while we're on the topic, I have a few of my own."

She took a deep breath, ignoring the way his lips curled up in an amused grin. "I want a job. I haven't missed a day of work since I turned 14 and got my labor card. You can't just expect me to sit back and do... well... whatever it is you expect me to do all fucking day. I want to work in medical. I'm sure you've already stripped me of my rank, but I can still be useful. I want to see my uncle, and I want him taken back to Lostra unharmed. Also, under no fucking circumstances will I allow myself to be presented to your Alpha buddies like some kind of new pet." She held his gaze as he took in her words. His grin widened.

Bastard.

"You --"

Before he could get another word out, a sound like thunder shook the room around them, rattling the various landscape oil paintings in their gilded frames. His tempest grey eyes narrowed and shot up, looking around. What he expected to see was beyond her. The windowless walls, painted navy blue with gold-tinted swirling embellishments, could have given him no hint of what was happening outside unless he had x-ray vision. Which, at this point, wouldn't have surprised her.

He gently pulled out of her, pressing her shoulders into the mattress at her back. "Stay," he growled, as if giving a command to a trained dog. She rolled her eyes. Like that was going to work.

She sat up and scrambled off the bed as soon as his weight lifted off her, watching as he fixed his uniform and strode to the door. "What is that?" she asked, cocking her head to listen as another series of booms resonated from outside the room. He reached the door, swinging it open without looking back at her. Panic rose up out of insidious depths, threatening to choke and strangle her. He couldn't leave her like this!

"Hunter!" she cried out. She clapped a hand over her mouth. She had used his name. Like he was a fucking person! He looked back, his storm cloud eyes filled with impatience and apprehension. "Don't lock me in," she pleaded, hating herself for the hint of desperation that crept into her voice. He hesitated, just for a moment, then shook his head. "You'll be safe here," he said softly. "You'll forgive me later. I can't lose you, not when I've just found you." She rushed toward the door as he shut it, screaming in frustration as it slammed in front of her and the sound of the bolt locking into place echoed like a funeral dirge in the too-large room. Her luxurious prison.

"Fuck you, you fucking psycho!" she screamed, knowing he couldn't hear her. She spun around and ran across the polished marble floor to the dressing room that was bigger than the med tent back at Chid base. Rifling through the ridiculous selection of skin-tight clothing, she pulled out a pair of jeans and a white cropped, v-neck shirt. They were both shamelessly revealing, but it was the best she could do, under the circumstances. She looked around, trying to find something she could use to un-bolt the door to the outside world. She refused to be locked in like some kind of petulant child. Maybe a wire hanger would work?

Another series of booms sounded outside as she ran across to the locked door. The polished gold knob was immovable, and the door was bolted from the outside. There was no room to slide the metal hanger through. She dropped to the floor, furious to find not even a gap between the swirling marble and the heavy wooden slab keeping her locked in.

She slammed her fist to the ground, tears of frustration streaming down her face. That fucking bastard.

.......................................

The Alpha was furious. The cameras lining the base perimeter revealed a ground littered with uniformed bodies. How had this happened? Main base had never been attacked before. They had been tricked into complacency, arrogant and overconfident in their immunity from invasion. He looked around the crowded office for Romer, the second in command and his immediate supervisor. The administrative building at the end of the main road was filled with agitated Alphas, all of them gathered in an office polished with luxurious dark wood. The rest of the building was tidy, but cheaply made and not reinforced in any way. A massive mahogany desk dominated the room, the place where General Nelson made his weekly broadcasts to rally the troops with stories of heroism and sacrifice. Hunter had his suspicions about the validity of such battles, but he had given the aging officer the benefit of the doubt.

It seemed his suspicions had been correct, and he had waited too long to act on them.

Romer's dark eyes met his, the Alpha's ebony skin beaded with sweat. The look of indignation and shock mirrored his own. Hunter strode over to the superior officer, his fury fueling his need for action.

"What the fuck happened, Romer?" he seethed, hands the size of small boulders clenched into tight fists. The slightly smaller Alpha growled. "I have no fucking idea. Torrin troops ambushed the guards placed at the perimeters. Somehow, they locked down a number of buildings before we could react. Several Alphas were captured or killed."

"How many?" Hunter asked from behind clenched teeth. Romer hesitated. "Twelve Alphas were captured. Seventeen killed. All but the Alpha barracks and this building were overtaken from the north side, but we've recovered buildings 14 and 18," he said, referring to two of the helo hangers surrounding the command building they were currently in. Hunter cursed under his breath.

"And the captured Alphas?" His voice was dangerously soft. He was third in command, directly underneath the officer in front of him, but that didn't stop the warning from rumbling beneath his voice. He would push the older Alphas out of his way if he had to. There was no way he would risk the life of his Omega by allowing enemy Torrins to take over the base. He would rip them all to unrecognizable bits with his bare hands if he had to.

"We've had no word," Romer said, looking away. Hunter flicked his eyes behind him to the first in command. General Nelson was pacing, his brow furrowed in a confused frown. He spoke to Romer while keeping his eyes on the nervous leader. "How many troops do we have on hand?"

"562 Betas, 89 Alphas. All spaced out between the two hangers." Romer was curt, his answers quick and precise. Hunter grunted approvingly. "There should be no difficulty recovering the base, then," he said.

Romer frowned.

"Nelson hasn't given the command yet," he said darkly. "I don't know why."

Hunter snarled. "If he will not act, then you will have to." His eyes flew back to Romer, fixing the older Alpha with a cutting glare. Romer nodded once and moved to the door. Hunter watched from the bulletproof window as he ran toward building 14.

He swore violently as a bullet tore through the head of the second in command, Romer's body crumpling to the ground in a bloody heap.

He turned back to the shocked Alphas lining the walls of the polished office, cursing under his breath. "General Nelson," he barked, drawing the attention of the older man. "We are under attack. Your second-in-command was just assassinated. Give the order to kill on sight and recover the base."

Nelson just stared at him blankly, the vacant eyes of a confused and lost man staring back at him.

Hunter was losing patience.

....................................

Ivy's voice was sore from screaming. Her fists ached and bled from pounding against the locked door. She had cursed Hunter to hell a thousand times over for leaving her trapped in this fucking room while the base was under attack. You'll forgive me later, he had told her. I can't lose you.

In a very fucked up way, buried below her anger, she knew he meant well. Intentions didn't mean shit to her right now, though. Pulling her from her battalion was one thing. Keeping her locked in while the base was under attack was another thing entirely. She needed gear and body armor, a gun in her hands and a knife in her pocket, a way to defend herself. She needed a med pack, to help treat fallen soldiers. Tears of frustration streamed down her face as she shoved her shoulder into the door repeatedly.

It was an exercise in futility. She knew the door would never open. But just standing there, waiting for someone to eventually come find and kill her, was an insanity she couldn't stomach. What if the Torrins who came knew what happened in Chid forest? What if they decided to take her to a Factory, instead of killing her on sight? She had to do something, even if that something was pointless.

As if in answer to her thoughts, she heard the lock turn and watched as the knob started twisting. She backed up and crouched, grabbing a glass bottle of perfume, ready to hit whoever came through the door in the head. Slowly, it slid open.

It was Kentucky.

"Kentucky! What in the fuck are you doing here?!" She threw her arms around her friend, confused but ecstatic to see him.

"We got called back to help recover the base. I looked all over for you, then remembered what you said about being in a room in a mansion." His deep amber eyes took in the room around her. "You weren't kidding," he said. He looked back to her and searched her face. The soft palm of his hand curled around her cheek, his thumb rubbing her tears away. "I missed you," he whispered.

And then suddenly, his lips were on hers. They were soft and warm, exactly as she had imagined they would be, but she felt a painful twang below her sternum and pulled away before she could kiss him back. "Brad," she breathed, looking at him with sad, pleading eyes. "I can't." she touched the place where the pair-bond had hooked and searched his eyes for understanding. Instead, she found disappointment, and even worse, anger. She looked down at her feet, not wanting to see the unsettling expression on his face anymore.

There was a long pause, both of them unable to look at the other, regret and longing and sorrow filling the thick air between them. "Let's go, Poison," he said softly, taking her hand and tugging gently. He pulled his rifle up to his shoulder and holstered the sidearm on his thigh. Together, they walked down the hallway, tense and armed. Kentucky with actual weapons, and Ivy with a bare midriff and lots of rage. Not always a great combination. When they reached the door at the end of the hall, Kentucky peered out and, after a moment, pulled her through.

Then they were running, racing down the main road to the part of the base that Brad told her had been secured. Ivy hadn't spent much time on main base before this, just about an hour or two while her command waited for the armored transport vehicles that brought them to Chid after their initial arrival in Torrin. But she knew the basic layout from the initial briefings all Lostran troops deployed to Torrin were required to attend, and the cursory glimpses she got during her (ultimately unsuccessful) escape in the dinky supply truck.

The main road was shaped like a giant U, each side about a mile long. Aviation claimed most of the northern arm, with six massive hangar bays housing multiple helo and fighter jet squadrons hugging the black-top pavement, and two parallel airstrips framing each side and extending a mile or so past the last massive structure. The middle, connecting road was where the Alpha barracks were located. Also, an enlisted mess hall, main medical, central supply and administrative buildings. Laundry, barracks, a gym, and vehicle maintenance lined the southern arm, along with the vehicles themselves.

It was the northern arm Kentucky was now leading her toward, where several small fires burned up fuel from about half a dozen aircraft. Her heart pounded in her chest, and it wasn't just adrenaline from the threat of enemy contact. Kentucky had come for her, had more than likely saved her from an awful fate and given her at least a chance to defend herself. And when he tried to return the sentiment she had started back in Chid, what had she done? She'd turned him down instantly. All because of the unpleasant strum of some invisible thread, plucked like an out of tune guitar string. If the guitar was a giant douchebag named Hunter, who'd tethered her to him without a second thought to what she wanted, or rather, didn't want. She felt like a horrible person. She wanted to smash her fist into something destructible. Like, say, a guitar.

Named Hunter.

They reached the end of the crossroad and he directed her to the right, toward where corroded hangar doors framed a small opening about 3 feet wide. Inside was cool and dark, the soles of Kentucky's boots and the heels of her flats echoing off the whitewashed walls, where paintings of faded squadron logos stared down at them like half-finished thoughts. They stopped to rest, their own hard breathing the only sounds in the wide-open space. Ivy looked around, confused. There was no sign of anyone, no huddled mass of rallying soldiers or circle of Alpha officers quietly strategizing. "Is this right?" she whispered, her fingers grazing Kentucky's arm as she continued searching the shadows. "Where is everyone?"

The whine of screeching gears pulling open the hangar doors answered her before he did. She spun around and froze. At least a dozen soldiers poured through the widening gap and stalked toward them confidently. Dull sunlight infiltrated the vast space as the doors on the opposite end began to open as well, and she didn't need to turn to know that more troops had entered from behind. Adrenaline, heady and toxic, pumped through constricting veins, heightening her senses and readying her for a fight. She reached blindly, gripping Kentucky's forearm to pull herself closer. Her other hand slipped around the grip of the sidearm strapped to his thigh.

She was prepared to run. She was prepared to fight. She was even prepared to die, if that's what it came down to. But nothing could have prepared her for the suffocating dread that settled like a dead weight in her stomach when Kentucky shook off her grip and stepped away from her. Slowly, she turned to face him.

They were surrounded by Torrin soldiers, their exits completely blocked off. And her friend's rifle hung relaxed at his side, his darkening eyes appraising her with cool detachment.

"Brad... No..." she whispered, trying unsuccessfully to still the tremors sweeping through muscles tight with frigid tension.

"Come on, Poison," he said softly, breaking the news as if a relative had died, taking in her shocked and hurt expression. The corner of his mouth twisted up into a smile that could have been a sneer. "You can't be that surprised. All the conversations we had about the war, how pointless it all is, how many people are dying for reasons no one can even remember anymore. It just turns out, we're not the only ones to feel that way." He stepped toward her, and instinctively, she twisted and brought her arms up, aiming the gun she'd swiped from him moments before between his narrowing eyes. She heard the distinctive clicks of rifles being lifted and cocked. Kentucky stiffened, looking from her to the now empty holster strapped to his thigh and back, baring his teeth in an ugly snarl.

"Brad, what the fuck did you do?" Her voice sounded hollow, filled with both hurt and resignation.

"What, you're going to shoot me, Ivy?" He took a step toward her, grinning when she matched it with a shaky step back. "We both know you won't. Come on now, don't make this harder than it has to be." Slowly, lazily, he raised his rifle and aimed it at her heart. She tried to blink away the burning tears threatening to obscure her vision, her teeth biting into her lower lip until she tasted blood. He chuckled cruelly. "Drop the gun, sweetheart," he whispered.

The gun rattled in her shaking grip as she scowled at him, her brain too muddled by the impossibility of what was happening to come up with even a single useful, coherent thought. A long, dangerous moment passed, her index finger grazing the trigger with considering strokes. But he was right.