Unhinged Omega: A Dark Reverse Harem Omegaverse Romance (Ghost Alpha Unit Book 4)

I pace the length of Geo’s living room, each turn making my wounds throb. The pain is a persistent reminder of Geo’s bullets in my back, of the unwelcome fact that I now owe Raven my life, and most distressingly of all, of Cosima choosing a literal monster over me.

My mate.

Mine.

The thought makes me grind my teeth until my jaw aches.

Geo sits in his armchair by the fireplace, pretending to read some pre-war book as if I’m not here, as if we’re not forced into this bizarre truce while waiting for his golden-haired drama queen to return.

The crackling fire does nothing to warm the ice in my veins. My fingers twitch with the urge to wrap around someone’s throat, preferably Geo’s, but I’d settle for any target right now.

The silence between us hangs thick and hostile until⁠—

A dull thunk comes from down the hall.

Geo’s eye flicks up from his book, meeting mine briefly before returning to the page with forced nonchalance.

I open my mouth to make some cutting remark when another sound interrupts me. A low rumble, like a growl, followed by what sounds like… laughter?

Cosima’s laughter.

My stomach knots. The implications crawl under my skin like acid.

‘Sounds like your doc’s a real miracle worker,’ I drawl, the words tasting like poison.

Geo doesn’t bother looking up. ‘Better than expected, apparently.’

Another sound reaches us, this time unmistakable—the discordant notes of a piano, played clumsily, as if someone had simply fallen against the keys. Or been pushed against them.

‘Guess she’s teaching him to play piano,’ I remark stiffly, attempting to maintain whatever’s left of my sanity.

The words have barely left my mouth when Cosima’s moan cuts through the air, clear and unmistakable.

Geo’s lips curl into a smirk, his one eye still fixed on his book. ‘Sounds more like she’s teaching him to play her.’

The silence that follows is excruciating.

I resume pacing, bile rising in my throat with each step. The sound of the piano continues, intermittent notes punctuated by more moans, more growls, more laughter. The sound of wood cracking and splintering.

Geo’s eye twitches. The spine of his book cracks.

My mate is in there with the monster who tore through my men like they were nothing. The creature I captured to weaponize, not to fuck my omega.

My omega, who looks at me with disgust in those violet eyes.

My omega, who doesn’t think she’s mine at all.

What’s most infuriating is how much I still want her. I’ve never wanted anyone more, and I’ve certainly never considered anyone my fucking mate before.

I don’t do mates.

I don’t do love.

I barely even do sex that isn’t transactional.

So what the fuck is happening to me?

Another moan, louder this time, rips through my thoughts. My hand clenches involuntarily into a fist.

Geo slams his book shut. ‘That was an antique, you know. Belonged to a fucking prince.’

I turn to him, incredulous. ‘Your piano? That’s what you’re concerned about right now?’

His eye narrows. ‘What would you have me concerned about? Your wounded alpha pride?’

‘She’s my mate,’ I snarl.

‘Funny. She seems to be mating with someone else at the moment.’ His tone is casual, almost bored, but I see the tension in his shoulders. He’s not as unaffected by this as he pretends to be.

‘Where the fuck is Raven?’ I snap, finally reaching my breaking point. ‘What’s taking him so long?’

Geo shrugs, reopening his book. ‘How the hell should I know? I’m not his keeper.’

‘Could have fooled me,’ I sneer. ‘You should go find him.’

His bark of laughter is harsh, but I can tell I struck a nerve. ‘Like hell I’m leaving you alone in my base.’ He gestures toward the door with his book. ‘But you’re more than welcome to leave. If you bring Raven back, I might even let you back in.’

I eye the gun on his hip. ‘I need my weapon.’

‘No.’

‘You expect me to go out there unarmed?’

Geo looks around lazily, his eye eventually settling on the mantelpiece beneath the massive horned skull. ‘Best I can do is this,’ he says, reaching up to grab a rusty sword that looks like it hasn’t been used in centuries. He tosses it to me with obvious amusement.

I catch it one-handed, scowling at the dull, pitted blade. It’s clearly just a wall decoration, but it’s better than nothing. And I’ve killed with less.

‘You’re a piece of shit, you know that?’ I growl.

‘So I’ve been told,’ Geo replies, already returning to his book. ‘Close the door on your way out.’

A fresh wave of moans and piano notes drifts down the hall. That decides it. I can’t stay here another minute listening to this. I turn on my heel and stalk toward the exit, the sword gripped tightly in my fist.

My boots echo on the concrete as I storm through the tunnels of Geo’s underground empire. The guards eye me warily, hands drifting to their weapons as I pass.

At the main entrance, a young alpha stands at attention, his rifle held across his chest. He straightens when he sees me approaching, eyes darting nervously to the rusty sword in my hand.

‘Sir? You’re not supposed to⁠—’

I don’t let him finish. In one fluid motion, I slam him against the wall, the dull edge of the sword pressed against his throat.

‘Your gun,’ I say softly. ‘Give it to me.’

His eyes widen in fear. Good. Fear I can work with.

‘I-I can’t,’ he stammers. ‘Geo will⁠—’

‘Geo will what? Kill you?’ I lean in closer, letting him see the cold certainty in my eyes. ‘I’ll save him the trouble. Your gun. Now.’

His shaking hands fumble with the rifle. I snatch it from him, checking the magazine. Full. Better than I expected.

‘Where did Raven go?’ I demand, keeping the sword at his throat.

‘Who?’

I roll my eyes. New recruit, clearly. ‘The pretty blond alpha. About this tall.’ I gesture with my free hand. ‘Fancy clothes, blue eyes, mouth that doesn’t stop running.’

Recognition flickers in his eyes. ‘Oh, him. He left with some shady-looking guy a while ago. Heard them talking about heading to a brothel.’

That gets my attention. ‘A brothel?’

The guard nods rapidly. ‘That’s what it sounded like.’

I step back, tucking the rifle into a holster on my belt. It’s a tight fit, but it’ll do. The guard blinks in confusion, but I’m already walking up the rusted stairs leading up to an even more rusted hatch.

The sunlight stings my eyes after the artificial lighting of the underground complex. I squint, giving me a moment to adjust to the harsh glare reflecting off the wasteland’s bleached earth. The wind carries the ass-bitter taste of radiation and dust, a familiar flavor that reminds me I’m back in my element.

Out here, I know where I stand.

Out here, the rules are simple.

Kill or be killed.

Geo’s underground market isn’t far from the skeletal remains of what was once a small town. Rusted signs, half-buried in sand, guide travelers to the entrance. Around it, makeshift stalls and tents have sprung up like weeds, catering to those unwilling—or unable—to navigate the politics of Geo’s domain below.

He’d better watch it. If he’s not careful, he’s going to end up a mayor.

I know exactly where I’m headed. The Alpha’s Alpha, Raven’s ‘tacky’ sex club. The memory of Cosima’s barb, and the look on his face, still brings a small smile to my face.

Not a bad place to gather intel, I have to admit. The Reinmichian and Surhiiran elite might sneer at it publicly, but many find their way there under cover of darkness. Alcohol and sex loosen tongues, and Raven’s whores are trained to listen and remember. They’re better informants than most.

It’s where I would go if I were looking for information on someone like Azarel, this mysterious alpha Cosima wants so badly. The jealousy that floods me at the thought is as unexpected as it is unwelcome.

I’ve never been the jealous type. Never cared enough about anyone to feel threatened. But now…

Now I want to tear apart anyone who might take her from me. Including the monster currently fucking her back in Geo’s compound. Including this Azarel, whoever the hell he is.

A Surhiiran working as a Reinmichian soldier. Now that’s a niche. Probably not someone I’d usually be inclined to fuck with, either, considering he’s got ties to the two nations I like to keep a low profile with. And yet here I am, considering tracking the bastard down myself just to put a bullet in his skull before Raven can bring him back to Cosima.

What’s happening to me?

The thought nags at the back of my mind, a splinter I can’t quite reach, as I make my way through the ramshackle pop-up towns on the way to the seedier district where the Alpha’s Alpha holds court. The sun beats down on my shoulders, aggravating the wounds in my back. I can feel fresh blood seeping through the makeshift bandages, but I push the pain aside. Pain is an old friend, after all. We understand each other.

The buildings here are little more than shells, their windows boarded up or broken, their walls covered in crude graffiti. But I know this world. I know the unspoken rules of the Outer Reaches. The more decrepit the exterior, the more likely there’s something valuable hidden inside.

I’m so focused on my destination that I almost miss the warning signs. The sudden silence. The prickling at the back of my neck. The faint scuff of a boot on gravel.

Ambush.

I dive for cover behind a rusted-out vehicle just as the first shot rings out. The bullet pings off metal where my head had been a moment before.

‘Fucking amateurs,’ I mutter, pulling the stolen rifle from my belt. I peek over the car’s hood, counting targets. Five of them, spread out in a loose semicircle. Armed with a mix of shotguns and pistols. Not raiders—they’re too well-equipped. Possibly Geo’s men, sent to take a cheap shot while I’m alone and vulnerable. Or someone else who recognized me and knows there’s a bounty on my head.

A few of them, actually.

I don’t have time for this shit.

The first one makes a mistake, breaking cover too early. I squeeze the trigger, and he goes down with a hole between his eyes. The second one is a bit smarter, laying down covering fire as he moves to a better position. But he’s still predictable. I wait for him to reload, then take him out with two shots to the chest.

The remaining three fan out, trying to flank me. On a good day, I could handle them without breaking a sweat. But my back screams in protest as I pivot to track the one circling to my left. My shot goes wide, clipping his shoulder instead of his heart.

Fuck.

A bullet grazes my arm, tearing through the sleeve of my coat. Blood wells immediately, hot and slick. I ignore it, focused on returning fire. The third attacker goes down with a bullet in his throat, gurgling as he clutches at the wound.

Two left. I reload quickly, fingers moving on autopilot. The sun in my eyes makes it hard to spot the fourth attacker until it’s almost too late. I feel rather than see him, the slight shift in air pressure as he rushes me from behind.

I spin, the rifle coming up, but I’m too slow. Pain explodes in my side as his knife finds its mark, sliding between my ribs. It’s not deep—the angle was off—but it’s enough to make my vision blur. I slam the butt of the rifle into his face, feeling his nose collapse under the impact. He staggers back, and I finish him with a shot to the chest.

One left. Where is he?

The answer comes in the form of a boot to my back, right where Geo’s bullets had torn through muscle and bone. The pain is immediate and overwhelming, sending me to my knees. The rifle clatters to the ground beside me.

I try to reach for it, but a heavy foot pins my wrist to the dirt. I look up into the barrel of a shotgun, held by a grinning alpha with a scar running down one cheek.

‘Nothing personal,’ he says, finger tightening on the trigger. ‘Just business.’

I close my eyes. Not in fear, but in fury. To die like this, at the hands of some nameless mercenary, after everything I’ve survived… it’s fucking insulting.

The shot rings out, deafening at this range. But the pain doesn’t come.

I open my eyes to see the alpha standing there, a look of surprise frozen on his face. Then his eyes roll back, and he collapses forward, a neat hole drilled dead center through the back of his head.

I roll away from the corpse, scanning the area for this new threat. Friend or foe? The latter is about a thousand times more likely, in my experience.

A figure steps out from behind a collapsed wall, backlit by the sun. I can’t make out the face, partially obscured beneath a bandana, just the silhouette—slim, graceful, with hair that catches the light like spun gold.noveldrama

Raven.

‘That’s what, three times I’ve saved your ass now in the past forty-eight hours?’ he calls out, voice carrying clearly across the distance between us. ‘Who’s the princess now?’

The smug bastard twirls his pistol once before holstering it with flourish. He approaches slowly, boots kicking up dust with each deliberate step.

I struggle to my feet, refusing to let him see me on my knees. Blood seeps from the knife wound in my side, but I stand tall, shoulders back, chin up. Just like I taught him all those years ago.

Never let them see weakness. Especially not the ones who matter.

‘Your timing’s improving,’ I say, forcing my voice to remain steady despite the pain. ‘Used to be you’d show up after the fight was over, looking pretty while I did all the dirty work.’

Raven’s laugh is bright and sharp, like broken glass catching sunlight. ‘And you’re as ungrateful as ever. A simple ‘thank you for saving my life’ would suffice.’

‘Considering I’m only out here looking for you, let’s call it even.’

‘Geo sent you?’ he asks, raising an eyebrow.

My throat burns as I swallow down the truth. ‘Who else?’

‘And he says I’m the clingy one,’ he mumbles, stopping a few feet away. Those blue eyes sweep over me, cataloging every injury. I see the exact moment he spots the fresh knife wound, the flash of concern quickly masked by practiced indifference.

‘You look like shit,’ he observes, head tilting slightly.

‘And you smell like brothel,’ I counter. It’s the truth. He smells like scent maskers and incense, but not anyone else. A fact I only give a shit about because he claims Cosima is his mate, too. ‘Making good on your promise to our mutual friend?’

Something passes across his face too quickly to read. ‘Gathering information, as promised. About that, actually⁠—’

‘Save it,’ I cut him off, pressing a hand to my bleeding side. ‘We need to get back to the compound.’

I’m sure he got what he came for. He always does.

Which means sooner or later, I’ll have to deal with Azarel, too. Just haven’t decided how yet.

Raven’s eyebrows shoot up. ‘Well, this is new. Since when do you follow orders, Nikolai? Last I checked, you were the one giving them.’

‘Since that monster is fucking our omega,’ I snarl, the words escaping before I can stop them.

Raven rips the bandana off his face, revealing his blank expression. ‘He’s what?’

‘You heard me,’ I growl, hoping he doesn’t stop to think too long about the ‘our omega’ part. ‘They’re⁠—’

‘No,’ Raven says, his hand shooting up to stop me. ‘I got that, I’m just stuck on the how. He’s fucking huge. I mean, his cock must be the size of my forearm, which means his knot would be…’

He trails off, making the imaginary circumference with his hands, and then his eyes get glassy. ‘Damn, girl.’

Of course that’s what he’s fixated on. Why did I think he’d possibly be a reliable ally?

‘Let’s just fucking go,’ I snarl, turning back the way I came.

‘You’re jealous,’ Raven sings out behind me, his boots crunching on the gravel as he follows. ‘The great Nikolai Vlakov, brought low by the green-eyed monster.’

‘Shut up,’ I growl, pressing harder against the knife wound in my side. Fresh blood seeps between my fingers, hot and sticky.

‘Or is it the violet-eyed monster?’ He catches up to me easily, falling into step beside me like no time has passed at all. Like we’re still… whatever we were before. ‘Come on, admit it. You actually have feelings for her.’

I whirl on him, ignoring the way the movement makes my vision swim. ‘She’s my fucking mate.’

‘And mine,’ he reminds me.

‘Yeah. So it should fucking bother you, too.’

He gives an elegant shrug. ‘Hey, omegas are rare. I always figured if I ever found my scent match, I’d probably be sharing her.’ His lips curl into that infuriating smirk I remember so well. ‘And you know me—I’ve never minded sharing.’

‘Don’t fucking remind me,’ I mutter.

‘This way,’ Raven calls out, gesturing toward a pile of rubble. ‘I… borrowed a car. And you’re in no shape to walk back.’

‘I’m fine,’ I snap, but even I can hear the strain in my voice.

‘Sure you are.’ He leads me around the debris to where a sleek black vehicle sits hidden from the road. ‘Now let me look at those wounds.’

I bat his hands away as he reaches for my coat. ‘Just drive.’

He sighs dramatically but doesn’t push it. A miracle in the wasteland. I sink into the passenger seat, trying to ignore how the leather feels cool against my feverish skin.

Wait.

Feverish?

Fuck, that’s the last thing I need right now.

Raven slides behind the wheel and starts the engine. The radio crackles to life, some pre-war song I vaguely recognize floating through the speakers. He starts humming along, just like he used to, and I try to be annoyed by it.

I really do.

But my eyes are so heavy…

‘No, not like that,’ I hear myself saying. ‘You’ll strip the gears. Ease into it.’

Raven sits beside me in the driver’s seat, tongue caught between his teeth in concentration as he wrestles with the stick shift. The engine groans in protest.

‘Sorry,’ he mutters, cheeks flushing. ‘I’ve never done this before.’

‘I know.’ I reach over, placing my hand over his on the gear shift. ‘Like this. Feel the rhythm of it…’

His cheeks turn pinker for some reason.

The car hits a bump and I jerk awake. ‘Brake with your right!’ I shout, disoriented.

Raven glances at me, confusion written across his features. ‘What are you talking about?’

I blink, reality settling back in. The wasteland stretches out around us, barren and familiar. Not the compound’s training grounds where I first taught him to drive.

‘Nothing,’ I mutter, turning to stare out the window. ‘Just a dream.’

His humming resumes, but I catch him shooting worried glances at me when he thinks I’m not looking. The radio plays on, some woman singing about paradise lost, and I let the familiar motion of the car lull me back toward unconsciousness.

Just for a moment.

Just until we get back.

Just until I can make sure everyone’s in the same place. Some idiot alpha instinct I can’t shake.

A thought flickers in the back of my mind that maybe it’s because I know I’m not doing too hot, and as much as I fucking hate him, Raven is the only person I trust to take care of Cosima if I’m…

I shake my head.

Fuck that shit. I’ve survived worse than a few bullet wounds. I’m not going down that easily.

Not when I just found her.

My mate.

Our mate.

The thought follows me into darkness as my eyes drift closed again.