An Omega's Desire

Chapter Twenty-Two: "Betrayal"

Sean glared at Mark but took the steps two at time as he raced down the stairway. Mark stayed close to him, glancing back as loud 'BANGS' from above followed behind them. Nathan lingered behind them a bit, telling Mark in a rush. "He's coming! Pick it up!" Sean grabbed the railing and leapt over it to cut corners. When he bumped into a scruffy Beta that was smoking in the stairway, making Sean yelp in surprise. The Beta grabbed Sean's arm tightly, growling out to him. "Watch it, Bitch!" Sean tried to tug free, when Mark wrapped an arm over Sean's shoulder and shoved the Beta into the wall. The Beta let out a snarl, but it ended when Nathan punched him across the face, knocking him out in one solid hit. Mark nodded to him, pushing Sean onward. Behind them, Zedekiah caught up, snarling so loud that the stairway resonated with it. It made finding Zedekiah's location hard to pinpoint. Metal squealed from strain as they reached the door at the bottom. Sean got the door open, then something dropped down from the gap of the stairway. They briefly looked and saw Zedekiah slowly rise to his full height. His good eye was completely wolfed out and his canines where bared as he let out an inhuman growl.

Zedekiah's side was bleeding from where Sean had stabbed him, but it didn't seem to be slowing him down. His muscles were red and dripped from the hot coffee that he'd splashed him with earlier. Mark pushed Sean through the door, backing through himself as he snarled back at Zedekiah. Nathan backed up with Mark, baring his teeth but not snarling nearly as loudly as Mark. Zedekiah walked toward them menacingly, telling them in a dark voice. "Nathan...? What are you doing? Kill the dog. But the Omega is MINE." Mark reached back to protectively touch Sean's sides as he backed up. His eyes darting from Nathan to Zedekiah with mistrust. Nathan only stared at Zedekiah with an unreadable expression but kept backing up with them. Zedekiah flexed his fingers, his knuckles cracking when he barked out. "NATHAN?!" Nathan looked at Mark and then Sean, prompting Sean to whine out. "Nathan...?" Mark locked eyes with Nathan growling loudly as they backed through the lobby. Nathan turned to face Mark, moving toward him and causing Zedekiah chuckle out. "You've got nowhere to run. This is MY territory!" Sean glanced around, noticing the other people in the lobby rising to their feet defensively.

No matter what the others had been talking about or doing, the sight of Nathan and Zedekiah advancing aggressively on two outsiders spurred them to be at the ready for a fight. Sean whined, whispering over Mark's shoulder. "Mark... we're outnumbered..." Mark kept his eyes on Nathan, growling louder with a challenging tone that made the onlookers shiver from the influence. Nathan didn't flinch and Zedekiah chuckled out. "Mark? The Valley's new lead Alpha?" Nathan stopped baring his teeth at Mark, his eyes staring Mark down in a way that made no sense to Sean. Sean heard the bell ring behind them and looked to see more Betas slipping into the lobby from the front door to cut off their retreat. Zedekiah puffed up his chest, growling out in a powerful dark tone. "Change of plans. I want the Alpha! Nathan, move!" Nathan nodded subtly to Mark, then turned on his heel and punched Zedekiah in his wound. Zedekiah let out a yelp, but backhanded Nathan clear off his feet. Mark didn't hesitate, he lunged forward and slashed Zedekiah's face with his werewolf nails. The blow cut open the healed scars already over Zedekiah's good eye. Zedekiah staggered back to a knee, allowing Nathan time to scramble to his feet. Rushing up, Nathan slashed his own nails at Zedekiah's throat, but missed as Zedekiah lunged forward at Mark.

Mark extended his hands out to grab Zedekiah's neck as he slammed into him, tackling him down across the tile floor. Sean jumped back from them, yelping in distress. The Betas around them started barking and closing in. One grabbed Sean around the waist, trying to drag him away as he laughed out to his friends. "We got ourselves an Omega, boys!" Sean's distressed yelps pitched so sharply that the Beta dropped him, and the others flinched briefly. Sean tried to run for the door, when another one grabbed him, trying to yank him into a gathering crowd of Betas. Unable to stay upright, Sean fell to all fours and tore up the tiles with his nails as he screamed out. "MARK! HELP!" Mark yelped as Zedekiah slashed and punched at his chest. They rolled across the floor, trying to get an advantage over the other. Despite their size difference, Mark easily held his own against Zedekiah. However, the one advantage Zedekiah had over him was experience in fighting. Even with all Mark's training... he'd never fought a Zeta Alpha of Zedekiah's caliber. His hits were designed to cripple and left no room for error. Sean's distress distracted Mark and Zedekiah seized the opening to go for his throat with his canine teeth.