NOT MY ALPHA {+18}

39. Mackenzie

Mackenzie

I let go of his hands on mine and found his eyes, digging my thumbs in.

It was squishy and gross but it had the desired effect. He let go of my throat.

I launched up, coughing and spluttering as I crawled through the water to him.

He screamed holding his eyes as he fell to his knees.

I shoved him to the ground, taking him out at the knees.

He fought back, trying to buck me off him as I climbed to his waist.

I punched him, throwing hard with my fist, blood sputtering from his nose.

"What the fuck, Arlo? I thought we were friends," I snapped, punching him again.

He rolled us, pinning me beneath the water by my shoulders so I couldn't reach his eyes again.

I slashed at his stomach.

He howled and fell back.

I got on him again.

My heart was racing as I fought him. My oxygen was depleting and I felt the thinness of it as it passed through my lungs.

I was puffed, exhausted.

My bones were jelly and fighting was becoming harder and harder to find the energy for.

Arlo didn't seem as tired.

"It's nothing personal. I have to get rid of you. You're a loose end and if they find out you are alive, they will know the truth of what we did," he breathed heavily, shoving me into the wall with a harsh shove that knocked the wind out of me.

I coughed, my chest even tighter.

He got to his feet with jagged movements, holding the steel curved wall for support before he kicked up with his foot.

It sent my head back, blood spraying over the silver of the tube. My mouth pooled and I spit the blood into the water.

My bracelet beeped dangerously and I yanked it off, throwing it into the water. It drifted down towards the light.

The one I was meant to be getting to.

But I wasn't finished with Arlo.

I needed him alive. I'd dump him at the perimeter of the pack house for Viking. A parting gift, the only one I had to offer.

"And what did you do?" I wheezed.

Arlo snickered.

"We did everything we were meant to do. We found the right ingredients. We researched every ritual. We fucked with so many strands of DNA. And we couldn't do what they asked of us. Until you and Ryken."

"What did you do to us?" I snarled, slowly climbing to my feet too, my head spinning, my heart racing.

My nose was bleeding, my lip too. My head felt like it was about to explode but I wanted the answers.

"Failed. We failed. We got the result we wanted but we cannot prove how. We cannot be certain whether it was because of what we gave you or whether it was because of what you and Ryken are," he sputtered, coughing out more blood.

"You mean mates?" I snarled.

He nodded, "Yes," he breathed, "Exactly. And if they find out I was the one who took that from you both, they will kill me. Hell, if they find out it compromised the results we got then they'll do that anyway. Which is why you must die," he said then lunged again.

But it was slow. I shoved him to the side, smacking his head into the tube. Then I ran.

I didn't have the fight in me, not this low on oxygen and energy.