HEAT |OMEGAVERSE| ⚣ ✔️

In the Face of Fear

ALEX'S POV

Every muscle in my body locks up, my eyes wide, torn between disbelief and terror as they fixate on Jasper. His eyes are pleading, his body tense, and I can't ignore the knife pressed to his neck. The arm around his waist keeps him flush against the man behind him, holding him like a shield.

My gaze travels up, recognizing the dark uniform, the shadowed face beneath the black baseball cap, and those piercing eyes—the same ones that drilled into me earlier in the hallway, relentless and dangerous.

My fists clench, instinct driving me forward, but I barely take a step before he yanks Jasper back, making him flinch as the blade nicks his neck. A thin line of crimson appears, tracing down his skin.

A jolt of fear shoots through me, a frantic rhythm picking up in my chest. I can't move; one wrong step and Jasper could be seriously hurt. Desperation claws at my throat, trying to figure out some way—any way—to get Jasper out of this without risking his life.

Suddenly from inside Jaspers pocket, his phone rings.

"Answer it," the man from behind him barks.

With a shaking hand, Jasper fumbles inside his pocket, slowly retrieving the device. His thumb slides across the screen, and the man whispers something into his ear before he presses the screen once again.

"Hello darling," an eerie and all-too-familiar voice rings through the line, making my stomach twists in unimaginable ways.

"Veronica—wh—why are you doing this?" I ask, and can hear an evil snicker of a laugh come from her.

"I gave you so many chances Alex, to do the right thing, so don't be offended that I had to take matters into my own hands."

"What—the fuck do you mean?!" I yell, panic lacing the edges of my words.

The man's face behind Jasper seems to have twisted into an evil grin throughout this, the blade he presses to Jaspers neck never easing up.

"I told you—that this poor little omega you've irrationally found the need to entertain, will realize he's in too far, and I have a feeling he's found himself in the deep end of the pool now," Veronica replies, her voice sinisterly sweet and smooth as always.

"Don't—" Is all I can muster to say, my heart pounding like a drum in my ears, the blood in my body running cold as I realize what I've found myself in, what I've put Jasper in the middle of.

I always knew she had the potential to be sadistic, but not to this level.

"Don't what, honey?" She sneers through the lines, and I bite so hard at the skin of my lip I can taste iron.

"Hurt him...please don't do this," I beg, my eyes locking onto Jaspers once again, the terror prominent in his gaze. "I'll do whatever the fuck you want, just please have this bastard let him go."

Veronica's voice drips with smug satisfaction over the phone, "Here's the deal, Alex. Come back to me—leave that pathetic excuse behind, along with the mess it's carrying—and I'll tell him to let the poor little omega go. Simple as that."

A hundred emotions hit me all at once as I let those poisonous words of hers sink into my head. Truly—I've wondered for a long time what the hell goes on inside her head, what could possibly have made her the way she is, but I give up now. I'll never know why she wants me to be as miserable as her, or she wants me to stay at her side so we loathe our lives together.

My throat goes dry, and a wave of helplessness I've never felt before surges through me as I stare at the blade pressed against Jasper's neck. I swallow hard, forcing myself to keep my voice steady, though every instinct in me is screaming. "Veronica, please," I manage, my voice tight with barely controlled panic. "This—this isn't the way. You don't have to do this."