Frenzy (The Omegaborn Trilogy 1)

The forest was strangely quiet. It was eerie.

The sounds of bugs and animals scampering in the distance had quieted to nothing. The hair on the back of my neck began to rise, and I looked around, searching in the darkness for some sort of clue as to what we were up against. I saw nothing and that made me even more nervous than before.

A low growl echoed all around us and every bit of breath in my lungs rushed out in fear. In planning my expedition into the wilds, I knew there would be predators out there we didn’t know about, didn’t understand, but I had hoped we could avoid them if we moved quickly enough. I closed my eyes and drew in a breath, hoping to the spirits that there were no monsters prowling nearby ready to kill us all.

A long time ago, the entirety of the planet was caught up in the Great War. Nation fought against nation in a battle for power and money and control of trade routes. Entire countries had been destroyed, left to decay in ruins, destined never to be lived in again. The devastation from the war had been vast and the aftershocks from it had been felt for centuries. Hundreds of thousands of people died. Just the loss of human life should have brought the world to its knees, but even then, it wasn’t over. We weren’t prepared for the long-term effects of the biological warfare that had been used to bring the war to its final end.

Humans were among the first to change. Initially, the effects on the human population were subtle. Some men became more dominating and assertive in taking their mates. Some women succumbed to their rule, giving themselves over to be bred, but then, as more time passed, the effects started to become more intense.

It changed us. Mutated us into people that would succumb to feral mating urges no matter what we did to try to stop it. All of us transformed and forced to surrender to the call of our genetics, to give in to our alpha, beta, or omega instincts. To breed.

But it also changed wildlife. Some went extinct. Others changed and mutated into ghastly beasts that hunted the forests. It was one of the reasons the walls of Tharia were so high. Not only to keep the suppressant in, but to keep the monsters out.

The growl rumbled once more, and my entire team stilled with terror.

I closed my eyes momentarily, trying to calm the shuddering erratic beat of my heart, but it did little good. This wasn’t the sort of thing any of us had trained for.

All around us, the bushes swayed and the sounds of footsteps in the shadows met my ears. Leaves crinkled under heavy boots. Branches and twigs snapped loudly, echoing in the silence, and then the beast growled once again.

A strange red glow pulsed far in the distance, rising above the trees. My mouth went dry with fear.

Its growl reverberated in the darkness, the sound so cold and terrifying that it seemed to reach the depths of my soul. It vibrated the very air around us.

Alix drew himself closer to me and I was comforted by the feeling of his warm chest at my back. I hefted the gun in my hands upward, curling my fingers around the leather-clad handle. My forefinger just touched the trigger, ready to pull it at the first inclination of an attack. I swallowed heavily and tried to prepare myself for what was to come.

Abruptly, a group of men dressed in all black rushed forward from all sides. In the darkness, they were incredibly hard to see. They moved too quickly, and the men of my security team tried to react, but they weren’t fast enough. The ambushers moved swiftly, and I tried to focus on one of the attackers, pointing my weapon, but I quickly lost sight of them. I hissed with fear and then my eyes were pulled back to the red glow pulsing amongst the trees once more.

Whatever it was, it was huge and would be an opponent far more formidable than any of us had been prepared for. Wild wolves or cats? We could handle. But this? This was different. This was far worse.

I’d never trained for this. I was a scientist; I wasn’t meant for combat.

Not far from my side, Jasper rushed at one of the attackers and that’s when I saw the metal glint of a knife. All around me, the sounds of hand-to-hand combat echoed, a disastrous cacophony of noise that left me terrified. Behind me, Alix stiffened and the red glow in the woods smoldered brighter, moving closer and closer with each passing second.

It was as though death were coming to claim us.

Jasper grunted in pain not far from me and my eyes tore to watch him fight. His attacker was strong, but so was he. He twisted, landing a kick on the man’s side and forcing him to retreat back a step. The tall man was prepared though and swung around, catching Jasper in the jaw with a strong punch in retaliation. Jasper staggered and he swung his forearms up to protect his face. He swayed and I began to worry for my friend.

The two of them circled around each other, two predators locked in an epic battle to the death. I watched nervously, trying to gauge my next move. Should I run? Should I stay and fight?

The attacker roared and went after Jasper with a ferocity like I’d never seen. Jasper defended himself, blocking the man with everything he had, but still, the man pushed him back. Time seemed to slow as he twisted around Jasper, swinging his arm around his neck and pulling him in close to his chest. He grasped Jasper’s head and then I felt myself begin to scream as he wrenched a knife across his throat. It was as though he was slicing through melted butter and not the pale skin of the leader of my security team.

The wound opened and blood soaked down Jasper’s chest.

I watched in horror as his eyes met mine. I watched as the life drained from his eyes and then as he died before me.

The sounds of feral snarls filled the air and the man holding Jasper’s lifeless body in his grasp grinned wickedly. He must have seen the fear and confusion in my eyes, but I ground my teeth. I had to remain strong, no matter what.

“Who the fuck are you?” I shouted in his direction, loud enough so that I would be heard over the sickening sounds of battle.

He simply chuckled and the beast growled. It was much closer than it had been before and I shuddered, every hair on my skin rising in alarm.

“So, you must be the target then,” he finally answered, and I cocked my head in confusion.

What the hell did that mean?

The beast snarled and I jolted, the sound practically feet from me now. My blood ran cold with fear and I whimpered softly.

“Out here, we train the monsters to do our bidding,” he said coldly, and I trembled with terror. What the hell did that mean?