Claimed By The Alpha Heir

Chapter 5: Into the Dark

The lights died.

For half a second, the only sound was Kael’s ragged breathing. The hum of Rourke’s gun.

Then chaos.

Darian moved first. He hit me low, shoving me behind the metal table Kael was tied to. “Stay down,” he hissed.

Gunfire cracked. Sparks flew off the pipes above us.

I didn’t stay down.

I rolled left, found the knife. I’d thrown earlier. Rourke’s guard was still clutching his wrist, bleeding on the concrete. I slammed my elbow into his temple. He dropped.

“Rourke!” Darian roared.

“Here, cousin!” Rourke’s voice echoed from the stairs. Calm. Amused. “Come and get me.”

Darian was already moving up. I grabbed Kael’s arm and hauled him up. He couldn’t stand on his own.

“Can you run?” I whispered.

“Try,” he gritted out.

We made it three steps before the lights snapped back on.

Rourke stood at the top of the stairs with four men behind him. Gun still aimed at Kael’s chest.

“Drop it,” Rourke said to Darian. “Or your brother dies.”

Darian stopped. His eyes never left Rourke. “You shoot him, the pack kills you before midnight.”

“Not if I have the omega,” Rourke said. He looked at me. “Come here, Aria. Now.”

My heart hammered. I could feel Darian’s rage like heat behind me. But if I didn’t move, Kael died.

I took one step forward.

“Don’t,” Darian said. Low. Dangerous.

“Shut up, cousin,” Rourke sneered. “You’ve always thought you could control everything. Even her.”

I stopped. Looked at Rourke. Then at Kael.

And I smiled.

“You’re right,” I said. “He can’t control me.”

I lunged.

Not at Rourke. At Kael.

I grabbed him and threw us both behind the table as Darian moved.

Gunfire exploded.

Darian hit Rourke like a freight train. The two of them went down in a tangle of fists and snarls. The room shook.

“Get up!” I yelled at Kael, cutting the last rope with Rourke’s dropped knife.

Kael scrambled up, swaying. “Go. I’ll slow them down.”

“No,” I said. “We run. Now.”

We hit the tunnel door just as Darian’s voice roared through the room.

“ARIA!”

Rourke was on the ground, bleeding from his mouth, but laughing. “She’s mine now, cousin. You can’t keep her!”

Darian didn’t answer. He was already chasing us.

The tunnel was dark again. Emergency lights flickered.

“Which way?” Kael panted.

“Left,” I said. “To the east gate. Lucas said he’d be there.”

We ran.

Behind us, footsteps. Fast. Too fast for human.

“Rourke’s coming,” Kael said.

“Not Rourke,” I said.

Darian burst out of the darkness ahead of us, skidding to a stop. His shirt was torn, blood on his knuckles, eyes wild.

“Move,” he said. He grabbed my arm and pulled us both forward.

We didn’t stop until we hit the ladder to the east gate.

Lucas was there, bleeding from his forehead but grinning. “Gate’s clear. Victor’s holding comms.”

Darian shoved Kael up first. “Go.”

Kael hesitated, looking at me. “Aria”

“I’m right behind you,” I said.

Kael went up.

Rourke’s voice echoed down the tunnel. “You can’t run forever, little omega!”

Darian turned, dropping into a crouch. “Go,” he said to me. “Now.”

I stared at him. “I’m not leaving you.”

“You are,” he said. “That’s an order.”

“f**k your orders,” I said.

He almost smiled. Then he grabbed me, kissed me hard, and pushed me toward the ladder.

“For once, listen to me,” he whispered. “Live.”

I climbed.

Halfway up, I heard it.

A snarl. A crash. Darian’s roar.

“ARI”

The ladder shook.

I didn’t look down.

I hit the top, rolled out into the night air, and slammed the grate shut behind me.

Silence.

For ten seconds, there was only silence.

Then a gunshot.

*[End of Chapter 5]*