Chapter Text
Consciousness leaked into his system like confetti falling at the New Year’s celebration in Times Square. Piece by piece the unfamiliar surroundings made sense. Confounded blue eyes blearily searched the stark white walls for some insight into his location.
Waking in unfamiliar beds, though not uncommon for Clark, had recently become unappealing. Untenable. He squeezed his eyes closed and drew oxygen deep into his lungs in an attempt to shake the weighty lethargy holding him down. Pushing up onto his elbows and past the wave of nausea, he managed to sit upright. His right hand rubbed his stubbled cheek as he had done hundreds of mornings before. But, unlike the other times, a blinding pain electrified his face. He glanced around the room and found a mirror on the far wall.For month Clark had avoided his own reflection, but the bandages on his face forced the issue. He used the roller clamp to stop his IV line before disengaging from the bag. He hoisted himself onto his unsteady feet, shuffling toward the unfamiliar visage.
Shaggy blonde hair fell across his forehead as his eyes studied the clean bandaging covering the lower portion of his face. Fingertips brushed back blonde tendrils. ‘When did I lose my health?’ Weak eyes examining the thin skin covering greying skin and sunken cheeks.’Fear bit into him as memories floated to the surface.
“Please tell me you aren’t one of those needy bitches that expects this to be more than a one-night thing.” Clark’s cold words silenced the beautiful omega. ‘Shit, I bit another one.’ Scratching his fingernails along the stubble of his cheek regret for his harshness and foolish decisions ignited then quickly faded. ‘My reputation should have been enough to keep her away.’
“Look.” The tiny brunette curled into a fetal position. Rejection had ravaged through her quickly.
“I’m not the alpha for you. Nobody with any sense would want me. Damaged goods. Ask around. Seriously. I don’t remember the last time I slept alone. I can’t tell you the last time I slept at home. Here. Take this card.” The reverence in his action dispelled any doubt of his intentions.
A pale hand curled around its edges. Clark ignored the way the mascara-stained teary streaks marred her face. Guilt should have itched at his soul, but that had died a long time ago. “She’ll take care of the marks. My alpha’s too strong for me. When my alpha believes he has found his true mate, there is nothing else. But, then I destroy gorgeous creatures like you. When I am sober, I realize that my alpha is vile and warped. He’s dangerous. So. Call Raven. She hates me, but she’ll fix you.”
“Like she did the last time? No thank you.” As if a switch was flicked on in the brunette’s mind, her features hardened into a calculated emotionless mask. Registering the confusion in Clark’s eyes, she stood up occupying the man’s personal space. “Yeah, this isn’t our first time, but from the lost look you have I will help you find the memory of me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Two years ago, we met at the ‘Ark.’ I was young and stupid. A few free drinks had me in your arms, but that’s your angle, isn’t it? Get the poor little girls drunk, so they can’t fight you, emit just the right amount pheromones and tease with your suave one-liners to charm your way into their bed. You swore that I was meant to be with you like I was put on your path to find--some sort of bullshit like that. And then--” Jabbing her finger into his chest, “You were gentle with me at first, removing my clothes commenting on how soft my skin was--shit it was everything I thought my first time would be, but no, once you had me on the bed under you…you changed.”
Clamping her hand on his wrist, she forced him to feel the deep scars on her side. “You ruined me, I was fine with it at the time thinking we were going to be together, but the next morning you tossed me this fucking card and forced a fucking pill down my throat so that I wouldn’t get pregnant then left!”
Yanking his hand away, he retreated backward as the memory of a younger omega who threatened to kill herself with is chef’s knife early one morning. Only excessive begging and a promise to pay for Raven’s services had calmed the girl, “I am sorry, but I told you--” The slap, though deserved, killed his excuses.
“I met Raven, she tried to help me with the bite, but the treatment didn’t take. I spent months with dirty looks from strangers, feeling gross in my own skin. I wanted to fucking die! Nearly took my life more than once, but that didn’t pan out since my parents found me in my apartment a day too fucking soon.” Swallowing down her emotions she took in a deep breath, “It was hell for me to continue breathing until a dear friend came to my rescue. She offered me something no one else could. She helped me steady myself, healed me, and now is assisting me with my revenge.”
The thrill of fear ran through Clark’s body as his panic rose. “Listen, I am sorry for what I did to you, how things ended up for you--but whatever plans you have for revenge will not help you. You will regret it, in the end, this anger and hate will not go away. It will turn on you, and you will be more miserable than you are now.”
“Yeah, well for however long it lasts I will have some peace, and that’s what matters to me. After all don’t you do the same thing? Only you get to relive those moments almost every night with a new lay, right? ”
Clarks scoffed at her words. Verbally wounded but angry he spoke. “No. You don’t understand. I stopped making this as much of a habit months back, but you are right. I need those girls to make me feel anything. Each sweet omega reminds me of what should have been and all the fucking expectations.” Despair and guilt weighed heavily on the man. But, anger and resentment kept Ontari from acknowledging the truth. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Clark knew that whatever this chick had drummed up in her mind wasn’t going to work. He towered over her, out-weighed her, and was far stronger than her. He was short, but she was tiny.
Disregarding her final words Clark turned away and collected his coat, “Forget the revenge, there isn’t anything you can physically do to me that I wouldn’t welcome. I deserve a fate worse than death which you can’t give me. I don’t want to hurt you, but stop me from leaving, and I will protect myself.” He locked eyes with her briefly, “Move.” His commanding voice growled from the back of his throat, but the woman stayed where she was. “I said move.” Shoving her towards the bed, he stormed down the short hallway to the front door.
Peeling the chain link lock-free, he quickly flicked the deadbolt and opened the door. Stern forest green eyes pinned him in place. The woman tilted her head slightly, sizing up Clark allowing a few strands of brown locks to dangle over her shoulder. “You must be Clark.” She calmly stated as the girl from the bedroom jumped onto his back and jammed a needle into his carotid artery.
Numbly struggling against the attack he dropped to his knees, plucking the syringe free he fought to prevent the heavy sleep from consuming him. “You did well. Go dress, and we will get you cleaned up, you don’t need to wear those scars anymore. And definitely, need to be free of his scent.” His vision blurred and the voice became muffled.
“Thank you.” Her voice cracked as the adrenaline and emotions pulsed through her body. She padded her way back to the bedroom leaving the two alone.
Clark’s body had lost its strength as he slumped over to his side. Three other people in dressed as EMTs in all black approached with a stretcher, but all he could do was silently scream like he was in a bad dream.
***
Dr. Lexa Woods tapped her nails against the glass top of the table as she checked the time. ‘We need to wrap this up. My charge should not wake without an observer. He had not been the man I expected him to be.’. Her laptop sat in her line of sight, calling to her. But, her Board of Directors would see too much. They would ask too many questions about the person behind the bandages.
She had performed the first among many planned operations for her latest acquisition. The corner of her mouth upturned into a brief smirk as she realized that the men at this table would be horrified by the fate of Clark Griffin, the infamous playboy son of Jake and Abby Griffin.
She cleared her throat and refocused on the beta explaining what he believed to be the proposal for starting human trials of their newest skin replacement therapy. Her smirk blossomed into a feral grin. ‘These old fools still think its best application would be to relieve burn victims of their scar tissue. The had not considered the soft and silky texture of the synthskin, feminine to its core.’
Dr. Cage Wallace’s malicious grin appeared triumphant as he wrapped an arm around his favorite assistant. His beta blushed furiously. “Tad, we are so proud of your achievement. Men, and Dr. Woods, all those in favor of moving to human trials say aye.”
The unanimous response thrilled her business partner. Lexa’s disdain for the man grew annually as did the value of their shared enterprise. ‘Someday I can get rid of Wallace. His father, a far better man, had helped her when she inherited the massive Woods fortune but still had not presented. In the world of the obscenely wealthy one had to either be the richest or the most influential alpha; preferably, one could be both. At seventeen she graduated pre-med from Johns Hopkins and entered their medical school. Dr. Dante Wallace, a professor, had recognized her amazing skill; and he helped her develop fake pheromones to make her appear to be an alpha. Such a prestigious university would be embarrassed by an omega or beta completing their most rigorous program.
“Dr. Woods.” Cage’s voice interrupted her inner monologue. “I noticed that in this document laying out our plan for test subjects you stated that our plan was and I quote ‘short-sighted and limiting.’ How would you suggest we find a larger number of appropriate subjects for our experiment.” The cold bite to his language did not go unnoticed by the room. She suspected he had read his father’s files on her. They should have been destroyed long ago, but Cage appeared to be trying to force an alpha response. If she failed to emit a strong presence with her scent, he could expose her as a fraud.
Standing to full height, she leaned down the twenty feet of the table planting her fists on the glass. Her navy suit stretched taut on her long muscular arms. A deep growl resonated low in her throat. “Careful Cage, you would not want to lose too much credibility with your lack of creativity.” Her verdant green eyes flashed in anger. Her sharp canines appeared to lengthen as her scent demanded obedience.
Cage’s confusion at her response spoke volumes. He knew she was not an alpha. What he may not have understood though was unlike everyone else, she had never presented as anything. His father had embedded biometric synthglands in her neck. Dante had created them specifically for her using her DNA to create the chemical reactions. She dreaded the day that her latent beta or omega characteristics finally came into play. At twenty-four she knew it would either happen within the next year or never. Fortunately, her synthglands had a specific expiration date. She knew exactly when they would cease to work. Now, all she needed was the time to finish her work. She would have real gland within six months, but she had to know if her body would betray her by presenting--if it did her creation would fail.
Bested by his natural inclination, Dr. Cage Wallace bowed his head submitting to her in full view of the board. “I apologize for my tone. But, I would be interested in hearing your ideas as to how we could find more subjects quickly.”
With a brief nod of her head, she relaxed her stance, smoothed the jacket of her suit and resumed her seat. “Yes, you think the new skin would only be useful for burn victims, but have you considered those who have melanoma and have large portions cut out or acne scarring. I would even suggest that women who feel the skin on their face is losing its elasticity could possibly benefit from the newer look and feel of the skin. Expand your horizons. Think. Be creative. That is what we do here. If this doesn’t appeal to you, like I have said many times before, if you cannot get on board with what we are doing at Promethean Medical, I would be happy to buy out your shares. You only have a 15% stake in my company. Your father and I had a shared vision, yet you seek to invalidate me at every corner. It stops now. Otherwise, this is your last project.”
The men of the board all solemnly nodded their heads leaving Cage shaking in fury. His coup failed. “We will heed your suggestions. When we finish this project, I will take your offer IF you pay 50% above the market share.”
“Agreed.” Lexa’s exterior calm hid her interior celebration. ‘Checkmate. Two years after Dante’s death and I finally, succeed in convince Cage to move on from this poorly considered partnership.’
“Is there any more business to be presented?” Lexa asked in a tone that suggested that the answer should be no.
No one spoke.
“That’s it, gentlemen. We are dismissed. We will meet again next week.” A broad smile swept her features as the words fell from her lips. She bided her time for the men to vacate the room so that she could check the condition of her patient.
‘Oh, Mr. Griffin, what adventures do I have in store for you?’ Her cruel smirk curled her lips.