Sarah POV:
The silence was brittle, ready to snap.
David's hand clamped onto my upper arm, fingers digging into the muscle. "Sarah is tired," he announced, voice strained. "She's not thinking clearly."
"I'm thinking perfectly clearly," I said, ripping my arm away.
Rebecca's eyes narrowed into slits. The playful cruelty vanished, replaced by predator focus.
"Oh, sweetie," Rebecca cooed, stepping closer. "Let me fix that clasp. It looks loose."
Before I could back away, she reached behind my neck.
A sharp, searing heat slashed across the back of my hand.
"Ah!" I gasped, jerking back.
A thin line of red appeared. Smoke curled from the wound. The smell of cooking meat filled the air.
Silver.
She had a silver blade palmed in her hand.
"You cut me!" I cried out, clutching the burn. The silver stopped the clotting, burning deeper.
"What?" Rebecca gasped, eyes wide.
In a blur, she took the same blade and slashed her own forearm.
She screamed. A high-pitched shriek that shattered the tension.
"She has a knife!" Rebecca screamed, falling to her knees, clutching her bleeding arm. "She tried to kill me! She has silver!"
Chaos erupted.
"No!" I shouted. "She did it! She had the blade!"
"Liar!" Rebecca sobbed. "I tried to help you!"
David turned to me. His eyes were black. The scent of silver and blood triggered his combat instinct.
"Sarah," he growled.
"David, look at my hand!" I pleaded, holding up the smoking wound.
"Enough!" David roared.
The sound hit me like a shockwave.
"KNEEL!"
The Alpha Command.
It wasn't a choice; it was gravity. My legs collapsed. My knees cracked against the marble. I tried to stand, but my body was locked, a prisoner to his voice.
"David, please," I whimpered. "The baby..."
He rushed to Rebecca. He scooped her up, looking at her with frantic worry.
"Get the doctor!" David yelled. "Clear the room!"
He looked down at me. No love. Just disgust for a broken toy.
"I knew you were weak, Sarah," he spat. "I didn't know you were vicious."
"I didn't do it," I sobbed against the crushing weight of the Command.
"Take her to the dungeons," David ordered the guards. "And check her for silver."
"David!" Rebecca moaned, burying her face in his chest to hide her smirk. "It hurts..."
"I've got you, my Luna. I've got you," he whispered.
My heart didn't break; it disintegrated.
Two warriors dragged me across the floor. My legs, still paralyzed, trailed uselessly behind me.
I watched David carry Rebecca out, stepping over my blood.
As the dungeon doors loomed, I clutched my stomach.
Hold on, little one, I prayed. Mama is going to get us out.
Sarah the Omega died on that ballroom floor. Something else would have to be born in the dark if we were going to survive.
