Back when Kieran accepted Tristan's challenge at that shitshow of a meeting, Teru thought he was stupid.

Utterly stupid, driven by pure instincts to protect his omega.

A big, daft alpha, not thinking with logic.

Not this time. Teru knew this had to happen whether he liked it or not, and he was terrified of either outcome-being left mateless while pregnant or the unknown of what could happen afterward if Kieran won. If the king fell, would they finally be left alone? There were several enemies, so who knew?

He eyed the sea of soldiers with dread, who would fight to the death to prevent them from leaving the island per their master's command. Knowing what Abaddon was now capable of, the odds were stacked against them.

I can't believe I used my pheromones on a monster like that. He could've killed me if he wanted to. Did he let me attack him? Playing with me like a toy?

Teru felt the color in his face drain. He focused on Kieran's chest, not blinking. His heart petrified around the edges, already feeling the incoming grief of losing his other half again.

"D-don't put me d-down," Teru barely whispered.

If he holds me, he can't fight. It was a dumb reason to prolong his mate's likelihood of dying.

Teru became the stupid one.

Utterly stupid, driven by pure instincts to protect his alpha.

A small, frightened omega, not thinking with logic.

Abaddon snapped his fingers. It was as loud as thunder, startling him. The soldiers with rifles in the front rows simultaneously raised their weapons, aimed at the seven deadly sins. Kieran kissed Teru's forehead, pausing to smell his pheromones. Teru softly purred and lifted his face so their cheeks nuzzled.

"I'll win," Kieran mumbled quietly into his hair.

Teru stared into the hundreds of gun barrels, probably loaded with silver bullets. It triggered similar, unpleasant memories:

BANG.

BANG.

The rain of bullets didn't stop, each bang thundering in Teru's ears. Every piece of silver entered Kieran's weakening figure...After sixty or more shots with the fatal element, Kieran's movements finally slowed, soaked in red, body shaking, and blood streaming from his mouth. His eyes were a deep crimson, almost black...Abaddon whipped out a small handgun from his coat pocket and shot Kieran between the eyes. Kill shot.

"Please don't let me go." Teru didn't know what to do or say. He should know better. Nothing would stop this.

Kieran squeezed Teru before placing him into someone else's arms. He frantically looked at the lavender-scented person holding him, sprinting away as far as they could from the soon-to-be battle.

Lucas. Where did he come from? His best friend had been to hell and back: bruised and battered from whatever he had experienced during the series of fatal earthquakes and locust monsters. Soot colored his blonde hair. The purple swollenness in his wrist likely meant it was sprained or broken. Where Lucas gripped him, bloody handprints reddened the sheet.

Though glad to see he was overall okay, Lucas was not the one Teru needed. Teru strained his neck to look over Lucas's shoulder, just in time to see Kieran staring back at him. Their eyes met, Humility and Pride. He took out his arm from the depths of his blanket and reached out to Kieran.

"Kieran!" the omega shouted desperately, voice cracking. He wished the heavens would make his pleas loud, too, to deafen everyone until their ears bled. Maybe that would cease this madness. "Kieran!"

Hearing his cries was too much for the alpha and turned his back on Teru to direct his anger at Abaddon, their tormentor who would never let them live peacefully.

Lucas ran fast, unintentionally jerking Teru around. The distance widened. Kieran and Abaddon exchanged more bitter words, but they were now too far away to know what was being said. He lost sight of them and the towering gate when Lucas weaved in between the crumbling buildings.

No! That will not be my last memory of him!

He squirmed, pounding on Lucas's chest with his balled-up fists. "Put me down!"

"Like hell I will! We're almost there, anyway!"

"Where-?" Teru saw what Lucas referred to and stopped struggling. It was parked on a patch of sidewalk grass rather than the road, where the curb was blackened with tire streaks. An entire row of newly planted trees were toppled over, splintered at the bases. He had seen plenty of action movies with Kieran to know that an idiot who couldn't drive had done this damage.

Lucas awkwardly dug into his pocket and placed a key on Teru's lap. It jingled against a golf ball-sized diamond keychain. "Hold that for a sec."

Teru looked at the key, then at the car...key again...cracked sidewalk...

"L-Lucas..."

"Yeah?" he responded, out of breath.

"Did you drive that?"

That, being a matte black hybrid vehicle that was a mix between a military tank and a truck. The heavy-duty metal was impenetrable, held together by welded bolts bigger than a quarter. The broad tires could climb over rocks and the steepest of mountains. Those trees didn't stand a chance against the spiked, caged grill in the front. Given the fresh scratches on its roof and sides, did...they manage to somehow roll the dang thing over?!

"Tell me you're not the driver, Lucas. Please."

"Uh." Lucas avoided Teru's eyes, already a sign he was going to lie. "No..."

"Lucas!"

"Fine, yes! I drove it here! Don't judge me, okay? I only tried twice-"

"Twice?!"

"Yep! Twice! More than you, probably," Lucas snapped and clumsily opened the door. Its hinges squeaked from the weight. The inside scent smelled of seat leather and vanilla.

Vanilla?

"Is this Blaise's car?"

After Lucas stepped on the attached ladder and placed him in the backseat, he dangled the key in front of his face. "Do I seem like the type to carry a freaking sparkly diamond? Or hang fuzzy pink cubes? No."

Teru saw the magenta accessory swinging on a chain link from the mirror. "Those are dice, Lucas."

"Ugh!" He slammed the door in Teru's face, leaving him confused.

Lucas opened the driver's side door seconds later, got in, and turned it on. Teru watched him fumble with the complicated arrangement of buttons and switches. The wipers swished back and forth, the heat blasted through the vents, music boomed from the speakers before shutting off, etc.

Lucas caught him staring. "Oi, don't look at me! Get dressed! That thing you're wearing isn't enough for this weather. What in the world was that bastard prince thinking?" The last part was a low gruff, probably meant to be a thought and not said aloud.

Teru ignored his friend's hatred for Kieran and questioned, "Dressed? In what-?"

On the floor next to his feet were two large duffle bags big enough to each fit a body, belonging to him and Kieran. He hadn't seen them since the evening of the event when Blaise came over to the penthouse to dress him up like a pretty doll for the aristocratic alphas. Teru unzipped his bag and saw his favorite wolf toy on top. His finger skimmed over the crystal eyes, custom-ordered by Blaise. There was no ring, though, no doubt lost somewhere. Underneath his plush were multiple outfits, more suitable for late winter and early spring. Shouldn't their bags still be in the penthouse, burned to ash from the fires?

"When-how did you get these?"

Lucas finally figured out the buttons he needed on the dashboard. The military-grade vehicle roared to life, vibrating Teru's body. "Ask Blaise, less talking, more changing! We need to hurry, before-"

BANG.

The pack mates froze when they heard the single echoing sound.

BANG. BANG.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

It was a thunderstorm of gunshots. The fight had begun. They both cursed. Teru dug into his backpack and pulled out the necessities, including shoes. Oh, sweet shoes! He unwrapped the hotel bedsheet, tossed it aside, and hurriedly put on winter clothes.

"Ow," Teru winced when the clean socks rubbed the cuts on his feet, hoping he didn't contract some disease after walking over blood. While dressing, he saw Lucas staring at his collarbone in the rearview mirror.

"S-sorry," Lucas said, caught red-handed for peeping. He returned his attention to the knobs and buttons, tapping his thumb anxiously on the steering wheel.

Teru's ears were hot. He wished his hair was longer so he could hide behind his bangs. They'd seen each other buck naked countless times, yet this was embarrassing. Perhaps it was because he now had a mate, so exposing his intimate parts didn't feel okay, even to the person who was like a brother. And given Lucas's apology, he also knew he shouldn't be looking; Teru wasn't his omega.

"Ready?"

"I am," Teru said, still flustered when he zipped his fur-hooded coat.

"Seatbelt?"

Oh, right. Click.

The rounds of bullets were becoming louder...BANG...and louder...BANG...and louder. The battle was heading their way. Kieran was there, fighting for him, for them. "How are we going to help them? What's the plan?"

Lucas stared straight ahead through the bullet-proof glass window. His knuckles whitened on the stick-shift knob.

"Um, Lucas?"

Suddenly, Lucas moved the knob, lurching the car into drive. Teru yelped and tightly held the handle above, watching the skyscrapers zoom by with every shifting gear. The gunshots were faint. When it seemed they wouldn't crash after drifting a few corners, he relaxed a little. He recognized the buildings Kieran had passed by earlier while carrying him.

Lucas was driving further into the city.

"Hey-OOF!" Teru gasped at the rough turns, thumping his head against the window. Many of the locust monsters had dispersed, leaving New York to spread around the country, and eventually the world. Some chased Blaise's truck-tank car, causing Lucas to drive erratically.

He rubbed the spot that would be an impressive bump later. "You're going the wrong way!"

"I'm not," Lucas growled.

"But the plan-"

"Teru, this is the plan! And it does not involve you fighting!"

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

Bullets struck the car, ricocheting off the indestructible metal. A vampire soldier went flying in front of them, his body landing on the road. Lucas didn't avoid the injured bloodsucker, crushing his head like a grape under the giant tires. The battle had already reached this point?! Why was it shifting so much, so quickly?

They turned left, veering back to Kieran. Were they looping around?

"This is the plan," Lucas breathed more calmly when the locust beasts flew away. "Blaise told me they'll move the fight, far away from the gate. His bet is that most of the soldiers will follow the deadly sins. By the time we exit the freeway, it should be unguarded. We can finally leave this fucking place."

"I-" Teru started to protest, but stopped. He bit his bottom lip and placed a hand on his belly, hidden under his thick clothes.

Kieran...wouldn't want me to interfere. He trusted Lucas enough to take me to safety.

He made a decision, one of the most difficult ones he's ever had to make.

Teru had to escape. Today. Possibly without Kieran. It was for himself, for his pups.

"Okay."

Lucas raised an eyebrow, thinking the snarky omega would make an argument. "Does...does your stomach hurt?"

"Huh?" Teru saw his friend's stare through the mirror. He quickly took his hand off his abdomen. "Er, no, it's fine." This wasn't the moment to break the news to him yet. Lucas would probably go feral and crash the car.

They spent the next twenty minutes driving, weaving, and taking detours to avoid the endless pits. Luckily, they did not run into any trouble. Blaise's plan to change the battlefield had worked. The deadly sins had baited Abaddon's army to the heart of New York. Their car ride was silent, listening to the screams, hollers, explosions, flying bugs that'd follow them and give up, and the final cries before death. Occasionally, Teru felt painful pinches in the same places where Kieran was shot with silver bullets. He sensed Pride's insanity, determined to take every bastard to Hell with him. The Humility within Teru was begging to be let out, to help the sin it was mated to.

I want to, no, I NEED to...but we can't. Don't you understand?

Humility went silent. It indeed understood.

"Hello? Teru?"

He blinked, too concentrated to have noticed that Lucas was talking to him. "Sorry, yeah?"

"The gate is ahead."

Lucas got off the highway. The carnage was-

Teru leaned over, grabbed a random shoe from under the seat in front of him, and threw up into it. The odor of blood and gunpowder was strong enough to seep into the car. Dismembered bodies with organs hanging from their ripped-open chests piled the roads. Many soldiers had their hearts missing, some without heads. Others were completely torn apart in two. The normal bugs from the beginning were feasting on their flesh, munching away. A crow pecked at a bloodsucker's shocked face, swallowing the eyeballs first. They had to drive more slowly when the bodies became speed bumps. It was too dangerous to go fast.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, concerned.

Teru put the ruined shoe into a purse he found and shoved it back under the seat. He didn't answer. It would be a lie to say he was fine; better to stay quiet.

"Thankfully," Lucas stated when observing the gory scene, "they all followed Blaise and the others. This is much better than I'd hoped. After we go over the bridge, we'll-SHIT!"

SCREEEEECH.

The car stopped abruptly. Lucas slammed on the brakes, making the tires skid multiple lengths before hitting something. The impact wasn't hard. Thank heavens Teru was wearing a seatbelt, or he would've gone flying!

"What the hell, Lucas! Why did you-?" He paused mid-sentence.

The vehicle's front grill was smashed in. Abaddon had his hand out to stop them. The crash would have easily killed a human, but he didn't even have a scratch from it. His wings unfurled. They spanned longer than the car. More sparkling feathers fell from them, leaving only a few behind on the bloodied limbs. He glared at Teru, his voice barely audible because of the thick windows.

"Omega," Abaddon seethed with pheromone venom dripping from his fangs, "I'll show you mercy if you get out willingly. This is the end."

Lucas growled, "Fuck your mercy." He slammed the manual stick shift ahead, propelling the car forward.