All of a sudden, smelling a strong, rotten stench coming from nearby, Asher regained his senses with a gasp, as it was hard for him to believe that he was still alive, even after facing such a deadly accident!
A strange grumbling sound reached his ears, as if he had passed out for merely a minute, before he could slowly blink open his eyes to check where the stench came from.
"GAWRRGWARG!"
The peculiar noise felt very close by, and it sounded similar to some kind of gagging voice made by an absurd creature, not necessarily that of a human.
Rubbing his eyes with the back of his palm, when Asher slowly opened his gaze and his blurred vision turned clear, the gasp of disbelief was quite aloud as he suddenly couldn't breathe for a second!
He was lying down in the middle of a rubble-strewn road, behind a big blue oil drum. The enormous modern skyscraper right in front of his eyes was burning, emitting thick black smoke and dust all over the air, which made it difficult for him to breathe normally.
Not only that particular building, but all the other buildings nearby were reduced to rubble, standing tall as the evidence of devastation. Moreover, the scenario around him felt strangely identical to the scene of those typical apocalypse movies Asher used to watch in his boredom from time to time.
But following that strange noise, when Asher turned his glance towards the right side of that drum, it felt as if his blood had turned cold, freezing him from shock at the gory sight.
Right before his eyes, he saw a pale-skinned young male zombie with all his intestines spilled out of his body was hungrily devouring the flesh of a young female, particularly her abdominal flesh.
It was clear to understand now that the rotten stench which hit his nose before he could open his eyes came from nowhere but the flesh of this poor human girl, who was ultimately reduced into this zombie's feed, lying dead with her eyes wide open.
Upon finishing her abdomen internal organs, when the zombie took a bite of her head next, probably to feed on her brain, a loud, horrid shriek mistakenly escaped from Asher before he could cover his mouth, "AEEKK!! BLECGH! UWAGH!!"
Immediately, hearing that sound, the zombie paused for a second and averted his gaze towards Asher, who was still seated behind the drum, trembling like a newborn fawn.
Just locking in gaze with that zombie for a second, who had finally noticed him, Asher felt his entire body shivering uncontrollably, as if his blood had dried up on his face.
The zombie then retained a horrific, smug face as if he was delighted to approach his fresh new target. He immediately left the female corpse, stood up in a wobbly motion, and then trampled over her dead body, while aiming to march towards the area where Asher was seated.
"No…T-This can't be real! I…I swear…I must be dreaming…This has to be a fuckin' nightmare!"
Quivering with fear and disbelief, Asher landed a few tight slaps across his own face to wake himself up from this damn nightmare. But the painful sting on his cheeks as the aftermath felt evident enough to make him realize it wasn't the case!
When the zombie slowly approached him closer and roared aloud to scare him a little more, just his nearing presence spread an awful stink in the air that breathing felt too hard for him.
But with a quick presence of mind, Asher mustered his inner strength, apprehending that even if he was stuck in this dreadful nightmare, it was the moment to run for his life now!
But before he was about to stand up, a sharp stinging ache all over the lower half of his body, particularly around his round plump buttcheeks, froze him momentarily, making him feel too weak to stand up.
That unusual throbbing pain felt unlike any of the injuries he had faced until now. But the way his legs were trembling like jelly, he couldn't comprehend how a strong, domineering Alpha like him could feel so pathetically weak to stand up on his own feet when death was looming in front of him!
Holding the edge of that drum when he forcibly tried standing up again, his knees wobbled, making him almost slip on his balance as he merely escaped to hit the ground.
Angry, scared and frustrated to witness such a horrifying turn of events, Asher shrieked in panic, "W-What the fuck is wrong with me!? My legs are feeling so weak, maybe because I am scared…but why does my back hurt so fuckin' much!?"
~ "Only if you haven't fucked around like horny rabbits last night, you still could have been left with the strength to run for your life right now, you idiot!"
Suddenly, an irked loud voice echoed inside his head, flinching Asher with wide disbelief as he couldn't contemplate what the hell was happening with him! As per his memory, it has been over a week since he had a one-night stand with an omega girl.
Last night, Xavier intervened inside the bar before he could have taken any omega to the hotel…so why was the crude voice accusing him now that he fuckin' around with someone so much that he was unable to move comfortably now?
Since he couldn't stand up on his own without help, Asher started crawling backwards from the approaching zombie, who was walking towards him at a relatively slow pace. Gritting his jaws, Asher charged at the voice, "Who the heck are you!? What the hell are you talking about? It has been over a week since I got laid…"
~ "Have you turned so stupid now that you can't even recognize your own wolf's voice?" This time, that particular voice roared in a stiff tone, leaving Asher awestruck with his revelation. "I am Neon, your omega wolf, whom you had awakened since you were 18."
"O-Omega?"
In his long 28 years of life, Asher was familiar with his sole companion, his Alpha wolf Juventas, whom he had acquired under the divine Moon Goddesses' blessing when he was only 16. Juventus was a reserved, strong wolf who always mind-linked with him in a humble tone and never interfered with any of the choices Asher made in his life, either.
But now, facing the open insult from this crude wolf Neon, who claims to be his omega wolf, had left him momentarily disheveled from shock. While he was rendered speechless, the male zombie roared at him aloud again as if it was a bit frustrated to watch Asher crawl backwards from him.
But vexed with frustration, Asher grabbed and threw a big boulder directly aiming the zombie's head but his aim barely skipped, making him howl with extreme agitation, "SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU ZOMBIE BITCH! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM YOU, YOU STINKY ROTTEN BASTARD!
"AND YOU…WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING AN OMEGA!? I AM A DOMINANT ALPHA! AND I KNOW MY WOLF WAS JUVENTUS…SO WHO THE HECK ARE YOU CLAIMING TO BE!?"
~ "I get it. You must've gone insane momentarily from the sudden shock of this calamity that you can't even recognize your own divine wolf."
Neon sounded very calm in contrast to Asher's panicking voice, following a big exhale, "But fret not. Our Alpha won't let us get hurt…We are already imprinted by him, so he will definitely sense his omega in danger and come for your rescue."
"MAKE SOME SENSE WHEN YOU FUCKIN' TALK, DAMN IT! I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE BUT HEAR ME OUT, I AM A DOMINANT ALPHA MYSELF!! STOP CALLING ME A DAMN OMEGA! AND…WHO THE HELL WOULD DARE TO IMPRINT ME!?"
Disheveled with panic and disbelief, when Asher frantically tried opposing his wolf's claim as it indeed hurt his pride, suddenly a cold chill ran down his spine when he sensed his back had hit against a wall! While crawling away, he had already reached the end of the road, but the zombie was desperately approaching him with a greedy, groaning sound and seemed quite pleased to watch Asher was all cornered.
~ "Calm down a bit, Asher. Have faith in your Alpha—"
"Fuck…Fuck…Stop bullshitting and just take over my body! If you're really my wolf, then aren't you supposed to protect me from this zombie bastard!?" Unable to contain his horror anymore, Asher started to panic badly while trying to stand up by grabbing against the wall.
But watching his desparate attempts all going in vain, the sight of that dreadful zombie approaching him faster was sending drastic shockwaves against his spine, making him too petrified to think rationally anymore.
~ "I can't take over you, Asher. The virus has weakened our immune system so much that we can't initiate a shift. But please, don't panic so much…you're emitting way too much pheromones this way."
"What are you talking about? Which virus? Goddamn what's happening!?" Even though Neon tried to convince him still keeping his calm, but Asher had already lost all control over his calmness and started screaming in panic, "HELP! SOMEONE SAVE ME FROM THIS ZOMBIE BASTARD! I-I CAN'T STAND UP ON MY OWN! IS THERE ANYONE HERE!? PLEASE—"
"BANG!!"
Before his words could fell from his mouth, a sudden loud firing shot from behind flew away that zombie's head a few meters away from Asher, making him tremble at the sight of that zombie's blue colored blood scattered everywhere. Trying to lift his rolled gaze above from the dead body of that zombie, before he could take a look at the majestic armed figure approaching him, his wolf Neon rejoiced in a jovial tone.
~ "I had told you, fret not! Our Alpha would definitely come to save us! See, he came…Our Alpha is finally here…"
With his words echoing vibrantly in his mind, Asher's heart thumped in an erratic speed when he took a proper glance at the one Neon claimed to be his Alpha ahead of him.
That exact same dazzling gorgeous handsome man who could make anyone's heart skip with a smile was wearing an armed gear and held a big rifle while he was rushing towards him. That same face of that person bore a worried expression, but those amber eyes he saw for the very last time from the side mirror of his car was right in front of him now.
That man…his eternal rival…and the one who betrayed him in the end by running him over with that white truck…
Xavier Marcus.
While Asher held his breath, awestruck with disbelief at the sight of Xavier frantically running towards him, before he could open his mouth, dropping the rifle on the ground, Xavier reached him close and pulled him into a tight embrace!
The sound of their pounding hearts echoed in that dead silent rubble strewn street, but the way Xavier was holding onto him so ardently with his trembling arms, burying his face on his shoulder, for instance it felt as if Asher meant the whole world to that man who must've been too scared to lose him!
"Baby…Are you alright, baby? Are you hurt anywhere? Goddamnit…Why did you move away from that drum, baby? I had specifically warned you to stay hidden behind that drum until I come back with a weapon, but why didn't you listen to me? Do you know how horrified I was when I came back and saw a corpse lying there? What…What would have happened if I was a minute late? Damn…Oh…my baby…"
Xavier's hold around his body tightened with every word he spoke in a shaky voice, as if even in that moment he was too scared to release him from his grasp.
But even his pleading, soft mumble couldn't tame the flames of rage and sadness from that ultimate betrayal, which riled up Asher's heart the moment he saw that exact face once again before his eyes.
It took him a moment to process what was happening, but immediately, when his senses kicked in, Asher yanked Xavier by the back of his hair and forcibly made him meet his gaze as he glowered at him, "What are you doing?"
"Baby…A-Are you angry because I was late? I am sorry, baby, I had to grab the weapon for—"
"I AM ASKING WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE CALLING BABY, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!?"
Riled with fury, Asher howled at him like a madman, making his voice echo all over that desolated street.