Caught: A Paranormal Romance (The Swamp Book 3)

by Rebecca Royce

  I grinned. “Am I being that obvious?”

  “Yep.” He smiled. “You are.”

  I groaned. “Sorry.”

  I really didn’t have a case to complain. I’d showered and eaten. I could even sleep if I wanted to. But I didn’t want to.

  And the things I wanted to do, I wasn’t going to do with my brother hanging out in the front seat and Miranda chatting away like she and Rainer hadn’t been ready to kill each other earlier. Of course, he might slaughter her just for never shutting up. We weren’t really that much of an extroverted group. Sure, we talked, but we didn’t work out our emotions by hashing them out verbally so much as we did on the inside.

  That was an interesting observation I hadn’t considered before. When my wolf was mate shopping, did she know that the four of them weren’t going to be chatty? I didn’t think Anton would have been much different if he could speak aloud. We were all pretty much lost in our heads. I preferred it that way.

  “We have to stop for gas at the next rest stop,” Isaac called out. “And I’m up for snacks.”

  Isaac was always up for snacks. That hadn’t changed since childhood. And his wolf metabolism meant he could eat as much as he wanted. Even when he wasn’t shifting. I smiled. “I could eat. I mean, it might be nice to just get out of the vehicle.”

  “Our girl is getting stir crazy.” Preston kissed my cheek as he walked by. “I don’t blame her.”

  Rainer stretched out his legs. “Okay. We’ll all get out but be mindful. Nothing with this Loup has made sense. If he’s somehow tracking us, he could turn the whole truck stop into some kind of attack zone. I’m really not in the mood.” He got up. “Or maybe I am. Come on, Loup, bring it on.”

  Isaac pulled the motorhome off the highway, stopping pretty quickly after he did. Looked like we had been close when Rainer had made the declaration.

  I smiled, even though I should be scowling at him for suggesting such a thing. Before we could go outside, I had to make sure he was clean of the Loup’s control. He leaned into my hand, and I closed my eyes, willing my powers to show up if there was anything amiss. Nothing happened, so I grinned as I lifted my lids. “You’re golden.”

  “Only because you’re touching me.” He dipped me down like I was a heroine from some old romantic movie and passionately kissed me. I giggled against his mouth before I kissed him back. When he finally let me up, I had to stand still for a long second before I fell over because I was slightly dizzy.

  That was when my hands started to burn. I gasped, the pain feeling like an assault against the sweet moment Rainer had just given me.

  He furrowed his brow. “Is it me? I don’t feel him.”

  I shook my head. “It’s no one here.”

  Miranda pointed at the door. “Let her out.”

  Yes, that was what had to happen, sooner rather than later. Someone out there needed my help. Isaac pressed the button that opened the door and lowered the stairs. I waited until it was safe and exited to the outside. A dust of rain hit my head, and I shivered. The change in temperature from the inside to the out was significant. Where were we? I hadn’t thought to ask, and I didn’t even really care. If we weren’t there yet, I wasn’t concerned.

  We were hardly alone. As we were caravanning, our decision to stop had made them all pull off the road, too. Our family members who we had found quickly circled us, asking questions. I couldn’t hear any of them. My hands burned, and what was more, I knew exactly where I had to go.

  Still, I had to think about doing this safely. “It’s not here.” I met Anton’s gaze. “It’s across the highway.”

  As though in unison, everyone turned in the direction I was looking.

  “You have to cross traffic.” Jarret sighed. “Should we get back in and move the motorhome?”

  “We need to give that thing a name. Like we all start calling it Penelope. Can the motorhome be Penelope?” Preston asked and then quickly spoke again. “Okay, she needs to cross the highway and there is no way for us all to get over there and park. So we help her here. We’re all shifting.”

  Miranda nodded. “Right.”

  Now she was taking directions from Preston? The power struggles in this wolf existence were real. Was this constant, or just because we were essentially starting over after denying ourselves for so long? I didn’t suppose it mattered right now. What mattered was that I had to get to that Loup who was across the highway.

  I bounced on my feet. “Should I shift?”

  “No,” Rainer answered. “You and Anton stay two-legged. He’s going to watch your back. I want you to be able to speak to this Loup. I think we need to make a policy to start doing that. We’ve got the one back at the house waiting for your return, too. They might know things. They have stories. We need to hear them.”

  Jarret sucked in a breath and spoke low in my ear. “I wish he knew how much he is starting to sound like Cristian. He was so born for this.”

  I was sure he was. We were all born for this. I kissed his cheek. “Don’t get hit by a car.”

  “I can’t believe we’re going to run across the highway.” Jarret rolled his eyes. “But our lives are never boring. See you over there.”

  I looked at Rainer. His wolf was in his eyes, he was about to shift. “Why are you running across as wolves?”

  “Because if anyone sees anything, they’ll just remember there was a group of wolves rushing across the highway. Nothing to do with any Loups or you. And if we get hit, it won’t hurt us much. If it does, you can fix us.”

  That was all true. “Well, don’t get hit anyway. I’m tired of all of you being injured.”

  “We’re tired of you being attacked.” He winked at me. “Someday, it’ll be better. I know it.”

  He was lying, and I was letting him. Sure, we’d both pretend we were optimists. It was something that Rainer and I did together. We both knew the opposite was the truth.

  They shifted and ran. I rolled my eyes. Talk about total disregard for their safety or that of the oncoming traffic on both sides of the highway. This was a four-lane catastrophe waiting to happen. I couldn’t heal the humans, so no one had better be injured or hurt in what could very well count as us participating in vehicular manslaughter.

  Of course, it was all my fault.

  I sighed. Cars screeched to a stop, pulling off to the shoulders, and I winced in abject horror as they somehow managed not to hit each other. I covered my mouth in awe. The universe had just smiled at us. No one was hurt, no cars had crashed, and it really did look like random wolves were all over the road.

  I ran. If anyone noticed, I hoped it wouldn’t be for very long. My hands burned. The Loup needed me, and thanks to these amazing people, I could help them. Anton was right behind me. We probably looked like a lunatic couple running with the wolves, or maybe they would think we had something to do with rounding them up. It didn’t matter. I was going to disappear into the woods on the other side of the highway, and no one would ever know what happened to me.

  It didn’t take long with traffic stopped, and I was soon where I needed to be.

  Anton followed close but didn’t interfere with me. I was grateful for his company. And there was the Loup. He waited like he’d known I would come, and maybe he did. They reached out to me along our psychic link and called for help. I could do no less than help them.

  But I was at risk of their madness harming me physically every time I did. I had to be cautious and smart about this, or I was going to have to heal from injury. I was tough and strong, but I’d been through a lot lately. Even at my young age, I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.

  “What are you doing out here?”

  It tilted its head, looking mangled and sick. It broke my heart. I used to be scared of Loups, but these days, they were the lesser of all the concerns I had. This was something I knew how to do.

  “Did you know I would come? You did, didn’t you? Even I don’t know where I am, but you did somehow.” I walked toward him. “And I�
��m going to make you feel better. If you come at me violently, this man behind me, who happens to be one of my mates, is going to hurt you. So control yourself.”

  I hoped he would listen. Placing my hands on him was an act of faith, but then again, so was my entire existence these days. I had to believe that we’d be okay. It was all about my faith in the idea that we had a real place in the world that we belonged here. That breeding ourselves out wouldn’t and couldn’t work for us

  That we were meant to be here, and I’d come when I did into these abilities to save us. I didn’t feel like a savior, and I had no god complex. But I had to believe that I was meant for this, or why was it me? Something about me was right for this job.

  I sent my energy to him. His madness swirled around me but didn’t infect my soul. He wasn’t a hard fix. Not when I’d had to bring back so many from Ross’ hell. This was just a run of the mill Loup. Probably some poor soul who was lost because there weren’t any Omegas around. We helped keep order in the pack, because when we weren’t there, things and people went askew. So all I had to do was see to it that Ross was killed, and then there would be more Omegas born, and in about eighteen years, I could take a break.

  Shuddering at the length of time it was going to take, I almost dropped my hands. It was amazing that I could think at all during this time. When I’d first started doing this, it had been really difficult, like I was going to pass out, as though I couldn’t endure it. Well, it was nice to know I was getting stronger.

  He righted inside, giving me the madness, letting it go. Wasn’t that what we all really needed to do when it came down to it? We needed to release what kept us from being our best selves?

  The Loup jerked as he let go of his burdens and gave them to me. I stepped back. Anton placed his hand on my back, and I smiled at him. Now would be when I would have fainted in the past or needed to go lie down. I felt no such inclination now.

  He lifted an eyebrow in question, and I shook my head. “If you want to carry me you can, just because that is sort of fun and definitely romantic, but not because I’m about to fall on my head.”

  Anton kissed my shoulder, right on his spot. He loved me, and somehow, he got me when I wasn’t sure that I really understood myself. But if someone as inherently good as Anton thought I was worthwhile, then that went a long way to convincing me that I might actually be able to do this.

  The Loup shifted, coming back into his human body. He was an old man, gray-haired, wrinkled. When he opened his eyes, he seemed to view me with clarity. Usually, I didn’t see them like this. I was too busy having to be carted off to recover that I never saw the part.

  He sat up slowly and I smiled at him. “My name is MacKenzie. This is Anton, one of my mates. How are you feeling?”

  The man rubbed his eyes. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  That much I knew. “You found me. Well, I found you. But here we are.” We needed to get him some clothes and some money so he could move on. I doubted he had anything anywhere if he’d been living like this.

  I looked at Anton. “We should have brought clothes and money.”

  “No.” The man got to his feet. “She told me to find you. To tell you in this moment that you have to defeat him by being who you were always meant to be. But not just you. Everyone. Do you understand?”

  I really didn’t. Squatting down, I met his gaze. He looked down. That was wrong. This wasn’t a submissive wolf. He’d just been beaten down. Plus, no one dropped their gaze to the Omega. That was why we were able to help. “Who told you this?”

  Maybe he wasn’t done needing help, but my hands weren’t on fire, so it was probably not something I had to do. He might need some human help.

  “My mate. The Omega. She said you would know. I did everything I could to help. I broke him once. That’s how you’re here. Just one day, when I broke.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. I would know?

  That was when I saw her, like a vision passing in front of my eyes. I rose and stared. She wasn’t really here, but she was an echo. The Omega who visited me in the unconscious. She’d been trying to help from the great beyond. Or wherever it was that happened when this was over. I didn’t really know the general thinking about this, and I wasn’t sure anyone could say they did. At the end of the day, I was back to the faith issue.

  But it didn’t matter, because there she was.

  I looked at Anton. “Can you see her?”

  Or was I asleep and I just didn’t know it? Was that possible?

  He nodded and took my hand, squeezing it.

  “You’re ready.” She walked toward me. Well, it was more like floating. Her legs were moving like she walked, but she wasn’t touching the ground. I was so glad Anton saw this, too. No one would believe me otherwise. Werewolves, yes. Spirit-like things, no.

  She stopped near the man I’d just healed and took his hand. I caught my breath. Okay. I was finally catching on. She was an Omega, and he had been her mate. Or still was. I liked the idea that mating was eternal. I wanted to be with mine forever.

  “You sent him to me.”

  “We knew things were ending.” The Omega speaking to me turned in my direction. “He volunteered because he’s always been so brave. We knew he’d become a Loup without me. He’d have to live like that, but he fought. Messed with the link between all of them and waited for you. You had to be strong, you had to be ready to feel him. When you found him, it would be time for you.”

  I sucked in a breath. The honking behind me had stopped. We might be out of time very soon, but I would not rush this. “Time for what?”

  “Do you understand what collective knowledge is?” She took another step in my direction, and I took another toward her.

  I swallowed. “It’s when something is passed on to a group, how they learn it together.”

  “Sure. Exactly that. When we teach our pups how to fight as a wolf. You never had the benefit of that. But presumably, if you can do this, you will then teach others. It’s the collective learning that we pass on and on. The trouble is, there are all kinds of things you’ll never be taught as an Omega that might help you. Forget the might, that would help you.”

  I smiled. “Too bad for me, I guess.”

  Anton squeezed my shoulder, and I turned my smile toward him. He’d be there for me whether I succeeded or failed at this. His love for me didn’t have qualifications, and there was such beauty in that it took my breath away. I might not get this done, and that was okay with him. I let myself look at the Omega spirit again. Her mate loved her like Anton did me. He’d ridden through hell because she’d needed him to. I rubbed my arms, cold washing over me. I’d never ask it of mine. They came first, and if that made me a bad Omega, then so be it.

  “I’m here in this moment to give you what you need.” She was finally right in front of me.

  In other circumstances, I’d roll my eyes at that. It sounded like a pickup line, or like something that someone who wanted to sell me something might say. But given things, I actually believed her. Of course, I had no idea what she intended or how that could possibly be.

  “You’re ready for this.”

  She touched the side of my face, and I gasped. It burned like my hands did when I was fixing others. Anton tried to yank me back, but it was too late. It was as though the Omega in front of me was glued to the side of my face.

  Other than the burn, it didn’t hurt. There was no pain, just the feeling like the world had tilted left and wasn’t going to tilt back again. Dizziness wafted through me, and my stomach clenched. I might very well puke. But then the sensation passed.

  Instead I saw them… Generations of women. They were right there in front of me. One after another. Werewolves, every one of them. Strong. I blinked, and one would change into another one. Time was fluid because somewhere in their eyes, they all held the same spark of knowledge and talent. Did I have that?

  The one in front of me shook her head. “You do. But we’re going to make sure you have it
even more.”

  I didn’t understand. How was my seeing all of them like this supposed to do that for me? I’d no sooner thought the question than the knowledge started to hit my mind. I wasn’t just seeing these women, I was being given their memories. They flowed into me. One after another. I could hardly keep up. They’d done a lot of things. More than I could imagine. Healed countless werewolves through times that would bring people to their knees. Wars. Famine. Plagues. Death. Loss. The Omega saw her pack through whatever they needed. The burdens were big, sometimes too much that way, but she stayed there, and she fought until there wasn’t anything left in her to give. That was her role, her curse, her blessing. That was who she was.

  The Omega was the one for her pack.

  My knees threatened to give out, but Anton grabbed me, keeping me upright. And then he wasn’t alone. Rainer was there. Preston. Jarret. They’d come looking for us. I couldn’t see them right then, but I could feel them. Strong. I wasn’t burdened with this alone. The Omega never was. I had strong mates who shouldered anything I asked, and even those things I didn’t know I should ask for help with.

  If I had chosen this, so had they.

  Nothing was too much for them. Not even asking them to become a Loup and hold things until a new Omega could find her way through the blockage a powerful Alpha Loup created. The man I’d saved had done that for his mate.

  She stood in front of me now, and I could see her differently. She wasn’t just an old woman who visited me in dreams. She’d been strong and should have looked younger than she did when she died. This was what Ross had done to her.

  “You tried.” I whispered the words. “You battled him.”

  “I lost.” She nodded. “He was so much stronger than me.”

  Yes. I could see that. He’d drained her—all of them who fell during that time—and taken them from the packs. “How can I be strong if you weren’t?”

  She held on to my cheek, brushing her thumb over it. “Communal knowledge. I never had it. But then we realized when we were all too weak that there would be a chance if we learned from each other. All of us had been taught from someone who was taught from someone. We carried their wisdom with us, even if we didn’t realize it. We talked and talked. I held on to it, all the way to death and sent Winston away, knowing I would be able to reach him, even if I had passed. When you reached him, I would reach you. We had to believe that this was possible. That you were possible, MacKenzie Harper.” She smiled. “And you are. Take what we gifted you, and do what must be done.”