by River Ramsey
I guess he’s moved on.
Chapter 2
The low, eerie throb of a ram’s horn trumpet echoes over the moonlit arena. With the lights dimmed, no one can see where I sit to the side in a protected but still highly visible gilded throne in a glorified cage. I’m flanked by somber bodyguards that look only somewhat capable of going head-to-head with a rogue alpha, an issue that’s certainly possible considering the adrenaline-charged battle that’s about to take place. That’s the only reason I’m grateful for the silver-clad iron bars that enclose me like a child’s pet bird. Otherwise, the bars are just a reminder of how the pack sees me. An object. A toy.
Adam is introduced second, as if he’s less important than I am, and maybe he is for the night. It’s disgusting to me that he’s sitting right behind and above me, my cage at his feet, ready to watch his son either kill the other alphas or die trying. It doesn’t seem to bother him, either. This is normal for him. That’s the worst part—that all this is accepted as a thing the pack does. I’d have less of a hard time swallowing it if there was at least a murmur of resistance.
The lights sweep to me and the crowd goes wild as I stand and take a bow, blinded by the white light better suited for a concert than a violent fight. The announcer’s voice is drowned out by the roar of the pack, but I can pick out my name when I’m introduced as the guest of honor.
The lights sweep back out, focusing on the entrance to the arena as the alphas walk in like doomed gladiators. Rowan’s all smiles and teeth, eating up every bit of attention. Mace is blank, somehow more serious than ever as he walks with the others to the center of the arena. Then there’s James, who looks aggravated by Rowan and snarls when the other alpha gets in his space to catch a rose flung by some female in the stands. And then there’s Christopher, his youthful face unnaturally somber under his long bangs.
Wait. Christopher?
My heart leaps into my throat, then plummets into the pit of my stomach as I stand, groping for my previously unwanted binoculars for a better look. One of the guards grabs my upper arm hard enough to twist it and forces me back into my throne.
“You already stood, omega,” he growls in my ear.
“Let me up,” I snap back. His grip tightens and I grit my teeth, wincing. I don’t have time to argue. The announcer is going through the alphas’ names and short bios like this is just a harmless sport. Rowan, the standing Alpha’s son. Mace, a pack doctor. James, a hybrid soldier. Christopher, a border scout.
Christopher, my best friend. Christopher, whose idea of saving me is apparently risking his life in a fight to the death he has no chance at winning. I’m going to have to watch this fool getting torn apart before my eyes. I only realize I’m crying when the guard shoves a handkerchief into my lap with a low growl that’s clearly meant to make me shut up. I wipe at my eyes, but the tears are coming faster than I can dry them.
He is so doomed. He’s a scout, not a warrior like the other three. I don’t think he’s ever seen a real battle, or fought anyone at all outside of the occasional Eternus trespasser, and even then, all he really does is drive them off. The only reason they would’ve let him compete at all is because he’s killing fodder for the other alphas, a guaranteed first to go who won’t be a crowd favorite.
The trumpet sounds again and the crowd screams all at once. I look up through my tears in time to see the stands filling with wolves that seem to be coming into the arena from all angles. Some break off to head for the spectator stand above me where Adam sits, and I hear him being brutally killed by the wolves even if I can’t see him. He tries to shift judging by the loud snarl that splits the air, but he doesn’t have time. There’s a gurgle, then he’s silent.
The four alphas are coming my way fast, all wolves. Mace is a bluish slate gray wolf with no markings, Rowan is an enormous reddish-brown beast, James is solid white with crimson eyes the color of blood, and my Christopher is smaller than the others, a black wolf that was just a pup a year ago, all legs and big paws and wide, worried eyes. He’s the first to reach me. He leaps onto my cage, clawing and digging at the bars, but he’s no match for the silver that burns him wherever it touches him.
Another wolf lunges for Christopher and tears him off the cage, slamming him into the ground. The smaller wolf cries out in pain and anger and fights back with all he has, but the beast on top of him is a thousand times more powerful and has no trouble pinning him down, exposing his throat for the finishing bite. My scream mingles with Mace’s roar as the blue wolf throws himself at Christopher’s attacker, knocking him back. The doctor stands over my best friend, fangs bared as he guards him from the circling trespassers.
“Stop!” I cry as one of the new men opens my cage and pulls me out with strong but gentle hands. “Please stop!”
“He was going to hurt you,” one of them says to me, his young face a mask of confusion and concern.
“He wanted to get me out, he’s just—he’s just being stupid. He’s my best friend,” I plead, shaking off the man who’s acting like he just rescued me. He only grabs me again and I hear the click of a padded handcuff around my wrist, the murmur of how sad this is, the growl of a wolf that still seems ready to kill Christopher. Two armed men begin to drag me away and the last thing I see is a wall of dark fur pressing in around Christopher and Mace.
Chapter 3
I never expected that the Trials would end in another pack murdering the Alpha Lord and dragging me to his mansion to get locked up with everyone in the pack who isn’t a potential soldier. It doesn’t matter who we are otherwise—I’m locked in a massive bedroom with every other woman in the pack, and the children are here, too, some so frightened they’ve resorted to their pup forms and are huddled under a blanket.
My favorite, Aspen, rests in my lap with his snout buried in the crook of my arm. Like me, Aspen’s an orphan and an outcast. He’s unwanted because he’s afraid of everything bigger than him and doesn’t fit the recklessly bold alpha stereotype, just like I’m not a traditional doormat omega. He knows I’ll keep him safe. I can only pray I don’t let him down.
Because of Aspen and my own terror, I’m only half-listening to the other women. Sounds like they don’t have a clue what’s going on either, only that the invaders are from the Eternus League, our long-time enemies and border rivals. They’ve always looked down on us for our brutality, not that I blame them, but the same violence that invoked their judgment has also always kept the enormous dynasty at bay.
I know what it means if they killed our Alpha Lord and locked us all up. It means they took our pack. It means we’re probably no longer Marok at all, but an Eternus satellite. A wave of nausea washes over me when I think about Christopher. Eternus isn’t known for being barbaric. All I can do is hope they backed down when Mace stepped in, as mind-blowing as it is to me that the doctor would help a man he was clearly willing to kill in battle just a few minutes before the attack. Guess even Mace has a shred of honor.
The door opens and everyone moves closer to the opposite wall out of instinct, all eyes on the soldiers entering the bedroom. They don’t look like they’re here to hurt us, at least. They just look somber.
“What’s going on?” I demand as Aspen whimpers in my arms. I stroke his ears to soothe him.
“The Marok pack has been conquered,” one says uncomfortably, clearing his throat, “and you are now under Eternus law. I’m very sorry for locking you all in here, but we needed to make sure the resistance was subdued before letting you go. You have been liberated.”
A low murmur spreads throughout the women as the pups begin bawling. They don’t know what “liberated” means; they probably think it means they’re going to die.
“Liberated?” one of the women cries. “We’re off to a good start considering you shut us all in a room after killing our Alpha Lord and likely our fathers and mates. Where is my Terrance? Where is he?”
“Ma’am,” a soldier says slowly, “I’m going to have to ask you to settle down for a minute. We
’ll sort out who’s missing later. We haven’t executed anyone. The only deaths occurred in the arena before and during the time you were taken away, and those deaths were a necessity as your alphas were attacking ours. Even then, only a few were killed.”
“I didn’t see him then!” she shouts back, tears streaming down her face. “Did you ever wonder if we wanted to be liberated? I had a comfortable life. A good life.”
“You might think so,” he replies. “I’m sure you’ll see him again soon, once the alphas have been fitted with collars to keep them in line.”
I swallow the lump growing in my throat. Christopher and I had always dreamed of running to the border together and turning ourselves over to the Eternus scouts. It was a childish dream considering I’m sure Eternus is just as prone to killing trespassers as we are, and it’s one I’m sure Christopher has abandoned if he’s still alive at all, though I reluctantly trust the soldier who said no one had been executed. Christopher, as kind and good as he is, eventually adopted the “us and them” mentality prevalent in the pack and hated Eternus just as much as any other Marok alpha, if only because they’re a constant looming threat to our way of life.
It’s a way of life I should be glad has come to an end, but at what cost? How many lives were snuffed out today? How many were innocent? I have no doubt some of the alphas who fought back only to be killed were just doing their duty. Then there’s the Alpha Lord himself, a man I always hated but still didn’t want to hear getting ripped apart right behind me.
“Are you alright?” one of the soldiers asks me directly, a look of sincere concern gracing his handsome face. He’s younger than me, probably. Normally I’d be annoyed by the implication that I’m fragile, but I’ll take it today.
“I need to see Christopher,” I reply, playing up my nausea-ridden shaky voice. “He was trying to free me from my cage when he was shot, and a blue wolf was with him. Mace, a doctor.”
He nods. “He’s fine. He’s in your hospital.” He looks to the other soldiers. “Should we take her to him?”
“I’m liberated, aren’t I?” I snap.
That seems to be enough to convince them and they nod. Aspen begins to howl and cry with newfound fear and it takes everything I have to leave him there, promising him that it’s going to be alright.
Chapter 4
The hospital is thoroughly guarded and seems to have been turned into some sort of outpost for the Eternus soldiers. This is what our pack is now, I suppose. There are armed guards on every post, and they all look at me with pity in their eyes, as if I’m some exotic flower they saved from being trampled.
Technically, I guess they’re right. If they hadn’t come when they did, I would have been given to whomever won the Trials. Still, it’s hard to celebrate my newfound “liberation” when there are men with guns watching my every move.
There are more wounded in the first few rooms we pass, and I start to wonder if the other soldier downplayed how many were killed. When I finally see Christopher, half-awake in a bed in a room with three other alphas, my heart beats faster.
I still have no idea what he was doing at the Trials, and I’m not sure whether I should feel furious and betrayed or grateful that he was there at all. All I know is that I’ve never been more relieved to see him. “Christopher,” I cry, rushing to his bedside. My guards linger, like they’re not sure if my eagerness to see him is the result of Stockholm syndrome.
He seems surprised to see me, and I can tell from the different dilation of his pupils that he’s had a concussion recently, but his mouth turns downward at the corners in disapproval. “Dani,” he murmurs. His throat sounds rough, and I wonder if they’ve given him any water. “What are you doing here?”
I look back at the guards, scowling. “Can you give us a minute?”
They both hesitate. I can tell they don’t actually see me as any less helpless than my own pack does, even if their ideas of chivalry are a bit more civilized. Finally, they nod and leave us in peace for the moment.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he mutters.
“Me?” I cry. “You’re one to talk. What the hell were you doing in the Trials, Christopher?”
“I was competing,” he answers without missing a beat. His expression is somber, and there’s something in his eyes that makes him seem unfamiliar. As if he’s not the guy I grew up with. The one whose laugh I know like the melody of a favorite song.
“Are you insane? Since when do you want to become the Alpha Lord?”
“People change, Dani.” The tone in his voice makes his words seem heartbreakingly true. Maybe he really has changed. Maybe he’s not the man I thought he was.
“You’re lucky to be alive,” I say shakily. I don’t know what else to say. That conversation is a road I’m not sure I have the strength to go down with everything that’s going on. I need to cling to the hope that I’m still more to Christopher than some object to be used for power.
“Luck,” he snarls with bitterness that makes me jump. “You should have let me die. At least then I’d have my honor.”
“Honor?” I echo. “You call being ripped apart in a surprise attack because of your stupid male ego honor?”
He looks away, his jaw set in stubbornness. I can’t believe he’s acting like this. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t,” I snap. “And neither would the old you. What happened to the boy who hated all of this? All the brutality and power games… We used to say we were going to run away together, or have you forgotten that?”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten,” he mutters. He’s frustrated, but he seems a bit lighter now, like he’s coming back to himself. A ghost of a smile tugs at his lips. “I guess Eternus got tired of waiting and decided to run to us.”
A laugh escapes me, but it quickly becomes a sob. I cover my mouth as the tears spill down my cheeks. Something about being in Christopher’s presence puts me back in a state of mind where it’s okay to be weak. Fragile. It was always okay because he never saw me that way. He was the only one who saw me as a person rather than an omega, and I was allowed to have a moment without it defining me. As he pulls me into his arms, my heart fills with hope that the security he’s always given me isn’t a lost cause, after all.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he tells me, stroking my hair. His scent is comforting, even though it’s tinged with blood from his fresh wounds. He should be healing faster than that. He must be weak.
“What are we going to do?” I whisper. “They’ve got us all locked up and they say we’re free now, but they’re stationed all around the pack.”
“Free,” Christopher scoffs as I pull away. “Sure, in a manner of speaking. As free as they want any of us to be.”
I’m still pondering his words when the door opens and another soldier walks in. “Lady Danica, the commander will see you now.”
Commander. My hackles raise at the thought of meeting whoever orchestrated all of this. I don’t want to leave Christopher, but I know if I put up a fight, he might be the one who’s blamed for it, so I squeeze his hand and give him one last look.
“Try to rest. I’ll be back soon,” I promise, even though I’m not sure that’s a promise I can keep. Time will tell just how serious our invaders are about changing the way of the pack.
I follow the soldier down the hall to a meeting room, where a woman is sitting at the end of a large desk in a tall chair. She’s a pale blonde with high cheekbones and a severe expression on a face that looks forty or fifty tops. It’s hard to tell with she-wolves, since we age slowly. She’s obviously an alpha. Even if her scent didn’t tell me as much, I can tell from the way she carries herself and the fact that she’s wearing a military uniform.
I’ve heard that Eternus packs allow women to serve in the military, but seeing it is still a shock. She nods to the soldier behind me and he leaves, closing the door behind him. I jolt when she invites me to sit down across from her.
“Lady Danica,” she says in t
he same polite, reverent tone the guard used. I’m not sure what to make of it, but they don’t seem to be making fun of me. “Please, have a seat.”
I comply, because I’m afraid not to. The sooner I get to the bottom of this chaos, the better. “Who are you?”
“I am Commander Lumos,” she answers. “For the time being, my unit will occupy your pack to ensure a smooth transition to Eternus rule.”
“Smooth? You call interrupting our ceremony and starting a massacre smooth?”
I expect her to lash out at my impertinence, but instead, she smiles. Not with her thin lips, but rather her cold gray eyes. “You have led a troubling albeit sheltered life, and I wouldn’t expect you to understand the gift being offered to you and all women within your pack.”
“I know exactly what you’re offering,” I mutter. “‘Liberation’ at the cost of our way of life.”
“A way of life that led your father to be exiled,” she remarks coolly, looking at the file in front of her. Her words grate against me. So she’s done her research. All the easier to manipulate me with, I suppose.
Why I’m important enough to any of them to bother is beyond me.
“I understand that your father was framed for a crime he did not commit,” she continues. “Surely you can’t be too loyal to the old regime.”
I swallow, choosing my words carefully. “I may not have liked the Alpha Lord, but that doesn’t mean I trust you.”
“Nor should you,” she answers. “Trust is earned, and yours is, quite frankly, irrelevant. However you feel about me, the fact remains that you are now the highest-born member of the pack since the Alpha Lord has been deposed.”
Her words take a moment to sink in. Of course, I know she’s right on a technicality. My father’s line was high-blooded, and if something had happened to the Alpha Lord before he’d had a son, he would have become the new pack leader. Still, he was banished. “I think there’s been a mistake.”
