by Connor Crowe
Stress and tension bled out of my body. That was easier than I’d expected it to be. A lot easier. “That’s…it?” I asked. “You’re okay with it, just like that?”
“I may not know a lot about people.” Arric shrugged. “But I know that fated mates business is serious stuff. So few people ever find the echoes of their heart. Who am I—who is anyone—to deny you yours? I am happy for you, my friend. Surprised, yes. But happy for you.”
My heart swelled with gratitude and relief. There was still much work to be done, but we’d passed the first milestone.
“Thank you, ‘Ric. But you know this makes the situation a little more complicated.”
“That’s an understatement.” Arric rolled his eyes. “So not only do we need to retrieve the Eye and take down this organization, but we’ve gotta rescue an omega who also happens to be your mate?”
I grinned. “That sounds about right.”
Arric cracked his knuckles. “Sounds like a party. I’ll see who I can round up. What I can do. You’ll need to tell the rest of the council of your plans, of course. But we’re going to get both the Eye—and your mate—back.”
We worked quickly. By the time night fell, Arric had gathered a small away team of our best trackers and scouts. I didn’t know where they had taken him. There was only the faint presence of Felix in my mind’s eye, just out of reach, but it would start us off in the right direction. I was hoping the trackers could pick up the trail from there.
We’d prepared guards to stand watch and assigned other pack members to continue cleaning and draining the streets. We were just about to leave when I realized we were still one man short.
“Has anyone seen Kelso?” I asked the group. They all looked to one another with blank glances and shrugged.
I furrowed my brow. He had a bit of a reputation for running late, but I’d just spoken to him not an hour before. What could he have been doing since then?
Footsteps clattered on the cobblestones behind us and I turned to see Kelso sprinting toward us, his face red with exertion. His eyes were wide and fearful, like he’d just seen a ghost, and the way he ran suggested he was running away from something instead of toward us.
“Kelso!” I commanded when he skidded to a halt. “What’s this about? What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry I’m late, Alpha Markus.” He dipped his head in apology. “But I just found this when I was gathering up my things to leave. Looks like its from our friends.” His lips twisted into a grimace on the last word and he handed over a crumpled envelope.
My breath caught in my throat as I reached for the message. Hadn’t they already tormented us enough?
“Is that what I think it is?” Arric asked, wary.
“If it is, it means Felix is still alive.” I pressed my lips into a firm line and clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering together. I opened the envelope and began to read the message within.
“Wolves of Nox Bay—it has come to our attention that we hold something you desire. You see, we have the Fist of the Mountain as well as the Eye of the Ocean now, and if you want to see the pregnant omega again, you’ll meet us for negotiations. Like gentlemen.”
“No way,” Arric groaned. “I thought the other Keys were safely locked away with other packs.”
“So did I,” I mumbled, then realization hit me. “Wait a second, did they say pregnant?” I read the letter again, not daring to believe their words.
My omega…he couldn’t be…could he?
“You okay there Red?” Arric placed a steadying hand on my shoulder. “You’re looking a little pale.”
“Pregnant…” I croaked, sinking into the nearest chair. I buried my face in my hands.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”
“I…” The lump in my throat grew larger, my wolf crying out from within me. Not only had I failed him, but our child…
A child I didn’t even know he had conceived.
“It’s so soon,” I said weakly. “How would they even know?”
“Perhaps it’s a trap.” Arric offered.
I rounded on him, anger flaring. My whole face grew hot, fire licking through my veins and threatening to overtake me. My eyes flickered from brown to gold when I couldn’t restrain my wolf any longer.
“We’re going to get him,” I growled in my deepest, most alpha voice. “He’s mine.” I bared my teeth, making sure each man on the team could see the elongated fangs ready to rip their throats out in a heart beat. I knew, rationally, that they were my clansmen and my friends—but where matters of my mate were concerned, all reason fled out the window.
“Move out!” Arric commanded, and with all of us now together, we started our journey toward my mate…and my child.
13
Felix
Days passed. Or was it weeks? Who even knew at this point. My earlier bravado wore off. And with each second that ticked by, so did another shred of doubt.
Had I read them wrong after all? Was I going to be stuck here forever?
I had use of my hands now, but a lot of good it did in this crappy old cell. I’d only ever heard about the holding areas in the compound, and now I knew why no one talked about them. They were just about as inhumane as possible.
Bare stone walls. A hard, jagged edged slab that couldn’t even be called a bed. A grate on the ground to catch my waste. Bland, shitty food once a day. Nothing else.
I had grown up with these people. Had called them family, once upon a time. But I didn’t know anything else. Their brainwashing and propaganda had influenced me. Made me think I was doing the right thing. Or at least, the only thing I’d ever be good for.
And then, just like that…things had changed.
I placed a hand over my stomach, thinking of Markus once more.
He’d called me his Mate. Capital M. I’d felt the connection between us, promising that I wouldn’t have to worry anymore. Promising safety. Belonging. Love. But if that was true, why wasn’t he here? Why hadn’t I heard from him?
Another wave of nausea passed and I retched. Nothing came up—nothing left in my stomach anyway. My mind, delirious from lack of food and stimulation, wandered.
Then I heard something. Maybe it was totally my imagination because I was so out of it at that point, but I chose to cling on to it as my last lifeline.
Markus’s voice reached out to me from the gloom.
I’m coming, baby. Hang in there.
I looked around, but the place was still. Silent. He’d spoken to me over our bond, somehow. Did that mean he was close?
But more than that, a fragile thread of hope wove its way through my heart and soul. He was coming. He hadn’t forgotten me. He was coming.
Another shred of fear tore through me. How would he know where to find me? And even if he did, could I really put them in danger again?
I grimaced. Anything would be better than rotting away in this cell.
A metallic echo caught my attention and I looked up, searching for the source. Couldn’t see anything in this gloom.
But then it came again, louder this time.
Shouts rang out mixed with what sounded like gunfire. Footsteps. Running footsteps.
My heart clenched. Could that be them? Had they found us after all?
Another rumble and a vicious crack snapped through the air. With a hiss the cell door unlatched and slid open, leaving blank, open space in front of me.
I froze for a moment, holding my breath. Was I…free? I crept forward, looking up and down the corridor. A series of clacks and clanks raced down the hall and the other cells slid open as well.
They were here. And this was our chance.
All of my ‘brothers’, all the omegas and shifters they’d conned into their little organization—I could free them. We could all escape, together.
I took a deep breath and stepped through the open cell door, half expecting it to shock me or sound an alarm. Nothing happened.
I didn’t wait any longer. I picked up the pa
ce and sprinted down the hall, stopping at the next open cell I found.
“Come on!” I hissed, gesturing at the confused young man in the cell. He was even younger than I was, and from the look of him had been here even longer too. He watched me with wide, wary eyes that never stayed in one place for long.
“We’re getting you out of here.” I held out my hand and took a step toward him. “Come on. It’s okay.”
“What…” The voice came out as a shattered croak. Poor thing could barely talk. I rushed to him and slung his arm around my shoulder, helping him to his feet.
“I’ve got you,” I promised him. “Just lean on me, come on.”
We staggered down the corridor together and the further we got from the cell, the more he seemed to wake up.
“Thank you,” he said at last, still watching me with those wide eyes. “But how did you…”
More shouts. Crashes. Shots.
“Hear that?”
He nodded.
“That’s our way outta here.”
The young man blanched, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You don’t mean leaving…like really leaving?”
The idea scared him just as much as it had scared me only a short time ago.
“There’s a better life out there. I promise. We don’t have to stay here, and I know a place…”
He chewed his lip for a long moment. The sounds of battle grew closer. “What about the others?”
“We’ll take as many as we can. Are you with me?”
He straightened his shoulders. Squeezed my hand. Nodded.
“I’m Elliot, by the way.”
“Well come on, Elliot. We got a lot of work to do.”
Mass chaos and confusion seized the compound. My heart raced with every step and I double checked around every corner, but one step at a time we gathered up our own little band of misfits.
The guards were all too occupied dealing with the intruders, and whatever breaker they’d hit during the battle had shut down the security systems compound-wide. Now was our chance to get out of here.
Our group was half a dozen strong by the time we got to the final chamber. We’d followed the sounds in the shadows, but one challenge remained: to escape the compound we’d need to go through the belly of the beast. We’d need to face the attackers head on.
“Ready?” I whispered when we came to the door. They looked up at me and nodded, then I wrenched the handle and we spilled inside.
The elders of the Black Hands locked in combat with wolves of Nox Bay in a scene not unlike the one back at the pack. Only this time, the wolves had the element of surprise. They fought fiercely, driving the leaders of the Black Hands back against the walls, until they saw us.
Saw me.
“Felix!” Markus croaked, faltering. He paused just long enough to lose his advantage and tumbled to the ground, none other than the Master snarling on top of him.
“Protect the Keys!” Someone shouted, but I was already off and running. My fox burst out of me and I landed on four feet, bounding toward the man who’d raised me.
Master or not, no one messed with my mate. And as that feeling continued to surge through me, my heart pitter-pattering in time with each second that ticked by, I knew now that love was the most powerful force in the world.
More powerful than fear. More powerful than hate. And infinitely more powerful than all the mindless bullshit they’d bored into our heads. I was more than just a tool or a possession. I was The Crimson Fox, and no way was I going to lose the one person who’d opened my eyes to this new world.
I leapt right at Master’s neck, my teeth sinking into the soft skin there. He yelped, his hands flinging up to grab at me. I only held on for dear life, shaking back and forth as he flailed beneath me.
“Help me!” He screeched at his men. No help came—at least not immediately. Blood oozed out of his wound and onto my tongue, filling my senses with bitter copper. I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw tighter, my claws finding purchase on his shoulders and back.
Master tore himself away from Markus and set his full attention on the fox clinging to his throat. On me. Which, in retrospect, was probably not the best idea. But in my hormone-hazed mind, all that mattered was that he was no longer hurting my mate.
“Fucking…fox!” He spat, twisting this way and that to try and grab at my small frame. “Should never have let you live, you miserable piece of…”
“I’ve got it, boss!” Someone called from behind us. Right before we crashed into him.
The world flew around me in a blur and we went down in a heap of screaming, sweaty bodies. The impact jarred me right to the bones, yet somehow I didn’t let go of my hold on Master’s neck. Blood flowed freely now, getting in my face, in my mouth, in my eyes…
A small, pale-blue orb sailed upward and out of the man’s hand, tracing an eerily graceful arc across the sky. I watched in silent horror as it fell in slow motion.
“The Eye!” Someone shrieked, and all at once three different men lunged for it.
All of them were too late.
The orb crashed to the ground and shattered in an explosion of glass and pure magical energy.
That’s when all hell really broke loose.
14
Felix
This time, I wasn’t swept away into a tidal wave of magical water. I braced myself, waiting for it to happen, but as the shards of glass scattered across the floor, something much more powerful brewed.
The room darkened, the ceiling over our heads turning a murky blue-black. The color of dusk, or the sky before a storm.
I released my hold on Master’s neck at last, ignoring the gush of blood from his carotid artery. It splattered on the floor and he lay there, only twitching slightly, as his life force flowed out of him. Exhausted and injured, my body returned to its human state, unable to sustain the shift any longer.
Thunder rumbled above us and shook the ground. Dread pooled in my stomach. I had a bad feeling about this...
White light blinded me. Acrid burning smells reached my nose and when the spots cleared from my vision, the reality wasn’t any better.
The compound was on fire.
Lightning flashed above us, blotting out my vision for seconds at a time. Thunder warbled through magical clouds, deafening in its rage. This was no mere rain shower. This was a storm of catastrophic proportions, and if we didn’t get out of here, it would bring down the whole compound with it.
Snapping back to focus, I looked first for Markus. His hand reached out and gripped mine, anchoring me in this terrible moment.
“The omegas,” I muttered, peering through the gloom. “I’m not leaving them!”
We rushed hand in hand across the room, dodging debris and fallen bodies as we went. Lightning continued to flash before our eyes and flames licked at the floor, the walls, the bodies…but still we ran.
“There!” Markus pointed, and I followed his gaze.
The group of omegas I’d rescued from the cells were huddled together in a group, backed into a corner by one of the few Black Hands left standing.
Markus and I shared a glance for a split second, and that’s all it took. My mate shifted and launched himself at the attackers while I threw myself between him and the omegas.
“Come on!” I yelled, my voice hoarse. Their eyes lit up and they sprung into action, following me away from danger and toward the door.
We were so close, so close to freedom…
With an earsplitting crack, a flaming rafter fell from the ceiling and crashed in front of us, blocking the door.
I cursed and skidded to a stop, mind racing. There were other paths, other ways out of the compound, but could we get there in time?
We had to try.
A strange, tingling instinct tickled at the back of my mind, just like it had when I was searching for the Eye the first time. There was something…or someone…incredibly powerful nearby. And it was calling to me.
I reached out and tried to touch the sensation, to
figure out where it was coming from. All I could feel was the thrum of power and promise. All I knew was that it was our way out of here.
“Where are we going?” Elliot asked, keeping pace with me at the front of the line.
“You’ll see,” I panted. Because at that moment, I didn’t even know myself.
My dread grew the closer we got to the magical lure. I knew these halls, and that meant I knew where we were heading before the towering black door stood before us.
I gulped, staring at the one place we’d never been allowed to go. The one door that had always been locked and forbidden to all but the highest ranking members of the Black Hands. In other words, no omegas allowed.
“Are you sure about this?” Elliot asked, watching me warily. “We don’t even know what’s beyond that door. Might be a dead end.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think. It could be a trap. It could be a dead end. But I couldn’t ignore the pull in my soul any longer. Whatever was in there was drawing us in for a reason.
The door had always shone with a crackling golden gleam, ever since the day I arrived at the compound. They said it would shock anyone who tried to touch it. But today, in the midst of all the fire and storms, there was nothing. No veil of protection. Just a tall black door and whatever was on the other side.
“I don’t know if we should go in there.” Tristan, another of the freed omegas, stammered. He watched the door with wide, fearful eyes.
“Listen,” I told them, gathering my own courage as I did so. “We are not the same downtrodden slaves we once were. We are our own men now. We are free, no longer under their control. Don’t you want to see what they’ve been hiding from us all this time?”
That got a few rumbles of assent, but as thunder clapped closer and a crash sounded behind us, there was no more time to decide. I grabbed the cool black iron handle and pushed, leading us inside.
