by A C Wilds
“Well, would you like to set this one on fire?”
“Will the prisoners be able to get out? I don’t want the death of another wolf on my hands.”
“Don’t worry, I have a plan for that too. Ready?”
“Lead the way, trouble-maker.”
“I like you, Little Wolf. Let’s blow some shit up.”
Nile
When the bond forms again it hits me in the chest, causing the car to swerve off the road. It’s the middle of the night, and we’ve been driving for hours. I manage to gain control at the edge of a ditch.
“She’s back. Do you feel it?” I ask, panting and trying to control the adrenaline rushing through me. My wolf is warring with me to shift, go find his mate and kill anyone in his path.
“That was worse than when it faded. She’s so stressed. Her anxiety is driving my wolf nuts. I’m close to shifting,” Ralph confesses, looking to Bruno for a command. Only the alpha can stop or start a shift.
“No one in this car will shift. We need to find Clara. Now that the bond is full again, we can track her. Then kill the vampires who took her.”
Samuel backs up next to us, rolling down the window. “What happened?”
“The bond is back. We can locate her. No need to go to see this vampire.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s close maybe about five miles west. The vamp who took her wasn’t very smart.”
“Let’s go then. Lead the way, Alpha.”
The car is stunned into silence before Bruno nods his head. For Samuel to call Bruno the alpha, he’s accepting his place in the North American pack and recognizing Bruno as his superior.
I follow the bond down the road and make a left when she pulls me toward her. The bond is stronger now, in her desperation. I’m going to fucking kill the vampire that took her.
A building comes into view and flames are erupting on one side. There are people running into the open field behind the building choking on the smoke. None of them are Clara. As soon as we stop, we all pile out of the cars and the wolves look to Bruno for instructions.
“Samuel, you and Ana shift; take the back with Nile. Nile stay in human form. We need someone to be able to communicate while we search for her. Ralph and I will take the front,” Bruno orders, running toward the highest of the flames.
Samuel and Ana begin their shift and I bounce with impatience. Sam’s shift is quicker, but Ana is right behind him. We make our way to where the fire seems to have started. Wolves and humans pour out of the building. Some are in a worse state than the others. One wolf is even half shifted. It’s a gruesome sight and it spurs me on to find Clara even faster.
The wind is carrying the smoke toward the east of the building. We travel behind it, obscured by the thick cloud of black ash. My lungs filling with the thick hot air is making me choke. A flash comes into my peripheral and a wolf comes at me with teeth bared. Ana jumps to my aid and knocks him down, rolling over him on the floor. Samuel comes to her aid and snaps the neck of the wolf before he can attack again.
We move closer down the side of the building, my eyes checking for Clara as we move through. She’s nowhere to be found.
“Nile!” a voice shouts from my left. It’s a female voice that I haven’t heard in many years.
“Tabitha? What in the hell?”
“Oh, my gods, you’re here. You have to save me, save us. We need to get away from here as soon as possible.”
I look down toward her middle, and I see what she means when she says us.
“We can talk later about what has happened. There is a car out in the field. Go to it, lock yourself in and hide. Don’t let anyone in unless it’s me, Ralph, or Bruno.”
“I’m scared. I’ve been here for so long.” Tears fall from her eyes, and she starts to crumble in on herself. I catch her and wrap her in a hug. My cousin, who has been missing for almost three years, is now in my arms sobbing and pregnant. We lost hope, thinking her dead or a runaway. Wolves hardly ever leave their packs. Guilt for not trying harder to find her overcomes me and I squeeze her a little tighter.
“Ana, go with Tabby and take her to the car. Then come back to us.” She nods and rubs herself underneath Tabby’s hands. Tabby grabs on to her neck fur and let’s go of me.
“Make it back to me. I can’t be caught again.”
“I promise.”
She gives me one more look like she’s memorizing my features, and Ana pulls her along. They leave beneath the cloud of smoke. Samuel walks to my side, and we continue on. At this point, there are so many wolves and humans around. It’s hard to say who is a friend or a foe. But still no sign of Clara.
Bruno
The blaze from the front of the building is more intense. The fire must have started in the back and now has burned its way over here. Not as many people are escaping this way, but I do smell something — Vampires.
“You got the scent?” Ralph asks, his claws elongating. “We need to kill someone for taking our mate.”
“I do. Want to take the first kill and I’ll go look for our girl?”
“Yeah, I’d like that. I need to blow off a little steam.”
He runs in the direction of the stink, while I go in the opposite direction. The bond is pulling me toward the flames, and I pray that she’s not hurt.
“Bruno!” her sweet voice floats to me on a breeze. She’s running toward me, almost in my reach when a wolf jumps out of nowhere and knocks her over. She’s trying with all her might to get him off but he’s too powerful and I’m not close enough.
Through the smoke, a huge man comes at the wolf, picks it up and snaps its neck with such bone-chilling efficiency, that even I’m impressed.
I pick up the pace and run to her. My heart beats faster as I close the remaining distance between us. I’m so relieved to see her alive. She’s on the ground trying to get up when I’m at her side, pulling her into a hug. I pick her up like a rag doll and inhale her scent. Her smell is so amazing.
“Are you hurt?” I whisper in her ear. She wraps her legs around me and places her head on my chest.
“No but thank the fuck for Dean. Otherwise, I might have been.”
“Who’s…”
“I am. Dean Wesson,” he replies and holds out his hand. I place Clara gingerly on the ground, but don’t let go of her to shake his hand. My wolf growls in my head as we take in this other male. I’m I bit jealous that he’s saved her and not me, but what’s more important is that she’s alive.
“I’m forever in your debt for saving Clara. What pack are you from?”
“I have no pack.” His stance gets defensive. Something has happened to this wolf.
“You’re rogue?” I study him in surprise. Wolves don’t leave their packs unless it’s for a really good reason.
“Something like that. Clara, are you good here? I need to find some of the others.”
“Yes, Bruno is my mate and our alpha. But be careful. And if you ever want to get in touch, I’m Blackclaw. You’re welcome anytime.”
She looks at me for approval, I agree, not saying anything but squeezing her toward me a little more. The wolf runs off in the direction that he came from.
“Where are the guys? I can feel them, but all I see are the prisoners and all I smell is vampires.”
“Ralph went hunting and Nile is around the back. I want to get you out of here as soon as possible.”
“I’m not leaving without them. Don’t try to deny me, Bruno. This is my fight too. And that bloodsucker needs to pay for what he did to me, slowly.”
I give her a wolfish grin and grab her hand. I’m so proud of her strength at this moment. My wolf disagreeing with us staying, telling me to get her to safety. She can’t be in the middle of this fight. Her gaze is challenging, and I know that if I don’t bring her that there will be hell to pay. Pulling her behind me, I jog in the direction I know Nile to be in.
Clara
Relief pumps through me. The guys are here and they’re all heal
thy and alive. I didn’t think I was getting out. Whoever Dean is, I’ll be thanking the universe for him every day.
Flames are still burning the building with huge black clouds of smoke billowing up into the sky. Our pace doesn’t slow as we come around toward the back of the building. There’s blood and carnage everywhere. Bodies of all types; humans, wolf, and some who are partially shifted litter the ground. There are a few vampires among the collection as well. A few of the subjects, dressed like me, have a vampire cornered near an alcove of the building. They look murderous, and I don’t blame them.
“We need to capture one of them for information. This is bigger than what we originally thought, and if the way that psycho doctor was talking, something may have been put into effect already,” I say, as we continue to search for Ralph and Nile.
“Agreed. We’ll talk more about it later. Let’s find our mates and get out of here.”
Feeling the tug of the bond we venture into the forest behind the building while trying to avoid confrontation. Getting to the guys is priority number one.
“Get down here, you fucking asshole,” Nile shouts. His gaze is pointed upwards and a vamp is sitting on the ledge of a tree branch about 20 feet in the air. A wolf could climb it in human form, but it would leave him vulnerable.
Keep him distracted, I’ll try to grab him from the side. We need to take one back to Blackclaw, Bruno speaks into our minds.
I walk up to Nile and put my hand on his shoulder from behind. A flood of relief comes through the bond. “I’m here and I’m safe,” I whisper into his ear. His body relaxes a little bit as I press myself closer to him
The vamp notices me and turns with a snarl. “Fantastic! The Omega. You’ve killed us all.”
“Threaten my mate again, and I’m going to climb up there and rip your head from your body,” Nile grits through his teeth with anger.
I’m starting to wonder why I was chosen to be taken. It doesn’t seem like it was random or for the guys anymore. Too many of them know I’m an omega. How is this all connected?
In the next instance, the vamp is thrown to the ground by a silent Bruno. Nile rushes him and pins him to the floor, stomach to the ground. He struggles to get free, but it’s no use, Nile is stronger than he is.
Bruno jumps down from the branch and comes over to the squirming vampire. “Tell me your purpose here. Why you kidnapped my mate? What you’re planning? Then maybe I’ll kill you quickly. Refuse and you get to come back to pack land and taste the type of torture wolves inflict.”
Bruno is scary when he gets into alpha mode. His voice carries an undercurrent of deadly action and the vampire stills under Nile.
“If I tell you everything, will you let me go? I’m only here because my master commanded it. I’m as much of a victim as she is.”
“Elaborate,” Bruno commands. His harsh tone even making me shutter.
“Will you let me up? I promise to not run. Please, this is all so fucked up.”
Bruno nods to Nile and they let the vampire up to stand. Nile takes point behind him and I can feel Ralph hiding in the bushes. He’s in wolf form ready to pounce if the vampire moves.
“Thanks. Like I said I’m only here because that douchebag of a sire I have commanded it. I’m sure you guys know what that’s like. When your alpha gives you that all-powerful order to do something, even if you don’t want to do it.”
He’s acting casual while the world is torn apart around us. I wonder how much blood and carnage he’s seen.
I stand closer to Bruno. His strength and heat keep me grounded. The slightest noises have me jumping and I want nothing more than to get out of here.
“Let’s get on with it, shall we?” Nile says, gesturing for him to hurry up.
“Right, so like I said, Cole made me come here.”
“Wait, did you say Cole?” I ask, my anger rising to the surface. I’m going to kill that vampire nice and slow.
“Yes, he’s my sire. Let me guess, he came to get you himself. He’s a fucking tool.”
“If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to rip your spine out of your body and feed it to one of my wolves,” Bruno threatens.
“They are experimenting on the wolves. Cole’s after something, and he’s been throwing money at this place for years. He gets fancy doctors and scientists to come in and do studies. They haven’t found what they’re looking for yet. But they were really excited to capture her.”
He points to me with raised eyebrows. What in the actual fuck would they want me for?
“Is it because she’s an omega?” Nile asks, taking a step closer to us.
“Yeah, something about her magic makes them all salivate at the mouth. Omegas are pretty rare from what they said, so when someone snitched and said your pack had one, they were going nuts with ways to try to get to her. Even had some fucked up plan that involved a human.”
This is way worse than we thought. They’ve been stalking us for months. And someone snitched? Who would go against Bruno? Against our kind for the vampires? Someone who is severely pissed off.
“Where are they going next? Is there another one of these facilities?” Bruno questions. If there are more wolves that need our help, we have to find them.
“Listen, if you want that information, I’ll have to have certain reassurances. They’ll kill me, and as much as I don’t want to go back to this mess, I have no one to protect me if I don’t. I’m taking a chance on giving you all this information. Providing you don’t end me.”
“We’ll protect you, for this information. There’s nothing more that I want than to catch Clara’s kidnapper. This ‘Cole’ is going to die.”
Bruno’s statement shocks the rest of us. He’s talking about harboring a vampire. Ralph makes his presence known and comes slinking out of the bushes. He changes back to human and shakes his head.
“I don’t like this, Bruno. He’s telling us too much, too freely.”
“Your doubts are noted, Ralph, but there isn’t another way. This will end, and the operation will shut down. Round up the wolves who are alive and willing to come back to Blackclaw. The rest make sure they’re dead. I’m taking our girl home.”
12
Home Sweet Home
Clara
When we arrive home, the pack is in disarray. The wolves from other packs have shown up and all are curious to see how I am. Bruno does his best to shield me from the onlookers until I’m ready.
“Why don’t you go lie down and I’ll have some food brought up? Take my room so no one will bother you,” Bruno says.
Giving him a kiss on the cheek I walk toward the bedroom. I’m halfway there when someone stops me.
“Clara,” a female says, meeting me eye to eye in the hall.
“Yes?” The question sounding curt. I’m tired and don’t need to deal with another female right now.
“I’m Julia, Declan’s wife from Blackclaw. I wanted to introduce myself and see if I could do anything for you. I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
“Thank you for your concern. It was a nightmare, but I’m okay. Just need some sleep, food, and a shower so hot it’ll take a layer of skin off.”
“I imagine. I’d be so helpless if it was me. Declan is my strength. Without him, I’d be lost.”
A submissive wolf mated to an alpha — interesting. I’m starting to believe I know nothing about pack life. Being in the dark for so long has kept me from knowing exactly what’s happening.
“It sounds like you have an amazing mate.”
“Yeah, he’s been my only love since we were children. There was never anyone else for me.”
I chuckle and she looks at me with confusion on her face. I’m sure none of the other packs know of my treatment or why I have three mates. It’s not unusual for an alpha to have more than one mate, but it’s usually a harem of women, not a reverse harem. Must have to do with Bruno’s bisexuality.
“I never thought I’d be mated, especially to an alpha and two others. My life here wasn
’t pleasant before the bond snapped into place. Being an omega separates me from the rest, and because we know so little about them, I wasn’t treated the way I should have been.”
The confusion turns into a look of shock. “We didn’t know about omegas either. Declan had to go into pack records through the last century to find anything out. Thank the gods his ancestors had records.”
“You have records? I … do you think I could get copies of them? We have only one book and I’d like to fact check the information to see if it is correct. Maybe I could find something new.”
“Of course, I’ll go ask Declan now. He’ll have his delta send it over. He’s at home while Kiaran is here with us. Colin hasn’t been with the pack for some time.”
“Who’s Colin?”
“He’s the Alpha heir but gave it up to Declan. Something happened and he moved away almost two years ago.” She looks forlorn by his absence. It must have been bad for him to walk away from his pack and alpha position.
“I’m going to get that shower now. I’ll see you tomorrow when we can talk some more.”
“Sure, I’ll make sure someone is getting your food. With your permission, I’d like to make tonight’s meal if that’s okay?”
“Ask Wren. He’s a good guy and an awesome chef. I’m sure he’ll welcome the help now that we have extra wolves to feed.”
Giving her a genuine smile, I continue on down the hall to Bruno’s room. The door is ajar and when I push it open his scent wraps around me. The undertones of Ralph and Nile’s scents roll over me like a security blanket. It’s good to be home.
The shower is calling me, and I strip off my disgusting clothes as I go. Reaching into the tub, I turn on the hot water. I’ll let it steam up the room before getting in. Under the sink I retrieve some of the bath bombs I know Nile likes so much, choosing a relaxation one.
When the water is nice and steamy, I slide into the scalding water and wince as the heat runs over my skin, but then get comfortable and sink up to my chest. Closing my eyes, I try to rid myself of the last few days. It feels like an eternity since I was taken. Over and over I replay the whole occurrence in my head. It could have been so much worse. I’m so glad Dean found me in time before they could harm me.
