by P. Jameson
“I should bring you back to the clinic,” she said softly.
“No.”
“Why not? I thought Evander was taking care of you.” Ashla held her head in her hands and tensed with the next explosion. It had been scary when I was safe in the house, but it was downright unsettling when we were out in the open.
“He is. Or was, until Solen came to fetch him.” I straightened, charging forward toward the castle. She really didn’t realize I was in heat. But it wouldn’t last. My skin felt like it was on fire, and soon I’d be sweating and whining, looking for relief. Or so I thought. But she couldn’t smell it, which meant other wolves wouldn’t be either. Once this conflict cleared, we needed to have heat bunkers built in the city so no omega was caught unprepared.
“Solen takes his responsibilities to the king seriously,” she said.
“So does Evander.” Wait a minute. “Are you defending him?”
“No.” She tensed when something too close to us blew up.
“Because it seems like you’re...kind of defensive when I say his name.”
“He knows I didn’t do it.” She charged forward, but this conversation was far from over.
The castle was in view, but that didn’t mean we were close. Built on a hill, it was visible from everywhere in the city, His Majesty looming over us. The chaos intensified the closer we got. More people in the streets, yelling and fighting amongst themselves, piles or rumble, and cars overturned, some on fire.
The betas were pissed.
“Omegas!” someone called out, pointing at us.
“Not just any omegas, the queen’s omegas.” Another beta added, mocking the last part.
Ashla grabbed my arm. “You can make it, Ri. They almost caught me on the way to you—” She pulled away as another flare of heat surged through me. “You’re so hot.”
“Let’s go.”
She didn’t move, and the betas were closing in. “Are you—”
I shook my head. “Let’s go.” I said it with more force this time.
We ran, but the betas who’d called us out didn’t plan on letting us get away. The remnants of the juice had given me superpowers so far. But it would be sheer will that got Ashla and me to the castle safely.
My muscles screamed, and the air burned my lungs. A beta jumped out in front of us, and I stumbled into Ashla. One of them grabbed her, hooking his arms around hers and lifting her from the ground.
The betas closed in on us, cheering and chanting get the omegas and things much more obscene than that.
Ashla struggled, but the beta was bigger and so much stronger than her. She kicked her legs back against shins.
My reality was starting to blur in a familiar way. Exhaustion dissolved the protective mask of the heat. Sweat drenched my clothes, and I disguised the telltale whine of my soaring heat with a scream.
But it sounded too feral. Too wolf. A hush swept over the crowd. They knew. They knew and they had us surrounded.
I wouldn’t leave without Ashla. Whatever they planned on doing to me, they’d do to her just because they could. Pulling the beta’s arms didn’t make a difference. He laughed, using my friend as a weapon against me, swinging her back and forth, and her legs hit me instead of him.
“Run, Ri,” Ashla gritted between her teeth. She was asking me to give up on her.
I’d never do that. I knew too much about what that felt like.
“No. I’m not leaving you.” No one was coming to save us. We had to save ourselves.
Heat surged inside me and I feared I’d shift right then and there. Which probably wouldn’t have been the worst thing that happened. My lupine jaws were much stronger than the human version, and it would be my pleasure to rip the throat out of Ashla’s attacker.
I stomped down on his foot, hard.
“You bitch!” he growled, but it was enough for him to loosen his grip on Ashla. Stunned, she slumped to the ground, and I used all the manic energy of my heat to pull her away from him.
We were surrounded.
A gunshot fired, close enough to make the betas duck. Some of them hit the ground. Tugging on Ashla, I ran over their crouched bodies. If the gunshot hit us, we could shift.
Wait. We could shift.
“Ash. Shift,” I said as soon as we got away from the crowd. We weren’t in the clear yet. There were mobs of betas and alphas and probably even some omegas.
“We can’t.”
“Says who? They can’t attack us if we’re wolves.” If we stayed human, it wasn’t a question if they’d attack. They already had. And they knew I was in heat.
I didn’t wait for her answer, pulling at my borrowed clothes. That got a reaction out of the crowd, but I didn’t care. Fur was already blossoming through my skin, and my bones snapped and rearranged themselves into my wolf form.
Ashla was frozen, terrified by old rules. She was the last of the queen’s omegas to find her mate.
If Evander claimed me. But I couldn’t think about that right now.
I growled and ripped at her clothes. The angry mob was closing in on us once again, and if she didn’t take a chance, I didn’t know if I could save her.
She let her head fall back and let out a howl.
That’s my girl.
Fur burst through her skin, ripping her clothing as she shook it away. We were both totally wolf for the first time outside of the Badlands and damn if it didn’t feel good.
Growling and snarling was a good way to get the betas and whoever else thought they could lay claim to the queen’s court to back the fuck up. They couldn’t fight us like this.
This power thing was kind of fun.
We ran through the city. These neighborhoods were unfamiliar, and for once I was grateful for the looming castle acting as our guide. We hopped over debris and weaved past angry oncoming crowds.
The buildings became bigger and more opulent as we closed in on the castle. But the smoke was thick here.
“Is it on fire?” I asked.
“I hope not.”
All I could think of was Zelene. She wouldn’t be out fighting. She’d be there, unless she’d been evacuated. There were so many times I feared I’d lost my friends over the years, but this was all too real.
Ashla skidded to a stop, and I was so distracted with what if, that I almost didn’t see the military vehicle that cut us off. There was no telling if there was friend or foe inside. But there was nowhere else to run, and nothing was safe. The doors opened but only the armor and guns were visible. Helmets hid their faces.
I had a flashback to the Keep. When Cassian had been shot. A flood of memories became clear to me. Getting dragged away from Charolet. Knowing she was hurt and not being able to do a damn thing about it. Being coaxed into drinking my very first sips of juice. The instant addiction.
And Evander. Evander being the only one who could fix it. He could fix everything… all I had to do was let him.
Ashla huddled against me as we prepared for capture.
Chapter Fifteen
Evander
I sprang from the passenger side of the vehicle and approached the wolves. I knew immediately which one was my Little Omega. She was the one radiating heat. The one whose luscious scent was already driving me mad.
I had to get her to safety.
Stalking forward, I realized they were about to run so I ripped my mask away and opened the door to the back of the vehicle. “Get in the Humvee,” I demanded, scanning the area for approaching danger.
Ashla ran for it, scrambling into the front seat, but Rielle didn’t move. Instead, I heard her voice as if it was inside my mind. “Solen. What if he smells my heat?”
I glanced back at the alpha. Shit. If her scent did to him what it was doing to me… I would want to kill him. Miiine, my animal roared behind my chest.
Rielle’s wolf cocked her head as if she’d heard my claim.
For the first time ever, the beast made my skin prickle with its nearness. Other alphas were able to shift after
developing a mating bond with omega females. Could that be happening to me now?
This wasn’t the time or place to figure it out.
“We have to go, now,” I told her. “I will deal with Solen.” Trust me, I wanted to add. Trust me like you did when we were young.
And maybe she heard that too, because she moved cautiously closer to the vehicle. With me right behind her, she leaped into the back seat and I followed her in, slamming the door closed just as Solen pressed the accelerator, causing the vehicle to lurch forward.
“Roll down the windows,” I snarled.
“Why?” Solen asked, irritated. “There’s too much smoke.”
“Just fucking do it.” I pulled Rielle close, covering her body with mine and hoping it would block some of the delicious needy scent coming from her. She whimpered in response and Solen jolted into action, lowering the window.
“Fuck. She’s in heat?” he asked.
“Don’t breathe,” I warned. Fuck, I didn’t want to fight him, but I would. In a heartbeat, I would.
He glanced at Ashla’s wolf who pawed the seat anxiously. A look of confusion passed over Solen’s face. “I don’t smell it. Her heat, I can’t sense it at all.”
Rielle’s voice whispered through my mind. “Ashla didn’t sense it either. Neither did Kathryn.”
I sure as hell did. My cock strained against the front of my pants as evidence. My grip tightened on her, my fingers digging into her fur. She was so beautiful in her animal form.
“What is going on?” Rielle asked, but I didn’t have an answer. I could hardly even think with her body pulsing against mine. We needed to rut, but I wouldn’t do it until she heard the truth from me.
I was going to tell her everything. Close the gap between me and Little Omega, once and for all.
“We’re almost home.”
Using side roads, Solen had us back to the Northern Border in minutes even if it seemed like an eternity. I released the lock on the door, ready to get Rielle somewhere safe and quiet.
“Wait,” she said. “What about Ashla?”
“I gave Tavia my word,” Solen answered. “She will be safe with me.”
Tavia trusted Solen. That would have to be good enough. And Ashla didn’t seem worried to be with him.
“Let’s go,” I said, and Rielle followed me out of the Humvee.
We ran for the fence as Solen sped off with Ashla, driving the military vehicle as badly as he parked it. Safely behind the gate, I led Rielle through the courtyard toward my home. I would call Kathryn once we were inside and let her know Rielle was safe.
When we reached the front steps, my boots crunched on the broken glass, reminding me of the shattered front windows.
Shit.
Without a word, I bent and scooped Rielle into my arms, carrying her across the glass so she wouldn’t cut her paws. She couldn’t shift yet. Not until we were inside. I wouldn’t let anyone see her naked body. I’d lose my mind. Maybe she could sense that because she didn’t even try.
Inside, I kicked aside the broken pieces of furniture and continued to the bedroom. The goddamn bedroom she was supposed to lock herself in. Like she’d promised.
Well, we’d both broken promises now, but I was going to do my damnedest to never break another. Because I intended to promise her a lot of things before the night was over.
I set her on her feet and turned to set the lock on the bedroom door. I put it in exterior mode for added security since my outer windows were busted. No one could get in the gates, but if they did, they wouldn’t make it through this door.
We were safe. I pressed my forehead against the hardwood of the doorframe and let out a breath.
“Evander.” Rielle’s trembling voice told me she had shifted back to her human form.
I spun, stalking forward until I could take her face in my hands to look her over.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” There was some soot on her cheek and I thumbed it away until I realized it was coming from my hands. “Blood? Are you bleeding?” I scanned her body for cuts and bruises. From shoulder to fingertip. Torso, legs… fuck, she was very, very naked.
“I’m fine,” she said, shivering. “What about you?”
“Me?” She was concerned about me. “I’m not hurt. Not even a little. But you could have been. You promised you’d stay here where it was safe.”
“And you said you’d protect me through my heat! You kissed me! And then you left just like—” She slammed her mouth closed on whatever she’d been about to say.
“Just like who?” Did she already know I was her alpha from the wall? Or was there another male she’d cared enough about to lose?
And what would I do if there was someone else in her past?
She shifted her weight from foot to foot, her hands coming up to twist nervously. “When I was a little girl, I used to play with an alpha boy through a crack in the wall that separated Luxoria from the Badlands. He never told me his name but he said we were friends and I believed him. I really believed him. Until one day, I came to the gap like normal, and the hole was plastered shut from the inside. There was only—” I put my finger to her lips before she could say the rest. It was my turn.
I reached beneath the collar of my shirt and pulled out the leather string that held the precious button I’d left for her all those years ago. “This,” I whispered. “There was only this.”
Rielle’s eyes widened upon seeing the item I’d taken from her. “Yes.”
“He left it for you, hoping it would be enough to keep you from being too sad when he was gone.”
Her forehead crinkled with confusion. “How do you know…” And then quickly changed to something that made my heart clench. Realization. Hurt. Anger.
Betrayal.
“It was you?” she gasped, familiar tears welling in her eyes. “You were my alpha?”
My alpha. The phrase gave me hope.
I let her step back enough for me to dig in my pocket and retrieve the smiley face button I’d kept close all these years. I held it out for her to see. “I never forgot you. I had this with me everywhere I went. Everyday, to remind me.”
She shook her head, her face creasing with even more emotion. Shit, she looked like she was breaking. And my heart thundered for me to do something. Anything, to fix it.
“We… you… you promised you would always be there. You promised we would be friends forever. And I know it was stupid to believe it, but I did. You gave me hope. You made me think things could be okay, and then you broke my…” She swallowed hard. Suddenly she wasn’t Rielle, she was a tiny green eye staring at me through a crack in a stone wall. She was small. She was hurt. She was afraid. “How could you do this? When did you know who I was?”
“I wasn’t sure until I saw the necklace.”
“But you suspected?”
Not exactly. I shook my head. “I saw you in every omega that I ever crossed paths with. I used to question every female your age with dark hair. Did they live with four others? Did they lose a guardian when they were nine? Did they pick flowers or leave them to grow? Did… did they like buttons…” I stepped forward. If I could just touch her again, she would know I was telling the truth. But she jerked back before I made contact. “One day I stopped asking because every no led me to believe you hadn’t made it, and I didn’t want to think…”
“Of me dead?” she snapped. “Like so many other omegas?”
“I did everything I could to make things easier. When the king wouldn’t pay wages for service… that changed because of me. If I saw soldiers attacking omegas without cause, I put a stop to it. I counseled fairness to Adalai with the best of my ability. I did what I could, from my position beside the king. And do you know why? Because of you. Because of one little girl who dared to come to the wall and show me we weren’t so very different. I rose to the king’s right hand because of that single experience, don’t you understand?” I needed her to see I was still the boy who would have fought demons to protect her. “
I didn’t always do right, Rielle, but I did my best, because you were always in my mind, and in my fucking heart.”
She shook her head, her mouth opening to lash out again, but I couldn’t let her. Not until it was all out in the open.
“I loved you, Little Omega,” I rasped. “I didn’t know it at the time. I didn’t realize what the feeling was until I had to give you up. I was a boy. I didn’t have words for what was happening inside my heart. I just knew I had to protect you. They were sending me away and I knew if you kept coming back to the wall looking for me, someone would find you. Someone who might hurt you. And I couldn’t take the chance.” I removed the button necklace from around my neck and held it out to her. “I hoped this would be enough for you to know… I care.”
Time stood still as she stared at the necklace. It could have been minutes or hours, I waited for her to say something. I was offering it back. She could take it and wear it like she had for so long. But this time, it would mean so much more. We both knew it.
Rielle took the smallest step closer. Almost imperceptible. But this time her eyes weren’t on the button I’d given her all those years ago.
They were on the little brown one I held between the fingers of my other hand. The one with a faded smiley face from all the years I’d carried it.
“You really kept Junior?” Her voice was barely a croak and she wiped tears from her cheeks like they’d cause a flood if she let them fall.
“Junior?”
She sniffed, pointing her chin at the smiley face button. “That was his name before I gave him to you. Junior.”
I sighed. “Yes, then. I kept Junior. He was all of you I had left and small enough, no one would take it away.”
“But you kept it even when you were grown and no one could take it. Why’d you do that?”
“The same reason you kept yours.”
“Say it,” she whispered. Another tiny step closer. Damn, I wanted to reach out and pull her close. But she had to choose this. She had to know she was in control this time.
“To remind me of what was lost, what I could never have.”
