Anger crackles through me, raw and hot. He drugged me. He took away my choice. And yet—the sheer madness of his devotion settles into my bones. It’s terrifying. It’s infuriating.
And in some really fucked up way, it makes me feel confident in us. In how absolutely—and undeniably—crazy about me he is. Crazy enough to fucking tranquilize me to try to ensure my safety. He’s an idiot and an asshole. But he’s also mine.
Fates, I’m one of those girls who swoon at morally bankrupt behavior.
“I’ll be safe,” I spit out, though my throat tightens. “You better be too. You are the single most infuriating shifter in the world, and I fucking hate you. But I also love you, Luca Taylor. And I will kick your ass if you don’t come back to me.”
My hands cup his face, and I pull him towards me for a searing—albeit brief—kiss.
He kisses me back, his tongue invading my mouth and his scent flooding my senses, making me dizzy. He pulls back abruptly, like all he wants to do is stay kissing me, and he has to wrench himself away.
He nods once, and then he turns, shifting into his black wolf as he races into the fight. The crunching and cracking of his bones and the tearing of the fabric of his clothing joining the sounds of the fight mere feet away. Luca races away from me. Again.
A weight lands heavy in my stomach as I watch him retreat. He remains near the entrance to the warehouse. Keeping guard of us. Of me.
I stagger back, pressing a hand against my side as the wound burns hotter, fiercer. My wolf is silent, curled away from me in pain. The emptiness in my head is worse than the loss of blood. She has driven me crazy so much in the past weeks, but I feel lost without her. Like I’m missing my soul.
A large red wolf stalks towards Luca, body low to the ground, hackles raised, muscles bunching. He lunges towards my mate, who snarls as he meets the red wolf midair. Luca ducks his head,going straight for the other wolf’s throat. Aiming for a quick kill. The wet crunch carries across the field, and the red wolf crumples at his feet.
I stand frozen, my head spinning as I watch the fight while the last of the omegas make their way up the stairs behind me. Luca’s opponent lies dead on the ground. Ryan is going up against two wolves, but he’s holding his own. Jackson battles against another. I can’t tell Caleb’s brothers apart in this form. Our warriors are too far for me to see from here. I choke down the emotion welling in my throat and blink away the tears in my eyes.
I should be out there with them. Not hiding out in a building. But the constant burning pain is keeping my wolf dormant. I can hardly hear her. I definitely can’t shift.
Fuck.
I force myself to climb the stairs to the armory, swaying when I arrive at the top as blood rushes in my ears. Katie is talking to them in hushed tones as they arm themselves with rifles and handguns. When I join them, all the other voices trail off as I catch the end of Katie’s words.
“Shoot to kill; it doesn’t matter who it is as long as there’s no male left standing.”
Bile rises in my throat at the cavalier tone she uses. My head swims, and I can’t think straight. “What the actual fuck?” I ask, my voice raw, and Katie whips around to look at me. For a heartbeat, she looks shocked, maybe even guilty, but then her expression hardens into something I barely recognize.
“We’re never going back to captivity,” Katie says. Her voice is clear and firm. “I’m glad you don’t know what we’ve been through. What we’ve endured. Who we’ve lost. We have never had a chance to escape before, and I’m not about to let us lose this one.”
A low murmur of agreement ripples behind her. The others shift their grips on their weapons, eyes bright with rage and fear.
“Yourbrotheris out there. My brother, my mate. I’m not sure if Camille is here,” I add, scanning the room for recognition of the name and coming up short when my vision blurs. “But her brothers have never stopped looking. They came to save you, and you’re planning tokillthem?”
“I don’t want any of them to die, Sofia. But we can’t take the risk of the Keepers winning. This is my pack now. My family, and my loyalty is to them.”
“And we brought a bus so that you could stay together. We have housing and clothing, and Doc is waiting to treat anyone who needs it. We came to rescue you!”
My voice rises as I talk, until I’m yelling at Katie. My wound burns, and my blood boils. The room bristles with hostility. Snarls cut through the air. Some of the she-wolves’ eyes glow with challenge, their lips peeling back as they bare their teeth, even though their canines don’t descend. I know what I’m doing—I’m calling out their alpha.
They’re lumping in all the males together, including the ones risking their lives for them.
“Leave if you want to. But none of the males who came here to save you deserve this.”
Katie doesn’t flinch. She just stares, lips pressed into a thin, unyielding line. She’s not the girl I remember. Katie used to be kind and sweet. She was training to be a doctor, for fate's sake. What hell did she go through to become this cold, detached female in front of me? Do I even want to know?
I grip the cool wood of the doorjamb, the rough grain biting into my palm, as I sway, and the world tilts. Sweat trickles like a cold, clammy river down my spine. Shivers and violent tremors wrack my body, rattling my teeth. What the hell is happening to me? I’m a shifter. An alpha shifter. I don’t get sick. I’m not weak.
Katie watches me, her gaze dropping to the wound in my side. Her nostrils flare as she takes in the coppery scent. I know those chokers tamp their senses down, but the metallic tang of blood that fills the air is unmistakable. Suffocating.
“Sofia—” she starts. But a command cuts her off, the sound slicing through the snarls and growls outside.
“Get down here. Now.”
The sound isn’t just heard—itshredsthrough the air, an alpha command that leaves no room for resistance. The omegas around me jolt as if struck, scrambling to obey.
