PROLOGUE
CORVIN
Before
If the Alpha General caught us out here hunting with guns instead of claws, he’d kick our asses. You were only meant to hunt in your Beast form; the weapons of humans were only good against other humans. The Legion soldiers still used them though, even if most of them sucked. Couldn’t hit the side of a barn from five feet away.
Not that Beckett or me needed to train to be Legion. We didn’t want to be soldiers, whipping boys for the Alpha General, that old cocksucker.
“Corvin, I’m starving,” Beckett grumbled. “Can we just go home now?”
Beckett wasn’t much of a hunter, but he was so fucking smart. That was worth more than being able to throw a punch, in my opinion.
It was because of Beckett that I hated the Alpha General. Beckett’s mama was a Legion Widow, and the Alpha General had come around when his dad hadn’t even been in the ground a year, trying to insist that Beckett’s mother remarry as soon as possible and produce more offspring. Preferably with him.
One day, he didn’t take no for an answer. It was only by sheer luck that we’d arrived home when we did, with the Omega Raiden—forcing the Alpha General to finally accept her vehement rejection. Because while he might’ve been able to brush our concerns aside, Raiden’s dad was a fucking Legion General, and Raiden was his pride and joy. Raiden would have told too; he was a good guy like that. Believed in doing the right thing, and didn’t expect to be treated like a crown jewel because of his Omega status.
“You think we should try and court Raiden?” I whispered to Beckett, who just frowned.
“What the hell does that have to do with food?” I gave him a pointed look, and he sighed. “He’s nice. I like him. But my Beast doesn’t think he’s right.”
I hummed in the back of my throat. Yeah, neither did my Beast, but… “There aren't many left, and Raidenisnice. He’s pretty cool, plus not too bad to look at,” I argued with a grin.
My gaze traveled back to the trap we’d set in the woods. Even though we were hunting for deer, it wouldn't hurt to catch a few rabbits for Beckett’s mom. It wasn’t a particularly clever trap, just some grain spread over the ground with a net held above it. I just needed one or two rabbits stupid enough to set it off.
“I dunno, Corvin. Do we need an Omega so bad that we’d settle?”
I shrugged. “It’s what we’re supposed to want. It’s the ‘Manix Dream.’” I did air quotes around the words.
Beck snorted. “The Manix Dream is an Omega pair and a whole house full of cubs, but that’s never gonna happen. Why don’t we settle on a Beta or two?”
Fucking hell, now I wished I’d never brought it up. This conversation was too heavy for a hunting trip. “We’re only seventeen, I guess. We got time.”
Beckett seemed relieved I was letting it drop, so I went back to focusing on the trap, ignoring him sifting through my pack for more food. The dude was always hungry—I wasn’t surprised, because he was ridiculously tall. I’d swear he had hollow legs, because he ate like a pig and never got any bulkier. I’d met his dad though, so I knew he'd eventually grow out instead of up. Then I’d catch up to his height, and I couldn’t fucking wait. He gave me so much shit about being three inches shorter than him.
Until then, he’d probably continue to eat everything in sight.
An odd scent on the wind had me stilling. “Shh,” I hissed, the Alpha in my voice coming to the fore. Beckett just rolled his eyes, since he was an Alpha too, but he stilled completely.
My nose twitched. The scent was another Manix. Fuck, I hoped it wasn’t the Legion—or worse, the Alpha General.
Out of the trees stepped another Manix alright. A half-blood at most, and a fucking girl. A Beta. But not one I recognized, and I knew everyone.
I looked over at Beckett, whose eyes were wide with surprise. “Who the fuck is that?” he mouthed.
I shrugged, hyper focused as she wandered straight into our rabbit trap. Reacting more than thinking, I loosed the ropes so the net fell down around her. The noise she made as she got tangled up was ear-piercing, almost animalistic as she flailed about furiously.
I jumped down from our perch, Beckett right behind me. When we made it to the net, she was thrashing around like a stuck pig.
“Jesus, fuck, calm the hell down. We’ll let you out.”
She didn’t say anything, just growling and hissing, more beast than girl. She looked like she was only about ten, and she smelled bad. But under that was the unmistakable scent of Manix.
“Still,” I growled, throwing out my Alpha voice. I wasn’t as powerful as I would be one day, but I wasn’t a weakling either. The girl stopped throwing herself about. “We’re gonna let you out, okay? Don’t run away.”
She was saying something unintelligible, and as I cut the ropes away, she was already trying to run.
“Stop!”
