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“She killed one of our hunting parties,” the Alpha leader says and my gaze flicks to him. He glances at me only fleetingly before returning his gaze to the Berserker. “She needs to atone for her crimes.”
Flabbergasted by the accusation, I shout, “No, I didn’t.”
The Berserker shoots me an annoyed look over his shoulder and says in a firm tone that doesn’t broker argument, “You blind, Alpha? My Omega is badly injured, can barely fuckin’ walk, has the use of only one arm and has been making her way through this fuckin’ wasteland from Trash City with me for the past twelve days. You think she somehow managed to take down a pack of Alphas on her own, you’re outta your fuckin’ mind.”
The Alpha has the decency to look disgruntled. He looks me over again and then looks back at the Berserker. One of his Alpha pack mates steps up to him and whispers something in his ear. His resolution refocuses. “Her gifts are strong. I can smell it. She’s the one we’re after.”
“Callin’ me a liar, then?”
“She’s the witch of the woods.”
“Don’t know any witches. Don’t know any liars, which means you must be mistaken, friend.” My Berserker steps forward, towards the Alpha leading this horde. It’s just a microscopic shift, but it feels as if he’s moved mountains.
The other Alphas get agitated, shifting their weight, snarling low under their breaths… I get nervous and glance back and forth, waiting for the violence to begin…but there’s that damn scraping again.
I look over the railing, its cold stone lip pressing into my lower back, but there’s just river water.Coldwater. Not a great idea if I want to survive the night. I might not be able to start a fire. I could die of hypothermia. Fuck. Somehow the thought of being cold and wet is worse than the thought of spending another night with this Berserker. Nope, guess I’ll watch him fight to the death — maybe let him get near it before intervening, if I have that kind of control…
And before I can even finish the thought, the Berserker’s fist grabs me by the front of my coat.
I jolt, look up into the Berserker’s eyes and see the way they spell murder. “Don’t,” he hisses. I shove him off with my right arm. I’d just decided not to, but he doesn’t need to know that.
The Alpha on the bridge says, “My hunting party was killed six days ago. The bodies have Omega scent all over them.”
“Hers?”
The Alpha hesitates. “Similar.”
I step forward, pushing against the Berserker’s outstretched arm. “How were they killed?” I ask.
The Alphas start to twitch even more ravenously at the sound of my voice. One of them calls me a bitch under his breath. I roll my eyes. How original. “They were ripped apart by bears.”
“Bears?” I balk.
The Berserker glances at me and we exchange a look identical to the one we shared when we realized that Trash City was exchangingsomethingwithsomeonepowerful enough to have access to guns — a lot of them.What’s going on here?
“I don’t…” I don’t even know how to say this, it sounds so fucking stupid. “I’m not a bear.”
A few of the Alphas chuckle darkly, but the leader narrows his already narrow eyes. “It’s not a question of what you are now, but what you can become.”
“She isn’t the Omega you’re looking for. Her gifts don’t extend that far.”
“Are you sure?” the Alpha says. More scraping. I ignore it, so confused am I by the conversation at hand.
“Yes, he’s fucking sure. I can do stuff with plants.” I’m gesturing with my good hand and, unconsciously, I pull my gift out of my sleeve like a damn clown at a children’s party.
Vines grow out of my fucking lifeline, small and slender, they spiral up into the air and freak the shit out of me. I jump and shake my hand off and they fall to the stone ground. When I look down, I see something odd…something beautiful. Was that a…aflowerin the vines? I think it might have been purple, but I don’t get a fair look.I’ve never seen a flower before…
The scraping is back, louder now, and coming from underneath my feet. My gaze is wrenched away from the sight of what was probably just a weed by the memory of what November told me once.Trolls. They hideunderbridges.
“Shit. Berserker, I think…”
One of the stones in the center of the bridge suddenly disappears and three plastic balls come flying out. The Alpha gang leader is the first to react. “Cover!” he roars.
The Berserker doesn’t hesitate, but grabs me by my outstretched arm, shoves me down where the stone bridge meets the stone railing and morphs into his Berserker form. As he explodes his clothes and morphs into a beast, he shreds through his clothing and the straps of his pack in the process.
I curse as the pack is lost to the river below but I’m not left long to lament its loss when a huge, furry weight settles over me and three explosions go off, one right after the other. The beast above me jolts, then releases a low hiss. The world settles to silence. What the fuck just happened?
His beast form ripples across his skin, taking fur with it, until the Berserker’s left draped half over the rail, looking like a man half dead — a naked man…a naked corpse. Seriously, what the hell just happened?
