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I felt him through the bond, free falling into something thrilling, alive, and vicious.
Then, before he was consumed by it entirely, he moved lightning fast as he stabbed the blade into the man’s forearm—right through his sleeve and flesh. I clamped a hand over my mouth as the man howled through his gag and I took a step back, as blood spilled onto the plastic below.
OhGod.
Ebony sang the words, low and vicious, and a chill ran up my spine. “What you missed mate, was the hormones.”
He knelt on the alpha’s back, knee pinning him to the ground as he dug his fingers into the wound. Then he was ripping back the sleeve of the man’s shirt. I could see the skin beneath, tangled with the fuzzy black lines of a faded tattoo.
“Vex is waiting. We don’t have all night, so if you don’t want to…” He turned to the alpha beneath him. “Don’t think you’ll be needing that anymore.” My stomach lurched as he slid the edge of the knife into the man’s forearm, right down a faded black tattoo.
“What’s… what is that?” I asked, voice weak. “Why?”
Okay.
Therehadto be a reason, right?
He was mad, but he wasn’t like… this mad?
“The human trafficking ring in New Oxford… it’s run by alphas, and yet they almost exclusively traffic omegas and alphas. It’s a snake, eating its own tail. Rather appropriate for tonight, don’t you think?”
“Trafficking ring?” I asked.
“Oh. Yeh.” Ebony turned to me with bright eyes and said, as if it was an afterthought, “He’s the one who sold Vex.”
“What?”
Ebony cocked his head, looking down at the alpha still shaking on the tarp. His eyes became dark. He lit in the bond, a tempest of fury for a split second. “Thisis Wheatgrass—as Vex has dubbed him. He works in the tunnels of the Gritch District. It was his people that ripped her from her home after they tracked her from that internet post.” He returned his blade to the alpha’s cheek, pressing hard enough to get a wail through the gag, but not enough to break the skin. “He kept her in a windowless room by herself for weeks before securing the best offer he could find. Then he forced her to wash in front of him, dress and look pretty so he could cash in, all while waving a gun around to make her comply.”
My eyes fell to the alpha, blood still dripping onto the tarp from his forearm. A chill hit my veins, every hair on my body on end.
Everything changed in an instant.
I felt the rush of joy from Ebony through the bond as he watched my reaction. Then he stood and held the knife out to me. “You can have a turn. Let loose. I checked the vicinity; the property’s big and there’s no one here. If anyone comes, I’ll know. You can use your aura if it feels good.”
As if to show me, he gave the tied up man a kick in the ribs, getting an agonised grunt out of him. The movement jostled his gag free, and he was moaning in an instant. “P-please,” he stammered. “I swear I’m not who you think. My name is Wrenly Hammond. I-I’m an outreach worker at the Gritch Districts East Community Foundation—”
“Shut up.” Ebony kicked him again.
My voice was high.“You got the wrong guy?”
“Get a grip.” Ebony rolled his eyes. “I don’t get the wrong guy.”
“He’s—”
“His nameisWrenly Hammond—though I prefer Wheatgrass. But he isn’t an outreach worker.”
“P-please, I am.” The man’s desperate hazel eyes were fixed on me. “You have to believe me. I g-got the tattoo with friends when I was young. It doesn’t mean anything.” He struggled against the bonds that held him desperately, eyes wide and terrified.
It was chilling, seeing an alpha brought to his knees like this. I glanced at Ebony, but he was fixated on the man struggling, a glint in his eyes. He was focused on the same thing I was, but for a different reason.
“E—” I cut off before saying his name. “We should check, right? What if—?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake. I don’t get the wrong guy. Here.”
Ebony grabbed the man by his hair and dragged him up to his knees. Then he crouched down. “A short while ago you got your hands on averyvaluable gold pack omega. She must have been worth a thousand times as much as most of the poor souls you steal.”
“I d-don’t know what he’s talking about—” Tears were flooding Wrenly’s face as he looked at me. “I swear. L-look I have a sister. Niece and nephew—”
