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Joe looked between us, eyes narrowing. “What are you—no.” He took a step forward. “You can’t possibly be thinking of—”
Ox put a hand on his shoulder. “We need to listen.”
“What’s he talking about?” Kelly demanded, ignoring Robbie when he tried to soothe him. “What does he want to do?”
“The moment before Richard Collins died,” I said. “After he… hurt Ox, he became an Alpha. But before that, the Omegas had already gathered behind him. Whether or not some of them were infected, I don’t know. But I have to believe some of them were. He was… like Ox.”
The wolves growled.
I raised my hands, trying to placate them. “Not… look. Ox was an Alpha without even being a wolf. We know that. Richard was… not the same, but it was close. Two sides of the same coin. The Omegas followed him. He controlled them. An Alpha without actually being an Alpha. Until he took it from Ox. You know what happened then.”
“Mierda,” Rico muttered as Jessie finished wrapping his leg. “It was bad. Like a storm in my head. Could feel them. Bugs crawling on my brain.”
I nodded. “Because Richard became your Alpha.”
“Until I killed him,” Joe said. “And gave it back to Ox.”
“And I took them with me,” Ox said, glancing at Joe before looking back at me. “The Omegas. Until we closed that door.”
“We locked it tight,” I agreed. “Some still managed to make it through. It was why Omegas showed up here every now and then. They felt Ox pulling them, even when he wasn’t meaning to. Michelle Hughes wasn’t wrong when she said that Green Creek became a beacon. But she doesn’t know just how far it goes. Just how bright it could be.”
“So, what,” Kelly snapped. “You want to unlock the door? Are you out of your mind?”
“No,” I said coolly. “I don’t want to unlock it. I want to shatter it to pieces. Ox needs to become Alpha of the Omegas.”
The only sounds came from feral wolves.
Then Rico said, “Okay, like. No offense, papi. You know I love you. Bros for life, and all that. But did you go a little nuts in your head from the mystical moon magic? Because it seems like you went a little nuts in your head from the mystical moon magic.”
“Try it, witch,” Kelly said, eyes flashing. “You just try it.”
Robbie said, “Kelly—” but the wolf snapped, “No. No, no, I won’t let you. I won’t let this happen. Can’t you see what will happen? It’ll pull on them. On the Omegas. On Mark. On Carter. It will force them further. They will both be completely feral. I don’t care if it’s magic. I don’t care if it’s something else. You can’t do this.” His voice broke. “You can’t take them away from me. You can’t have Carter.”
“Hey,” Carter said, taking a step forward. He growled angrily when he bumped into the line of silver, unable to reach his brother. “Kelly. Come on, man. It’s not—”
“Don’t,” Kelly said hoarsely. “Don’t do this. Please. Not you.”
Carter shrugged awkwardly. “It’s—I’m already losing it, here.” He tried to smile, but it collapsed before it could reach his eyes. “I’m holding on, but it’s a losing battle.”
“No,” Kelly said, shaking his head furiously. “There has to be another way. I’ll find it. I don’t know how, but I will. I won’t let you do this. I won’t.”
“I know you’re scared—”
“You’re damn right I am!” he cried, slamming his fists against the barrier between them. “What if we can’t fix this? Carter, what if you—what if you can’t come back?”
“I will,” he said. “I promise. Ox, or Joe, or Gordo. One of them will find a way. I know it. But it’s… it’s already taking you away from me. But if Ox can still be my Alpha, even if I’m an Omega, then we have to take that chance. Because if he’s still my Alpha and he’s yours too, that means we’re still connected, even if I can’t feel it anymore. You’ll still be a part of me. And I have to believe that will be enough to bring me home.”
The tears spilled over, and Robbie wrapped an arm around Kelly’s shoulders, holding him as he sobbed.
I looked away, my own heart breaking. If this didn’t work—or even if it did—and I couldn’t find a way to bring them back, Kelly would never forgive me. And I wouldn’t blame him. I would never forgive myself.
“You mean to use them,” Ox said, and I was very tired. “The Omegas. You want to call them here. To Green Creek. To weaponize them.”
“You said we were in a war,” I told him quietly. “And if that’s the case, then we need an army.”
“And after the hunters? What then?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But if we don’t do something about the hunters now, about Elijah, then there will be nothing left to worry about.”
