His tone told me he was resolute, and his scent was hard, focused, like he held only determination in that moment. It was a spicy scent, like cinnamon. “There’s only one way that it goes.”
I put my hand on the backdoor’s knob. I couldn’t see outside. Ross had closed the blinds. Yet, I knew exactly what I’d be walking into. I didn’t need my eyes to see. I had hundreds of Omegas to clear my view.
“Rainer, what do I smell like to you?”
He tilted his head. “Like heaven. The same way you always do.”
I should roll my eyes. I’d asked a question, wanting to know if I gave off the cinnamon focus, too, and he’d handed me poor cheese, but since I loved it and believed he thought that, I grinned at him instead.
I opened the door and stepped outside. Ross stood at the end of the dock. The lake looked different, and that wasn’t the only other change. Five Loups flanked him. I had Rainer behind me. I guessed we’d both decided not to come alone.
Tug. I heard several Omegas speak, and I nodded, appreciating the help. I would have done it anyway. Yanking and pulling at connections was something I knew how to do now, but I’d never say no to someone confirming my play. Even if those people were dead Omegas who existed in my self-conscious.
Five at once was a lot to do in terms of tugging, so I raised my hand to give myself a visual. Was it possible to just shift one body part? I stared at my hand and fed my wolf energy. I wanted my claws. Even if I were metaphorically striking and not actually using the claws, I wanted the strength my wolf could give my hand without actually shifting the rest of my body.
My hand obeyed my command and shifted into a paw. It was slightly bizarre to see my hand like that. I might have to experiment with the ability at another time. I had human eyes seeing part of my wolf body. The dichotomy of all of this was a little bit bizarre. But such was life.
I didn’t have time for these kinds of musings. Ross’ Loups ran at me. This time, I could physically see their tether to him like they were ropes. That was interesting. Was that because of the Omegas, or because I’d partially shifted? I had no idea, not really. With my shifted hand, I cut through the air, severing those ropes that tied them to him.
Power surged through me. Yes, I was made to do this. It was my birthright. The Loups staggered backwards, one of them falling into the lake. I wanted to heal them. That was my job, but it wasn’t time yet.
I wouldn’t be an Omega left to be slaughtered because I was constantly selfless and all-giving. That wasn’t real. No one could be that all the time. If they claimed they could, they were lying.
Rainer stayed silent. He couldn’t like this. In the past, he’d been very clear that he didn’t want me fighting. But we had no choice here, and there wasn’t anyone to do this but me. I was bleeding. I didn’t care. I just kept walking toward him. Step by step. One after another. Sometimes that was all we had in life, the next right step.
“How nice to see you. In the flesh.” I looked Ross up and down. He’d portrayed himself in the visions accurately. This was exactly what he’d looked like before. In his day, before the madness, he’d probably been an impressive Alpha.
He growled, his eyes turning wolf. They were red-rimmed, Loup eyes. If I’d any question—and I hadn’t—there would have been an answer then. He was a mad Loup, and he had to be handled.
I’d never helped an Alpha Loup, and I had to assume that this was going to be a lot more complicated. I had generations of knowledge to call from, but I didn’t know if any of them had ever done this. Surely, someone had. Maybe it would come to me when I needed it. Maybe I was all on my own.
Only, I knew better than that. I had four tethers to my heart that Ross had fucked with when he’d taken them away from me. It was my fault I’d temporarily lost my marks, but it was his fault that happened to begin with.
He’d fucked with our lives.
“Things have been hard for you.” I was practically right in front