fight her way free. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong brother to attack.
In a heartbeat, Five fluidly changed from a wolf into a massive tiger. His jaw caught her around the neck and broke it easily before tossing her aside. When he turned toward Teacher, the man shifted back, holding his hands out as if begging for mercy. Five and the rest of my brothers swarmed in, piling over Teacher as they attacked. Nobody went to stop them. In fact, every wolf who’d come to rescue them howled their appreciation.
I was about to ask Lucian if I could run down and get a bite in when he spoke in my head. "I know you want to be there, beauty. But you did your part—this is theirs. I need you to stay here while Matt and I go down. I'm sure the dickhead is dead by now, but your brothers are too frenzied for anything but an Alpha command to stop them. I hate to leave you, but with so many feral wolves, I think it's going to take every Alpha present. They are way too close to the burning building and fire is starting to spread. We need to get everyone out."
I didn't like the word feral, but looking at them, it kinda fit. Two of my brothers were playing tug-of-war with a leg, while another pair played fetch with an arm. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see any more. I swear on everything holy, if I'd seen anyone swinging his head around, I would've puked. I understood, but… eww.
"Then why are you still talking? Go get them. I'll be fine here." To make him feel better, I scooted closer to the bushes and sat down on my haunches. I would be able to watch, but I'd be protected from view.
Lucian didn't make it halfway down the hill before a rope went around my neck and jerked tight, a stick pressing my neck to the ground. Without hesitation, I screamed Lucian's name, trying to look back at the familiar-scented man who'd managed to pull off a sneak attack. "Lucian! Master is here! I don't know how he hid himself, but he has me, and I can't fight back."
"Motherfucker’s signed his death warrant, not that I wasn't already planning to kill him. Hold tight, beauty. I'm on my way back."
Thankfully, Master wasn't watching Lucian when he veered off, leaving Matt to meet the other alphas and handle things down below. I figured Lucian knew what he was doing, so I focused on staying alive long enough for him to arrive. Especially when I smelled gunpowder and didn't scent any fear. Master was obviously prepared to end this and thought he had time to get away.
"Shift back, runt. I want to talk to you." When I hesitated, wondering if changing was my best move, he must've thought the stick was holding me too hard because he loosened his grip, dropping it beside me. "There, now shift, and don't get sassy. The one with the gun is always in control. Didn't the idiot at least teach you as much before he let you escape?"
Flipping around, I snarled, prepared to attack, but he lifted the gun. Since I needed to stay alive, I decided to obey and shifted. The rope around my neck fell loose, and I realized he'd taken me down with a dogcatcher's tool. Before he could grab the stick again, I quickly removed the rope-noose from my neck and tossed it to the ground. Merely because he had a gun and I had appropriate survival instincts, I wasn’t going to revert to the submissive omega who cowered before Master. Those days were gone.
Lifting my chin, I looked him dead in the eye. "I want to talk to you too. I met my parents. Who knew we were separated by less than twenty miles for my entire life? My only question is—are you the mysterious Dr. J, or did he give me to you?"
Master smiled smugly, his lips curling in pride. "Dear boy, nobody gives away an omega. You were part of the master plan. I had one year to abduct as many of you as I could. I figured the money would leave me set for life. I'm not sure I would've risked taking one so close to home, except I never planned on keeping you. With so many hungry couples wanting to start a family, and omegas in such rare supply, I figured a black-market baby sale was the