Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,65

have it partly wrong.” Tor’en rolled bony shoulders in a shrug, one hand performing a careless circle. “They said these Omegas held unimaginable power, yes? So she does.”

“It had to be miles worth of land, Tor’en. All of it healed, not a trace of that darkness. She did the same while away from me, again in the glen.” Er’it edged closer, not daring to utter the words in anything louder than a breath of a whisper as he added, “What I felt when we bit one another…”

“Does this mean we shall speak of what occurred out there and the wounds you share?” Bushy brows creeping upwards, Tor’en presented Er’it with his blandest expression.

“I feel her. Here.” Er’it ground the heel of his palm against his chest, the space where his heart thumped its steady beat surrounded on all sides by the delicate flutter of hers.

“An awareness of such power would not be abnormal.”

“Not her power, you fool. Her.”

Er’it whirled around at the surge of murky gray light rushing through his chest, all thought falling far by the wayside as his feet carried him toward the loose ring of mages surrounding Aida. The starlit midnight of her wide eyes was shining with unshed tears as she cowered at their feet. Fear exploding inside him and crushing the breath from his lungs, he felt more than heard the roar he voiced. Grabbing Aida by the arm, Er’it pushed her behind his back as he faced off with their startled faces. Bone deep and all the more disturbing for its intensity, he felt their intent, malice and hatred roiling through the air on sparks of shimmering green.

Not all of them. One who held sway for their strength, for the many years she’d stood by Er’it’s side. Amber gaze finding the warm brown of Endi’s, Er’it lifted his lip in a snarl that sent the rest scattering.

“Er’it,” Tor’en said in a quiet voice of warning as he approached.

“What have you done?” Er’it demanded. Sending an arm back to hold Aida’s shivering body against him, he hoped he could warm the icy chill from her, the same one slithering its way through his veins.

“You refuse to give us answers,” Endi said in a trembling voice, though she dared to meet Er’it’s furious gaze. “If you will not, then she needs to.”

“She knows nothing of what she is capable of, Endi,” Tor’en said, a grating rumble working through his chest. Lips twisted as if he tasted something foul, his deep russet gaze swept over the mage.

“You dare to—”

“She destroyed more than half our remaining goods,” Endi hissed with an arm flung toward the carts and their meager loads. “Whatever was left after she failed to warn us of brigands is ruined. Your people are weary to the bone after you forced them to hack their way through a blighted forest after her. All for nothing, I might add, since she’s seemingly set on killing us all.”

“You will be silent, Endi.”

“I speak only the truth, and you know it. You refuse to see how she is affecting you! Perhaps if you crawled out from between her thighs for a moment, you would see what you are doing to all of us.”

“I’m sorry. I am so very sorry,” Aida whimpered against his back. Sobs racking her small frame, she collapsed to the ground. “I never meant to hurt anyone.”

Aida’s apologies shattered through his chest, breaking his heart into thousands of glittering shards. Her desolate tears felt down to the marrow of his bones, Er’it fell into motion before he could think twice. Protecting his little Omega was above all else.

Endi fell to the hard-packed dirt with a shriek, clutching at the side of her face. Blood trickled in a steady stream from beneath her hands, smearing over the warm brown of her skin. Breathing deep, Er’it reached inside himself. Shunning the pure blue glory where Aida’s presence shimmered inside his mind, he wrung the vicious red strands of the power Endi’s pain fueled. Pointing splayed hands at the sputtering Beta, he let it loose, watching on as the sizzling bolts wrapped themselves around Endi’s limbs and filled her mouth. Er’it dragged in every wail and cry Endi fought to voice, sucking in her pain and letting it add more kindling to the fire of his rage until the inferno threatened to swallow him whole.

The heat of Tor’en’s magic attempted to touch him. Buffeting his shields with the stolid pressure unique to the earth, he tried to guide Er’it’s

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