was buck naked. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“Groups of three,” Adar whispered. “We each pick a different watchtower. Watch the spotlight, then follow its beam. “Maz, you take Lucan and Riordan. Enar and Sven, you’re with Grayson. Sivney and Yitro come with me.”
Everyone nodded. He’d paired mates together. Smart. That way, they wouldn’t get worried over their mate.
Adar pointed each of them toward a watchtower. “Once you’re through, find your own way and investigate. Howl if you get into trouble.”
He got nods from everyone once more, then shifted back. They split up silently. Lucan and Riordan were on Maz’s heels as they carefully made their way to the watchtower to their right. They studied the searchlight for a few more minutes before they made a move. It was like a dance, the light sweeping ahead of them, while they stayed just two steps behind.
Their luck was that the lights didn’t reverse their course at the end of their path. That would’ve put them in the spotlight. No, they made the way back just a few feet closer or farther out, depending on where they were in their sequence. Very predictable and thus possible to circumvent with patience and skill.
Lucan held his breath as they followed the beam, and when they’d reached the end and it pulled back, they sprinted toward the nearest barracks. God, what was that stench? Lucan’s nose hurt with the rancidness of it. It reeked like…like sickness. Like death.
Heavy footsteps sounded, and he pressed his body against the rough wooden planks of the barracks, willing himself to be invisible. Maz and Riordan did the same to his left, and they sat motionlessly. Two soldiers rounded the corner and strolled toward them. The omega’s small body trembled against Lucan’s, and he inched a little closer to him.
“How many today?”
“Fourteen.”
They stopped, only a few feet away from where Lucan, Maz, and Riordan hid in the shadows. “Fourteen dead? It’s getting worse every day.”
“It’s horrific. I don’t know how much longer I can do this…”
“Hush, Pierson. You can’t say shit like that. What if someone overhears?”
“At what point do we stop following orders?”
“We’re soldiers. Following orders is what we do.”
“At what cost? I’m a soldier, but I’m also a human being. What we’re doing here is beyond inhumane…and you know it.”
It was quiet for a long time. “I don’t know what choice we have. If we refuse orders, they’ll court-martial us.”
“If we’re lucky… Armitage might just put us in front of a firing squad.”
“And that’s a price you’re willing to pay?”
“What’s the alternative, Gable? Losing any humanity we have left? Losing our honor? Our souls?”
“You’re being overly dramatic now, Pierson.”
“Am I? We’re killing civilians. Innocent omegas whose only crime was either trying to provide for their families or rightfully protesting against a regime that’s oppressing them. How is that okay? How is any of this okay?” Pierson—clearly the one with a conscience between the two of them—let out a shuddering breath.
“I heard they caught Lidon Hayes,” his friend finally said. “He walked straight into army headquarters, in wolf form.”
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah, it’s him.”
“How do they know? Did he shift back to human form?”
“I don’t know, but he’s the only one who can shift, so it has to be him, right? Plus, rumors said that wolf was massive.”
They’d been right, then. Armitage and his men did think they had Lidon…and they had no idea the whole pack could shift.
“I’m sure you’re right,” Pierson said. Something in his tone alarmed Lucan. He carefully lifted his head so he could take a peek. Oh god. Pierson was looking straight at him. Lucan ducked immediately, his heart beating a mile a minute. “The chances of others being able to shift as well are infinitesimally small.”
He’d seen them. No doubt about it. And yet he didn’t seem like he wanted to alert his friend to their presence. Next to him, Maz moved a fraction of an inch, his body tense against Lucan’s.
“This Lidon Hayes is an anomaly from what I understand. The result of a genetic experiment, so once he’s taken care of, that’s the end of the shifters,” his friend said.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“You don’t believe it?”
“Not for a second.”
“Why?”
“I’m not convinced Armitage wants to kill him.”
“What else could he want with him?”
Pierson stayed quiet.
“Oh, you think he may want to learn how to shift himself? Dude, that’s… That would be rad. But how would he sell that after promising everyone he’d take care of the shifters?”
“There’s no