Page 16 of Rivers and Roads

“It’s going to take time, but we might need to accept that this one won’t break at all.”

“That’s not something I’m willing to accept. I’m about to announce my candidacy, and I don’t have time to hunt down another fucking Alpha. Do better.”

“Sir, I…”

“Do better, or I will unleash him and let him have his way with you the way he’s done to those other dogs.” The hand returned, brushing over my jaw, my neck—reminding me of my capture, my forced submission. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You fucking animal.” Blunt nails scraped my scalp, forcing my head back as fingers twisted into my hair. My eyes were forced open, and I could see light, and red, and rage, and then I was let go again. “You have a week.”

Silence fell, but the echo of his voice remained. I didn’t know his face, but I didn’t need to. I would find him when I was free, and the last sound he would ever make would be his screams before I tore his throat out with my bare hands.

Chapter

Eight

ORION

Iwas shaking by the time the GPS alerted me that I was half an hour from the safehouse where Nadya and I would meet. The last meeting with the Alpha Council had been as strained as ever, all of them looking at me with hope in their eyes like I was capable of being an actual fucking hero. It terrified me, and I knew that I would either came back with Zane, or I wouldn’t come back at all.

Danyal met me at my apartment later that night to show me what I needed to do, but I’d given myself the third injection that morning, and it had gone off without a hitch. At least, apart from the agonizing pain. But he was right, it was getting easier.

I had adjusted to my waning strength well enough, and I was prepared for what it would feel like the moment I came face to face with an unfamiliar Wolf. It was still unsettling to look in the mirror and see a flash of orange, but Danyal had warned me about the dangers of missing a dose and resetting the clock on the serum.

“It may end up being nothing,” he’d said right before I left, “and it might make it so the serum is no longer effective.”

Taking a breath, I nodded as I buckled in the small med case with everything I needed. It would get me through six days—which was far more than I would ever need. But considering that Nadya had access to the database but not the location of the labs, we couldn’t be too careful.

“Do you uh,” Danyal said, taking my pulse and not meeting my gaze, “do you know any of them? These spies Kor has in the city?”

Licking my lips, I felt only brave enough to shake my head. When he looked up at me, there was fear in his eyes, and I felt a brief stab of guilt. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, but his eyes shone for a moment, and a tear escaped, trailing down his cheek. “He’s all I have. He and Talia.” Clearing his throat, Danyal released my wrist and swiped his fingers over his skin. “I’m sorry. I know so many have far less.”

He wasn’t wrong. My family had died off during the First War, and I had come home to an empty shell of a home with my Alpha missing. But I understood his pain better than anyone, and I grabbed him by the back of the neck and let my claws sink in, soothing him.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to get him home. And if not, I’m going to die trying.”

“I don’t want that,” Danyal whispered. His gaze met mine, bright and feverish. “I don’t want to lose more of our people to this fucking war.”

“Neither do I, but if I have to sacrifice myself so no one else has to feel this way,” I trailed off and gently let him go, taking a step back. “I’ll be in touch with Kor as often as I can, so if you want updates…”

“I know,” Danyal said from behind a sigh. “He told me he’d keep me posted.”

I wished I had something more uplifting to give him, but I didn’t. I was walking into an unknown situation with unknown contacts, and maybe it was the new Omega in me, but when Kor told me not to argue—for the first time in my life—I didn’t.

I was feeling some measure of regret about that as I turned down an empty dirt road and began a trek through thick trees and brush. I was told that the house was off the grid, in the middle of nowhere—which was fine except there would be no easy means of escape. I could shift and run—and in my wolf, I could outrun a human.

I could even outrun their cars.

But I couldn’t outrun their bombs, or their bullets, or the chemicals they used to put us down.

Taking a deep breath, I made the last few miles into a clearing where a small house sat. It looked run down, but honing my ears, I could hear the faint pulse of electricity inside. There was a scent on the air—not Wolf or human. Something to mask who was inside.

It made sense, but it set me on alert, and I quickly released my claws as I got out of the car and made my way to the door. I could hear a single rapid heartbeat inside. Either a Wolf or a very nervous human, but I wasn’t sure which one I wanted it to be yet.

Rolling my shoulders back, I called my shift close to the surface, then pushed the door open. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but it wasn’t some cozy mountain cabin with a crackling fire and a plush sofa covered in a layer of quilts. Nor was I expecting the very petite Omega with narrowed eyes trained on me from her spot in a highbacked armchair.

Nadya, I had to assume. She was sharp angles and thin fingers, with olive skin and a few wisps of dark hair curling out of the edge of her floral hijab. She radiated power, but she also didn’t rise and attempt to posture.

“Major Peterson.” Her voice was rough and slightly accented—not the cadence of a soldier, which told me she had no reason to use my title—but she did all the same. I wasn’t quite sure how that made me feel, but I offered her my hand when she rose, and she shook her head.

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