Page 3 of Rivers and Roads

It wasn’t sustainable, but it would work for long enough. Or, at least, most of the Council believed.

I was always the skeptic, but for now, I would take advantage of what I could. Small comforts were enough to get me from minute to minute.

The line for coffee wasn’t long this early, with the sun barely cresting over the horizon, and as I opened the door, I was only vaguely surprised to see Orion and my brother-in-law standing at the counter. They had met at some point before we went underground, and theirs was a friendship I never entirely understood. I had initially fought Orion when he suggested that Cameron would be an asset to incoming Wolves we rescued from both battle and from the humans.

It was another one of my quiet, shameful regrets.

Cameron had always been a strange Omega. He was bigger than most, and his scent was close enough to a Beta’s that he often fooled people who couldn’t see past the foggy coating on his natural eye to the orange beneath. I never knew if his strength was in spite of his blindness or because of it—or maybe neither, but I had always been too cowardly to approach him about it.

I had avoided him when he and Talia first started dating—his scarred eye and his guide dog were unsettling. He was a living, breathing reminder that we were not invincible, and before Kor returned to the compound, I didn’t think any Wolf could survive being disabled that way.

And it wasn’t as though I hadn’t seen it. War had torn so many Wolves to shreds, injuries setting in faster than our bodies could heal. But they had returned home and were quietly put on the shelf, and I told myself that’s how it had to be.

We could only afford to outfit the resistance with able-bodied, capable fighters.

Orion had all-but spit in my face at the suggestion. I could see the challenge in his eyes, boring into mine the first moment Kor stood in front of me and admitted that he was blinded by the humans, and it was permanent.

But Cameron had more than proved himself useful, and it wasn’t until I was forced to confront what many of our people would be facing once we got them home that I realized how cruel we had been for so many generations. The fact that I required Cameron to be useful at all was unkind. I wasn’t sure my sister would ever entirely forgive me for the way I had treated him, but I was doing my best now to make up for it.

I walked up and saw Orion nudge Cameron, leaning in to whisper what I assumed was my name. Cameron didn’t have Loki with him, but he leaned on his white cane and turned to me, smiling more politely than I deserved.

“Zane.”

“Hey, Cam,” I told him. I stuck out my hand. “I have my hand out for you to shake.”

He offered his own to me, and I took it. “Caffeine fix?”

At that, I smiled, though my gaze darted over to Orion who was watching me with a cautious stare. As ever, he was beautiful and powerful. There were days I thought his leadership skills should have made him an Alpha, but I had never said that aloud. He was one of the few Wolves I knew that I trusted with my life, and the last thing I ever wanted to do was make him feel less than he already was.

“Insomnia has been a real bitch lately,” I admitted.

“Normally, I’d have some advice for that,” Cameron told me with a small grin, “but I think it’s been a plague on all of us. I thought we’d feel better the longer we were out of the caves.”

I let out a short breath as the Wolf behind the counter called Orion up for their order. “Danyal thinks it’s because we’re all just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“More bombs?” Cameron asked, his face falling into something like grief.

“More missing Wolves, more calls to the front lines. More death and devastation.” Danyal believed this new war coming was something quieter and more sinister than the first, but I didn’t want to make the tense moment worse. Luckily, Orion walked back up with two coffees in his hand and passed one over to Cameron. “Orion, would you mind if we had a quick word?”

Orion started to hesitate, but Cameron waved his hand at him. “Take as long as you need. Talia hasn’t gotten much sleep since Elizabeth started teething and frankly, I don’t mind delaying the trip home.” It had been a little while since I’d seen my sister and my niece, and though I was pretty sure Cameron hadn’t mentioned them to make me feel bad, the guilt was powerful.

“I uh…I should drop by,” I said, my voice gruff.

He grinned. “Why don’t you come for dinner tonight? Orion said he was going to ask Kor and Misha to join us. You could bring Dan if he’s not too busy.”

I shifted, glancing at Orion before breathing out a sigh. “That would be great, though I don’t think Danyal will be home in time. He’s locked in that fucking lab.”

Cameron’s face fell into something like sympathy. “Well, tell him Talia misses him. She’ll be glad to see you though.” He gave a nod, then set his cane in front of him and made his way out.

When he was gone, I turned to the Beta, and he followed me to the counter where I ordered the largest coffee they had. I waited until she was far enough away, then pitched my voice low enough only Orion would hear it. “Danyal came home last night and told me he’s started phase one on his testing.”

I couldn’t quite read his expression, but he didn’t look thrilled about it, and that settled something in my bones. He said nothing as I retrieved my coffee and signed my name on the receipt, then we moved toward the door and stopped by one of the corner tables by the window.

“Did he say what his plans are for…after they’re done?” Orion asked, hesitating a little.

I shook my head. “I know that Kor wants to use this if he can—if it really is temporary the way Danyal hopes it’ll be. He thinks if Danyal can replicate the same effects from Misha, except find a way to reverse them, that’ll solve our problem with getting Omega spies into the cities and labs.”

Orion ran his fingers around his mouth, then took a long drink of his coffee. “Kor said the same thing to me. I think he’s out of his fucking mind, and Misha has been on my side about it.”

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