Page 113 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

Petró turned and made direct eye contact with the cameraas he delivered the last line, and when I saw the tiny hint of a smirk curving up the corner of his lips, I lost it.

“I’m going to rip that fucking bastard’s throat out!” I snarled, a red haze descending over my vision as my blood pressure spiked and fur sprouted along both arms and up my neck.

Dirge was in front of me in an instant. “Deep breaths, brother. This is what he wants. We need to keep a clear head. No matter what he claims, he doesn’t know for sure. We’ll get the women to safety and deal with this like the rest.”

His soothing words did nothing to drown out the news anchor’s next question. “Any idea who we’re looking for?”

Varga gave the cameraman an apologetic look. “Unfortunately, all I know is he was requesting a stay of execution until the omega was of legal adult age. My guess is one of those young females they’ve been squiring around since the great pack gathering has somehow hidden her designation. Late teens, early twenties.”

“This troubling news report is brought to you by Jeremiah Deland, PackNet News. Next up, we have an ODL enforcer who will be speaking with us on omega identification?—”

Sergei turned off the TV, and heavy silence reigned for a single heartbeat.

Kane rose from his desk, wearing a thunderous expression, eyes glowing green with his wolf. “This is no accident. He’s put a target directly on our females’ backs. We’d finished our petition well before Varga’s traitorous son showed up, which means someone inside the IGC has to be in on it, and the fact that the ODL is now claiming there’s an adult omega… It’s damning,” he said, pinning that liquid-fire gaze on Lucien.

“My money’s on Rubix. Vampires are our natural enemies, and she makes no secret that she hates us and our kind and would be happy to wipe all of us off the map, not just omegas,” Lucien said.

“We’ll find the leak after we deal with the current crisis.Dirge and I are going to secure our females and get them to the bunker. I want everyone else on the border.”

“Alpha, Kane—with all due respect, Leigh is pregnant. Let me come with you,” I practically begged, hands shaking with the need to shift. If I saw her, whole and safe and hopefully ready to rip me a new one for whatever I’d done to piss her off today, I could breathe and focus on the border issues.

Kane nodded, and Dirge took off after the others to go back up our border security.

The two of us bolted through the castle, passing bustling house staff who were rolling down metal grates over the windows and lighting fires in every fireplace as Cristian barked orders and dropped thick steel bars over all the doors. I’d had some security updates made to the castle since the first invasion.

This time, these motherfuckers won’t catch us unprepared.

When we reached the family wing, Kane ran down the hall, where Brielle already waited with Shay outside Olivia’s door. Their mates must have sent them a mental warning. Kane herded them into the Alpha’s suite, where the tunnel entrance was, as I pounded on Leigh’s door.

No answer. I tried the knob, and it twisted open as usual.We are going to have a long conversation about her lack of security awareness after this mess is dealt with.I growled when I stepped inside and sniffed. Her scent was stale. She’d been here since I dropped her off, but she hadn’t stayed long. All the bags of clothing were still packed, and the only sign she’d taken anything was a single desk drawer hanging open with just the credit card I’d given her lying in it. Nugget mewed pitifully from his bed, as if he could sense danger bearing down on us.

I scooped him up and headed back into the hallway. I found Brielle, Shay, and Olivia all waiting at the entrance to the tunnel with Kane, but no sign of Leigh. My hands started to shake again, and Brielle must have seen how close I was to theedge, because she stepped forward and scooped the tiny kitten out of my hands as her still-water scent rolled over me in a thick cloud.

“Where’s Leigh?” I half snarled the question.

“I think she went for her regular afternoon run,” Shay said, worry coloring her voice as she bolstered both the other women. “She takes the track on the southwest side of the property, and she’s usually gone a couple of hours. She could be pretty far out by now. But I might be able to track her, if?—”

“No,” Kane said, alpha command lacing his tone. “We’re not risking any of you on the hunt. That shithead put a target directly on you four, and it’s too risky. We’ll get her, but you three aren’t leaving this bunker until the threat has been eliminated, and that’s an order.”

For the first time, Kane used the full weight of his alpha command on the women. Shay and Olivia both whined and took staggering steps back, but Brielle stood tall, fire burning in her eyes as she stood staunchly before Kane.

“You know how much my friends mean to me, Kane, and if Leigh doesn’t come back to me…” She trailed off, voice cracking.

“Gael will get her. But the sooner you three are safe, the sooner we can all go after her. Now?—”

I didn’t hear the rest. I was already running at top speed after my mate. My high alpha had released me from my pack duties, and nothing would stand in the way of me finding her.

But will I find her before the mob?

FIFTY-SIX

Leigh

My sides were heaving, my tongue hanging out of my mouth with exhaustion, and every muscle in my wolf’s body was on fire. I had no idea how long I’d been running, but I was flagging fast, and the males on the hunt were gaining on me with every faltering stride. I didn’t know if it was the pregnancy, the omega mark, or what that made me smell tempting to them, but I knew without a doubt I wanted no part of them catching me.

But the realistic part of my brain knew that eventually, I was going to have to make a stand, no matter how worn down and outnumbered I was. Letting them catch me from behind was a fool’s errand. But where? The direct path across the woods was unfamiliar territory, but I was starting to catch hints of familiar scents. I wasn’t sure exactly where I was, but I thought I might have been close to another walking trail behind the castle.

And water. I smelled running water, which, if I could cross, might help throw them off my trail.

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