Page 6 of Feral: Part Two
We walk in silence, my lips still buzzing from that kiss, my head a chaotic mess. I nod at familiar faces as we pass, a quick hello here and there, but something feels off. It only dawns on me once we’re within a few feet of the house. I turn back aroundand scan the empty path, realizing that while I’ve practiced where to nod and say hello, there wasn’t actually a guard in any of those spots. “Something is wrong. I haven’t seen a guard since we left the house.”
Malik looks around, taking in the same stillness. We usually encounter at least one guard who decides to have a problem with us, but none of that happened. “Whatever it means, I don’t like it. They were up our asses two days ago with Slate coming in, and now they’re just gone? Absolutely the fuck not, in the house.”
I snort, pushing open the door. “Damn, bossy much? I thought I was the Alpha.”
Malik
I’m fucking pissed that Thane kissed me, but even more pissed that I liked it. Worse, I have no idea what this means, just that I’m now irritable, a little angry, and confused. I step into the house, the thick, sweetened scents of our Omegas hitting me all at once. A low groan pulls from my lips as I set the bags on the kitchen table before reaching down to adjust myself in my pants. “Holy fuck,” I mutter, wondering if Kael hate-fucked Slate in here because there’s no other explanation for the combination of their scents in here.
Angry whispering from the living room steals my attention, my confusion spreading as I make my way toward the couch. Kael’s there, his face twisted in anger, Nathan standing a few feet away, looking like he’s about to bolt.
Thane steps up behind me, his hand brushing my shoulder. “What is going on?” Heat blooms beneath his touch, but I refuse to react. This isn’t the time and I still don’t know what the fuck it means.
Kael smirks. “Yeah, Nathan, why don’t you tell my pack what the fuck is going on since you failed to divulge a few things last time?”
Nathan swallows hard, wringing his hands together in front of him. He turns to Thane and me, his eyes darting like he’s looking for a way out. “I don’t know much aboutFerals, okay? I know a little, but anything more than that is more tale than truth. Even then, we never expect to actually come upon them. I know what I said before Slate shifted, but… What happened to Slate—all those bite removals—would have never happened at a regular hospital or sanctuary. Doctors aren’t allowed to operate several times on bond marks like that.” His usual calm demeanor is nowhere to be found and I’m getting the sense that something is off. Something more than just the fact that we have a fox shifter in the house.
I cross my arms, my hazel eyes narrowing at him as I lean against the wall beside the couch. “Great, but why does it look like my Alpha is going to kill you?”
“Because becoming aFeralis just the start of everything. The fact that Slate can shift and that you’re all bonded to him means the game changes.”
I step forward, my lips curling into a sassy grin. “Yeah, well, I’m not really feeling in a playing mood right now. Nathan, just tell me what the fuck is going on. I was going to call you myself, but Kael got to it first. I want to knowwhy.”
“The rate at which things are changing doesn’t make sense to me. It usually takes months, maybe even years, for a pack like this to form, which makes the changes less startling becauseit’s over time.” His voice shakes, but then he clears his throat, managing to muster up a little confidence.
Thane growls from behind me. “Spit it out!”
Nathan swallows hard, his eyes continue to dart between us. “Your bodies are going to change to support your new Omega, well,Omegas.”
A frown takes over my face as my brows furrow. “What are you talking about?”
Nathan takes a breath before blowing it out. “As aFeralpack, everything works together.” He manages a small smile, but we’re all on edge, and his continual pausing is pissing us all off.
Kael moves fast and grabs the front of Nathan’s neck, his fingers digging in as he shakes him. He then thrusts Nathan backward, and the doctor stumbles a few steps before falling onto the couch with a cough, his hands clutching his throat. Kael turns to us, expression twisted up in a mixture of rage and irritation. “What Nathan is failing to tell you is that we are literally in some parts becoming feral ourselves. We won’t shift. That is reserved for Omegas from what he knows, but it seems like the bond is going to drag us closer together regardless of what we want. Think instincts but on overdrive.”
I snort. “Is that why your cousin all but coerced me into kissing him earlier? Don’t fucking ask. He didn’t hurt me, and I kind of liked it. My problem is that I don’t like him like that or at least I don’t think I do, so this is all a huge mindfuck.”
Kael’s eyes darken as he steps toward me, the muscles in his jaw pulling tight. “I got a bigger mindfuck for you. I called Nathan initially because I was worried about Preston.”
“Wait. What is wrong with him? I noticed he was a little tired, but I chalked that up to him crawling under that fucking bed with Slate.” I glare at Nathan who is still trying to catch his breath. I don’t understand why he won’t just spit everything out at once.
"I wish that's all there was," Kael says, his voice dropping into that dangerous tone that usually means someone's about to get their ass kicked. "But somehow our beautiful Omega isn't three months pregnant."
I step forward without thinking, my hands already clenching into fists. "What's wrong with the babies? Is Preston okay? Fuck, isSlateokay?" The questions tumble out of me faster than I can control them, panic starting to claw at my chest. "Would you stop fucking pausing?"
Kael drags a hand down his face and that’s when I catch the tortured emotions in his expression. "Preston is now basically at the end of his pregnancy and for whatever fucking reason, he seems to be exhibiting a few of the same symptoms that Slate is."
My brain struggles to process what he's saying. Symptoms that Slate is exhibiting. Slate, who shifts into a fox when he's stressed or scared. Slate, whose pregnancy is moving faster than it should because of whatever fucked up experiments were done to him.
"So, Preston’s a fox?"
Nathan clears his throat from the couch, still looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. "We won't know unless he shifts, but his pregnancy has accelerated. He’ll be due before Slate."
Thane makes a sound of confusion, pushing off from the wall. "Of course, he's farther along. He's been pregnant for three months and Slate for only a few weeks."
"You don't understand," Nathan says, shaking his head. His voice takes on that clinical tone doctors use when they're delivering bad news. "AFeral’spregnancy of this kind is just under two months. By all intents and purposes, Preston would have already had his children. I have no idea when he's due, and without an actual ultrasound, I couldn't tell you any exact details. All I know is that both of them are in the last few weeks of their pregnancy. The fact that you have two pregnant Omegasin close proximity to each other, their pheromones feeding off of each other, it could be even sooner than that.Waysooner."
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, unable to wrap my head around that. “All of this shit happening at the same time doesn’t make any sense. We just went to the market and not one guard was out there. No one was in their usual spots. This isn’t connected, is it?” I frown, trying to run through everything I do know about this place. No one would have known that Slate could shift unless Nathan mentioned anything and no one would know about the changes with Preston because they hadn’t said anything until just now.
