I cast one glance at Lucien’s face-the thunderclouds had settled in, his lack of excitement about having to share what had happened to him evident-and shook my head. “I don’t have much to pack, so I’ll stay with Luce.”
“Sure thing.” He nodded to me, slapped Lucien on the shoulder, and disappeared back into the crowd.
I saw our pack mates drifting together through the crowd, but in a moment, they were divvying up. Reed kissed Fiona on the cheek, letting her go with Gael, Galyna, and the rest of the females. To my surprise, Elodie and Kane stayed with him and walked our way.
“You don’t need to go with Brielle and Leigh?” I asked Elodie quietly as she fell in beside me.
Her red lips twisted into a smirk. “You realize we’re also watching you, right?” She gestured to my palm, the concealer I used to cover the omega seal starting to wear a bit thin after an open-air breakfast. It was warm out, and I’d have to be careful to keep the concealer in my pocket moving forward. I reflexively pressed it against my thigh, not wanting to start trouble.
“No, I didn’t realize that. I’m not pregnant, so…”
She shook her head, expression suddenly intensely serious. “That doesn’t matter. If word got out about any of you, you’d all be next on the chopping block. If they take out the sealed, there is no next generation. It’s not the law, of course-but it’s happened before.”
An arctic chill shimmied its way down my spine, a new level of distress thrumming through my veins, leaving me colder than a glacier. It made a sick kind of sense that if omegas were so feared, the mothers would be an easier target.
Nip the problem in the bud before it began.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on it, because we were stepping into a private office to speak with Councilman Fortier and Herd Leader Asithius.
When we entered the room, we were greeted with a short set of stairs leading to fancy office guest chairs on a raised platform, perfectly set so the average human would be at eye level with the centaurs they were meeting with.
I found it interesting that we hadn’t been brought here the first day, but the second the door clicked shut behind Elodie and me, Fortier got down to business.
“Tell me everything.” Fortier’s tone brooked no argument, and I could tell Lucien was agitated by the order.
He waved me into a seat, but chose not to take one himself. Elodie leaned her hip on the back of my chair, watching everything with hawk-sharp attention to detail. After what she’d just told me, I was glad to have her there for more than just her friendship. Kane and Reed settled into chairs, watching it all play out in silence.
“I was downtown, walking through a parking lot to Bridgette.”
Bridgette? A flash of irrational jealousy burned through my veins before I remembered. Oh, the motorcycle.
“Downtown near the council house?”
Lucien nodded, lips pursed with annoyance at the interruption. “Yes. As I was saying, I was in a parking lot. I’d just left the council for the day and was going to grab a bite to eat before heading home.”
Lucien ran a hand through his freshly styled hair, and it was plain as ink on paper that he didn’t want to continue. I wanted to hug him again, but didn’t think he’d appreciate me drawing attention to his feelings in this kind of forum.
“Four guys jumped me. I managed to knock one out, and I was holding the second and third back easily enough. But while I was midshift, one of them snuck up from behind and stabbed me in the neck with something. I blacked out, woke up underground, human, naked, and in basically a dirt pit with a concrete floor. They chained me with magical cuffs, so I couldn’t shift out of them.” He absently rubbed a wrist, and my heart ached at the memory of the terrible burn wounds he’d had there.
He’d clearly tried to shift multiple times during his weeks of captivity. Between that and the wolfsbane, it was no wonder his connection with his wolf was damaged. The new realization hurt me to my soul, but I kept quiet, not wanting to drag this experience out for him. The physical wounds had healed; the mental and emotional ones? I wasn’t so sure they had, but I was sure this play-by-play wasn’t helping.
“After that, I got visits several times a day from Dominik, third-in-command of the Hungarian pack. I never saw Petr?, but I heard him. He’d come every few days asking for an update. If I had confirmed the existence of an adult omega or had any lead on where the high alpha had ‘scurried off to like a rat.’” His voice dripped with disgust, and I noticed Kane stiffen at the secondhand insult.
“So you believe it was pack targeted, not council targeted?” Fortier was all business, no emotion in his voice as he cut to his own concern, glossing over Lucien’s pain and suffering.
“Yes, I do.”
“Thank you. That’s good to know.” There was a lengthy pause while Fortier shifted on his hooves. “I want you to know that, given the circumstances, I’m still going to lodge a formal reprimand against the Hungarian pack-specifically citing both Dominik and Petr?. Even if they weren’t coming after you because of your council seat, we cannot and will not take attacks on the IGC lightly. Enforcers will be out looking for them, and when they’re found, they will be brought to justice on your behalf.” Fortier adjusted his tie. “This testimony in the presence of multiple witnesses is sufficient. No further testimony will be needed.”
“Yeah? Well, you better pray you find them before I do, because next time I see either one of them, I’m going to kill the fuckers.”
“Councilman Vasilescu!” Fortier snapped, face darkening with outrage. “It’s highly inappropriate for a member of the Interspecies Governing Council to make blatant threats against a pack leader’s life. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, but if you act outside the law, I will be forced to take action against you as well. And nobody wants that.”
“You can pretend whatever helps you sleep at night, but I will have my revenge, whether you like it or not. There is nothing more important than making them pay.”
His words made me feel hollow, cracked wide open and emptied out like a broken glass. I understood wanting payback for his torture. He was well within his rights to want them punished, and by wolf law, killed in a fair challenge. But to say that nothing was more important than revenge?
Where does that leave us?
Herd Leader Asithius cleared his throat, stepping forward to defuse the situation, a carved wooden box in his hands. The omega stone shard. “You’ve earned this. But I implore you, use it wisely. All our fates may depend on it.”
To my surprise, he pressed it into Lucien’s hands, though Kane sat mere feet away. Lucien ducked his chin in acknowledgment, handling the box reverently. “We will. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You earned it.”
“And Flantian?” Lucien’s shoulders tightened under his shirt, the movement so small, no one else probably noticed it.
“Recovering well, with his mother and his sister looming over him like Valkyries. He’ll be fine.”
Lucien nodded again. “Excellent.”
“We should be going on our way.” Kane stood gracefully, towering over the two centaurs as he leaned over to shake their hands. “We would appreciate your support with what’s coming.”
There was a pregnant pause, his words creating tension even without the explicit threat that hung over our heads.
Asithius finally spoke up. “While centaurs are lawfully neutral in interspecies conflicts, we will be watching your pack closely. I suspect the Goddess isn’t done with you yet.”
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