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"I will not," he said, his voice raising. "Two ration packages for this boy,now."

"Listen to him," the lead guard said. "Who does he think he is? The Emperor?"

People were watching now, talking quietly amongst themselves. A crowd was gathering. Some looked afraid, but others were angry. They'd all suffered from the invasion, and now that someone was speaking up, their frustrations were bubbling forth, emboldened.

"I'm an Ekdolian," he said. "As is each person who stands here with me. Now feed this child and his mother, or else this transgression will be brought before the Commander Phoenix Greer." He hated to invoke the Alpha, but he could think of no other way to help the boy.

The soldiers looked at one another, uncertain, but the leader just laughed. “Why would a Commander listen to you?” He was just an ordinary soldier, not one of the Feral Fang. He may never have even encountered Phoenix in person before.

The crowd grew larger, filling with angry faces.

"Give him the packages!" someone shouted.

"Silence!" the lead soldier shouted, drawing his pistol.

Lars reached deep into his mind and called his wolf form forward. He was ready to shift, to lash out and defend these people with his life if he had to.

"Hey," one of the other soldiers said, frantically putting his hand on the leader's arm. "This isn't good."

The lead soldier seemed to finally see the situation was quickly growing out of hand. Gritting his teeth, he gestured at the two soldiers distributing the rations. They were wide-eyed, their hands hovering over their holsters. "Give him what he needs," he grunted. "Hurry up."

They got two packages from their truck and gave them to the boy.

"Remember the Empire's mercy," the lead soldier shouted, holstering his pistol. "Everyone get back to their business."

Lars quickly hurried away, dipping into the crowd. He was shaken by the experience, but he felt heartened. He might not have the strength to do much, but at least the will to help his people had not been compromised by fear and self-doubt.

He neared the banquet hall when suddenly he found himself surrounded by three wolf soldiers, two flanking him on either side and one boxing him in from the rear. "You're coming with us," the one on his right said—it was the soldier from the ration line. "Don't try to run."

They pushed him down an empty side street and shifted back into their human forms. Lars opened his mouth to protest but was unable to get a single word out before being struck in the face by the leader's fist. He fell backwards, knocking his head on the cobblestones. His vision turned to a field of stars before giving way to the sight of an incoming boot heel. He tried to concentrate enough to bring forth his wolf form, so he'd at least have some kind of a chance at defending himself, but was immediately met with the business end of a de-shifting rod. The energy arced through his body, sending him into convulsions. One of the soldiers kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind from his lungs. He coughed and sputtered and eventually vomited. His attempts to protect himself were in vain. Soon, he was unable to do anything at all.

Would they kill him? Was he going to die here?

In the delirium of the moment, he found his mind calling out for his Alphas. It must've been an automatic defense mechanism, because he never would've wanted to turn to those two for help. But now all he could see was them.

Everything he saw was encapsulated in a dark tunnel that was slowly constricting in the center, like a closing iris. He saw a dark figure appear at the end of the street, just a silhouette.Was that...?

"Pardon me," a distant, echoing voice said. "But I'm going to have to ask you all to stop."

"Turn around and go about your business, citizen," one of the soldiers barked.

The man approached, and in the haze of his blood-soaked vision, Lars saw it was not who he expected. The Alpha was a stranger. He was clad in a well-tailored suit and bore a playful smirk on his handsome face. "I don't like what I'm seeing here."

"You'll be sorry if you don't get the hell out."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir. And I'm afraid I cannot just ignore this without bringing it to the attention of your superiors during tonight's meeting. No, I do believe it will be you three who will be sorry. I cannot expect that your commander will enjoy the knowledge that three of his men have beaten his mate nearly half to death."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Surely you knew who this Omega was before you turned your boots on him?"

The soldiers said nothing.

"Don't tell me you didn't even realize he was an Omega? What would your emperor think? Destroying property of the Empire."

"Just who are you, anyway?" the leader asked, a vein of fear in his voice.

It was at that moment that the darkness enveloped Lars, pulling him into the inky pit of unconsciousness.