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The camp was massive, surrounded by stone walls covered in strange runes that glowed in the moonlight. Guard towers loomed at each corner, and watchful sentries clad in black armor stood like statues as they surveyed the landscape.

Inside, rows upon rows of ramshackle barracks stretched into the distance, punctuated only by large, open squares where even at night, shifters were forced into labor.

From our distance we could hear the cracking of a whip and faint whimpers—the sound of a punishment.

“Moon, how many are in there?” Nolan gasped.

“Too many,” Camden spit. He looked over his shoulder to the pixie. “Why the hell did you bring us here?”

“Safe to hide, hard to find alphas in havens!” Starbloom said. “Must blend in.”

I watched as a group of shifters—betas, most likely—crowded around a small fire, speaking in hushed voices.

“Are all shifters in havens like these?” I asked.

Dewdrop spun quickly around my head. “Yes, yes, many types of havens… Only mean alpha and nice omegas free.”

Kian’s violet eyes glowed in the moonlight, Petalwing making herself cozy on his shoulder. “Omegas? As in more than one?”

Julian growled. “Don’t get any ideas, bloodsucker.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he sighed. “It’s just that Marlowe is known astheomega on Earth, so if we’re asking around and it turns out there’s a lot, we might end up following the wrong lead.”

As far as I was concerned, Kian had proven his trustworthiness to us enough. We had talked extensively on the drive, and I’d learned not only about his research on the Great War and what he’d discovered, but also his life. The oldest son of a vampyr elder, he was expected to take his place one day, but really just wanted to live a quiet life with his servaglio in Austin.

But my other pack mates would take a lot longer to warm over. Several generations worth of prejudice was hard to combat.

Camden clicked his tongue. “Speaking of omegas, you guys notice anything strange about the camp?”

We all turned our attention back to the shifters below us, observing the few that were still up at this hour.

“They’re all betas,” I commented quietly. “Dewdrop, where are the alphas and omegas?”

“Alphas go to Soldier Haven, omegas go to Love Haven, betas go to Work Haven.”

This must have been the “Work Haven,” then. It was easy to imagine what a “Soldier Haven” was, but a “Love Haven” I could only assume was a pretty term for forced prostitution.

Starbloom zoomed around my head. “But pretty omegas taken. King loves omegas.”

“Omegas so nice! New omega is queen!”

“Queen omega!” they said in unison. “So nice!”

Queen omega? “You saw Marlowe?” I asked.

“Hm, Marlowe? No name, but cute omega! Looks like mean alpha.”

“Mean alpha, but handsome.”

These pixies had seen Marlowe and Ezra together. My throat went dry at the thought of her in this world, navigating it without us to protect her. “Was she okay?”

“King loves new queen,” Petalwing said. “Kiss kiss kiss!”

The involuntary growl that erupted from Camden’s chest frightened the pixies, and they flew behind Kian, shivering in place.

“Scary alpha,” one of them whimpered.

Alphawas certainly the right word to use for Camden thesedays. For some reason, I’d never really thought to research the effects of alpha barks and commands in my own studies, but after the Conclave was executed and we took their positions in the interim, I’d noticed our “fearless leader” seemed to carry himself with a bit more influence and forcefulness.