Page 30 of Feral, Part Two (Wolfscorge #2)

Slate

Nathan stares up at me, no expression on his bloody face, his breathing becoming more labored by the second.

Kael tries to reach for me again, but I just growl at him.

I need this. I need to understand why I had to be part of this bullshit.

I would have been happy with any of the packs that had taken me in.

I loved all of them in some part, even if I knew that I couldn’t afford to love.

Tears stream down my face as he meets my gaze, no apology behind those pupils. “A means to an end, Slate. A beautiful end. You have a pack. Why does it matter?”

My brows furrow as the rage my Alphas are feeling surges through me.

“Why does it matter? WHY DOES IT MATTER? I nearly died with each of those surgeries. I thought no one loved me. I thought I was worthless. I fucking hurt myself because I needed to feel the pain that I felt in my fucking chest. I let myself bleed because there was no other way to process my goddamn emotions and you ask why does it matter?” I grit my teeth together, the tears falling faster now.

“I suffered for your little experiment. I hated myself and my body. I hated being an Omega.”

“Slate—” Thane reaches for me this time and I swipe at him.

“No! Don’t touch me. I need this. I need to know why.

” I turn back to Nathan and spit on him, saliva hitting his cheek.

“But your why is stupid. We’re just specimens in a lab, in a cage for you.

You create because it’s fun and interesting and wild, but you forget that I’m fucking human.

That I’m an Omega. That I deserve to be loved. Kael said I deserve to be loved.”

The realization that I’ve gained more than just a pack hits me all at once and then it just makes me angrier that I had to suffer to get here.

Nathan starts to speak again, but I don’t want to fucking hear it.

I raise my foot and stomp down on his chest, the Alpha crying out in pain as my heel connects with the wounds Thane inflicted.

I don’t stop there. I keep going. I keep pounding him with my heel, needing him to bleed, to hurt, to fall apart the way I did over the years.

“I’m more than just a pawn,” I cry out. “I’m their Omega.

And they’re mine.” I meet Kael’s gaze, my Alpha resting back against the couch with a small smile on his lips.

He’s not stopping me, knowing very well that Nathan’s life rests in my hands. “ My Alpha.”

And then I stomp onto Nathan’s chest one more time, relishing in the cry that tears from his throat as my foot sinks into his chest. Bones crack beneath my heel as his body goes limp, my ankle stuck in his chest cavity.

I’m not even sure how many times I beat him, but it was enough to cave his chest in, enough to reveal that he’s just a worthless body now.

Kael tugs me back toward him, my foot catching on Nathan’s ribcage when pulling it out of his flesh. I wretch at the side, Thane chuckling as he pushes to his feet. “I will say that that was the most magnificent thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Encore. I’d watch you do that shit again.”

“You were trying to stop me.”

Thane nods. “Yeah, I was, but shit, I’m glad I didn’t.”

Malik stands up, holding my pups, Preston right beside him. “And now they’re going to throw a new doctor at us. I’m pretty sure they left Nathan here on fucking purpose because he was expendable. We have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen in the near future, now.”

I want to be angrier about this, but I have everything I need right here. The bottom half of my clothing is soaked in blood, Kael reaching down to untangle something from my ankle. It might be his colon for all I know. What I do know is that I need a shower. Immediately.

Kael nuzzles against the side of my head, his purr thrumming through his chest for several seconds before he speaks. “You called me your Alpha, Slate.”

“I did. You are. This is my pack now and forever.” I twist around to meet Preston’s accepting smile before turning my gaze upward to Kael’s. “I should have said it earlier and as much as I don’t want to be in here, I’m safe with you, with all of you.”

He leans down to kiss me, a soft, sweet embrace, but that’s not what I need. That’s not what I want. Something he catches onto immediately. “I’ll give you what you need, little Omega, just as soon as you name your pups. We can’t go around calling them Thing 1 and Thing 2 forever.”

My nose scrunches up at the idea of picking names.

Thane saves me. “Why not? It’s kind of catching and they make this adorable little sound every time I whisper their names to them.

” He tugs me to his chest before lifting me into his arms. “Let's go get a shower and then we can show you the baby name books Preston used.”

“Earl and Bob,” I throw out, just wanting it to be over, even if I internally cringe at the thought of calling my babies that.

Kael bursts out laughing as he follows us to the main bathroom. “There’s no way in hell you’re going to convince me that you actually want those names, little Omega.”

“Fuck. What about the body on the floor?”

“Someone will come pick it up,” Malik offers, trailing behind us.

It seems that this shower is going to be a family affair, not that I’m all that torn up about it.

Just as long as our babies stay out of the tub.

I don’t want to brush through wet fur right now.

“How about something a little longer, softer, maybe?”

“Bartholomew!” Preston shouts as he hops up onto the sink, Malik dragging a towel into the sink before the babies are placed there. There’s a lot of little squeaks of contentment as they trample over each other before Preston looks back up at me.

Kael is already stripping me down as I shake my head.

“Jacob and Edward. Heh?” No one gets the connection and I just grumble that there aren’t nearly enough TV options in Wolfscorge.

To be honest, though, I know what I want to name my babies.

Although it feels a bit dumb now. “Cameron and Atticus,” I whisper, a smile spreading across my lips.

“They were my dads’ names. I didn’t really know them before I was taken to Veltmoor, but they’re all I know about my family.

“I love it,” Kael purrs in my ear. “Oliver, Emilie, Cameron, and Atticus. Four gorgeous names for four gorgeous pups.”

Almost as if they know their own names, my pups raise their heads and let out a little howl before curling up around their other siblings.

My heart warms at the tangle of fur in the sink, knowing that they’ll grow up with the love that was stolen from me.

They'll know what it feels like to be wanted, to be protected, to be part of something bigger than themselves.

They'll never doubt their worth or their place in this pack.

And maybe that's enough. Maybe love really can be enough to overcome everything else.