Page 25

NOLAN

My skin was still wet after I shifted back into my human form, despite having shaken all the snow off my fur.

I had taken it upon myself to keep an eye on her as much as possible before the Rite. Not that I didn’t trust Linda and the others to protect her, especially with Megan riling up the town on her behalf. I just didn’t trust the Conclave.

I was covered in Marlowe’s scent, and as much as I wanted to revel in it, if the rest of the pack smelled her on me, they’d likely kill me for threatening her safety again.

I really shouldn’t have done that, but I just couldn’t help myself.

I took a thorough shower, pulled on a pair of joggers and a sweatshirt, and then headed into the kitchen to get something to eat. Shifting used up more energy than I had thought it would, and I was often starving once I came back from my wolf form.

After eating some leftovers, I sat at the table, staring as a wilted petal floated down from the flowers Cam had bought for Marlowe.

This isn’t your fault, she’d said.

Well then, whose fault was it? I’d done things by the book with the Conclave, but off the book with Seth, and both had come to bite me in the ass in the worst way possible.

Shifters were communal, we regarded pack bonds as sacred in many ways.

But we also respected hierarchies and dominance, believing that was how our society best flourished. I’d been so pre-occupied with protecting Marlowe from vampyrs, I didn’t stop to think of how news of the first omega in a hundred years would affect a pack of alphas who were at the top. It should have been obvious that once those fuckers got a whiff of her, they’d do whatever it took to claim her for their own.

Because hadn’t we done the same? She’d been in a relationship when we’d pursued her, putting it all on the line, strategizing behind her back so she’d dump the fiancé and bond with us instead.

Sure, her ex was actually a shitty vamp who’d been cheating on her, but we hadn’t known that at first.

I could try to justify our behavior by saying she actually liked us, and we liked her for more than her designation, but many shifters would view the Conclave’s “redistribution”

of Marlowe in the same light as us taking her from the vamp.

Dammit, why was I always fucking things up? From scaring her at the liquor store to this shit show, it was like I’d been cursed into always messing up my relationship with Marlowe.

I grabbed one of the petals, rubbing it between my fingers. Marlowe may have forgiven me, but Cam might hold this against me forever.

I mean, I wasn’t ever going to let myself off the hook, either. So could I blame him? Or any other pack mate for never trusting me again with her safety?

Considering what I’d just done tonight outside the bar, probably not.

From here on out, I would spend the rest of my life dedicated to not screwing up. I didn’t even care about my career anymore. I had at one time hoped to rise the ranks like Senator Hartwell, one of the few shifters to make it as an elected official in the federal government.

But now? Fuck that guy, fuck the Conclave, and fuck doing anything other than just being by Marlowe’s side until the day I died.

“How is she?”

Julian asked, coming inside and dropping his gym bag by the door.

I forced a smile, trying to keep him in good spirits for the next day, when our entire future hinged on his ability to repeatedly knock out alpha competitors. Not that my news was bad, but every moment she was forced to be away from us felt like hell.

“Getting spoiled by those females,”

I chuckled. “Braiding hair, baking cookies, and apparently lots of girl talk.”

The one bright spot of this whole experience was watching Marlowe make some new female friends here.

Julian nodded, trying not to let me know how much he was feeling the pressure. “Good. I’m glad she’s safe and having fun. When she comes home, we should invite them all over for dinner or something to thank them.”

When she comes home, he said. Yes, this was the vibe we needed going into tomorrow. I couldn’t have any doubts. Julian was going to kick everyone’s asses and then this whole bullshit Rite would be over.

I got up and slapped him on the shoulder. “What did you eat today? Is there anything I can get or make for you?”

Julian laughed. “I’m starting to feel like the omega here with how much you guys are trying to feed me. Don’t worry, I know how to eat before a match, so I’m good. But thanks.”

I snorted. For all intents and purposes, Julian had become a substitute omega for Cam, at least. The alpha needed someone to hang out with, and with Marlowe gone, Julian was the next best thing.

“Okay, well… did you talk to your trainer? Did he have anything to say?”

His smile faltered. “Um, not really. I guess his pack is signing up for the Rite, so he canceled all his appointments until after it’s over.”

“Fuck,”

I groaned. “I don’t want to psych you out, but I have to ask…”

Julian held up his hand to interrupt me. “I can beat him. He may have a few moves he hasn’t taught me yet, but he’s a lot slower than me. I’m not worried, I’m just pissed. Especially since there’s no way I can work with him again once this is over, and I’m not looking forward to finding a new gym.”

A lot of bridges were going to burn in the aftermath of this Rite, that was for damn sure. “Good. Channel that energy, got it?”

“Yeah, sure Coach,”

he replied sarcastically.

I gave him one more pat and then left him to whatever prep he needed to do, heading down the hall towards the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I paused in front of James’s office. Elias sat at Marlowe’s father’s desk, and Archer was on the other side. They were finishing a bottle of tequila between the two of them, shirts unbuttoned and hair thoroughly disheveled.

“You know there’s a nice bottle of Lagavulin over there, right?”

I pointed towards the liquor shelf and the two of them shrugged.

“We’re not trying to enjoy ourselves,”

Elias grumbled, grimacing as he took a big sip.

“Oh.”

I turned around to head back out when Archer inelegantly nudged the chair next to him with his foot.

“Sit, this pity party’s got room for more,”

he said, finishing another glass. Elias immediately refilled it for him.

I shook my head. “Sorry, I don’t think I’ve earned back the right…”

“For fuck’s sake, Nolan!”

Archer snapped. “Stop the self-flagellation and drink with us.”

Elias raised his eyebrows. “I don’t think I could even say that word sober.”

I sighed and grabbed my own glass, taking the bottle from Elias and pouring what was left. I threw back the whole thing, coughing as it threatened to come back up, then slammed the glass back on the table. “There, you happy? I’ve wallowed.”

Archer grunted, but didn’t look at me.

The three of us sat in silence, listening to the seconds from the wall clock tick away.

I’d never felt so awkward with my pack before. After the initial shock wore off, Elias and Archer had finally said they didn’t blame me anymore, but all I felt coming down the bond was cold disdain.

“So is the backup plan to shift and maul the Conclave to death if they win?”

Elias asked.

I rubbed my hand down my face and grunted. “I talked to Linda this morning. The cops have been issued silver bullets to deal with us if necessary. I hadn’t told the Conclave we could shift, but apparently Marlowe let it slip when she said she’d been planning to rip their throats out in their sleep.”

“Fuck,”

Elias replied, taking another sip of his tequila. “What I wouldn’t pay to see that.”

I chuckled. “Linda said she flipped them off and called them bitches, too.”

Another small laugh bubbled out of Archer’s chest. “Who else but Marlowe could flip Roland fucking Thorne the bird, call him a bitch, and walk away unscathed? I’m starting to think she is too good for us.”

“Maybe for you assholes, but she and I are perfect for each other.”

I turned around and saw Cam in the doorway, his jaw tight as he looked at us. “And seriously guys? Julian can feel your despair, so pull yourselves together. He’ll need every ounce of our faith tomorrow or he’ll get distracted, and that could fuck him over when he finally faces Eamon.”

The Rite of Dominion was a gauntlet challenge. Since our pack had invoked it, Julian would start and have to face each competitor one at a time. As soon as one battle was finished, the next would start with the winner of the previous match going against the new opponent, until there was only one left standing.

The Conclave reserved the right to fight last, which not only meant they only had to face one male, but that Eamon would be fresh while Julian would be exhausted. The one advantage Julian had over the hulking retired linebacker was his speed and the stamina of youth, but those could very well be gone by the time they met in the ring.

“Do we know how many packs have signed up?”

Archer asked.

I looked at the empty tequila bottle and went up to see what else James had had in his collection. If the whiskey was for enjoying ourselves, then I’d go with the vodka next.

“So far, twenty-two,”

I replied flatly. “But packs have until a winner is declared to enter.”

Elias growled in anger. “Anyone we know?” he asked.

I unscrewed the top and took a sip straight from the bottle. “Julian said his coach’s pack signed up. Otherwise, I didn’t recognize any names when I last scanned the list, especially since word has spread and some packs are coming here from elsewhere. I think I even saw a pack from Scotland.”

I didn’t want to know how shifters could mobilize from across the world so quickly and compete. Who the hell did these alphas think they were? They didn’t even know Marlowe. All they’d heard was “omega”

and they’d sprung into action, like a bunch of assholes.

“But Megan’s recruited some friends to protest outside of the temple to shame packs as they show up,”

I continued. “They’ve managed to help convince quite a few not to go through with it.”

Archer perked up, “Wait, are they protesting us or…”

“The Conclave,”

I responded. “Linda’s friends and Megan have been spreading the news about what happened at that emergency meeting, and when word got out that they wanted to nullify her pack bonds to claim her, and that she didn’t even technically have any rights as an omega, a lot of females started getting pretty riled up. I even saw some posts on Facebook from moms with young pups, wondering if the same thing could happen to their daughters if they turned out to be omegas.”

There had always been a gross tendency to commodify omegas in the past due to their rarity. While some alpha males might have been happy to go back to a time when an omega could be purchased or bartered for, most of us recognized how absolutely vile that practice had been. Females and decent males had stronger voices now, and weren’t going to allow us to return to those times if they could help it.

“Well, damn,”

Cam replied. “I gotta talk to Patricia, she could probably help, too. I…”

he stopped, pressing his lips together in thought before continuing. “I think we probably have a little soul-searching to do ourselves.”

In light of all this mess, I too had realized how much I’d always favored alphas and males as leaders, and had given them more opportunities to spearhead projects or take on new responsibilities. Megan had made some comments about it before, but I hadn’t taken her seriously.

No matter what I did going forward, I had to change the way I treated people. I’d been trying to do so much to help uplift this town, but had ignored how I was still stuck in some pretty backward ways of operating, myself.

“Yeah,”

I said quietly. “Not just for Marlowe, but for all the females here.”

Elias poorly attempted to hide his smirk. “Marlowe would be so proud of you for catching up with the rest of us. Not to brag, but two of my partners are beta females, you know. Regardless, what’s the real plan if Julian loses?”

Cam growled at even the suggestion of that happening, but I held up my hand to stop him from berating us. “I’ve already talked to Linda. We’re going to help her get out of the temple and shift before they can even lay a finger on her. I haven’t really thought beyond that, though. I just want to make sure she escapes first.”

Archer shrugged. “As long as she’s safe from those monsters, it works for me.”

The sight of the females picketing outside gave me some hope as we pulled up to the temple. They marched back and forth in front of the wide double doors, holding signs with a variety of sayings.

Females are not property!

Individual Freedoms for ALL Females!

Down with alpha supremacy!

Equality for all designations NOW!

I wished we could see Marlowe’s face when she arrived and saw how the females of Maiingan Hollow had rallied for her. I had to hide my snicker at the presence of the Betas Against Brutality members, handing out fliers and asking people to boycott the Rite and the Conclave.

If only Seth were still alive to see that his supporters in my recall were now fighting for my omega’s rights.

We all drove in Elias’s SUV, and I sat in the middle row with Julian. His head was back and his eyes were closed, listening to music on his earbuds to get him in the zone.

I plucked one out to tell him we’d arrived, imagining he’d been listening to hard rock, metal, or hip-hop, but my eyes widened in surprise when I heard Vivaldi’s “Summer”

leaking through the small speaker.

Julian’s eyebrow shot up in a soft challenge. “What?”

I shrugged, suppressing a smile. This pup was full of surprises. “Nothing, just wanted to let you know we’re here.”

He grunted, putting the earbud back in and following us out of the car.

We walked up to the doors and Megan stopped the march, but didn’t let us pass until she addressed me in front of the group.

“Mayor Wilk, the Omega Redistribution Act and the Rite of Dominion threaten to send us back after over one hundred years of progress. No matter what the results of the Rite end in today, what will you do to ensure this is never allowed to happen again?”

I looked around at all the females, meeting each of them in the eye as I spoke. “I am not perfect, and I’ve made some mistakes when it comes to not only Marlowe’s autonomy, but also the safety and freedoms the females in our community have a right to. Once this whole nightmare is over and Marlowe is back with our pack, the pack she chose to join and bond to, I will put together a task force to begin identifying and removing these primitive laws that have absolutely no place in our society today.”

The crowd gave some halfhearted claps, but at least no one booed. I knew my words probably seemed like empty, self-serving promises, but I’d meant everything I’d said.

Megan had called me last night, still tipsy from her night at Shifting Sapphic, to yell at me about how royally I’d screwed this up, and all I could do was agree. Then I asked her how we could fix everything once Julian had won and Marlowe was back at home, safe and sound. We’d talked for almost two hours, going over plans for a new female rights initiative she would lead. We also talked about bringing Marlowe on as a consultant, not just because she was the most affected by these laws, but because she was likely one of the most qualified people in town to help with something like this, given her background in public policy and women’s advocacy.

I couldn’t deny I also wanted an excuse to bring her into my office every day, but that was merely a perk.

Megan flattened her lips and gave me a brief nod before turning towards Julian. “Good luck today.”

He nodded back, taking a deep breath and rolling out his shoulders as we headed into the building through the protesters that parted for us.

A large oval, outlined with a white, braided rope and filled with packed dirt, now lay in the center of the temple hall. Two raised daises had been erected on opposite sides of the fighting ground, one with six seats and the other with five. Chairs were arranged around the rest of the space

One of the priestesses sat at a registration table near the entrance. “Pack name?”

“Wolcott,”

Cam said firmly.

She scrolled down what was a worryingly long list before finding us near the bottom. “Okay, and who is representing you today?”

“Julian Ramos.”

The priestess handed him a small postcard with a large number “one”

printed on it. “Alright, you’re the first male to enter the ring today. Give this to the judge when you’re called. The Rite will begin in about an hour. May you find the Moon’s favor.”

I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t mean much when you’re saying it to every pack, Tiffany.”

She kept her attention on the papers in front of her while responding quietly. “What makes you think I’m saying it to every pack?”

Well, it looked like the temple priestesses might be as over the Conclave’s shit as the rest of the females in town.

Or at the very least were in favor of Marlowe’s autonomy.

Since we had invoked the Rite, we took our seats on the dais with five chairs, where we would remain until the end, unless Julian lost. Which meant we had no intention of moving.

Julian got back in his zone and we dutifully ignored him, not wanting to mess with his pre-fight ritual.

Instead, I focused on the other shifters who were starting to trickle in. Quite a few more packs had signed up for rights to Marlowe’s bond since I’d last checked, and I clenched my jaw tightly as I overheard some of their plans if they were to win. My hands balled into fists at every mention of heats, nests, and knots.

“This is so fucked up,”

Cam grumbled under his breath next to me. “There are alphas that actually work for me who’ve signed up for this. For Moon’s sake, that male is the head of my engineering department. Hey, Josh!”

The male looked up at us, his expression scrunching in discomfort. “Oh, hey Camden. Hey Julian.”

He walked over apprehensively, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know this is super awkward. I swear, it wasn’t my idea, but my leader insisted we try, and…”

“You’re fired.”

His face paled. “Wait… what?”

Cam clicked his tongue against his teeth. “You either drop out right now, or not only will I fire you, but I’ll shift and rip your guts out.”

Josh looked back towards his pack, and then lowered his voice. “I don’t want to be here, either. I’m married, for Moon’s sake! My wife threatened to walk out and take the pup if we won, but Bobby didn’t give a shit. If he doesn’t care about Brittany leaving me, he definitely won’t care about me losing my job.”

I took another look around the room as more and more packs took their seats, preparing their fighters for their bout in the ring. How many of these males, like Josh, had partners and pups waiting at home? I couldn’t believe they were willing to destroy relationships and families all for an omega who was already happily bonded and had no desire to be with them.

Did they really think Marlowe would just fall in line with some random pack just because they won a fight over her? They might be able to take over our bond, but they couldn’t take over her feelings for us.

And that’s what these males just didn’t understand. It wasn’t her scent or her designation that made her special. It was just her—the way she teased me, put me in my place. How she’d sit and listen to music with me, cracking jokes and making me smile.

She wasn’t going to do that, or be that person, with males who fought for her just so they could have a warm body to knot.

I was beginning to understand what had motivated her parents to hide her all these years. Had it been a mistake all along to bring her to Maiingan Hollow?

The thought of her still being with her vamp ex was disgusting, but it was almost just as disgusting that we had to resort to this in order to save her from the Conclave, from her own people, and I only hoped that when it was over she could forgive us. Forgive me.

Her perfume preceded her.

We turned around in our seats and watched as she entered with Linda and her alpha female friend. Marlowe was wearing a skin-tight, little black dress with off-the-shoulder sleeves, a silver choker necklace, and sky-high platform black heels.

There was no way she had picked that outfit herself, and I could only assume it was the Conclave’s doing. The silver collar especially was a cruel accessory, taking away her power and freedom to shift. I couldn’t wait to rip it off her neck.

Camden, Archer, Elias and I got up to embrace her but her guards stepped in between us.

“We’re really sorry,”

Linda explained. “But she’s not to be touched by anyone other than the Conclave until this is over.”

“This is bullshit,”

Marlowe cursed under her breath, her arms crossed and hands rubbing up and down her cold, exposed skin.

It felt like I was going to explode if I didn’t get her into something warmer and more comfortable immediately. This day was already miserable enough as it was, and those fuckers had chosen to only humiliate her further. What kind of alpha would want his omega to suffer for his own pleasure?

Cam growled his feelings but Marlowe’s guards tightened their circle. “We know, we know,”

the other one, Diana, responded. “But if we don’t play by the rules, the Conclave could void the Rite and then you’d be really out of luck.”

He kept his eyes on Marlowe as he angrily shoved off his suit jacket. “Is her freezing to death a part of the Rite, too?”

He shoved it in Linda’s arms.

Her lips flattened and she nodded, handing it to Marlowe before walking up to Julian. She tapped him on the shoulder, and he opened his eyes and took out his earbuds. “Oh, hi Detective Oakley.”

“I just wanted to wish you good luck,”

she winked, holding out her hand. He took it, looking confused for a moment until a small smile of understanding grew on his face. Linda returned to Marlowe, who was now wearing Cam’s jacket and inhaling our pack leader’s scent deeply, and walked to the other side of the room where the dais for the Conclave was waiting.

“What was that about?”

Cam asked, looking at Julian.

He opened his palm to reveal a freshly scented handkerchief. He brought it to his nose and took a deep breath, and looked over at Marlowe now sitting across from us. She blew him a kiss and waved, and my chest tightened.

Julian would win. He had to win, there was no other option for us.

Fifteen minutes remained until the start of the Rite, and the room was almost full of competing packs and audience members. The sound of the females outside crescendoed, screaming their protest chants in greater earnest.

A loud bark telling them to shut up and move marked the arrival of the Conclave.

The crowd hushed when they entered. Thorne wore his Dress Blues, Hartwell a wool suit, Grimm was decked in jeans and a t-shirt under a suit jacket, and Vaughn wore jeans and a leather jacket. Eamon Frost, their champion, looked like a Russian mobster in his dark green tracksuit, cracking his knuckles and scowling at Julian.

Thorne’s eyes narrowed as they landed on Marlowe, a slight snarl tugging at his lips. Shifters parted for them as they walked across the room and took their seats around her on the dais, but Marlowe held her head high and refused to acknowledge them. She crossed her arms and her legs, her gaze trained ahead towards us.

A bell rang signaling it was time to begin, and the priestesses closed the door. General Thorne stood up, holding out his hands to quiet the crowd.

“Fellow shifters! Today marks a new chapter in our history, one that will serve as a return to our true nature and traditions. For too long our kind has suffered the loss of our powers, of our connections to the wild and the wolves that live within us. For too long have our packs been deprived of the stability and happiness that omega bonds provide. And for too long have we eschewed our hierarchies in favor of assimilating with weak human culture. We have pushed back our instincts and what has it gotten us?”

The room was silent as he surveyed the crowd. “Diddly squat,”

joked an alpha near the back.

“That’s right, it’s gotten us nothing!”

he bellowed. His voice echoed in the large room, the dominance rippling like waves from where he stood. “Today, we stop masquerading as humans in our own cities and spaces. Embrace your power, embrace your strength, and fight for the omega bond that will complete you!”

The alpha packs stood and clapped, howling and cheering, while Marlowe simply looked at her nails as though she couldn’t care less. Thorne turned towards her and said something sharply. She rolled her eyes and stood next to him, waiting for the crowd to settle again.

“I was told I’m supposed to wish all the competitors ‘good luck,’”

she said. Noses lifted around me, alphas sniffing the air as she spoke. “And honestly, I’m not sure why. I bonded with Pack Wolcott and they’re the only alphas I’ll ever recognize as mine. If anyone else wins today, I’ll dedicate my life to making yours a living hell. So, Julian? Good luck, all my love goes to you. And to the rest of you? You can go fuck yourselves.”

Hoots and hollers erupted from the females in the audience. Thorne grabbed her arm and yanked her back down into her seat. whispering something angrily in her ear. But she did not react; she just looked straight ahead, her expression neutral.

Her defiance scared and awed me. How she was able to withstand his alpha bark was nothing short of miraculous. Did it have something to do with her supposed power from the prophecy? Or was it because she wasn’t bonded to him?

Then again, I had a feeling the only reason Marlowe obeyed our barks was because she wanted to.

Cam got up and stood behind Julian now, rubbing his shoulders and giving his own last advice and words of encouragement. Julian simply nodded, his eyes locked on Marlowe.

She returned the stare and smiled.

The priestess came forward and rang a small gong. “Competitors one and two, please enter the ring.”

“Alright Julian, you got this!”

I said, clapping my hands.

He peeled off his hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants, heading towards the ring in nothing but boxing shorts.

There were no gloves, no shoes, and no holds barred. Fights continued until someone was knocked out of the ring or was down for longer than ten seconds. Julian slipped in a mouth guard and stretched, stepping into the center.

The other alpha approached, a male I recognized but didn’t know personally. He looked to be in about his mid-forties, his body large but soft.

Julian had this, easily.

I reached through the bond and touched base with the rest of the pack. We were all nervous, but Marlowe sent a wave of love and affirmation to reassure us.

Julian and the other male shook hands, and the Priestess stepped to the side.

“Begin!”