Page 46 of Crave

I stood, gripping the bars. He got it. “Exactly. What my ancestor did was manage to merge the soul at conception. He created a whole new beast. He created my mother. Combining part of his witch essence and part Manix. The Omega he stole died giving birth.”

Bowie’s face was a hard mask. We’d often wondered if that was the reason why Bowie’s body had died in the womb, because of the magic fuckery our ancestor had undertaken. We’d never know, but if I ever found the soul of that fucker, I was going to piss on him.

I continued, because I wanted this story over. “When he tried to, uh, breed with her, his magic was too familiar so their offspring came out witches, with barely any Manix traits, and certainly not the ability to shift. So he did it again. Captured a Manix Alpha, forced a young witch to mate with him, and then fucked with nature once more to create another hybrid offspring. Then he made those two offspring procreate, and voila, you get a perfect genetic hybrid. It was a truly heinous, foul thing to do from beginning to end, but he was a foul and evil man. All my family grimoires had said so.

“Fortunately for humanity, once you start kidnapping and doing other terrible shit to Omegas, you also get a pretty fucking pissed off Manix Alpha—one day he forgot to shut the door properly, and my Manix grandfather ripped the head off my crazy old patriarch ancestor. Then he went through and murdered the rest of my witch ancestors. Anyone who ever participated died. My parents disappeared with my siblings, and despite being hybrids, lived reasonably happily ever after in hiding from the supernatural world. I am the last of my siblings, born thirty-five years after they escaped. My parents and siblings are all gone now.”

What I didn’t say was that my mother had died giving birth to me and Bowie’s deceased body. Died right there on the operating table. My father hadn’t wanted to live without her, so he blew off his head a week later. My oldest sister raised me, but when she realized I had Bowie’s soul with me, she’d abandoned me at sixteen, when she decided I could fend for myself. I had, but I’d been so alone ever since. When I looked her up years later, I found she’d died from her own self-inflicted wounds. We were creatures without a Pack, and that drove us all slowly mad.

You’ve got me,Bowie whispered, and I could feel his sadness like it was my own.

The vampire whistled out air between his perfect white teeth. “Well, thats pretty fucked, mate. Your family tree is more a shrub than an oak, but that's okay, kinda makes you even more Manix. No, not Manix. Gotta give you a name like one of those designer puppies. A Winix? Nah. A Mitch? Nah, a Match. I like it.” He laughed at his own joke, and I relaxed. “You don’t sound like a maniacal warlock, threatening to go Rasputin on people’s asses, so why is the geas preventing you from saying you aren’t going to hurt anyone?”

I shrugged. “Because that isn’t what they’re asking me. They keep saying, ‘Are you a threat to any of the Manix?’ and I am. I’m a threat to all Manix, as a species.”

“Man, I’m sure you have some neat tricks, but I can’t see how you could be a threat to a whole species that can Hulk out and tear a car in half.”

I looked at the vampire, and raised an eyebrow. “I have no designation.”

“Holy Harold Holt in a bathtub!” Understanding lit up his face. “That could be rather… problematic. So when the Alpha General does that staring growl thing that kind of makes even me want to shit myself, you feel…”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Okay, I see your predicament. But I’m with Susannah on this one—you don’t need to be in there. One sec.” He moved out of there quicker than I can follow.

Bowie watched him go with an amused smirk.I like him. But he wants your Omegas too. Did you see that she was an Omega now as well? What are the chances of you pseudo-bonding on two Omegas?

I shook my head because it was highly unlikely, unless the Goddess was back fucking with my life again. Bowie and I had decided that’s what had happened with those two Manix teens back when I was little more than a teen myself. My Beast had become automatically attached to the first other Manix I’d ever met.

Five minutes later, Tanner walked back in with the Alpha General and the Beta wolf who was doubling as my jailer. Tanner waved a hand in my direction. “Jericho Wheeler, do you intend to cause any physical or emotional harm to any member of this community by your actions?”

I could feel the heavy weight of the truth geas across my shoulders. “No.”

“Do you intend to cause purposeful harm, with your actions, to the Manix community or the community of Moonburst?”

“No.”

Tanner gave a ta-dah flourish. “And there you have it. A perfectly safe member of the community. He could get a job brushing kittens or helping the elderly across the road.”

The Alpha General narrowed his eyes at me. “I still have questions.”

I gave him my most disarming expression. “I’m happy to answer them.”

He sighed, and lifted his chin at the wolf. The wolf watched me carefully as the cell door unlocked and slid open. I stepped out, feeling suddenly unsure of myself. What the hell did I do now?

The Alpha General looked at Tanner. “He’s in your charge. If he fucks up, it’s on your head too, and you’re already walking a fine line.”

The big vampire—who I was beginning to think might be Australian—slapped the Alpha General on the back, like he had a death wish. “Someone once told me it’s not the leap of faith that kills you, it’s getting stuck in the muck at the bottom and drowning beneath it all.” He frowned. “Or maybe that was for bridge jumping?”

Dominic, the wolf, just looked at him like he’d lost it. “Is that meant to be inspiring advice?”

Tanner laughed. “Nah, mate. This is inspiring advice: don’t jump off any bridges, and trust your gut when it comes to weird hybrids.” He tilted his head at me. “Let’s go before they change their mind,” he stage-whispered, and I was more than happy to get my ass out of there.

28

QUINN

Islept for a full twenty-four hours wrapped around Susannah. Tanner had ducked his head in the night before, checking on us, but we’d already been out to it. The only reason I even knew he’d been here was a small note that said,Next door, give me a yell if you need anything,T xo.The little red glowing orb had indeed put him in the house attached to ours, and I didn’t know if it was some divine comedy or fate, but man, it felt good to be sandwiched between Tanner and the Alphas. I’d never slept as easily without the doors being barricaded.

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