Page 35 of Captive Omega
“It’s that injury that turned her into an Omega, right?” Rowan asked.
I nodded. “It weakened her, at least physically. But I have confidence that she can adapt to everything.”
After all, how could she not? She was from a powerful bloodline, one just as dangerous as Rowan’s, if not more so. I looked forward to the viciousness our future pup would unleash. It would undoubtedly be glorious.
But that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. In fact, if we wanted to survive long enough to make sure our pup thrived, we still had our past to face.
Rowan had already said he’d go speak to his brother, but it wasn’t a good idea to just wait here and hope for the best. “I think I should go look into their movements,” I said. “If the two of you stay here with Luna, she should be safe enough.”
“You’d be walking straight into a pack war, Nate,” Rowan warned me. “It’s very dangerous.”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, I won’t get involved. We just have to know how things are going, so that we can make an actual decision.”
Rowan and Sam agreed with me, though they still didn’t like it. Sensing their disquiet, Luna woke up from her slumber. “What’s going on?”
“We’re making plans to go scouting,” I explained. “I offered to go look.”
Luna paused, considering my words. Her hold on me tightened. Her immediate instinct was to keep me there, with her. Even so, she didn’t outright tell me it was a bad idea. Maybe like me, she realized we had to stay on top of the situation if we wanted to survive.
“I don’t know about this,” she finally said. “Maybe it’s better to wait out the chaos.”
Rowan nodded. “Rufus isn’t always a pleasant person to be around. He’s just as bloodthirsty as I am, if not more. We’re better off approaching when things aren’t so volatile.”
In the end, our argument became a moot point. At that exact moment, we sensed someone approaching the mouth of the cave.
“It looks like they found us before we could find them,” I said.
Ever since we’d officially left the pack, Sam and I had lurked around the settlement. I didn’t remember every individual Wolfsbane, but there was still a feeling of togetherness there, that lingering sensation of pack that had never truly left us.
But beyond that, there was still a lot we’d forgotten, and we couldn’t figure out who had caught up with us. Luna did better.
Moments after I’d noticed the arrival of our intruder, she shot to her feet and rushed forward, toward the cave entrance. “Luna!” I cried. “Wait.”
But she didn’t wait, and we were left with no choice but to run after her and hope she was safe.
We needn’t have worried. When we got outside, we didn’t find any threat. Luna was kneeling next to a female I distantly recognized as Ivy Duncan.
Ivy was Ellery Duncan’s daughter, one of the other young females in the pack. I didn’t know her very well, but Luna did.
Our bond screamed with concern as Luna brushed her fingers over Ivy’s bloody arm. “Ivy? Oh my God… Are you all right?”
It was a stupid question, and Luna knew it even as she asked it. Nothing was all right, and it hadn’t been all right for almost ten years now, ever since the chaos had abandoned us. And there was more to it than that. This whole thing, with us finding our mate so abruptly, had shaken us, but had also torn apart things that had been important for all our futures.
“The Firewolves… Oh, Luna… Everything went so crazy after you left.”
Luna didn’t flinch, but a pang of grief still rushed through her. “There was a pack war, right?”
“Something like that, yes,” Ivy replied. “I don’t even know… I’m not exactly sure what happened, to be honest. It’s like everyone’s gone crazy. Luna, you have to come home. Please.”
“She has to do no such thing,” Rowan said with a growl. “She belongs with me, with us. She owes you nothing.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Ivy agreed. “But that doesn’t mean she isn’t a part of our pack. At this rate, Luna, there will be no Firewolves or Wolfsbanes left. Andrea… Andrea said that even the lake will be suffering.”
The lake? What was that supposed to mean? The Bloodmoon Lake was the largest body of water in the valley, but it had existed long before the Wolfsbane Pack had been a thing, and it wouldn’t vanish anytime soon.
Luna looked just as baffled as I was. “What do you mean, Ivy?”
“I don’t know,” Ivy said, her entire body shivering. “I just think… This isn’t safe for you. For any of you.”
