She glanced behind—toward the bathroom. There was fear in her gaze.
Why was she afraid?
She wasn’t just mine… The rest of my pack shifted in my mind, balls of light, alive and comforting even when I was the most distant.
She couldn’t leave.
My body slammed against the metal cage, pain distant enough to be ignored.
It was happening again. An ancient terror, guilt that burned me alive—only this omega, this time, it was different.
I watched through the slim window as she slipped through the door and was gone.
“NO!” But there was metal between me and her.
Again, my aura flared and my weight hit an unmovable door.
Again.
Again.
Pain tore through me, aura blitzing the space, but it wasn’t enough.
I looked again and froze.
The most beautiful creature was gone…
No…
I couldn’t hear through the blood roaring in my ears.
Again, my body crashed against metal.
Again.
And—bang!
The sound of the world crashed in as metal caved. Not enough—but then—a latch sounded. I saw the faintest flash of auburn hair, and half feral eyes of my packmate, as if he had felt my desperation, but then I was crashing past him.
12
CRESCENT
Two days before - The Convent
I was shaking.
Luke’s parent pack were in the room. One of his fathers was a High Priest, his mother a pure omega, both chosen by God to spread His holy doctrine.
I’d ruined their son. They were furious.
“What were you thinking?”
All I could do was shake my head.
The tears were gone now. Shock kept me silently in place as I listened to all these people gather to deal with my mistake. I would never be chosen after this. I would never be able to pay enough to be chosen.
I was always so jealous of those who were picked. Perhaps it wasn’t like the love stories for pure omegas, but it wassomething.