Then I see it. The forest just ends. A jagged ravine opens up in front of me, wide and bottomless in the dark.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
No time to think. No time to reconsider. The alphas are right on my heels, and I’d rather die than belong to any of them.
I dig deep, pull up everything I’ve got left. Blood roars in my ears as I charge for the edge. If I miscalculate, I’m dead.
I throw myself into the air with a snarl.
For one terrifying moment, I’m weightless. Nothing under me. I shift mid-jump, muscles straining, burning, reaching for the other side.
Impact. I hit the ground hard. Pain explodes through my body, rattles my bones, knocks the wind out of me. But I roll with it, limbs tangling in dirt and leaves, body screaming as I shift back to human form.
Fuck, I’m going to miss that shirt. But at least I’m alive.
I scramble to my feet, shaking off the pain. Across the ravine, my pursuers skid to a stop. Their howls rise into the night. The lead alpha throws his head back, the sound echoing through the forest. I throw them a few creative curses, then disappear into the shadows with a grin.
They won’t give up, not now that they’ve caught my scent. I’ve outsmarted them this time, but I’ll need to move farther north.
My heart pounds, adrenaline still buzzing through me. I head home exhausted but alive. And more importantly, free.
I won’t stop fighting. No matter how far I have to run.
2
Darius
Istare at the omega as she curses us from the other side of the ravine—chin lifted, eyes blazing.
I still can’t believe our luck.
An omega.
They’re rare. We haven’t had one in the pack since my mother, and she’s been dead for ten years.
They’re fragile, supposedly.
I look at the scrape of a girl. She doesn’t seem fragile. Not even close.
Movement had caught my eye earlier, near the treeline at the edge of our territory—a small, ragged wolf with matted fur. At first, I thought it was a pup separated from its pack. But then she turned, and I saw her eyes. Those weren’t the eyes of a pup. Bright blue and fierce, staring right through me.
An omega.
Then her scent hit me. Stopped me dead in my tracks. Sweet and warm and unlike anything I’d ever encountered.
She bolted into the underbrush in a flash of fur. I let out a howl, calling my packmates. They appeared moments later, shifting into human form beside me.
“What’s got you riled up?” Archer said.
“An Omega. Scrawny little thing. Took off that way.” I was already moving to track her. She wasn’t getting away. The moment I caught her scent, everything else stopped mattering.
We stalked through the forest, exchanging looks. None of us could fucking believe it.
About an hour later, we spotted her back in human form. Brown hair whipped around a face that knocked the thoughts clean out of my head. A torn shirt barely covered her. Wild, untamed, and built like she’d been surviving on nothing but grit and spite.
Perfect for our pack.
I told the guys not to spook her. She obviously didn’t trust anyone, and we needed to look harmless.