It bowled over us, a blast that rolled through the forest. The Beta wolves whimpered quietly. The humans covered their ears. Even Joe flinched.
My tattoos burst to life, the colors swirling up and down my arms. The raven’s beak opened in a silent scream, the roses blooming underneath, full and bright.
The song of the Alpha was a tremendous thing, and no one sang it like Oxnard Matheson.
The Omega instantly shifted back to human, the violet flickering out of her eyes. She started crying, a low, painful sound as she curled up into herself. She muttered Alpha over and over again, shoulders shaking.
“Robbie,” Joe said, watching Ox as he removed his hand from the Omega’s throat, “call Michelle Hughes. Tell her we have another one.”
pinpricks of light/bones and dust
ELIZABETH AND Jessie took the woman away. She continued to tremble, her head hanging low, dirty hair around her face. Elizabeth put an arm around her shoulders and whispered in her ear. Jessie followed behind them, glancing back at Ox before disappearing into the house. If the Omega was anything like the ones before, they would be fine. But if not, Elizabeth would handle it.
“She’s not going to be happy,” Joe was telling Ox when I turned back to them.
“Michelle isn’t happy about anything,” Ox said, rubbing his hands on his work pants. “Ever. You know that.”
“Still.”
“I don’t give a shit about her happiness. We warned her this was happening and she did nothing. This is on her as much as it is us, no matter what she says.”
Robbie was pacing in front of the house, talking quietly into his cell phone. He looked aggravated before he snapped, “I don’t care what I’m interrupting. You tell her the Alphas of the Bennett pack need to speak to her. Now.” He waited a beat before sighing. “Good help is so hard to find these days. No, I was talking about you. Move your ass! Jesus Christ.”
“You’re bleeding.”
Mark was there, standing far too close for someone half-dressed. He frowned at my arm. I looked down. A small trickle of blood leaked from the indentations I’d made with my fingernails. His nostrils flared. I wondered what it smelled like to him, if it was copper laced with lightning.
“It’s nothing,” I said, stepping back when it looked like he was going to reach for me. “I’ve had worse.”
“You cut yourself.”
“I did what I had to.”
He scowled at me. “You didn’t need to bleed for it to work.”
I snorted. “Because you know so much about magic.”
“Oh, right, I haven’t been around it for my entire life or anything.”
“Don’t,” I warned him.
“Gordo—”
“And what was that, by the way?”
That stopped him. “What?”
“You getting in my way.”
His bushy eyebrows did a complicated dance. “She was targeting you.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t.”
“I don’t need you to—”
“As if you haven’t made that abundantly clear. You’re pack, Gordo. I would have done the same for anyone else here.”