Ravensong (Green Creek 2)

Elizabeth and Mark stood at the same time.

I pushed myself up off the building.

I cracked my neck side to side.

The raven spread its wings.

It wasn’t like it’d been before. My hand was gone. My magic felt untethered.

I wondered if this was what it felt like to be feral. To be Omega.

The howl rang out again. It was louder this time. And for a moment, it was still alone. But even before it could start to fade, another wolf began to sing, almost like it was harmonizing with his mate.

Oxnard.

Joe.

And then came the others.

Carter. Robbie. And farther away—much, much farther—Rico and Jessie, howling in our heads. Chris and Tanner, laughing hysterically at the sounds of their pack coming for them.

And then all the wolves began to sing, and it was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. All the Omegas howling with their Alpha, singing a song of war.

It was time to end this.

Even before we rounded the back of the building, the first sounds of gunfire split the air. It echoed through the town, sharp cracks above the shouts of men.

There were little bursts of light in my head, little flashes of pain, and I knew almost immediately it was Omegas being struck. They weren’t pack, not like the others, but they belonged to Ox just as much as we did. It was in the periphery, and I hoped he would be able to forgive himself one day. Forgive me for telling him to bring them here. Whether it was too late for them or not, whether we could find a way to bring them back when all this was said and done, this was going to weigh on him. On all of us.

We moved swiftly and surely. We knew what we had to do. We knew the plan. Divide and conquer. Even as we kept to the shadows, my breath harsh in my ears, I knew the first wave of Omegas would be breaking off into the town, feinting onto the side streets, small groups led by a member of my pack. They’d draw the hunters away. Even as we got closer, I heard the loud shouts of the hunters, and then their trucks fired up and tore off through the snow, giving chase.

It was working.

Ox and Joe would be the most visible, eyes on fire, making sure the hunters could see that there were Alphas there. And if the Alpha was killed, then the pack would flounder, be easier to take out. They had the largest targets on their backs, and they would make sure the hunters saw them first. Especially Elijah. She would be leading the charge.

There was a pull in my head, and it was cleaner than it’d been in days. The witches around Green Creek had finished constructing the wards. I didn’t know how many had come with Patrice and Aileen, but they’d done what they set out to do. Nothing further would get in.

And the Omegas wouldn’t get out.

It was a prison, but one we now controlled.

The hunters just didn’t know it yet.

The halogen lights were harsh as we neared the garage. I kept out of sight, the wolves crouching low beside me. A hunter stood on the roof, firing a rifle with quick precision. Another pinprick of pain flashed in my head—silver entering an Omega wolf—but there was nothing I could do about that now. It wasn’t one of my wolves.

The garage had three work bays. One of the doors in the rear had been raised, and light spilled out from inside. I heard the chugging rumble of a generator.

Two hunters stood there, backs flat against the wall.

“There,” I whispered. “Take them. I’ve got the guy on the roof.”

Mark wasn’t happy about separating, but we didn’t have a choice. We needed to clear out as many as we could before we went inside.

Elizabeth whispered in my head, and the blue was gone. She was hunting.

Mark stared at me with Omega eyes.

“Go.”