His Omega's Keeper

“It won’t be some kind of abomination,” I protested. “We’ve only had two drops of each others’ blood!”

“I know it won’t be a monster,” Jake said. “But it will still be a child of incest—an outcast from all Were society. And you’ll be an outcast too—I can’t do that to you, Ani! I don’t want people to look at you and see some dirty, disgusting thing. You don’t deserve to be reviled and hated for this.” He pointed at the screen of my phone, where the vid of the two of us was playing over and over again on a loop. “But I do,” he whispered and a look of self-loathing came over his strong features. “After what I did to you, the way I hurt you…”

“No, you don’t!” I protested. “Jake, please—”

But at that moment, the door to my room was smashed open. To my horror, I looked up and saw Jake’s father standing there. Behind Marcus were two heavily armed Were guards.

Marcus held up his phone, which had the same video playing on it.

“Tell me this isn’t you,” he said to Jake and his face was horrified—as though he’d seen a picture of Jake killing a baby or torturing animals or performing some other unspeakable act. “Please, son—tell me it’s some kind of manipulation.”

Jake stood, lifting his chin.

“I can’t,” he said quietly. “It’s me and it’s Ani and none of it is her fault—it was all me, every bit of it. She was an unwilling participant.”

“What?” I exclaimed, jumping up. “Jake, no--!”

“Don’t try to save me, Ani.” He shook his head. “Please, don’t.”

Marcus’s eyes went cold.

“Are you telling me that you not only committed incest, you also raped your little sister in your fur form?” he demanded.

“No, he didn’t!” I protested. “It wasn’t like that! We were forced to do those things—it wasn’t Jake’s fault!”

“That’s not how Were law works, young lady.” Marcus glared at me. “When a Were breaks the Unbreakable Laws, he must be punished.” He looked at Jake. “You know the punishment is death.”

“I know,” Jake said bitterly. “I might as well die—you ensured that I could never have a life when you denied me my Fated Mate, Father.”

Marcus’s face paled but his face didn’t lose its expression of grim determination.

“You cannot claim your own sister as your Fated Mate,” he said stiffly.

“She is, though—she heard my voice in my fur form,” Jake told him. “If you hadn’t performed the Blood-Mingling Adoption, I could have claimed her.”

“What’s done is done,” Marcus said harshly. “Guards, take him.”

The guards rushed into my room and grabbed Jake by the arms. They had silver cuffs around his wrists before I could even blink.

“No, wait!” I was still in shock, but starting to cry. “Listen, it wasn’t Jake’s fault—you can’t do this! Don’t do this—Jake, I love you!” I cried as they dragged him away.

He turned his head and shot me a regretful look.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” he rumbled. “Forgive me!”

“There’s nothing to forgive!” I cried, but they had already dragged him out of the room.

I ran up to Marcus, who was still standing in my doorway with an unreadable look on his face.

“Let him go!” I begged. “Let the two of us go away somewhere together—please! He didn’t do anything wrong and you heard him—we’re Fated Mates!”

“You are also brother and sister in the eyes of the law,” Marcus said severely. “Jake must be punished for what he did.” He pointed a finger at me. “And don’t think that you can escape punishment yourself, young lady. Since you’re so hot to be knotted and bred, you’ll be claimed by whichever Were wins you at the local pack grounds tomorrow night.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “But…but you can’t do that to me! You can’t just give me away to some strange man! I’m in college—I’m going to be a nurse.”

“Your life as you know it is now over,” Marcus spat at me. “You’ll breed brood after brood of some common Were’s pups and tend his house and keep out of the sight of decent people! And that’s still better than what you deserve, after you tempted my son into breaking the Unbreakable Laws with you!”

“I didn’t temp him!” I protested. “We were forced together by Sorenson and his crazy cult—why can’t you understand that?”

Marcus gave me a withering look.

“Don’t lie to me, you little bitch. You were already tempting my son, long before the two of you were kidnapped! He even came to me and begged me not to do the Adoption ceremony.”

“Well then maybe you should have listened!” I shouted in his face. I tried to barge past him, but Marcus planted a hand in the center of my chest and shoved me backwards so hard I fell sprawling across my bed.

“Not so fast, young lady,” he snarled. “You’re staying right here until it’s time to go to the pack grounds tomorrow night.”