OmegaMine (18 page)

Even as he spoke to Diskant and Trey, the wolf continued
chanting those three distinct words that were made all the more powerful when
combined. From time to time Emory would lower his eyes, stare at the table and
order the feral half to shut up and give him a moment’s peace. In that moment
she wondered if there were those who possibly went insane from the separate
entities within.

Unexpectedly, her focus shifted.

Trey’s wolf had risen to the surface, so powerful she could
feel buzzing against her skin—as if it were a magic of some kind. “I’m not
handing my brother to them,” he snarled violently. “If they want him they’ll
have to fight for him.”

Guilt hit her like a fist in the stomach, taking her breath
away. There was so much pain in the thought, so much misery.

Trey felt responsible for his brother, accepting the blame
for everything that had followed a violent scuffle years before. Disjointed
flashes in her mind showed her the battle, fangs bared, claws extended.

An image of Trey standing over his fallen brother, looking
down at his battered form, was crystal clear. Emory was coated in blood,
developing massive purple and black bruises and horrible gashes, some of which
were all the way to the bone. Emory’s shirt was gone, his body broken on a
mound of green grass that slowly absorbed the flowing red liquid that seeped
from the cuts on his torso and face. Lifting his head, he met Trey’s enraged
stare.

“Kill me,” Emory whispered.

For a moment the temptation arose, until the man overcame
the beast and Trey turned from his pack mate and brother. He couldn’t kill him,
which meant this would only happen again, and again, and again. Until Trey
finally allowed the wolf to finish what had been set into motion or Emory was
the one standing over his body, delivering the killing blow.

The images in Ava’s head vanished when Diskant’s own bestial
side answered the challenge projected unwittingly by Trey, clamoring to take
over. For the first time she was able to place the shift in him, to feel the
animal that rose to the surface. It was the wolf that was infuriated, suffocating
all of the others, forcing them back and away. It wanted to protect a pack
mate, to face the enemy eating away at his Alpha, to shred and demolish flesh
and bone with unyielding jaws and lethal teeth. Diskant tried to stem the flow
of emotions, to put the beast back in a cage, but he was already on edge,
feeding from all the shifters in a close proximity. So it wasn’t as simple as
taking control.

She reacted without thought, driven by a new, undeniable
instinct.

Lifting her hand, Ava grasped Diskant’s fingers and began
running her thumb along his balmy skin, using careful, soothing motions. She
moved closer to his side, snuggling against him, and felt something brush
against her mind, a velvety caress of satiny fur that was so different from the
coarse hair of the wolf. She whispered encouragement to the animal who was both
cunning and playful, teasing it with the gentle motions of her fingers and the
wriggling of her body.

The wolf didn’t settle but had been replaced by an entity
with equal prominence. The large cat—a jaguar—shoved the lupine aside, basking
in her touch, reveling how good it felt to be petted and stroked.

She heard the corresponding purr from Diskant’s chest, felt
his shock as something occurred that he had no control over, and had to mask a
smile when he spoke to Trey and his voice was hoarse. “Did you contact all of
the Alphas about the missing shifters?”

The men continued speaking but it wasn’t the words she
listened to. As soon as the large, predatory cat under her spell was appeased
she focused on the emotions and fears of the men at the table, taking more from
their emotions and reactions than she ever could from what they offered through
spoken language.

Trey felt fear, concern and uncertainty—for his pack and his
brother. The man at his side, Nathan, experienced much of the same but she was
aware that in some way he was nullifying the stress placed on Trey, taking on
the burden of anger and rage. Emory, of course, was a garbled mess and had been
for some time. He missed his mate like the desert missed the rain. He wasn’t
whole without her, would never be complete until they were reunited.

Yet beneath Emory’s anguish was an unshakable hurt that ate
at him. As much as he longed for his mate, he was terrified of the reunion,
horrified by her reaction the night she viewed him with claws and fangs. Her
terror had hurt him in ways no physical blow ever could, devastating him to the
point that he’d allowed several of the bullets to pierce his skin before he’d
fled.

Ava allowed his recollection of the past to consume her as
images flashed in her head. She could see a face—Mary—gawking at Emory with
wide brown eyes full of horror. Her honey-blonde hair was darkened by the heavy
rain that plastered the strands to her face, her full lips parted wide, eyes
large and horrified. She rocked to and fro, hands limp at her sides until he
moved toward her and she lifted her arms in a defensive gesture. Her scream
pierced his eardrums, the wail high-pitched and terrified. Running from any
predator was dangerous, especially a shifter, but that was exactly what she
did. He’d almost followed, but he’d maintained control.

Barely.

The memory evaporated and Emory was in control once more,
though he had to fight to stay that way. The wolf wanted to return to that
moment. Any memory, even one that wounded the soul, was better than none.

Emory tuned in to the conversation between Diskant and Trey,
though he continued to merge past with present, and Ava listened in. Blood
would be shed over him. The head Shepherd—whom she immediately recognized as
the armed man from earlier in the evening, Elijah—warned Emory that they would
make an example of him. Daring to mate with one of his kin was a sin they could
not abide. It was a direct sign, Elijah announced before his enclave, that god
was testing their worth and calling upon their strength. Pointing his gun at
Emory, Ava watched through the shifter’s eyes as Elijah turned to him,
whiskered jaw clenched, thick brown brows furrowed. There was a glint of
determination in the orbs of liquid obsidian that was as unmistakable as the
man’s faith, but it was what he declared before Emory and his kindred that made
Emory’s heart ice over.

“
I’ll kill her before I allow you to take her, minion of
Satan
.”

“You have to give me to them. It’s the only way.” Emory
abruptly severed the memory and interrupted the ongoing conversation,
disorienting her in the process. His frantic gaze darted wildly about the room.
“When will you tell the rest of the packs why they’re here?”

“I should tell them tonight.” Diskant answered, the arm at
her shoulders drawing her close. “They have a right to know. If it had been
wolves that were skinned alive, we’d be out for blood.”

“We need to know more about the Shepherds’ enclave,” Trey
said and looked at Emory. “If their numbers are small, the pack can challenge
them directly.”

“You’re asking the wrong person.” Emory laughed hollowly and
Ava felt the anguish that was slowly suffocating him. “Mary didn’t tell me
anything. She wasn’t even aware of the importance of her surname.”

“I can tell you,” she said without hesitation.

A lot had occurred in the past few days, but in the midst of
chaos something extraordinary had happened. No longer did her ability make her
an outcast that forced her to keep her head down and her presence obscured. She
was now a part of something that regular people had no idea existed, which
meant she wasn’t entirely an anomaly.

Confidence bolstered her decision. Diskant was the most
powerful shifter in New York, and as his mate it was time to reveal what she
could bring something to the table. She’d save the knowledge that she could
read shifters for herself, but the Shepherds were human, meaning they were safe
ground. Who cared if she couldn’t sprout fur, grow fangs and howl at the moon?

What she could do was even better.

Brains before brawn
.

“You can tell us what?” Diskant’s heated breath warmed her
ear as his husky and alluring voice wakened various portions of her anatomy.

Forcing her desire to chill, she peered up at him and
smiled. “Everything.”

“Everything?” he echoed and she heard the question in his
mind, the uncertainty.

“They’re human.” She released his wrist, leaned forward and
brought her hand to his chin, allowing her fingertips to tease the shadow that
was growing thick and dark along the strong line of his jaw. His lids drooped
slightly, the emerald green irises—those of the cat—positively simmering with
desire. She had to tamp her own response despite the sudden urge to climb
aboard his lap. “When they approached us outside the apartment I was able to
learn their names and who was in charge. I also found out that they had a van
parked at the end of the street where more of them were waiting in case
something went wrong.”

The laziness in Diskant’s expression vanished and he grasped
her hand in a move that was faster than she expected. “You could listen to them
telepathically? Why didn’t you tell me?”

She didn’t struggle, meeting his angry gaze head-on. “When
did I have a chance to, lover? On the bike when you couldn’t hear me over the
motor? Outside when I was terrified to come in here? Or how about in the office
when I was pinned between you and the wall?”

A soft chuckle from Nathan wasn’t enough of a distraction to
tear her eyes away from Diskant. He was fuming, lips thinned and eyes changing
colors. She had to wall up her mind so she didn’t intrude on his thoughts any
longer. The fun and excitement she’d experienced was replaced by cold, hard
reality. She hadn’t thought about what an invasion of privacy it was before.
Now she intuitively realized he was certain to ask just how liberal she’d been
with her talent.

“I wasn’t trying to keep it from you,” she added softly and
he immediately loosened his grip, ditching the frown. “There wasn’t an
opportunity to tell you until now.”

“Are you having a private conversation? Or can anyone join
in?” Trey asked with a distinguishable amount of strained humor.

“Either way, they’d better hurry,” Nathan added tersely.
“Everyone’s arriving.”

Ava glanced past Diskant as he turned in the seat and stared
at the window. An assembly line of cars and motorcycles crowded the street.

“Tell me what you know, Ava mine.” Diskant rotated, his
focus solely on her. “How many were there?”

“The five outside and however many they could fit inside a
van.”

“I’d say that means there are nine or ten, tops,” Trey said.
“They’re not here for a cleansing and any more than that is likely to draw
attention.” He rested his elbows on the table, lowering his voice. “The pack
could wipe them out in a single shot. All we need is the opportunity.”

Ava gasped as Diskant wrapped his arm around her, pulled her
into his lap, and turned his back to the room. “If you do that, you can’t tell
any of the packs or prides what you’re planning. They can’t find out until the
threat is gone and there isn’t anything to bitch about. If you fuck this up
they’ll be out for blood. Your head will be the one they want gracing the plate
since you’re the Alpha in charge.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“What’s your plan?”

“We hand Emory over, follow them from a distance and use
eyes that can’t be seen to make sure they don’t vanish while we’re not looking.
We’ll have to make sure to take them out before they cross state lines, so
we’ll need a distraction.”

“Who’ve you got in mind?”

“Aldon Frost owes me a favor. I’m going to call on him to
collect.”

“A vampire? You’re going to ask a leech for help?” Diskant
snarled and Ava pressed her hand over the crazed beating of his heart,
attempting to calm him. “Have you forgotten that blood drinkers attacked my
mate?”

“Technically, she wasn’t your mate yet. Now that she is you
know they wouldn’t take the risk.”

“I want an explanation.” Diskant’s demand didn’t brook room
for argument. “Or I can’t help you.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged.”

The voices inside the bar hushed and Ava was aware that a
large group of shifters were entering the establishment. The energy in the room
changed, the atmosphere becoming oppressive and heavy. When she tried to move
off Diskant’s lap he tightened his hold, making his intention clear. With or without
telepathy, she knew he wanted to clearly state who and what she was to him,
providing a very public and possessive display that all the guests would
recognize.

“Yes or no,” Trey said briskly. “Contemplation is over. I
need your answer.”

Diskant cradled Ava in his arms and met the level stare of
his pack mate. This was some serious fucking shit. As an Omega, he wasn’t
supposed to place himself or his interests into the middle of anything
concerning shifter business. That was why he was always respected despite being
born into a wolf shifter pack. The bonds were still evident, especially when
you studied his habits and closest friends, but there was never any question of
his loyalty.

Trey’s tone conveyed his desperation. “What’s it going to
be?”

He glanced at Emory, taking note of the alarming changes
that had overtaken the once proud, dangerous and powerful Alpha. His eyes were
crazed, his appearance unkempt and his behavior odd. It happened when a shifter
found his or her mate and was forced to deny the connection. In Diskant’s case,
it had been easier to mask his longing for Ava during her absence as he could
take relief from all of the packs, relying on their strength and calm. Emory,
however, was a lone wolf without anyone beneath him to shoulder the burden.

If it had been five weeks since he’d seen Mary, he was
likely going mad.