Page 96 of The Omega

“She’s gone.” Atlas swayed under the moonlight as he closed his eyes.

Two words and my entire world crashed. My wolf forced the shift, but I was too angry to let him have full control. Bones shifted and rearranged into that of my werewolf Lycan form, with monstrous arms and hairy human legs and a jaw meant to crush skulls.

My claws wrapped around Atlas’s throat.

“Who took her?” I growled as a werewolf fully merged, spittle flying in Atlas’s face.

“The Omegas.” His eyes glowed with his wolf as he shifted beneath me, growing impossibly large as I still held to the changing bones of his neck and he swiped at the sides of my arm. “Let go of me.”

“Fuck you.” I dug my claws in deeper, intending to rip out his throat or crush his airway as he tore my arm to shreds. I barely felt the pain through the rage brewing. “Where did they take her?” I yelled. “How? Why?”

“You…. Did…Some…” Atlas sputtered as he struggled for breath. Roaring, he finished the half-shift and rushed me across the yard.

My back hit the metal shed with a sharp crack that was probably one of my ribs. Hopefully not my spine.

I gasped as I released my hold on his throat, sliding down the length of the wall. Atlas sucked in a breath and started coughing.

“Me? What did I do?” I screamed, clutching my side. It hurt. Everywhere. “What did you do? She was with you. You were the one supposed to be protecting her.”

“She’s safe,” he wheezed as his airway healed.

Note to self: Next time you want answers, don’t go for the throat.

“You did something,” he finally croaked out. “She was upset all day even though she tried to hide it.”

“It’s probably because you abandoned her last night,” I growled, but even as I said it, I realized how foolish I had been.

Harsh judgement lined his face as he watched me come to the realization. “What did you do?”

“Nothing to her.” I winced as I pushed my rib back into place. Thankfully, it was a clean dislocation. If not, it would’ve hurt like a bitch trying to heal.

“Then what happened?” he growled.

“It’s not…” Fuck. I really didn’t want to bring this up with him. Not until I figured some things out. Not even then. “She learned something about the pack that worried her.”

“Surprise, surprise,” Atlas sneered. “Is this something I should be concerned with too?”

“What? No,” I blurted out. My pack was none of his business. Or it was, but not that way. “We had a fight because of you.”

“Of me?” He slammed his claw against his chest.

It was only then that I realized how worked up we both were, still snarling at each other in werewolf form. I was way too old for this bullshit.

I shifted. Exhaustion deflated my stance as I told Atlas the truth.

“It was because I was born into a pack I’ve been trying to care for since I was old enough to take on the role of Alpha and, in doing so, I inherited a century-old debt along with a dying circus act.” I should’ve cared that I was sharing my darkest secrets, exposing my belly to a neighboring Alpha and giving him our weaknesses, but I wasn’t a real Alpha apparently.

“Then Opal saw the debt and offered to pay, so I—”

Atlas cut me off with an angry growl.

“That’s about what I told her would happen if I even entertained the idea. Not that I was going to anyway.” I stood slowly, checking to make sure my rib was healed. “Where did the Omegas take her?”

“I don’t know.” The fight drained from Atlas as he shrank, returning to his human form with his tattered flannel shirt hanging off his shoulders.

I didn’t even want to know the state of my own clothes.

He stared up at the moon. “She wasn’t looking too well and said she needed to make a phone call. A few hours later, a black sedan rolled up with a government logo on the door and whisked her away. She…” Atlas turned his haunted face to me. “It happened so fast. She didn’t even say goodbye.”