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d to my alpha’s call however and as several long moments passed, the jealous fury within me subsided. With an anxious sigh, I pressed my forehead against his chest, welcoming the safety of his massive form all around me.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” I whispered, thoroughly embarrassed. He removed his palm from my bare flesh, and I took a moment to close my eyes, gathering myself once again.
“Don’t be, little omega. It is natural for an omega to be possessive of her mate, just as I am possessive of you,” he answered.
I pulled away and smiled in the other omega’s direction. Now that my protective urges had begun to fade, I realized that I recognized her. Her pale blonde hair glowed in the moonlight and her icy blue eyes turned up as she smiled in welcome.
“Hey there, Luna,” she said quietly.
“Ariana.” I was still a little cowed by my initial reaction to her presence. “It’s nice to see you again,” I offered. She nodded, beaming as she did so, and I felt a sense of instant relief.
“I know where the Cult is keeping Esme. I’m going to take you to her,” she responded. There was such genuine honesty in her tone that when Vikar squeezed me even more tightly against him, I knew what he was telling me. He trusted her so that meant that I could too. “We have to sneak into the castle. There’s a hidden passage that leads into a highly guarded wing where they keep omegas that are being prepared for sale,” she continued, and I nodded with understanding. The layout of the castle raced through my mind and I tried to imagine where they could be keeping her. I knew that castle like the back of my hand and even I had no idea where she was hidden. It was quite jarring to know that she had been right under my nose all these years. At the same time, it was also incredibly infuriating.
“How do you know this?” I asked her while doing my best to keep my emotions at bay.
“The Brotherhood has people everywhere. The information network of our organization is vast and when we need to find someone, we use every resource at our disposal,” she answered.
“She’s the Ghost’s daughter,” Vikar whispered in my ear. My gaze whipped back to her and my mouth dropped open in shock. I’d seen Ariana in the city of Valgertha. She had been one of the many attendants who had nursed me back to health and she had served me even after I had recovered. Come to think of it, she’d been there quite a bit. She’d stayed back, mostly in the shadows, but she’d been watching me. I hadn’t recognized how much of a constant presence she’d been around me, but I certainly knew it now.
She smiled knowingly in my direction, as if she could read my mind and it was unnerving to say the least.
“I see,” I replied, not knowing what else to say. Her icy blue eyes appraised mine before she glanced into the trees toward Ravenrath.
“Let’s go. Ariana, lead the way,” Vikar instructed, his tone firm.
The trees rustled behind us and a menacing rumbling growl made the ground quake beneath our feet. Then there was another, followed by a third. All of them were distinctly different and that could only mean one thing. It was a skotaur, only this time, there was more than just one of them. There were several and the snarling that came with them rolled together into one terrifying cacophony of sound that made my blood run icy cold in my veins.
I tensed in Vikar’s arms, lifting my eyes to his. Of the two of us, he had far more experience with such dangerous beasts, but even he looked as anxious as I felt.
The city wasn’t far, but the skotaurs would be on us long before we reached it. I took a deep breath, preparing myself to run for my life.
“Move!” Vikar shouted. The five of us sprinted into the trees as fast as we could. It was dark and Vikar was the only one with a torch, so he pulled on ahead. He led the way and I sprinted through the brush as swiftly as I dared. The branches and thorns tore at my arms, scratching my skin and catching the fabric of Vikar’s shirt enough to shred it in several places and I ignored it. Clothes could be replaced. My life and the lives of the others couldn’t.
Digging deep, I pushed past the cramp in my stomach and the burning in my thighs. The skotaurs tore off behind us as if they could hear us running from them and it whipped them into a veritable frenzy that made my heart pound with fear. They hunted us like prey and in the span of several minutes, there were half a dozen of them nipping at our ankles. No matter how hard we ran, they drew in closer and closer. We were fighting a losing battle and I cried out in fear. I wasn’t ready to die. Not now. Not ever.
It was too late when I realized that they were herding us. I screamed for us to veer off in another direction, but at the very same moment another half dozen skotaurs stepped out of the smoky haze right in front of us, stopping us in our tracks. They had captured us in a viselike maneuver. We were trapped and no matter where I looked, there was no way out. The five of us circled around each other, safeguarding our backs as they prowled around us. Vikar quickly pushed me behind him, protecting me even in the face of such terrible danger.
“Don’t move,” Vikar whispered.
“You don’t happen to know all of these, do you?” I whispered back with impossible hope and he shook his head.
“No. This is a group of males,” he replied. “Highly territorial, aggressive, and under the orders of someone other than the Brotherhood. I can’t know for certain, but these are likely trained by the Cult to ferret out and hunt those looking to join the fight,” he answered quietly.
These skotaurs were all at least a third larger than the single female that Vikar had raised himself. There was one that appeared to be the leader and I watched him almost exclusively. He moved forward ahead of the others, swinging his head ominously from side to side like a snake and snarling at the group of us as he circled around us. His body glowed bright with the fire in his veins, pulsing vividly with the adrenaline of the hunt. It felt as though he was choosing who he was going to rip into first and a harsh shudder of fear raced down my spine.
Ivar, Dyna, and Ariana didn’t make a sound. They didn’t move either. We all waited for what felt like the inevitable. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, I watched the male lead slink back and forth and shivered with fear.
Dyna cleared her throat. Vikar tensed beside me and he let out a slow breath that said enough to make the hair stand straight up on the back of my neck.
“I’ve done my part, Vikar,” she said quietly. I turned to face her, not liking the way her voice quivered with defeat.
“You have, Dyna,” he answered.
“You will tell the Ghost for me, yes?” she added next. I furrowed my brow and tried to sidestep toward her, but Vikar held me back.
“Wait,” I exclaimed in confusion. “What are you going to do?”
“Hush now, Luna. Your best chance at rescuing your daughter is with Ariana and two alphas at your side. You don’t need me. I’ll only slow you down. Take your child back. Do it for me,” she whispered hoarsely and Vikar’s arm wound around me so tightly that it hurt. I pushed against it, trying to turn back and stop my friend from doing whatever she had in mind, but he wouldn’t let me go. It was as if his arm was made of stone and nothing I did would loosen his grip. I kicked and tried to propel myself off of the ground, but then he threw me over his shoulder and took all semblance of control away from me. I lifted my head and desperately watched my friend for any clue as to what she was planning to do.
