Kael
The map spread across my desk was marked with red circles, twelve locations where omegas had vanished over the past six months. Each one a carefully orchestrated abduction that left no witnesses, no trails, nothing but grieving families and unanswered questions.
My fingers traced the pattern, following the route that connected them all. They were getting bolder, moving closer to pack territories that should have been protected. Three weeks ago, they'd taken two women from the edge of my own lands.
That had been a mistake.
"The informant came through." Silas, my Beta, dropped a folder onto the desk, his expression grim. "Underground facility, about forty miles northeast. They're holding an auction tonight, after which they'll move location again. That's why it's been difficult to track, they are mobile. They move after every two… three events."
I opened the folder, scanning the details. Guard rotations, entry points, estimated number of captives. It was more information than we'd managed to gather in months of investigation.
"How reliable is this source?"
"Reliable enough that I'd bet my life on it." Silas crossed his arms, leaning against the desk. "He's been feeding us solid intel for weeks. All have proven correct. This is our chance to shut them down."
My beast stirred beneath my skin, clawing at the edges of my control. The thought of what those women were enduring in that facility made something dark and violent rise in my chest. I could feel my wolf pressing forward, eager for blood, for violence, for the satisfaction of ripping apart everyone involved in this operation.
"We go in as patrons," I said, forcing my voice to remain level even as my vision flickered gold at the edges. "Get the full layout, identify who's running it, then we move. If we only shut down this location without taking out the top dogs, they'll only regroup somewhere else in the shadows, and be more careful."
"Agreed." Silas paused, his gaze sharpening as he studied my face. "When's the last time you fed?"
I turned away, pretending to study the map again. "I'm fine."
"That wasn't what I asked."
"Drop it, Silas."
"Your eyes have been gold for the past ten minutes." His tone shifted, taking on the concerned edge that I barely got to hear lately. "Your hands are shaking. You're barely holding him back. So I'll ask again… when did you last feed?"
Four weeks. Maybe five. Time had a way of blurring together when you'd lived as long as I had. The hunger was a constant presence now, a gnawing emptiness that no amount of animal blood could satisfy. But human blood, the kind that would truly sate the beast, came with complications I wasn't willing to face.
"I can manage until after the raid," I said flatly.
Silas moved around the desk, forcing me to meet his eyes. "You need to feed before we go in there. If you lose control in the middle of that facility, or you have to shift for any reason, innocent people could die."
He was right, and we both knew it. The curse didn't just make me dependent on blood, it made my beast unstable, violent, barely contained even on the best days. When the hunger grew too strong, I became something else entirely. Something that didn't distinguish between enemy and ally.
"I'll take care of it." The words tasted like ash in my mouth.
"Good." Silas didn't move, his expression shifting to something more careful. "And after this is done, we need to talk about finding you a new mate."
The beast surged forward, slamming against my control with enough force to make me stagger. My vision went completely gold, claws erupting from my fingertips as I fought to keep from shifting. The air in the room grew heavy, crackling with the kind of power that made lesser wolves bare their throats.
"Don't." The word came out as more growl than speech.
"Kael, it's been three hundred years—"
"I said don't." I slammed my fist into the desk, the wood splintering under the impact. My breathing came in ragged gasps as I forced the beast back down, inch by agonizing inch. "No woman will ever come close to Oriana. I won't dishonor her memory by trying to replace her."
"I'm not suggesting you replace her." Silas's voice remained steady, unflinching even in the face of my barely controlled rage. "But the loneliness is killing you, Kael. It's feeding the curse, making your beast more unstable. You need—"
"What I need is for you to focus on the mission." I straightened, forcing my claws to retract, my eyes to return to their normal gray. "The auction starts in eight hours. Brief the others. I want everyone in position before we move."
Silas held my gaze for a long moment, clearly weighing whether to push further. Finally, he nodded. "As you wish, Your Grace."
He left, and I stood alone in my office, staring at the map without really seeing it. The beast paced restlessly beneath my skin, unsatisfied and angry. It wanted blood. It wanted violence. Most of all, it wanted what it could never have, the mate bond that had been severed three centuries ago when Oriana died in my arms.
I had tried to bring her back. Used dark magic that should have remained buried, made deals with forces that should never be disturbed. The ritual had failed, and the curse it left behind was my punishment. An eternity of hunger, of instability, of watching my beast slowly consume what remained of my humanity.
Some nights, I wondered if death would have been kinder.
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Three centuries of deliberate isolation had its advantages. I'd built my reputation on whispers and rumors. Most wolves had never seen my face. These human traffickers and their degenerate patrons would be no different. To them, I was just another wealthy predator with questionable morals and deep pockets."
The auction house reeked of desperation and expensive cologne. I'd dressed the part of a wealthy patron, tailored suit, gold cufflinks, the kind of calculated arrogance that marked me as someone with both money and questionable morals. The guards at the entrance had barely glanced at my forged credentials before waving me through.
'In position?' I sent the thought out through the pack link, feeling the responding touches as my warriors confirmed their locations around the perimeter.
'North side secure, Silas responded. We've got eyes on three exit points. Say the word and we move.'
I moved deeper into the facility, cataloging everything. Guard positions, camera locations, the scent of fear that permeated every surface. There were at least thirty women here, maybe more. All collared, all terrified.
The beast stirred again, drawn by the scent of blood and trauma. I clenched my jaw, focusing on maintaining control. Just a little longer. Once I had the full layout, we'd tear this place apart and everyone in it would answer for what they'd done.
'Hold position, I commanded. I need to see who's running this show first. We take them all down at once, no surviv…'
A commotion ahead made me pause. Guards were herding women through a corridor, preparing them for display, and just as I rounded the corner, she collided into me.
My hands caught her automatically, steadying her before she could fall. And then I made the mistake of looking at her face.
She was stunning. Not in the polished, artificial way of the women who usually caught my attention at formal functions, but in a raw, visceral way that bypassed every rational thought. Dark, untamed curls tumbled around her shoulders.
Her skin was pale, marked with bruises and scars. But it was her eyes that stopped me cold, piercing green, the color of new growth in spring forests, filled with a terror that made something in my chest twist painfully.
For a moment, the world narrowed to just her face. The sounds of the facility faded into background noise. Even the beast went still, as stunned as I was by the sudden shock of recognition that made no sense.
I'd never seen her before. I was certain of it. I never forgot a face, not even after centuries. And yet something about her felt familiar in a way that defied explanation, like a melody I'd heard in a dream.
My gaze drifted lower, catching on the mark at her neck. It wasn't a mating mark, it was a rogue severing. The scarred tissue was still relatively fresh, maybe a few weeks old at most. My frown deepened. An omega rogue was almost unheard of. Many who have lived long enough and believed the old ways even called them an omen.
What could she possibly have done to warrant such harsh punishment?
The dress they'd forced her into was obscene, barely covering anything. I could see the tremor in her hands, the way she held herself as if trying to disappear into her own skin. There were bruises on her arms, yellowing at the edges. Recent trauma, multiple sources.
Something dark and possessive surged through me. The beast, which had been restless and violent all day, suddenly focused with laser precision on the woman in front of me. Not with hunger, but with something else.
"Move along!" A guard yanked her backward, breaking our connection. "Keep your eyes down, omega."
The beast rumbled deep in my chest, not with aggression but with something else. Something I hadn't felt in three hundred years.
Recognition.
But that was impossible. Oriana was dead. I'd held her as she died, felt the mate bond shatter like glass in my chest. There was no coming back from that. The curse had made certain of it.
I stepped aside, letting them pass, but I couldn't stop tracking her movement as they dragged her away. That familiar feeling intensified, a nagging sense that I was missing something crucial.
'Your Grace' Silas's voice cut through the mind link. 'Everything alright?'
I forced myself to focus, tearing my attention away from the woman's retreating form. 'Fine. How much longer until the auction starts?'
'Ten minutes. The main hall is filling up. We should move soon, or some of these women would be sold and we might never be able to recover them.'
'Not yet.' I pushed forward, toward the main space. But even as I moved, my mind kept returning to those green eyes, that sense of impossible familiarity.
The beast settled beneath my skin, for the first time in centuries, it wasn't fighting me. Instead, it felt almost… patient.
As if it knew something I didn't.