Chapter One
Ethan
This entire fucking meeting was chaos.
Actually, technically it hadn’t even begun yet, but already there were too many alphas in one small contained space for any of us to be even remotely comfortable. It seemed like every pack from the wilds had a representative and that didn’t even count all the random alphas that had been banished from the city that were here too.
Too much testosterone. Even I knew that.
The wildlands were overwhelmed with alphas now. It wasn’t just here in this oversized hut. This meeting had been called to deal with this particular problem specifically. A few weeks ago, thousands of alphas had been forced out of the city, the result of some sort of suppressant gone wrong. I didn’t know much about what happened within the walls, but I could guess that it hadn’t been good. The city’s airborne drug system was supposed to keep alpha instincts completely suppressed. Whatever had caused such a massive number of alphas to awaken at the same time must have been bad.
It had been some time since I’d been within the city walls, but I imagined the powers that be weren’t particularly happy about it.
Absentmindedly, I wondered about the omegas. If there were that many alphas, it was likely a similar number of omegas had either gone into heat or had awakened themselves. It was a worrisome thought.
An alpha growled to my right and I sighed, watching as another clenched his fists by his sides, ready to strike at any moment. Since the massive influx of alphas, it had been like this. Alphas now fought against other alphas in the wilds for claim to lands, territory, and resources and it had resulted in the slaughter of many. It had to be contained. These new men didn’t know the rules of the wilds. Most important, they didn’t know that claimed omegas were forbidden to them.
Should this carry on unchecked, it would become anarchy.
Our lands couldn’t have that. Thus far, peace was tenuous at best between packs, but now all of that was threatened. Alphas killed other alphas. Packs blamed other packs and it devolved from there. If this wasn’t handled, and soon, the wilds would descend into civil war. No one wanted that. I especially didn’t want that.
War would destroy our world. It would take our freedom and worst of all, it would hurt the ones we cared for most. Our women, our children. I’d seen how men behaved when they thought no one was watching. They became reckless. They took what they wanted, when they wanted, and they didn’t care if they destroyed those weaker than them in the process.
A foul memory tore at my thoughts.
I rolled my lip, remembering that poor omega’s face. Her screams as that disgusting excuse for a guard tore at her clothes, knocked her to the ground, and forced his knot inside her even though she wasn’t prepared for it.
I shook my head, forcing the rancid memory far from my thoughts. No, I didn’t want to think about that time. I didn’t want to think about the moment that had changed my entire life. I didn’t regret it for a second.
“Order!” a man named Wolfe yelled loudly. He was another alpha from the wilds. He was the leader of the Thalos pack. His brother Ivan sat beside him, along with a man from the city who I recognized, Alix. If I remember correctly, he’d been one of the scientists who had worked at Genwell. Between them sat a tiny little omega. Her hair was dark brown and descended down her back. I’d heard them say her name once. They’d called her Raven. Upon closer inspection, I recognized her too. She’d been one of the youngest scientists at Genwell, rather famous for her research on the airborne suppressant system.
Raven lifted her icy blue eyes, staring at another group sitting on the other side of the room. I turned my head lazily, catching sight of another omega woman, this one with flowing bright red hair. Another scientist from the city I recognized. Triss.
Interesting. Two omegas from the city.
Triss wouldn’t look at Raven. She kept her eyes on the ground, the look on her face one of abject shame and boundless regret.
Hmmm...
Surrounding Triss were another three alphas. Two men from the wilds. I think their names were Garret and Lothgar, but I wasn’t really sure. Their packs were quite a fair distance from here and I wasn’t even sure if Garret was part of one. He had the air of a loner, someone who didn’t particularly like being part of a pack. The last member of the group was a man who startled me. It was Ravick, the once extremely powerful leader of the city’s defense. He had even higher clearance levels than I had and here he was, out in the wilds, a full-fledged alpha.
Leaning forward, I studied the omegas’ necks. Each of them had three scars indicating that they had been claimed by three separate alphas.
Well, that was rare. One omega with multiple alphas. These things didn’t happen every day, but I suppose we weren’t dealing with normal times anymore. The longer I sat there, the more I came to realize that something big was going to take place. Something that would change the future of our entire world.
Ravick stood up. He rolled his shoulders back and lifted his chin confidently. Triss leaned against his leg, running her fingers up and down his calf.
Lucky fucking bastard. What I wouldn’t give for an omega of my own.
He cleared his throat. He gave off the aura of a confident man who was used to leading and speaking before a large group of people. I’d always liked the manner in which he led—cool, calm, and in a way that demanded respect. He’d once commanded me when we served in the city together, but that had been some time ago.
“Alphas of the wilds, we gather here today to come up with a solution to our problem. The only way we can do that is if we focus and put aside our petty arguments and disputes for the time being. So please, sit down and let’s call this meeting to order,” Ravick began.
“Hear hear,” I responded in kind, a bit more loudly than the others.
His eyes turned toward me and I saw a spark of recognition there. He was a big reason I had been banished myself and not put to death for what I had done. With a single nod, he acknowledged me, and I bowed my head slightly in deference. I was grateful for his assistance during my criminal trial and I wouldn’t make an enemy of him now.
All around me, men grunted their displeasure but ultimately everyone sat down in the massive straw-covered auditorium. Circular benches lined the walls, allowing us all to stare at one another for the largest Central Gathering to date. There were at least a hundred of us gathered here today.