“We need to call a doctor,” I told the crowd. “An ambulance? Does anyone have a phone?” But as I said it, they just stared, wanting to see the battle unfold. I remembered belatedly that I did, digging around in my pocket, when a scream ripped through the night air.
Cheryl, Valerie, and Cyrus all stepped forward, their eyes shining as pale as the moons, their smiles sharp. They watched what was unfolding with a kind of alien glee, because the Williams were yanking off their clothes, going to fur with a fluid, well-practised grace.
One my guys were yet to achieve.
“Fuck!” I hissed, grabbing my phone with shaking hands, unlocking it, and then making an emergency call.
“Triple zero,” the dispatch person said in a bored tone, “police, fire, ambulance?”
“I need the alpha residence. This is Riley Taylor. I’m up at McDonald’s Point, and the Vanguard boys are about to go through their first shift!”
“Oh shit!” the voice on the other end exclaimed. “Patching you through.”
“Riley?” John Vanguard was the highest ranked alpha in the whole town, and his voice was firm, a little abrupt, but containing a calm confidence that was somewhat reassuring.
“The guys are about to shift up at the point. They’ve challenged the Williams, or they challenged them? I don’t know, it’s all a fucking mess!” I sobbed out the words, my grip on the phone, on reality, slipping.
“Take a breath, Riley.” His command resonated all the way through me, my lungs filling and then emptying without any input from me. “We’re on the way. Are the omegas there?”
“Yes, Cheryl screamed when this started.”
“Silly little girl,” he hissed, something I wasn’t entirely sure I was supposed to hear. “Trying to egg on a dominance battle and bring on the omegas’ heats early. Hold tight, we’re on our way.”
I ended the call, my hands hanging loosely by my side, but didn’t feel any of the usual reassurance that came from speaking to the alpha. I had one guy sitting on the ground, hurting for committing the heinous crime of making out with me, and five guys going through hell, who I’d spent my whole life loving.
Because any scream the omegas might make, it was nothing compared to this.
Chapter 6
This was not supposed to be.
The first shift of an alpha pack was supposed to be a moment of great pride and celebration, particularly the sons of the ruling pack. They should’ve been doing this surrounded by people that loved them, that would help them through the brutal first shift, protect them from anyone who would seek to try and take advantage of the moment. But the Vanguards weren’t here, and four silver grey wolves prowled closer as Colt, then Haze, then Ryan all fell down onto their hands and knees. Right as the Williams pack dropped low, stalking forward, preparing to attack, the night air was split by the sounds of their voices, ragged, hoarse, as they howled out their pain.
Fen and Blake were all the defence they had, standing between the wolves and their brothers, fists at the ready, but even they were losing the fight with their own bodies. Their muscles seemed to jerk on their bones, forcing them to twist and turn in response to forces bigger than any fight for dominance. Keith’s big animal snarled, his haunches coiling, ready to leap, when the big black SUV roared up.
“Stand down!”
Every man in the Vanguard pack was an alpha, but only one was a title. John dropped out of the car, ambling closer to the shitstorm before us, refusing to be hurried. Especially when his voice lashed the crowd, radiating throughout the whole of McDonald’s Point. The Williams wolves were pinned to the ground now, frozen statues of wolves rather than prospective threats, the only sound coming from them now a high-pitched whine.
“Keith, shift,” Alpha Vanguard said with a snap of his fingers, and the Williams boy found his skin instantly, keeping his head down as he scrambled for his clothing, yanking on at least his underwear and jeans. “What the hell is going on here?”
“We got word that your boys were beating the shit out of the guy that was making out with Riley Taylor—”
“Riley?”
Oh fucking shit. Pretty much everyone took a massive step back then, leaving me out there on my own to face the full brunt of the alpha’s ire as he turned to face me. John’s eyes narrowed, and then he gestured for me to come forward, not even watching to see if I did. He didn’t need to, of course, my feet moving all on their own, walking towards him before stopping at a respectful distance.
I hung my head then, because I knew I was in the shit, because this was a clusterfuck, and because no matter how it came out, I’d be seen as the instigator. Now adrenalin was clearing my head, I could see the logic. I had a right to date, to see other guys and do all the usual shit that other girls my age did, but the expectation would be that I prepare the guys for that fact. Dad’s fucking promise… It was a life sentence, something I was sure he’d been unaware of at the time, or maybe not. Maybe he would have seen this as worth it.
“Riley…” Fen panted, slumping down onto all fours now, the sounds of his brother’s pants and groans filling the air. “She’s our—”
“Shift,” the alpha said, silencing his son, ending all conversations but giving them this—a travesty of a first shift. This was supposed to be the final step Fen’s pack needed to take before being considered adults in the eyes of the other alphas. They’d be awarded a seat at the alpha council table, and that milestone shouldn’t have happened in a carpark full of broken glass.
But when I saw their wolves, it was hard to care. It was like a huge hand wrapped itself around my heart and squeezed with all its might, and I didn’t even mind. Tears pricked my eyes as I saw them, saw the other side of them. Blake was the massive black wolf, Haze the slightly smaller, less heavily built black wolf beside him. Colt was a dark grey, his fur densely tipped with black. And Ryan and Fen? They had that heavy blonde undercoat that was turned grey only by the light tipping of their guard hairs. They were so bloody beautiful, I took a step forward, but that was a mistake.
“What are you doing?” the alpha said with a frown at me, before shifting his focus to those much more worthy of it. The frown faded, and a smile formed in its place as he gestured for the omegas to approach. “The omegas can step forward, let the boys’ wolves get their scents. Who knows, maybe we might even find out who their mate is today.”
“That’s how it was for me,” a feminine voice said, and I saw Omega Vanguard appear. A small woman with waves of long blonde hair and bright blue eyes she shared with Haze, she was soft and sweet and all mother, but one with a spine of steel. “Come, don’t be shy,” she coaxed the omegas. “You’ll be doing this quite a lot, now that you’ve finished school.”