Claiming His Need (15 page)

As the nomads walked into the clearing, the tug on my mate bond increased. Something was wrong. I could almost taste it on the brisk wind blowing in from the lake. Something dark and dank was coming my way, bringing blood and grief with it.

Something like death danced on the wind.

“You know, princess. You get prettier and prettier every time I see you.”

The leader of the nomads walked through the tree line and into the clearing. A second shifter in human form, the short one who’d taken such perverse joy in torturing my sister, dragged Magnus along with him. The wolves came next. Six of them, all growling and snarling as they padded cautiously through the trees. I watched silently, unafraid. The plan would work. The Cleaners would come. There could be no doubt on my part.
 

“Yeah, yeah, she’s a looker. Let’s get this over with.” Sandman placed his hand on my lower back. I stumbled forward, acting as if he’d shoved me, as was part of the plan. I was not supposed to appear willing. No matter how anxious I was to be alone with the nomads so we could get this over with.

“Easy on the merchandise, man.” The leader stepped forward and grabbed my arm, dragging me all the way behind the line of wolf defenders he’d brought. “My boss wouldn’t be too happy if we broke his new toy before he got his chance to play with her.”

He nodded toward his partner, and the man shoved Magnus across the gap to where I’d stood only moments before. I met Sandman’s eyes as he helped Magnus stay on his feet. Fear. As strong as he was and as brave as I knew him to be, Sandman was afraid for me. Or maybe afraid for everyone should something happen to me. I wasn’t dumb—my mate would become a ball of rage should any harm befall me. And I knew, from my own observations as well as my conversation with Half Trac, Gates was not a man to be messed with even in his best of moods.

The fates truly had chosen our pairing well, but I wasn’t willing to risk his life for mine when there were other, safer options. Half Trac would keep my mate as calm as possible while I helped the Cleaners capture our enemies. We just needed to get to a place where Gates couldn’t see what I was about to do.

“We’ll just be on our way now.” The leader tugged me up the hill, moving fast as his wolves closed in behind us to guard our retreat. “I’ll let my boss know how cooperative the so-called protectors of the species were. I’m sure it’ll give him a good laugh.”

“Hey, nomad,” Sandman hollered from behind us. I glanced over my shoulder as the leader turned. There was no fear left, no worry or doubt. The man looking at us was all confidence and bravado, ready to fight and sure he’d win. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

The leader squeezed my arm and yanked me up and over the hill until I could no longer see the clearing behind me. A few more minutes. The Cleaners would come once there was enough distance between the Breed contingent and us. Just a little more time.

Thirty yards down the hill, a giant roar sounded through the forest, sending the birds to the air and the small animals scurrying. My heart leapt in my chest as all the things that could go wrong slammed into my thoughts: death, injuries, destruction, and annihilation. Gates must have seen the Breed not respond as the original plan had been laid out. He must have assumed they were letting the men take me. My mate didn’t know the Cleaners would help me fight the nomads. He didn’t know I was taking on the risk to keep him out of the fight.

My mate was coming for me…and there was a very real possibility that he would die while trying to save me.

The nomad had his hand on my mate. I waited and watched from my perch, unable to hear the words being spoken. But I didn’t need to—the fucker was touching my mate. He would die for that alone.
 

Movement. The nomad team was leaving, dragging Kaija with them. I watched them crest the hill and disappear down the other side, my heart racing the entire time.
 

“What are they doing?” Rex asked, standing at my side. He hadn’t liked being sidelined any more than I had. He wasn’t even supposed to be this close, but he’d barged onto the overlook to watch over his sister.
 

“I have no fucking clue.”

The Feral Breed team was supposed to move in as soon as the nomads crested the hill, surround them, and get Kaija back before killing all but the leader. Yet I saw no movement on our side. Even Sandman, who’d sworn to me that he would not let anything happen to my mate, stood in the clearing, doing nothing more than arguing with Half Trac. A certain cock to Sandman’s head had me looking closer, and my blood turned to ice as I saw the telltale signs of a forced Alpha order.

Sandman wasn’t just arguing…he was trying to fight off Half Trac’s demand to stay put. Glancing at the rest of my brothers, I saw the same things. Heads cocked, muscles straining, faces twisted into grimaces. Meanwhile Half Trac stood in the middle, doing nothing but watching my mate be taken from me.

They were going to let her go, and the only hope I had from my Breed leadership was that those fucking Cleaners could get to her. Three shifters against eight with my little mate caught in the crossfire.

“Half Trac lied.” Rex’s voice cut through the silence. The entire pack team froze for a beat as that knowledge sank in. Kaija was in trouble, and my brothers, who’d been assigned to help her, had been handicapped by their supposed leader.
 

The boiling sensation of my rage bubbled up from the bottom of my gut, overpowering all sense of reason. I would kill them all. Every last shifter in these woods would die in my battle to get Kaija back. Fuck the pack, fuck the Breed, fuck the world. My mate was in danger.
 

I roared as my body shifted into my lupine form, muscles and bones twisting in less than a second. I was running from the first impact of paw on dirt. I raced down the hill toward my traitorous leader. Panting, I pumped my legs harder than ever before. I sped through trees and jumped over rocky outcroppings on my way to the clearing. On my way to destroy the world around me and get my mate back.

“Lorenzo Martinez de Caballero, you shall bow to my will.”

My legs locked, causing me to tumble ass over end through the dirt. I whimpered as I hit a large rock half buried in the ground. The telltale snap of a bone breaking the only sound recognizable over my own heart racing.

“Gatekeeper.” Half Trac knelt beside me, his eyes glowing and his hand held over my head. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, to fight my way up and get to my mate, but I couldn’t move. Something held me in place on the ground, completely at the mercy of those around me. “Shift back, now.”

I squealed as his words forced my body to shift to human form. Painfully, slowly, bringing back vivid images of those first few shifts I’d experienced as a child. Shifting was a natural inclination for us Borzohn, or birthed shifters, but still one that took time to learn and perfect. Those first few shifts had been brutal, and this one was no better. Especially with what I had to assume was a broken arm. Half Trac watched with those glowing eyes, waiting until I was fully human before pulling his hand away.

“I will not hurt you, and your mate will be fine. She is a powerful Omega, especially for one so young. Her power will protect her.”
 

“Need…my mate.”

Half Trac chuckled and shook his head as I fought the hold he had over me. “The nomads cannot access her power, young one. They are useless—unpacked, undisciplined, and unwilling to bend to a higher power. No, they are of no concern to me. Kaija’s power as an Omega will protect her, as will my Cleaners. I could not risk the death of those nomads, not when we still don’t know who their supposed leader is. I am more concerned about finding out what they know than what they’ve done, and that means we can’t kill them. We need answers first.”

I struggled harder, my heart racing faster as I felt the weakening of my bond to Kaija. She was moving away from me.

“Let me up!”

“Settle, please. I would not allow anything to happen to your mate. Her pack and yours will soon follow the nomads to keep them corralled in the valley. My Cleaners will apprehend the men while your brothers make sure she is returned to you alive and well.”

Before I could speak again, the tug on my mating bond turned to a feeling of energy and solidness, blanketing me in a sense of power I’d never experienced. It fueled me and gave me the strength to pull myself from Half Trac’s hold. I rolled and jumped to my feet, shaking off the odd sensation of whatever power Half Trac had put over me. My Breed brothers around me followed suit, each breaking through the hold Half Trac had put over us. I didn’t know what had given us the strength to overthrow such a powerful Alpha, but I had a feeling it had something to do with Kaija.
 

My brothers approached, glares and growls directed at Half Trac who stood motionless and obviously shocked. I wanted to kill the lying bastard for what he’d done, for the risk he’d put Kaija in, but I didn’t have the time. My mate needed me, and I couldn’t fail her.

“You lied to me and my Breed brothers, you broke the covenants of our trust, and you put Kaija in danger. Be gone when I get back, or your blood will flow the same as those nomads who stupidly thought they could lay their hands on my mate.”

Without a backward glance, I raced through the trees and over the hill. Running for my life. Running for my mate. Power infused my body and made me run faster than ever before. The world was a blur around me, my feet never missing purchase as I ran through the trees.
 

Sandman and Pup ran a few feet behind me, only catching up when we crested a particularly steep hill on our way to block the nomads.
 

“You ready for this?” Sandman pushed off from a rocky outcropping and landed with a slide a few feet in front of me.

“More than.” I swung around a tree and under branches, the world hurtling past me in a blur of green and brown.

“Get your mate, brother. We’ve got your back. The others are on their way to circle around just in case the fuckers get away from us.”
 

With that, Sandman and Pup swung out to encircle the valley where the nomads were. I paid them no mind, though. My eyes found the red of my mate’s cloak among the earth tones of the forest and refused to look away as I raced to protect the only thing I’d ever truly needed in my life.

“What the hell was that?” The leader of the nomads spun and stumbled. Gates’ roar had scared him, as well it should have.

Knowing my time was limited, I focused on the pull to my mate. Warm and strong, the thread to him glowed bright red in my mind. I held on to it, focused completely on the gentle hum it provided me. I concentrated on that thread, willing my Omega strength into the line connecting us. If Gates was coming, he would need my help. The Omega power I was supposed to use to strengthen the Cleaners in their efforts to capture the nomads would have to be shared between us. Because there was no way I was letting my mate take on eight nomad shifters alone.
 

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Lanie’s tormentor grabbed my arm and pushed me forward. I stumbled but held myself upright even as I continued to focus on that red thread. My body shook as the bond solidified, imbued with all the strength I could muster. My actions negated the new plan Half Trac had designed, but I could not risk Gates. The Cleaners would need to fight for themselves; I needed to give my strength to my mate.

“What the hell is wrong with her?”

My head fell back as the power of the Omega flowed through me, over me, within me. This was the gift of a mated Omega—a deadly and aggressive energy to share with those who needed protecting. Shifter lore said our power was something virtual, something that merely made our pack bonds stronger. The lore was a fallacy. Omega power was a physical thing we could grab and use when needed. It could make our pack bonds more powerful because of the unconscious desire of shifters to congregate near all that power. But it could also be shared with our fellow shifters to give them physical strength in a time of war. Only an Omega could wield it. Only an Omega could use it to save herself and her pack.
 

And this Omega was going to share her power with her mate to keep him safe in battle.

Whether the mating was “pack official” or not.

Members of the Breed appeared from the tree line surrounding us, encircling the nomad group and moving closer like a fishing net on a retrieval.

“You’re done here, man.” Sandman stalked closer, his eyes on the nomad who held me.
 

“If you come closer, I’ll kill her.”

Sandman laughed, dark and filled with an evil timbre I’d never heard from him. “You do that, and you’ll be wishing for death before her body even hits the ground. The Gatekeeper is coming. Executioner for the Feral Breed, brother to the Beast, and mated to the woman you hold against her will. You’ve fucked up, friend.”

The arms of the nomad no longer held me. I fell forward at the loss of support. A roar sounded as I fell to my knees, and I knew things were about to get ugly.

My Gates had arrived.

I raced around a copse of trees in time to see Kaija fall to the ground. The roar I released was enough to have the shifter who’d dared to lay his hands on her look my way. His jaw fell open as he stumbled backward into the leader of the nomads.

“Kaija!” I leapt over a fallen tree trunk as I headed toward the men I knew as dangerous to my mate. Kaija hurried to her feet, but before I could reach her, a shifter in wolf form slammed into me from the side. I curled and rolled, hopping to my feet to face the fucker in human form.
 

He growled and curled his lip as another wolf joined him. The two stalked closer, heads down and napes bristled. Even as I watched them, I kept Kaija in my peripheral vision. I would not lose sight of her again. The longer these two kept me away from my mate, the more painful their deaths would be.