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Omega
. The leaden weight of the word made Claire want to vomit. The realization of what had just happened was sinking home. She hadn't just lost a challenge. She'd become the lowest member of the pack. She'd almost rather lose some of her skin.

The mayor pushed his way through the crowd, pulling Alek by the literal scruff of his neck. “Is what Miss Sanchez says true, Alek? Did you leave her in the woods so long she missed her check-in time?”

Alek looked in agony. Embarrassed, angry, humiliated, worried, afraid—a melting pot of negative scents. Even the crowd noticed the smells and some of the jubilant chanting and cheering faded away. “I…” He seemed to be ready to say a thousand things. But all that came out was, “Yes.” He turned and looked straight into her eyes. “I'm sorry, Claire. I messed up.”

Part of her wanted to scream at him, “Yeah, you did, you idiot!” Another part wanted to hug him and tell him it was okay. A tiny bit of her just wanted to slap him.

But she didn't get a chance to do anything, because the mayor just tsked. “Sorry about that, Ms. Sanchez. Not your fault, but the rules are very clear.” He raised his voice to the crowd. “Looks like we've got us
two
Omegas this month, folks! We won't need to have a meeting tonight after all to introduce our new resident. Get your list of chores written up, folks. You'll all get to meet her as she and Alek both stop by each and every house in town until the next Ascension!” The crowd cheered and started laughing and celebrating again.

At Alek's sudden startled look, the police chief leaned in and whispered with the oily scent of dark glee leaking from his pores. “Look at section fourteen, paragraph ten. ‘A mentor who shall knowingly or intentionally allow a challenger to violate a rule of the games shall share the result of said violation.'” The police chief put a tight arm around Alek's shoulders and the other around hers, appearing to be jovial and friendly. But the pressure as he dug his fingers into Claire's shoulder wasn't friendly and the words he whispered under his breath as the crowd cheered chilled her blood. “Oh, I'm going to
enjoy
making you both crawl.”

 

CHAPTER 9

The scents drifting out from the kitchen the next day should have made Alek's stomach growl. Roast turkey, venison stew, and baking bread, seasoned and cooked to perfection. But his gut was rumbling and queasy and a band of pain enveloped his head like a vise.

Omega.

He'd never been the Omega; had no idea what it entailed. Worse, he'd inflicted it on Claire, who didn't even know how things worked in town. He'd tossed and turned all night, reliving the scene. He'd failed her, plain and simple. There was no excuse. When they'd gotten home, Claire had locked herself in her room without a word to anyone. Mom had suggested Alek not try to talk to her until the weekly dinner today.

Maybe it would help if he knew more about what being the Omega meant. He'd been alpha since he could remember—since his first change—so he'd never had to serve in that role. But his bro, Scott Clayton, had been the Omega on and off for several years before Rachel lost her first challenge.

Alek wound his way through the crowd of people who'd arrived for dinner, heading for Scott, whose blond ponytail, with its distinctive streak of white, he'd spotted from across the room. As he passed the staircase, a flood of scent froze him in midstep. Sweet, thick, warm. Chocolate in front of the fire, it filled his nose, his head; it fluttered in his chest. He tried to inhale again without exhaling, to capture more of it. He turned his head and saw those perfect features and those eyes … those
angry
eyes. Claire glowered down at him, fingers clutching the handrail like she was trying to squeeze the life out of it.

“Claire. I'm so sor—”

She held up a hand, her clenched jaw relaxing just enough to say, “I don't want to hear it. I didn't realize you'd be here. Tell Asylin I'm not hungry after all.” She turned and stormed back up the stairs, the fresh bandage on her head brilliant in the sunlight streaming through the high windows. The door to her room slammed shut behind her.

Stunned by their interaction, Alek didn't notice Dani until she punched him hard in the shoulder, shaking off some of the fuzz in his brain. His hand automatically moved to his stinging bicep. She had a mean punch. “Ow! Dani, what the hell?”

“What did you say to her now, Alek? It's bad enough you humiliated her in front of the whole town, but you got her fired too … before she even started! God, you can be such a jerk sometimes!” She ran up the stairs and gently knocked on the bedroom door. “Claire? Honey, are you okay?”

Fired? Say what? The fluff in his mind returned. He couldn't seem to focus on anything. He put a hand on the bannister, intending to follow Dani up the stairs, when a firm grip on his shoulder pulled him back. “Don't do it, bro. You'll only make it worse.”

He turned to see Scott shaking his head, almost sadly.

“What did I miss? What was Dani talking about?”

Scott put an arm around his shoulder, throwing up the scents of feathers and pity in a thick cloud. The white owl shifter plucked a jacket off the rack near the front door, then half-shoved Alek out the door and down the stairs. A cold wind hit Alek in the face, clearing Claire's scent from his brain.

“Dude, you are so smart, and yet so completely clueless.” Zipping up the jacket, Scott let out a light chuckle as the two men crunched through the leaves littering the ground.

Alek slammed his fists into his pockets and hunched his shoulders, shaking off the other man's arm. “I screwed up, Scott. I know it and I'm sorry about it. Do you have to rub it in? All I was asking is what Dani meant about Claire's job.”

Scott stopped and threw up his arms, causing the brightly colored knit scarf around his neck to whip in the wind. “
That's
exactly what I mean. You go to the same family meetings I do. I've seen you make eye contact and nod when everyone else does.” He tapped a gloved finger against Alek's forehead hard enough to rock his head back. “But nothing sinks in. You only hear what you want to hear.”

Alek felt his anger rise. He pushed away Scott's hand. “What the hell are you talking about? What does this have to do with Claire?”

Scott leaned against the trunk of a tall pine tree, the lowest branch a dozen feet above his head, crossed his arms over his broad chest, and let out a sound of exasperation. “Everything. Two days before Kristy and Darrell went missing, Mom told everyone Claire was coming to stay with us because she was going to be the new teacher for Kristy's class. She even told us Claire was a red wolf. You were there, but everything with you was dispatch this and rotten Lenny that, and the all-Sonya, all-the-time channel. Dude, you obsess about shit and don't listen.”

He tried to think back to before the kids had disappeared, to any mention of Claire and … nothing. Crap. What else had he been missing? “Okay. You're right. Maybe I was too wrapped up in other things. But that can't have been when she got fired, or she wouldn't have come here at all.”

Scott scratched at the back of his head, then flipped his ponytail around to the front and began to pick bits of bark out of his hair. “Yeah, I just heard about that.” He shrugged. “It makes sense. She's the Omega now. How would she be able to teach when she can't talk to anyone above her station? Even kids are above the Omega. It'd be chaos. Don't you remember Mrs. O'Donnell?”

In a flash, Alek did. He and Scott had been fourteen then. Mrs. O'Donnell had been a small woman, a falcon if he remembered right, and not very powerful magically. From the start of the school year, the class ran roughshod over her. Yelling, throwing stuff around the room, ditching class entirely. She couldn't control the kids at all. The principal had had to step in—he was a wily black bear who had run an entire human school district somewhere in the Midwest—before things settled down. Mrs. O'Donnell had moved away a month later. “Yeah, we celebrated
breaking
her. Ouch. Thanks for reminding me of one of our not-so-stellar moments.”

Scott shrugged, but with a strong scent of embarrassment. “Hey, we were kids. Rowdy shifters feeling all tough and shit.” He snorted and suddenly smelled of thick, wet sorrow. “At least you lived up to the
tough
part. I got a lot of swirlies when you weren't around.”

Feeling abruptly uncomfortable about the direction the discussion was going, Alek cleared his throat. “But Claire
is
an alpha. Even with the Omega title, she could still control the class.”

“When she's forbidden to look the other teachers in the eye, or the principal, or the
parents
?” his brother countered. “Yeah, that would be fun. And when would she do the Omega work? At night? Dude, I was
exhausted
after all the crap that needs to be done at this time of year. Even with you taking part of the load—and by the way, that part royally sucks—she would be too tired to grade papers or make lesson plans. It just wouldn't work.”

At this time of year?
“What sort of things need to be done?”

Scott furrowed his brow for a moment and then let out a loud, sudden laugh. “Oh, man! That's right. You're in the in-between generation. You've never
been
the Omega. Wow … where do I start to explain the suckitude?” He paused and really seemed to struggle to begin.

“Scott! Alek! Dinnertime!” Their mom's shout from the doorway made them both turn.

Alek didn't want to go in, didn't want to face Claire's justified anger. His screwup was far bigger than he'd originally thought. He hung back as Scott headed for the house. “Hey, do me a favor. Tell Mom I had to do something and can't make it to dinner.”

Scott looked both amused and horrified. “Mom-assisted suicide isn't something I'd recommend, bro. You know how she gets.”

“I'll just have to risk it. I've got to take care of something.” He needed to make this right. It was time to go to the police station and do whatever he needed to do to get Claire out of this.

Scott searched his face and Alek knew his brother knew what he was planning. As he sprinted away from the house, keeping out of his surrogate mother's direct view, Scott quietly called after him, “I don't think it'll work, but I don't blame you for trying. I'll stall for as long as I can. Good luck.”

*   *   *

“If Claire's not going to eat, I'm not either.” Dani's face was firm as she confronted her mother's sour expression. “She doesn't feel well.” She put an arm around Claire in solidarity. It was nice to have someone who felt like a friend right now. There weren't many to be found. The black waves of hair that brushed Claire's face as she tightened her hug smelled of rosemary and aloe.

Asylin let out a sharp-pitched hiss, characteristic of an annoyed owl. Her eyes glowed amber with magic, bright enough to make her dark skin look golden … as though she should be an eagle or great horned owl instead of a snowy one. “What she feels is embarrassed … which won't be fixed by starving herself. Neither of you have eaten since you got here. That's more than a day ago. You're both still healing. Get downstairs and eat something.”

Claire only glanced at the older woman for a moment before returning to staring at her own hands. She could smell her own burnt-metal frustration and embarrassment, blended with wet sorrow and tangy fear. “I know what I'm feeling is something I need to deal with, Asylin. But I don't think it's unreasonable to skip mingling with a big group of strangers while I absorb all this.” Everyone downstairs, whether dark skin, fair, olive, or brown, was family to the Williamses, even if they were only foster placements, but they were just strangers to Claire and now they thought of her as something beneath their notice. “All I want to do is talk to someone who knows what I'm supposed to do tomorrow and then go to sleep.”

The room filled with the scent of warm concern from both owls as Asylin sat down next to her and enveloped her in a hug. Her earring briefly caught on the edge of the bandage covering the stitches, but then slid away without tugging.

Asylin said softly, “Claire, the moment they brought you through the front door, you were family. The people downstairs aren't strangers. They're your brothers and sisters. When you're in pain, we'll heal you. When you're afraid, we'll protect you. When you're happy, we'll share your joy. You can trust us.”

Pretty words and lovely thoughts, but Claire was here for a reason and trusting people wasn't part of the plan. Still, she did need to put aside her anger and start to make some contacts, get information. She hugged Asylin in return. “Thanks. Maybe it
would
help to get to know some people.”

“How about starting with us?” Claire started and looked toward the door. It had opened so quietly on oiled hinges that she hadn't even heard it. Not good.

Rachel was standing in the doorway with another young man, not much past his teens, who was so pale he looked ghostly next to Rachel's dark skin. The streak of white in his long hair made Claire think that he might have also been an attack victim who had his first change forced on him. More warm concern wafted into the room.

“We're all the help you need,” Rachel said. “Scott and I have both been the Omegas for over a year. We know all the ins and outs and tricks. We'll get you through this. One day at a time until the next Ascension.”

They both smiled, but their scents didn't match their expressions and Claire could tell that they were both nervous. If Asylin noticed, she gave no sign, just patted Claire on the hand and rose to her feet. “So it's settled, then. Let's all go down to supper and the four of you can talk.”

Four
. That could only mean … “I really don't want to talk to Alek right now. Maybe in a few days, but…”