How did she know? How did she know I would find it? The thought leaves my skin pebbled and my mind a jittery mess, but her story is loud. I can’t silence it.
“That’s the Anarchy Wolf,” I say in a shocked whisper. “He’s one of the gods. In all the stories, the Anarchy Wolf is both chaos and disorder. He’s life and death. A fierce protector and an unrivaled hunter.”
“That’s great. Is he on our side or theirs?” Mordecai snaps and ducks as a brick flies past him and hits the wall hard enough to shatter it.
The Anarchy Wolf was locked in chains, chains that I freed him from. How did a god get imprisoned in a human city? How many other gods are hidden, locked up in places no one would think to look for them?
The concept boggles my mind, leaving me dizzy and breathless.
“We need to leave right now,” Jarek says again, grabbing my arm and pulling me away. I fight him, of course, I fight him, but he spins me into his chest, staring down at me, his lips pressed together. “We’re leaving.”
“No, he’s the Anarchy Wolf, Jarek,” I protest, trying to convey how important he is.
“I don’t care who he is; if he loses, we’re going to die, so move your ass, Omega.”
Jarek tows me behind him, refusing to let me go.
I look back once and see the Anarchy Wolf cutting off the Ravage Wolf’s attempt to get to us. The two clash in a booming mass and slam into a building, collapsing it. Dust flies out, and I can’t see anything. Are they alive? Are they dead?
The wolf…the Anarchy Wolf is alive in the world again.
I focus on running and not tripping over my own feet. There’s nothing I can do to help such a massive creature. I would only be in the way and be a distraction.
A god is alive and here. Mordecai’s words come back to me.
What is going on?
Jarek gets us back to the school, and I have no idea how he manages it because I was lost after three turns. I stagger because my legs are aching and fall on my ass in the tall grass. I struggle, trying to find the energy to get up, but I have nothing left.
A single drumbeat booms into the world. I freeze, my mouth going dry. Not even a second to rest, and the Beta’s Path are destroying my peace.
It’s loud; it could have come from anywhere. I stand up, ignoring the pain, the exhaustion, and the shaking in my limbs. Every hair on my body stands on end, every part of me strains, waiting to hear another beat.
It takes forever and then boom.
It explodes into the world, deep and aggressive. Familiar and haunting. The sound of the hunting drums. Every alpha and omega on the planet is terrified of that sound. At some point, I feel like it’s become a biological fear.
It means people are going to die.
A third beat is chased by the shrill screams of an agonised omega. It goes up and up; the sound is eerie and haunting. Another joins hers. Then the roar of an alpha.
“What is that?” Mia whispers, joining us. “What are they doing to them?” She edges closer, hunching in on herself. She asked the question, but I don’t really think she wants to know the answer.
“It’s the beginning. The Beta’s Path have started the torture and killing,” Bear says from where he’s approached us. His expression is grim, and he’s got a bruise on his jaw. “I’ve stood outside these walls every year listening and bearing silent witness. It’s always the same. They wait afew days, but when you hear the drums, the screaming and dying always follows.”
My skin prickles, but I can’t turn away. I’m transfixed, imagining the pain these omegas are suffering. Wishing they would cut their screaming short, but knowing that if they go silent, it means they’ve left this plane of existence.
The bushes shove roughly aside and Cadel, Willow, Sophie, and Kendric come inside, dropping to their knees and breathing hard. They all look worse for wear and are dripping with sweat. Sophie has a big gash on her hand, and Kendric is clutching his side.
“Where’s Alex?” Bear snaps as he hauls Sophie up against his chest. Sophie looks up at him and flinches.
“No!” Bear moans. The alpha snarls and turns away, but I can see how stricken he is.
“Ava?”
“She didn’t make it,” Mordecai murmurs.
Bear clenches his fists, the tendons standing out on his neck, but when I think he will explode, he doesn’t. He swallows his rage and frustration and rubs the back of his neck.
