Kyle nodded. “If it wasn’t for you… who knows how long we would have been here.”
The rest of the omegas behind Kyle looked similarly grateful. Their tired eyes shone with hope and determination.
Stark took the lead, and Scout was happy to stay behind him. The alpha changed to human form and fiddled with the metal latch, then pushed the door open.
Chilly night air streamed in. Scout took a deep breath. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for the other omegas, even the guards, who had been locked in the kennels far longer than he had.
“Come on,” Stark said. “We need to get back to Whitewood territory, and fast. We’ll move quicker in wolf form.”
Scout nodded and they shifted. As wolves, the size difference between the alphas and omegas was even more noticeable.
“How will we get back?” Kyle asked softly. He was staying close to Stark, Scout noticed. “I don’t know where we are.”
“I remember the way,” Stark said. “We followed the Whitewood scent trail all the way here. I’m sure we can follow it back the same way.”
Kyle nodded. With Stark in the lead, the royal guard created a loose, triangle-shaped protective formation around the omegas. Scout and Kyle were at the front of the omegas, right behind Stark.
The alpha led the way through the dark woods. Scout noticed Kyle was nervous — jumping at every crackle of a twig or rustling in the trees. But he couldn’t blame him. After being attacked by the grey wolf assassin, Scout knew what it felt like to constantly be wondering where the next threat would come from.
Suddenly Stark stopped. Scout almost bumped into him. The alpha stood stiffly, his hackles slowly raising. Scout was about to ask why he stopped when he heard it, too — the quick, steady sound of paw-steps getting louder. Heading right towards them.
“How many?” another alpha guard growled in Stark’s ear.
“I don’t know,” Stark said. “Be ready for anything.”
The alpha guard’s formation tightened around the omegas. Scout felt Kyle’s fur bristling against his own. The other omega looked terrified, like he was going to jump out of his own skin.
“Don’t worry,” Scout murmured. “There’s a lot of us.”
Kyle didn’t sound convinced. “But we’re still in their territory.”
Scout grimaced. He couldn’t argue with that.
But as the sound of footprints came closer, Scout noticed a strange sense of calm washing over him. The rest of the wolves around him were stiff and ready to fight.
Scout wormed his way through Stark and the guard next to him.
“Scout!” Stark hissed. “What are you doing?”
“Get back here, please, your highness!” the other guard begged.
“Scout!” Kyle cried.
But Scout barely registered their words. Something was pulling him — an intense, powerful feeling deep in his soul.
The thick brush parted. A huge black wolf with blazing yellow eyes burst forward.
Before Scout could even think, he was rushing ahead. He met the black wolf halfway, nuzzling his neck, burying his muzzle into the thick fur.
“Killian,” he murmured. “I missed you so much.”
Killian growled deeply. “I was so worried about you. Are you alright?”
"I'm fine," Scout said. "We found the omegas, and the alpha guard."
Killian shot Stark a glance and nodded. "Thank goodness." After taking a quick look over the group of Whitewood wolves, he turned back towards to the dense woods he'd just emerged from. "Come on. Let's get back to our own territory."
Scout stuck to Killian's side like a burr. He thought about the intense feeling he'd had earlier, before he knew the strange noise in the woods was Killian. It was like he was being pulled towards him like a magnet. Was this the bond between an alpha and omega?
Kyle and Stark stayed close behind Killian, who led the shifters into the thick undergrowth. He moved swiftly and with confidence in every step. Scout felt himself empowered by his mate's presence — like nothing could go wrong while Killian was by his side.
Scout heard a sharp snap of a twig behind him as Kyle stopped abruptly. "Scout—" he began to hiss, but before he could get the words out, a grey blur erupted from the treetops. Nobody saw the wolf attacking from above until it was too late. It leapt through the air like lightning, aiming straight for Scout.
It went for his throat, digging its fangs into the thin fur of Scout's neck. But instead of biting to kill, it was trying to catch him off guard and flip him over — which it fully accomplished. Scout barreled over with a loud yelp. The grey assassin stood over him, his battle-scarred legs like a cage keeping Scout from escaping. Before the alpha guard and Killian could move, the grey wolf lowered its muzzle and pressed its teeth threateningly to Scout's jugular.
"Take one step closer and your mate dies," he growled.
