"Then why are you here?"
Animus's pale eyes narrowed into slits. "You have a lot of gall for a mortal to be questioning a spirit this way."
"I'm only defending my mate," I growled.
Animus raised his lip, revealing a sharp canine fang. "You alphas are so obsessed withprotectingyour omegas. You've never once considered the possibility that he's fully capable of protecting himself."
I couldn't help the bark of laughter that came out of me. "With all due respect, if that's what you think, then you obviously don't know Farley and I very well."
Fury exploded across Animus's face. As fast as lightning, he snatched my scruff with his clawed hand and yanked me off the ground. Panic jolted me. My instinct was to thrash, but he was already angry and that would only make things worse. Instead I forced myself to go very still.
"Tell me what you intend to do with Farley," Animus said, his voice dripping venom. "And what your plans are with that coward Mistral."
The sudden question about Mistral surprised me. What did he care what I wanted from him?
"I don't have anyintentionswith Farley," I said slowly. "He's my mate and I love him."
Animus rolled his eyes. Clearly my words alone didn't convince him.
"I made a deal with Mistral," I told him, meeting his pale eyes. "He agreed to trade me a pair of wings if I–" I couldn't tell Animus about our deal, seeing as it was about him. "Helped Farley rescue these omegas."
"What does an alpha care about rescuing omegas?" Animus snarled. He was so close to me that I saw his sharp teeth up close. Unlike a human’s teeth, they were all slightly pointed. "Obviously nothing, since you're only interested in the reward."
My eyes widened in shock. That was the furthest thing from the truth. Animus was jumping to conclusions, and if I didn't turn this around fast, I doubted he'd give me another chance to explain myself.
Suddenly his outrage felt almost familiar to me. In fact, he sounded a lot like Farley when we first met.
Why? Farley was a shifter and Animus was a spirit. They led completely different lives, yet Animus held the same anger towards alphas that Farley used to. But Animus was an immortal entity. He couldn't be an omega. So what was going on?
"I was going to help Farley even before I met with Mistral," I stated. "But if you’re hell-bent on believing I'm only in this for myself, then nothing I can say will change your mind."
Animus let out a bitter chuckle. He didn't disagree with me.
"So I don't care what you do to me," I went on. "But can you at least wait until I'm done helping my mate and these omegas? Because they don't deserve to spend one more second living in oppression."
Animus held my gaze for a long moment. The chill of his ice-coloured eyes ran through me but I didn't look away. Beneath the surface of his fury lurked something else. Pain.
Animus dropped me. I landed on all four paws.
"Begone," he said.
I flinched, expecting him to kick me aside or push past me. But he wasn't looking at me. His glare was focused on the Society building. Before I could say anything else, he turned and disappeared into the shadows.
15
Farley
A bittersweet sensationgripped me as I reached the aviary. I hated being back here, but it was tempered with the fact that I was here to make things right. Still, knowing I had my freedom and that these omegas didn't made me feel the sting of guilt.
I glanced over my shoulder at Quinn, but I couldn't see him among the shade of the trees.
A couple finches inside the aviary noticed me and cocked their heads. With a flash of hope, I recognize them as the ones who had watched me escape. I'd asked them to come with me but they weren't able to make a decision in the moment. Maybe this time would be different.
"Wait, is that Farley?" one of the omegas asked.
"I thought you ran away," the other said. They huddled towards me.
"I did," I said. "I came back to help the rest of you."
