"Ready when you are."
Farley looked down at me. Warmth flickered in his eyes. "Quinn. I want you to know how much I appreciate you doing this."
"Getting all mushy on me now?"
"Yes, I am. Because when I left this place, I never imagined coming back with an alpha by my side." He stopped and shook his head. "No. With my fated mate by my side."
My heart just about melted. "As much as I love hearing you gush about me, do you want to save this until after all the heroic stuff?"
Farley chuckled. "Sure."
He gripped the handle, turning it and opening the door as quietly as possible. "Figures. Even though they're paranoid now, they don't bother to lock the main door because none of the omegas can shift."
I followed him inside as a fox. This way, I was quicker and had far more dangerous teeth in my mouth. I padded in front of Farley. He raised a brow at me.
"You're the one who’s pregnant," I said. "Let me be your overprotective alpha just this once, all right?"
Farley screwed up his face like he was going to argue with me, then he sighed. "We don't even know that for sure, but fine. Go live your big strong alpha fantasy."
I grinned, happy that Farley was able to hand me the reins. He gave me directions towards the wing that housed the omegas. But as we walked, I noticed something strange. Despite the stink of them, there weren't any alphas around at all. Where had they all gone?
"Is this weird to you?" I whispered to Farley.
He frowned. "The fact that the place is empty? It's a little unnerving."
Voices came from behind the door to the omega wing. I flicked my tail against Farley's leg, urging him to stop. Since I was in my fox form, my ears were better than his. I listened closely.
"...the hell do you think you are?"
"Enough screwing around, someone get this jackass out of here!"
"He's gonna steal our omegas!"
A loudsmack. Then the thud of someone hitting a wall. I backed away from the door, my heart racing.
"There's a commotion in there," I whispered to Farley.
"Did Emory and David start without us?" Farley asked.
"I don't think so…"
A low, calm voice on the other side of the door spoke too quietly for me to understand the words. Whoever they were, they were causing a ruckus. Footsteps pounded against the floor and voices cried out angrily only to be silenced with morethudsand grunting.
"The hell's going on in there?" Farley growled. "If the alphas are doing anything to the omegas, I swear–"
But my nose smelled only alpha. There wasn't a single omega on the other side of the door. My nose was keen and highly sensitive. If there was one, I would've known without a doubt.
Then why do I have this strange feeling in my gut?
"Something's wrong. We have to go in," Farley said, reaching for the door.
Despite the chill running through my fur, I knew we had to do something. The omegas were in this direction and we had to reach them no matter what was happening on the other side of the door.
With a loud grunt, Farley shouldered it open. What we saw inside froze both of us in our tracks.
Animus stood in the middle of the hall surrounded by alphas in human form. Some of them were on the floor, dazed and groaning. It was crowded and the air reeked of alpha scent, as if every single one of them was here right now. Was that why the building was so empty?
"Who are you? You new? And why the hell's a fox following you?" one of the nearby alphas demanded. He swore under his breath. "Never mind, doesn't matter. Help us fight off this maniac!"
