"You're an alpha?"
"You're here to steal our omegas, too!"
I scoffed but didn't bother wasting my breath to correct them. They snatched for me but I slipped away from them, using my sleek body and agility to dodge their grasp. A fox is quicker than human hands, even dozens of them.
"Somebody catch that damn fox!"
"He's too fast – trap him with something!"
Just as I was about to cackle at their incompetence, one of them grabbed me by the tail. I thrashed, clawing and biting at anything that came near me. But there were just too many of them.
The alpha yanked me off the ground by my tail. Pain shot through me.
"Caught him," Santino muttered. Blood was smeared across his jaw from Farley's punch. "He'd make a nice coat, don't you think?"
My stomach twisted with terror and disgust. He knew I was a shifter. Skinning me for my fur would invoke the same taboo as eating another shifter. Even if he wasn't serious, it was a sick joke.
In my panic, I shifted back to human form. Without my tail to hold onto, I fell on my hands and knees on the ground.
"Get him," Santino ordered.
The alphas swarmed me before I could get up. Fear soaked into my bones.
But it wasn't just fear for my sake. I was thinking about Farley and the baby he potentially carried. If I couldn't hold these alphas off, would he be able to escape from this place safely?
Out of nowhere, a cold wave pulsed through the corridor like a gust of frigid winter air. The alphas cried out. They fell to their knees or scattered, running around in confusion.
"Shit!" Santino snarled, throwing me to the floor as he bent over, clutching himself.
I didn't understand their overreaction. It wasn't painful to me, just cold.
A lone figure stood unaffected in the centre of the chaos. Animus. He had one arm raised, his claws extended, and his expression was shadowed.
This had to be his doing. No mortal had this kind of power.
I looked around. Santino and his gang of Society alphas had completely forgotten about me. They were either trying to escape the corridor or cowering, waiting for the cold pain to pass. For some reason, they seemed more affected by Animus's powers than I was.
It didn't make any sense. Was Animus purposely tempering his strength so he didn't hurt me?
Why?
"I've seen quite enough," Animus said slowly. "You alphas have certainly proved your worth to me. Which is to say, nothing." He grabbed Santino by the hair and dragged him off the ground. "Especially you. You're lower than scum."
Santino tried to spit at Animus, but the spirit wasn't having it. He shot a gust of cold into Santino's face, making him dribble all over himself.
"You're the one who banded and caged the omegas, aren't you?" Animus asked. His voice was frighteningly sweet.
"And what about it?" Santino shot back. "They don't know what's good for them!"
Animus smiled wider. My stomach turned to ice and it wasn't because of the cold. Not only did Santino not feel guilty, but Animus looked ready to kill him.
"Animus, wait," I said frantically, getting to my feet. "I know he's awful, but you don't need to kill him. We're only trying to save the omegas."
Animus sneered at me. "And then what? You think he won't do this again with a different group of omegas?"
"I... I don't know," I said honestly.
Santino glared at me without a trace of shame, as if I caused all of his problems. Out of all the alphas, he was also the one shivering the most.
