Page 10 of Dual Nature

I gave him one of the emails I used with informants. “When I get your email, I’ll call back on this phone to arrange our meet-up location.”

“You’re oddly prepared for this kind of situation, not to mention extremely calm,” Lane mused without actually asking what he really wanted to. “How are you feeling?”

“My whole body aches, I’m starving, and my reactions to things are not normal to who I am and how I’ve been trained,” I responded, kicking myself for adding that last part on.

“You were hurt?!” Lane demanded.

“I’m fine now. When I woke up, I was healed.” I sighed, feeling a wave of tiredness hit me.

“Take a nap, then eat more food. Your body is working overtime to heal you. Once you shift for the first time, it will be easier and not so taxing.”

I gave a hum of agreement and headed over to the bunk, curling up once again with the phone laying by the pillow.

“We’ll be there soon. Be safe until then—that’s an order.”

“Yes, alpha,” I murmured before I drifted off to sleep.

seven

Hanging up was the hardest thing to do when all I wanted was to crawl through the phone and wrap her up in my arms. That was crazy, right? Definitely crazy. I hadn’t even met this woman, and I already felt a great loss by not having her at my side.

Crashing continued behind me in our office that Colt was determined to destroy in his grief. Colt had never given up hope that his brother was still alive, that we would find him one day—even without the United Senate’s help. I could only imagine what he must be feeling, finding out he was dead just after we’d received intel that he was spotted in New York.

We would get through this just like we had everything else—as brothers.

Ten years ago, when Cory was taken and Colt’s original pack was destroyed, I found him on the side of the road, a bloody, broken mess. As a paramedic, I couldn’t just stand by as he died, so I went to help him. In his confusion and pain, he cut me with his claws when he tried to defend himself. That day, I saved his life, and he changed mine.

He helped me through my transition, and we became best friends. Together, we moved here to Tennessee, where we founded our own pack. Before we settled here, the two of us had roamed as lone wolves, searching for his brother. I refused to let him do it alone, so when he finally decided to set up a homebase, I was right there at his side to help him. I didn’t know the first thing about being a pack leader, but many things were instinctual, and everything else I learned along the way. Our pack wasn’t massive, but it was full of stable, healthy wolves, which was unusual in the supernatural world these days.

Taking a deep breath, I walked back into the office. Colt was slumped on the floor, his back against the wall and his hands covering his face as his body shook.

“I didn’t find him in time, Lane,” Colt rasped. “He’s dead, and I wasn’t there.”

Maneuvering my way across the room, I cleared a spot next to him and sat. I rested my head against the wall and stared at the ceiling, silently supporting my friend. There was nothing I could say to make this better, and I wasn’t one to waste words. Not that he needed them from me. He always said that actions spoke louder than words.

“Did you find out who that was on the phone?” Colt asked. “I don’t really remember much after she said Cory was dead.”

“Her name is Finley, and she’s an omega, says she was made by your brother. We’ll be leaving shortly to go get her,” I explained, watching the information sink into Colt's grief-stricken brain.

Colt dropped his hands and looked at me with wide eyes. “What?”

“It seems your brother bit her, and before he died, he told her to find you.”

“No, that’s not possible. Omegas can only be born; they can’t change a person. They aren’t strong enough to do that. If they could, everyone would be having omegas create others,” Colt explained.

I looked at him and tilted my head. “What happens to the person they bite, then?”

Colt shrugged. “I can’t think of a time it’s happened. Most don’t even think to defend themselves; they freeze. I never saw my brother fight back or attack anyone.”

“Whatever the case, there is no doubt in my mind that this woman is an omega, and we need to get to her before anyone else figures it out. Something about her seems a little off, but I can’t put my finger on it.” Standing up, I reached out a hand and pulled Colt off the floor. “Come on, we have a flight to catch.”

“Should we bring the twins or Elias with us?” Colt asked as he brushed the drywall dust off himself.

After thinking for a moment, I shook my head. “Too many of us leaving might bring attention. I think it’s best if we keep this as lowkey as possible. Our pack is growing, but we don’t have enough people to guard our lands, let alone the women and children. Who knows what kind of crowd having a surprise omega will cause.”

“We have to invite Zander if we want to use his plane,” Cory countered as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

“Remind me again why we’re friends with him. The man insists on being a lone alpha on the outskirts of our pack, getting all the benefits without putting in any of the work,” I grumbled. My wolf was getting agitated at the mere thought of him. The man acted like he was a prince and everyone around him was there to cater to his whims. Sorry, but he wasn’t going to get that from me.