End of Chapter 8

Quinn turned, swerving through the crowd in search for her benefactor. The one wizened Omega who had taught her everything she needed to know and saved her from starvation. Tom stood at the edge of the inn, silently nursing a mug in his hand with a soldier by his side, guarding his presence.

The fey was blind, eyes growing wide as she announced her presence with a gentle whisper of his name. She knelt before him, unable to hide her soft spot for the stoic man in a moment such as this one. She needed answers from the leader of this place.

"Quinn?" was his shaky reply, his wings fluttering behind him.

"Tom, this news. Tell me what you think of it?" she asked. "I'm no Alpha. So I should stay with you. I'll bring in all your goods. I promise to keep this place running. I can care for you, and I'll try my best to fulfil every order—"

"No-Man's town will be gone by nightfall," he answered softly. "We will not continue, and I will return home. There will be no market for you to sell your goods."

"I will not leave—"

"My dear, the King's words are not a request. It's an order," he smiled. "No one can thrive in this place. It was always a temporary zone with the Lonely that only come closer every day. It is too dangerous to stay. You'll die here one day, lost in the wastelands with no one to save you. No family that cares. A Lonely's bite cannot be cured, and you know that, why stay in the face of danger when you can be safe behind walls?"

"But, I'm good at scavenging, I—"

"I do remember, the day you arrived wrapped in blood and flesh, so lost in your own head." He stroked her hair, fingers across her cheek the wrinkled flesh warm on her skin. "You are just like my Sarah."

Quinn stared up at him, brows furrowed at the mention of his dead Alpha mate who'd been his reason why he'd set up the safe zone for Alphas.

"You will become a good wife, someone that will change the people they meet. Your influence will spread far and wide across the land, and the young will thrive from that. That much I can see." His words grew cryptic, wings fluttering as he spoke.

"I'm a Beta," she said, eyes wide. "I'm weak, I don't belong there—"

"A Beta is just a different kind of Alpha," he smiled. "Your mates are exactly who you need."

"But Omegas are prejudiced. They hate us. They hate me, there won't be any kindness—"

"I'm Omega, Quinn," was his careful answer and she licked her lips, felt the bubble of words that she should not say spill from her tongue.

"And you killed your mate," was her answer as she stepped backwards, felt the poison seep from her voice. And her head throb with fading allure, she glared now understanding that he'd been using his abilities on her, coaxing her emotions to grow calm. The old man's eyes widened, searching for her through his blindness.

"I did," he agreed. "She was kind during her moments, sweet when we were young. She wanted a world where we could stand equal and always dreamed of living somewhere outside the city. But society ruined her, her Rut ruined her, the war ruined her. She started to see me as cattle." He reached forward. "You won't understand until you experience your first true Rut, until you remember what it was like."

The problem was she did. She had Euodia's memories, weaved into her head like a viper that would not leave. The rage surged through her, roared free from her lips. "I'm not Alpha!" she bit out, moving back. "Thank you for caring for me, but it appears I cannot stay."

"Quinn, becoming a mate is a far better fate than fighting for survival out here—"

She tore out of the inn to an unforgiving, icy wind that burned her skin and made her grow blue. Her body shaking as her feet thundered upon the wooden planks. A wet, thick snow had fallen, turning the planks slick with ice that threatened her fall. She swerved in the streets, found it silent and empty despite the huge number of Alphas that lived in these parts. It seemed, her head turned towards the inn, eyes sweeping over the warmth of a roaring flame, that most had left.

But Quinn never stood a chance, not with Float turned off,and her back to the shadows. She'd grown too used to the safety of the town, and the distinctive signs of a Lonely that were always so loud and destructive. She had forgotten the dangers that lurked within the hollow spaces, the problems of living with people that wanted her to bend to their needs.

She turned the corner, and wolves leapt free from the shadows in a chaotic mess of snarling beasts. The beings were huge, coats sleek as they towered over her. Adorned in leather, they snapped their teeth hissing through canines and prowling forward. But what caught her eye was the head of the pack, a being that loomed above all others, the largest of the pack with brunette fur, that rippled with strands of gorgeous silky gold, and eyes the colour of bejewelled clementine.

Shifters. Omega shifters.

There was no time for a scream, as his paw collided with her head, forcing her straight into the embrace of unconscious darkness. And Quinn collapsed upon the ground, succumbing to her fate. It seemed that there had been no choice to make, for the Omegan kingdom had been determined to imprison and capture all that strayed beyond their walls.

She was going to die.

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