18. THEO

Chapter 18

THEO

‘Mia! Mia, where are you?!’ I call desperately through the mind link.

When my mental voice – the voice of my wolf – extends beyond my mind, I know that she can hear me. Relief washes over me, fueling my resolve as I'm faced by a dozen wolves on either side of the corridor.

Blackclaw wolves who snarl and sneer at me, licking their wolf tongues over their sharp teeth.

‘I'm coming, Theo!’

Mia's reply prompts me to shift into wolf form. Arms distending and configuring into the furry forearms of the wolf, my legs become the wolf's hind legs. Standing on those hind legs, I roar a resonant howl in the air as the Alpha is unleashed from within me.

My mate's presence – even though it's only in my mind – fuels my strength and makes me feel unstoppable. Invincible, as I tear through the group on my left.

With sharp claws slashing into them, I fight through them before my ears perk up. The fur on the back of my neck prickles to attention, my senses being heightened instantly.

I feel Mia's presence long before her scent becomes evident in the air. Slicing through my opponents, a brown Blackclaw wolf latches its canines on my arm.

I roar into the air as the pain disintegrates my focus. I bare my teeth, about to counter-attack when Mia lunges for the culprit. She knocks into the wolf's large form, snapping its teeth from around my arm and sending it into a wall.

The force is so strong, the wolf breaks through the wooden wall, leaving a gaping hole from which the outside becomes clear.

‘Quick!’ I alert Mia, snapping my head in the direction of the woods. She follows my direction, leaping through the hole and onto the lawn.

I follow her lead, landing on cushioned paws on the unusually coarse grass. Perhaps because we're on foreign land, everything around us becomes treacherous.

And as the Blackclaw wolves rush out of the cabin, more join them from the shadows of the woods.

‘Ready?’ I ask mentally as she turns her head to me.

When Mia nods, I notice that the silver streak of lightning is brighter along her fur. Glowing as if an energetic force runs through it, there's something powerful about her aura.

I witness that power for the first time when she turns around toward the gathering of wolves stalking toward us. She looks up at one particular tree, and the next moment that tree cracks from its roots.

The giant redwood falls in front of the group of wolves. Severing their path, stalling them long enough for us to take care of the werewolves under our noses.

Too focused on fighting them, I've barely taken note of what just happened. As we tear through our opponents, it remains in the back of my mind that Mia just dropped a tree without touching it.

Watching her fight is what gives me the most satisfaction. Seeing the way her sharp canines bite havoc into the flesh of our enemies.

Though she is a Blackclaw wolf, she fights against them as if she's at war with them. Even those hindered by the fallen tree come to attack.

But Mia and I work as a team. When one leaps toward me, she lunges for it. When another pounces on her, I rush forward and dig my claws into its neck. All around the wolves drop like flies, until none are left.

Bloodied and panting, I turn to Mia as my eyelids close with relief. Our muzzles connect, breathing each other's scents like the sustenance it becomes.

The sound of distant clapping pulls us apart abruptly.

From behind the cabin, Cyrus emerges like the coward he is. As soon as he makes his appearance beneath the moonlight, Mia shifts into human form beside me. I do the same, wrapping my arms around her protectively.

“You're safe…” I breathe with relief.

“I am,” Mia whispers, not taking her eyes off Cyrus as he comes forward.

“Well done!” Cyrus cheers sarcastically as he comes to a halt. He crosses his arms over his chest, one brow lifting speculatively. He rakes his eyes between Mia and I, then shakes his head. “Don't tell me… You two are fated mates,” he scoffs.

Mia glances at me as if asking permission. When I nod and remove my arms from around her, she steps forward.

“What you need to tell me, Cyrus, is who am I?”

Cyrus places a hand on his chin, countering Mia's question by stalling. “You already know who you are, Omega.”

“That's not what I am, and we both know it,” she snaps back. “All I want to know is why? Why did your people do that to Mystic Moon?”

All I can do is stand back and listen to Mia's demands. I have no idea what she's talking about, or who Mystic Moon is.

But I know Cyrus has the answers. It's in the way he cups his chin and regards Mia with a raised brow. And in the way he gulps before he speaks.

“What does it matter?” He blows out a nonchalant breath. “They're gone already.”

“It does matter!” I interject, stepping up beside Mia. I feel the need to not only protect her, but to be by her side in this crucial moment.

This is the moment when she finds out the truth. When she discovers who she really is.

“Answer her, Cyrus!” I demand as I once again fold an arm around Mia's arms. She shivers into me, melding to my side like the half to the whole that makes us one.

Standing there together feels extraordinarily powerful. A force that Cyrus seems threatened by as he gulps, eyes flitting between Mia and I.

“You already know why…” Cyrus says as he cocks his head to one side and glares at Mia. “You know that you're too powerful for your own good. Power that would have been utilized correctly if you were my mate.”

“That's what you planned on doing?” Mia scoffs. “What about the alliance with the Nightwalker Pack?”

Cyrus glances at me. “It was merely a plan I devised to have full control of Missouri. I would have made you my mate, and Anastasia would have been my bride.

I would have been the most powerful. After all, there was no such thing as human hunters as threats. I just paid some willing humans to visit Overton.”

Frowning, I turn to Mia, realizing that she's using her power to keep Cyrus in a trance. A state that forces him to be truthful.

“Why?” she asks again as her fists curling on her sides.

“Because Mystic Moon was too powerful, and Father wanted that power for himself.”

“So he kidnapped the Alpha's daughter?”

Cyrus nods, face contorting with the way he struggles against Mia's power. But beside me, Mia fumes until she steps out of my arm and shifts into wolf form.

It happens in a matter of seconds – one moment she's beside me, the next she flashes into wolf form. Her wolf lunges forward and sharp canines puncture Cyrus's neck.

She spits to one side as if the taste of his blood is bitter. What she spits out hits the ground before he does, and Cyrus collapses in a lifeless pile.

Mia instantly shifts back to human form and turns to me. She uses the back of her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth.

“Let's go home,” she says as she offers me a feeble smile.

I rush forward just as she loses consciousness, capturing her into my arms.