Chapter 1

Brielle

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Dinner!" Jenson yelled.

The slot in the center of the door opened, and I jumped up from my cot. I had about five seconds before the food tray was shoved through the hole, and I'd learned the hard way that if you weren't ready to grab your meal when it arrived, you'd be eating it off the floor.

I gripped the steel tray as it was unceremoniously shoved through the slot and frowned at the brown, soupy liquid and hunk of stale bread.

"I know you're holding out on me. Where's the good stuff?" I asked, looking through the small window.

As far as staff went, Jenson was the nicest. Sure, he was a cantankerous old bastard sometimes, but unlike the others, he didn't mistreat us because we were Omegas. He had an attitude with everyone, regardless of rank, and I could appreciate that.

The cranky shifter huffed. "What do you think this is, a five-star hotel? Maybe if you spent less time playing hide-and-seek during the Hunt, you'd be eating better."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at his unwelcome suggestion. Any indication of disrespect would end the only source of interaction I had in this place, so I schooled my expression. I'd already spent nine months staring at the blank walls of my prison cell within the Council's facility. There was nothing to do but count down the days until I was released into the forest with the other unfortunate Omegas who'd aged out of the boarding houses.

I was something of a mystery, though. It was unheard of for an Omega to beat the Hunt—to avoid getting captured and make it to the end—but I'd done it three times.

"Come on, don't be like that, Jenny." My nickname for the guard was half-taunt, half-endearment. "You know I can't leave you. Who else would provide you with such riveting conversation?"

He snorted and furrowed his thick, graying eyebrows. "Eat up, kid. I have a feeling this is the last time we'll see each other."

His words set alarm bells ringing within me.

"Don't be so dramatic." I placed the tray on the wooden desk behind me, preferring to take advantage of the temporary company instead of shoveling down the disgusting excuse for nutrition. "You say that every time."

They kept me separate from the other girls—as if my resistance was contagious. After my second win, the Council guessed what I was up to. They didn't want news of their little loophole spreading to the other candidates, so they isolated me.

My wolf snorted. As if we have a choice.

"I mean it every time," Jenson murmured. Something in his face shifted, and he looked at me with pity. The emotion made my hair stand on end. "You're playing a dangerous game, kid. If you were my daughter . . ." He fell silent, shutting down the thought as he cast his eyes down the hallway.

Part of me wanted to know what put that look of confusion on his face.

I opened my mouth to ask, but then I heard it.

A chill raced down my spine with every dull thud that reached my ears.

The guards were on the prowl earlier than usual.

The Council guards—or dignitaries, as they liked to call themselves—were glorified bullies. They were responsible for collecting Omegas from the boarding houses and overseeing their stay until the Hunt began. The guards were predominantly Alphas and Betas, and they took every opportunity to make our lives more difficult.

You'd think we were criminals or something.

"Time's up, Jenny," I said, patting the door with more bravado than I felt. "See you tomorrow."

As Jenson's footsteps retreated down the hall, I sat at the desk and made a show of dipping the craggy bread into my soup in case the guards decided to peek through the window.

The Council punished me after each win, hoping to make my stay unbearable. They wanted to break me—to strong-arm me into accepting my fate. They didn't know that I'd rather starve to death than bind myself to some random unit so I could pop out their pups.

I refused to make it easy for them.

It didn't matter. I was only two Hunts away from freedom. Then, there was nothing anyone could do to stop me from walking out those doors.

I choked down the rest of the soup, climbed onto my thin cot, and covered myself with the threadbare sheet. Tomorrow would mark my fourth win.

And I would be one step closer to finding Blythe.

The lights shut off, drowning the room in darkness.

I ran my thumb over the circular locket coiled at the bottom of my pocket, clutching it between my fingers as if it were the only thing keeping the memories at bay.

Keeping the pain from devouring the shell I'd become.

"I'm coming for you, Blythe," I whispered into the shadows.

I stared into the yawning abyss until my eyes were heavy with sleep, and I could no longer fight the exhaustion that threatened to consume me.

***

"Daddy!" I screamed.

I reached for him as his body went limp and his eyes took on a milky quality. I'd never seen a dead body before, and terror choked the breath from my lungs. They killed him. Daddy said they would try and take us away, and they killed him because of us. The weight of my grief was unbearable as my father—the man who loved and protected me—sagged against the steering wheel in a pool of blood.

"No . . . no . . . da-daddy, no!" Blythe's sobs filled the air as the back door was ripped off its hinges.

It only took a moment for my sister's screams to turn from despair to terror. Gloved hands yanked her backward, and I snapped into action, moving on instinct as my wolf rose within me. I lunged, clawing at the shifters who held my younger sister.

"Fuck!" one cried out, trying to shake me off.

"Get away from her," I shouted, ignoring the blood on my fingers.

I tore into their flesh with a screech as Blythe fell to the ground at the shifter's feet, but more of them surrounded us. I scrambled in front of Blythe, determined to be the barrier between her and the men who had killed our father.

"Grab that little bitch before she attacks again," growled the shifter who had pulled Blythe from the car.

I smirked.

"Are you going to come quietly like a good girl, or are we going to have to hurt you?" the new shifter asked in a deceptively calm voice.

This one was more frightening than the first. There was a darkness in his eyes—showing a cavernous pit where his soul should be—ready to tangle me in its web.

I took a step back as hot tears stung my cheeks. "Murderers! We'll never go with you."

A horrible smile pulled at his thin lips. "I was hoping you'd say that."

My stomach squeezed as he advanced.

Then, a thunderous boom shook the earth, and I fell to my knees. A sickening crack rang through the air as pain zinged up my arm.

I cried out, rising to my knees and looking for Blythe in the chaos. Cradling my throbbing arm to my chest, I gaped at the scene unfolding before me. The first group of wolves were fighting another band of shifters—one with females.

"Hands off the girl, you piece of shit," one of the women shouted, dodging a blow while reaching for Blythe.

The Council shifter released Blythe, but when the woman went to grab her, he struck. The woman pushed Blythe into the arms of a scared male moments before her attacker locked her in a fierce hold.

The Council shifter dragged his nose over her hair, taking a long sniff. "When I'm finished with you, you'll regret the day you joined the free raiders."

Free raiders.

The words buried themselves in my memory.

My head snapped back as someone grabbed my ponytail and viciously dragged me through the battle. The man and woman quickly disappeared amid the mass of colliding bodies, and I screamed.

I was still screaming as they shoved me into a black van, raised their weapons, and fired into the fray.

***

I jolted awake as fluorescent lights flooded my cell. A loud buzzer echoed through the building, and I reminded myself that the feeling of sticky, warm blood on my hands was nothing more than the remnant of a dream. Slowly, my surroundings—the lumpy mattress, the cold furniture, the scents of bleach and male—came into focus.

Taking deep breaths, I slowed my racing heart.

I stood and waited for the guards to take me to the collaring room. When the heavy door opened, a sour-faced crew greeted me.

"Not going to cause any trouble today, are you?" Frank, the beady-eyed guard, asked.

"No more than usual," I replied, holding my head high.

Frank snorted. "You're an Omega. You should start acting like it."

"What does that mean?" I challenged.

Alister, who looked like a juiced-up version of Prince Charming minus the charm, wrapped his hand around my forearm and led me down the hall.

"It means it's better to bend than break." Alister's voice cut through the air like a knife. "But I'm sure your unit will have fun either way."

I hated that his words affected me. A cold fist clenched around my heart at the thought of being caught.

"And I'll enjoy giving them a big middle finger when I win again," I hissed, angrier at my fear than his words.

Alister laughed, the sound like metal against rocks. "You're at the end of your rope, Brielle. I can't wait to see your face when you finally realize it."

Frank fell into step with me, leering as if he had the power to undress me with his eyes. He noticed me looking and licked his lips. "You know a dignitary watches your claiming, right?"

"Better tell them not to hold their breath."

"I won't," he purred.

A shudder ran through me. Creep. "On second thought, you should start right now."

He laughed like the sleazeball he was, and I did my best to ignore him.

When we reached the door to the collaring room, I straightened my shoulders. It was time to focus.

All the lessons my father taught me flooded my brain. My wolf rose, melding with me until there was no telling where I ended, and she began.

I was going to win this.

Follow the birds west.

They were the last words of the wolf who tried to save me. When the Council's shifter opened fire at the free raiders, one free raider had broken through their line in a final attempt to save me. He delivered the message with his dying breath.

I clung to my memories of Blythe.

She had to be alive. I knew it.

And after I won this Goddess-damned Hunt, I'd find her.