Chapter 2

Chapter

Two

ZANE

I was no stranger to the crushing weight of insomnia, and it dogged my heels as I made my way to the little coffee shop that had just opened not far from the Council building. Those little indulgences—grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants—felt like living in a fantasy world. We hadn't been kept underground long, but I had anticipated being away from the open sky for much longer than it took for us to get Corland on its feet.

We were working mostly on trade at the moment, but Kor had been putting together a team to live and work outside of the city limits, and funnel in weapons, tech, and food, which was going as well as it could. We were stealing most of our resources—but since we were still small, none of the other larger cities in the area had realized it just yet.

It wasn't sustainable, but it would work for long enough. Or, at least, most of the Council believed.

I was always the skeptic, but for now, I would take advantage of what I could. Small comforts were enough to get me from minute to minute.

The line for coffee wasn't long this early, with the sun barely cresting over the horizon, and as I opened the door, I was only vaguely surprised to see Orion and my brother-in-law standing at the counter. They had met at some point before we went underground, and theirs was a friendship I never entirely understood. I had initially fought Orion when he suggested that Cameron would be an asset to incoming Wolves we rescued from both battle and from the humans.

It was another one of my quiet, shameful regrets.

Cameron had always been a strange Omega. He was bigger than most, and his scent was close enough to a Beta's that he often fooled people who couldn't see past the foggy coating on his natural eye to the orange beneath. I never knew if his strength was in spite of his blindness or because of it—or maybe neither, but I had always been too cowardly to approach him about it.

I had avoided him when he and Talia first started dating—his scarred eye and his guide dog were unsettling. He was a living, breathing reminder that we were not invincible, and before Kor returned to the compound, I didn't think any Wolf could survive being disabled that way.

And it wasn't as though I hadn't seen it. War had torn so many Wolves to shreds, injuries setting in faster than our bodies could heal. But they had returned home and were quietly put on the shelf, and I told myself that's how it had to be.

We could only afford to outfit the resistance with able-bodied, capable fighters.

Orion had all-but spit in my face at the suggestion. I could see the challenge in his eyes, boring into mine the first moment Kor stood in front of me and admitted that he was blinded by the humans, and it was permanent.

But Cameron had more than proved himself useful, and it wasn't until I was forced to confront what many of our people would be facing once we got them home that I realized how cruel we had been for so many generations. The fact that I required Cameron to be useful at all was unkind. I wasn't sure my sister would ever entirely forgive me for the way I had treated him, but I was doing my best now to make up for it.

I walked up and saw Orion nudge Cameron, leaning in to whisper what I assumed was my name. Cameron didn't have Loki with him, but he leaned on his white cane and turned to me, smiling more politely than I deserved.

"Zane."

"Hey, Cam," I told him. I stuck out my hand. "I have my hand out for you to shake."

He offered his own to me, and I took it. "Caffeine fix?"

At that, I smiled, though my gaze darted over to Orion who was watching me with a cautious stare. As ever, he was beautiful and powerful. There were days I thought his leadership skills should have made him an Alpha, but I had never said that aloud. He was one of the few Wolves I knew that I trusted with my life, and the last thing I ever wanted to do was make him feel less than he already was.

"Insomnia has been a real bitch lately," I admitted.

"Normally, I'd have some advice for that," Cameron told me with a small grin, "but I think it's been a plague on all of us. I thought we'd feel better the longer we were out of the caves."

I let out a short breath as the Wolf behind the counter called Orion up for their order. "Danyal thinks it's because we're all just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"More bombs?" Cameron asked, his face falling into something like grief.

"More missing Wolves, more calls to the front lines. More death and devastation." Danyal believed this new war coming was something quieter and more sinister than the first, but I didn't want to make the tense moment worse. Luckily, Orion walked back up with two coffees in his hand and passed one over to Cameron. "Orion, would you mind if we had a quick word?"

Orion started to hesitate, but Cameron waved his hand at him. "Take as long as you need. Talia hasn't gotten much sleep since Elizabeth started teething and frankly, I don't mind delaying the trip home." It had been a little while since I'd seen my sister and my niece, and though I was pretty sure Cameron hadn't mentioned them to make me feel bad, the guilt was powerful.

"I uh…I should drop by," I said, my voice gruff.

He grinned. "Why don't you come for dinner tonight? Orion said he was going to ask Kor and Misha to join us. You could bring Dan if he's not too busy."

I shifted, glancing at Orion before breathing out a sigh. "That would be great, though I don't think Danyal will be home in time. He's locked in that fucking lab."

Cameron's face fell into something like sympathy. "Well, tell him Talia misses him. She'll be glad to see you though." He gave a nod, then set his cane in front of him and made his way out.

When he was gone, I turned to the Beta, and he followed me to the counter where I ordered the largest coffee they had. I waited until she was far enough away, then pitched my voice low enough only Orion would hear it. "Danyal came home last night and told me he's started phase one on his testing."

I couldn't quite read his expression, but he didn't look thrilled about it, and that settled something in my bones. He said nothing as I retrieved my coffee and signed my name on the receipt, then we moved toward the door and stopped by one of the corner tables by the window.

"Did he say what his plans are for…after they're done?" Orion asked, hesitating a little.

I shook my head. "I know that Kor wants to use this if he can—if it really is temporary the way Danyal hopes it'll be. He thinks if Danyal can replicate the same effects from Misha, except find a way to reverse them, that'll solve our problem with getting Omega spies into the cities and labs."

Orion ran his fingers around his mouth, then took a long drink of his coffee. "Kor said the same thing to me. I think he's out of his fucking mind, and Misha has been on my side about it."

My eyes widened. I didn't know the human well. I had made an effort to avoid him, but I knew enough about him that I figured he was entirely on his mate's side. "But let me guess, Kor's not relenting."

"He's made a few good points in his own defense," Orion admitted. "But he doesn't seem as scared as he should be, considering the situation. Even after this shit with Sanderson, he trusts too easily."

I tried not to wince but failed miserably, and I caught the sympathy in Orion's gaze before my eyes dropped to his shoulder. My heart softened a little, and not for the first time, I wished he wasn't a Beta. Or maybe I wished that I was one, because if we had the freedom to be together without burdening him with the Wolf I was, I would have pursued him with a singular focus.

I was just not as brave as other Alphas. I freely admitted that knowing Francisco and Theo were bonded set my heart racing at the possibilities, but I knew I'd never be brave enough to cross that line.

"What do you think we should do?" Orion asked, cutting into my thoughts.

I shook my head and tore my gaze away from the curve in his neck where a bond bite would go. "I have no idea. I want to find another way but…" I trailed off, thinking of the Wolves we had yet to rescue and the ones going missing every day. "We've reached the point we can't afford to wait. Too many have already been taken, and they're getting bolder. The reports…" I trailed off, knowing I didn't need to repeat the numbers to him.

He gave me a stiff nod, his gaze meeting mine and holding it. He had always been difficult to get a read on, but there were moments I desperately wished he'd open up. He had no reason to trust me, of course. At least, not the way he trusted Kor. I had been little more to him than a military commander and then an Alpha who had worked to bring Kor home.

But I couldn't deny the connection between us. Late nights following reports, waiting on edge for any news about Kor had been our reality for months. And he and I had seen each other in vulnerable states that neither of us had showed anyone else. I desperately wanted it to mean something, but I wasn't sure I had the right to ask for that.

"If you ever need to vent," he said after a beat, and my heart gave a single, painful thud, "you can come find me."

I felt the corners of my mouth rising—a slow, simple little twitch that was almost a mockery of a smile. But I had a feeling if anyone understood, it was him. I wasn't dead inside, but there was so little joy left in me.

"Same goes for you. I—" My words cut off when my phone began to buzz, and I glanced down to see it was Kor. I gave Orion one more curt nod, then took my coffee and stepped back from the door. I watched him turn and walk a few paces down the pavement where Cameron was waiting, and then I answered the Alpha's call. "Zane, here."

"I just got a call about some issue on the edge of town where those powerlines kept going down. Do you think you could swing by and check that out?"

In all honesty, it sounded far better than locking myself in the Council office, making plans for things that turned my stomach. "You know I'm not an electrician," I reminded him, patting my pocket to make sure my keys were still there.

He laughed softly. "I know. It would just make me feel better if one of us could go check it out, and I've got a meeting later with Nadya."

Nadya was an Omega who had secured a surprisingly high-level position at ComTech in DC. She'd been quietly feeding Kor information for the last six months, and though I hadn't been entirely on board trusting her, so far, it had worked out well. She'd managed to keep us up to date on the current numbers of both Wolves and humans who were reported missing, and though she'd yet to actually crack the database, she knew how to get into it. In fact, sending a Beta in to retrieve the information had been her idea.

I wasn't sure she was the sort of person I wanted to be in bed with, but I couldn't deny she got shit done. Kor had been arguing his case about her since we left the tunnels and settled in Corland, saying we needed Wolves like her who were willing to make the morally grey decisions we desperately needed to win. I hated that he was right, but the rest of the Council agreed with him a lot more enthusiastically than I did, so it took some of the pressure off.

"It's no problem," I told him after a beat, not thrilled about driving to the edge of town, but happy to spend the afternoon outside. "If I'm delayed, go ahead and start the meeting without me. You or Orion can fill me in later."

Kor let out a soft sigh. "I know this isn't a meeting you want to have, Zane. I spoke with Danyal this morning and…"

"It's fine. I don't have to like it to have your back on this," I told him, my voice a little short and clipped. I was tired of being put in the position to go against my brother's method of combat. I never thought I'd be standing opposite him on anything, but then again, I suppose I had spent so much time at war, I'd never gotten the chance to know him as well as I should have.

"We can talk more about this later," he said. "Give me a call when you're on your way."

"Alright." I hung up before he could drag me into another conversation about the philosophy of winning wars by playing as dirty as the enemy.

I wondered when I had turned into that sort of person—that sort of soldier. I had stayed alive through underhanded means more than fighting fairly. My claws were coated in blood that would never wash off. But it felt wrong to me now, and I didn't understand why.

I was able to put it out of my mind though, when Kor's text came through with the location of the failure in the grid. I could only hope there was a team out there with someone who knew what the hell they were doing, because I had spent my life training to fight—to kill. I had never been given the opportunity for any sort of skill outside of leading Wolves into victory.

It was something that had been weighing on me, but not something I had the luxury of focusing on. Maybe someday. If we did see the end of a second war, if we saw something like peace—maybe I could use that time to discover who the hell I really was. Until then, like so many others, my job was to survive another day.

The drive to the edge of town was nearly empty. It was an unsettling feeling, in spite of knowing everyone was corralled in one section of the town until we had enough Wolves who could get everything back online. But after everything we'd been through, being entirely on my own in the middle of nowhere wasn't as much of a comfort as I thought it was going to be. It was the strangest feeling, being an island in a sea of so many, but I knew I wasn't alone in that.

We were all isolated, dealing with the trauma of living, and it would take more than a few months of peaceful running on a full moon to breathe easier again.

I watched the trees whip by as I took the winding roads, and eventually I came to a halt when I saw a couple of men standing by a downed pole. One of them was leaning on a truck, and I didn't recognize them, but I saw a set of blue eyes that put me a little at ease. At every turn, I expected humans. At every turn, I felt like I was steps away from an ambush.

I offered them a wave as I dropped my phone on the seat of my Jeep, then I shoved one hand into the pocket of my jeans as I made my way over. I did my best to avoid any Alpha posturing, but I met their gazes, and both Betas tilted their head in deference. The wind picked up, and there was a sudden caustic smell on the breeze that set my hackles rising.

"Listen," I started. It was the only thing I could get out before the sharp sting in my neck.

My body hit the ground, and though my mind was fully aware, I couldn't get my limbs to move. A scream lodged in my throat, but all I could manage was a muffled groan as hands began to tie me. I felt a rush of fury, facing down the absolute proof that our people—Wolves—would betray us like this.

Darkness began to descend as I was dragged across the pavement, along the forest ground, and eventually dropped in the back of a white van. I hit the floor with a sharp thud, my head cracking on a piece of jagged metal, and I felt blood trickle over my eye. There was a body in there with me—a human, by the scent of them, and then there was a low chuckle.

It was a man, most likely. His voice was young, but he still spoke with a low rumble after petting my hair like I was some sort of dog. "Good boy."

My claws began to extend, and for a moment, I thought I was healing. Then came another sting, and I felt my fangs begin to elongate. My ears sharpened, my body began to twist, but it stopped halfway through the shift. It was agony, but I still had no voice to scream.

"Get comfortable, dog," the man spat, "you're in for a very long journey."