9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

A strident buzzer went off through the whole complex. It woke some, and others actually fell out of beds and chairs. That’s how loud it was. It wasn’t pleasant; it was the fingers on a chalkboard magnified by one hundred.

“What the hell is that?” Reed asked. There was a scowl on his face guaranteed to frighten children.

“That is the signal that a filthy abomination has entered the world,” Connor told him. He was an old man pushing ninety, but he still ruled the Hunter’s complex. “An omega.” He practically spat the word out.

“Do we know where this child is?”

Connor opened the door to the room all Hunters thought of as sacred. In here, they could give thanks to the goddess of the Black Night, who protected them. There was also a tracker for all children born as omegas.

Reed followed his mentor into the room. They both went to the center, where there was a glowing crystal. Connor placed his hands on it, then frowned. He stepped back.

“Reed, see what the crystal has to tell us.”

Reed placed his hands on the crystal, mumbling a few words, and then stepped back, a look of shock on his face.

“This can’t be right.” Reed inspected the crystal, wondering if someone had tampered with it. “What did it tell you?”

“The same. This isn’t a newborn child, but a fully grown omega. She has transformed into a vile creature.”

“The humans?” He knew the stories from the past before the hunters came to be. The abomination would turn into a vile animal and go on killing sprees, targeting women, men, and children. It would tear them apart, drinking their blood, and then look for another until it filled its belly on the flesh and the blood of humans. Only then would it find a place to rest, to start again another day.

“We have to stop this woman. You know what happened in the past,” Conner said, stroking memories that had been taught to Reed as a child.

“How can this be? We take care of them at birth.” Reed was the highest hunter after Connor and would one day take his place as the leader of the Hunters. They weren’t called on the way they were in the past when Connor and others were young. The number of omegas being born dwindled to one or two every fifteen years. A hunter was sent out to kill the child and to bring back some of the blood to go into their vault. The Hunters were still there, knowing they had to be diligent. The protection of human life was their mandate.

He still couldn’t understand how an omega went without being identified at birth.

“There must be black witchcraft involved. It hid her from us, and now we are on the clock. Hundreds may already be dead.” Reed’s voice of doom filled the room.

“Where do we look for her?” Connor wrote the coordinates he’d received from the crystal and handed them to Reed.

“Use a circular grid. This will get you into the vicinity, but it won’t pinpoint her. Remember, she’s a vile creature who may wear the face of an angel.”

Reed stopped for a minute before acknowledging what Connor said with a nod. How could a vile female look like an angel? Then he thought of the devil and how they said that Lucifer had the face of an angel and the soul of evil. Maybe this omega was born to be Lucifer’s mate. It was a good thing he was in hell, because she’d be joining him soon.

Far away and unbeknownst to the Hunters, another group heard the same loud, discordant noise. They sat in a circle around a black table in high-back chairs. They used no names when they entered this room.

“Do you think it’s starting?” Speaker one asked.

“Does it matter?” Speaker two asked.

“The hunter will end this before it begins,” Speaker Four said.

“The hunters have grown lazy over the years. Must we put our faith in them?” Speaker Six said.

Speaker one scoffed but kept quiet. None of them were going to don their black robes and go hunting for one wayward female who should have died years ago. They would command others to kill, but their hands were always clean.

“If not the hunters, then who?” Speaker five asked.

“Speaker six’s head dropped.” They would have to trust the Hunter to do what they were born to do.

“The abomination cannot—.”

Speaker one cut off speaker four. “We’re well aware of what the abomination cannot live long enough to do. Let’s not talk about that horror.” There was a grumble of consensus as they readied themselves to leave the room. When they left, it would be like this never happened.

Rome led Amelia through the pack house until they reached his private living quarters. He took her to the den, where he liked to relax after a long day.

“Have a seat. Would you like a glass of wine?” She tilted her head and looked at him with inquisitive eyes. His den was cozy, with an overstuffed couch and enough deep chairs to fit a small pack. The walls were painted a light blue, and the couches and chairs were a dark blue with threads of lighter blue through them. There was a bookcase on one wall and a bar on the other. If she wasn’t mistaken, it looked like he had a large television that looked like a picture when it wasn’t on.

“You’ve never had wine before?”

“No.” He wondered if Amelia was sheltered in her brief life. Who would allow a precious flower to roam around unsupervised? He went to the small bar he had in his den and pulled out a bottle of wine from the wine fridge and took out two flutes.

“Beautiful.” She was looking at the glasses. They were crystal cut to catch the light and refract it at different angles. The longer he lived, the more he was attracted to beautiful things that defied the norm. Like the woman sitting in front of him with her white hair that shined like moonlight and her silver eyes.

He poured her a half glass and handed it to her. “Take small sips. This is red wine, later, you can try white wine. Trying both is the only way to decide which you prefer, or maybe you’ll like both red and white wines.”

She took a small sip of the wine. Her eyes went wide. “I’ve never tried anything like this before. I think I like it.” She took another sip.

He lifted his glass and took a drink. Wine, like any alcohol, was an acquired taste. Some acquired it faster than others.

“I haven’t forgotten that we were going to talk.” She frowned and buried her face in her glass. Not drinking, using it to dodge the statement.

Rome’s wolf began beating at his insides before he could go any further. “I need to step out. I’ll be right back.”

He heard Amelia’s small sigh of relief as he walked out of the room. When he was far enough away not to be heard, he wrestled with his wolf. “What is wrong with you?” he growled.

His wolf didn’t talk to him in words. Pictures and emotions were his way of communicating. It was something Rome never thought about. His wolf was an animal he never expected to speak.

“Mate.” Rome lost his balance and ended up against the wall. His wolf had spoken through him in a deep, gravelly voice that didn’t belong to Rome. He wasn’t sure what shocked him more, his wolf talking or him saying that Amelia was his mate.

It answered the question of why he got hard the minute he laid eyes on her, and why that hardness was not going away. He was applying his considerable will to it, but it refused to acknowledge anything except the wonderful scent coming from Amelia.

“Mate?” He almost trembled. Had the goddess Luna given him his heart’s desire? The mate he waited centuries for? She was in his den, and he could no longer stand to be away from her.

His long legs ate up the distance between them. “If you scare her, we’ll lose her,” he cautioned his wolf before entering the den.

“You’re back.” She gave him a shaky smile and set the empty glass down. “You deserve an explanation to know why I can’t take you up on your hospitality, as generous as it is.” Her hands were shaking, and she wrung them, hoping to get them to stop and get the courage needed to tell him why he should turn her away.

“Nothing you say is going to change the way I think about you.” Or feel, he added silently. She placed her hand on her chest as if she, too, was fighting with her wolf.

A mate. One he was going to have to go slow with. He wasn’t sure how, but he’d figure it out.

“I was born twenty-five years ago. My wolf never presented during adolescence the way my peers’ wolves did. My peers would whisper about me. The adults would scent me and turn away like they were scenting something rotten. As the years went on, they whispered the words omega and abomination behind my back and sometimes in my face.” Her arms went around her chest, comforting herself, and she jumped up, needing to pace.

Her voice lowered, and her shoulders slumped, as if she couldn’t take what she was about to tell him. “My pack was planning to kill me on my birthday. My father is the alpha, and he made a way for me to escape. They followed me, hoping to kill me on the road. I shook them, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come after me later. For the sake of your pack, I need to leave and keep running.” Tears slid down her face, but he noticed she straightened her shoulders and back. She was running, but she refused to be knocked down. His mate was strong. His wolf preened. She would make the perfect mate and one day, Luna willing, the perfect mother.

“Do you understand?”

“I do. The goddess Luna has blessed you.”

She turned wide silver eyes on him even as she shook her head. “There is no goddess. That’s something we tell children. As they grow older, they no longer believe.”

“Explain to me how I have met her many times over the course of my life?” He poured her a third of a glass of wine, while he swapped his flute for a glass of whiskey.

“You met her in the flesh?” She wasn’t sure if he was lying or simply pulling her leg.

“I have, more than once.” It took her a minute, but she finally nodded.

“I kind of believe in her even though I shouldn’t. Why do you say I am blessed, and why would my pack want me dead if I’m such a blessing?”

“Your birth was foretold centuries ago. It is a long story, and I think you’ve had enough to deal with tonight. You need sleep.”

“I have to go back to the motel. My bags are there, and my car is parked along the road where I entered the forest.”

“Did you unpack?”

“No, I was too tired.”

“Saul will get your bags and pay Roland whatever you owe, and Theron will retrieve your car.”

Her shoulders stiffened and her jaw clenched. “I have money. I’m not looking for a handout.”

“Good mate ,” his wolf purred. Was this going to become an everyday occurrence? His wolf speaking words he could understand and not just pictures and emotions. His wolf gave him a growl, and he left it alone. Amelia was too important for him to be sidetracked.

“I don’t know.” She was shaking her head like she was arguing with herself.

“Trust your wolf. I’ll show you to your room and have the rest taken care of. Let me do this for you.”

She stared into his eyes for a long time before she finally nodded. He smiled and led her to her room. Tomorrow the wooing would start.