The Other Half

Rei stared at Mara.

"What do you mean they're here for Dominic?"

Her mother's face had gone pale. She looked toward the ceiling as another set of footsteps crossed the farmhouse above them. The hunters were searching room by room, but they hadn't found the trapdoor yet.

"They aren't only hunting the Omega bloodline," Mara whispered. "They need the Alpha bloodline connected to it."

Dominic's expression hardened.

"My family."

Mara nodded.

"Your family."

Rei looked between them.

"I don't understand."

Mara took a shaky breath.

"Your grandmother escaped Blackthorn because she discovered what they were really trying to accomplish. They weren't studying Omegas. They were trying to recreate the original bond between the First Omega and the Alpha who was genetically connected to her."

Dominic frowned.

"And my family was that Alpha bloodline?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"Because your father told me."

Dominic went completely still.

"My father?"

Mara nodded.

"Marcus Vale was supposed to become the Alpha they used with your grandmother."

Rei's eyes widened.

"But he helped her escape."

"He did."

"Why?"

Mara's expression softened.

"Because he fell in love with her."

Dominic stared at her.

Rei couldn't speak.

The revelation was almost too enormous to comprehend. Dominic's father and her grandmother had not merely known each other. Their families had been deliberately brought together by Blackthorn.

"Did they mate?" Dominic asked.

"No."

Mara shook her head.

"Elara refused."

"Then how did they have children?"

"They didn't."

Dominic looked confused.

Mara continued.

"Your father had a brother."

Dominic's face changed.

Rei remembered the old photograph.

The second boy standing beside Marcus.

"The boy in the picture," she whispered.

Mara nodded.

"His name was Adrian."

Dominic stared at her.

"My father never mentioned a brother."

"Because Adrian disappeared."

"Where?"

"Blackthorn."

The word seemed to echo through the basement.

Mara continued.

"They took Adrian because he was a stronger genetic match for Elara than Marcus was. They believed he could force the bond."

Dominic's hands curled into fists.

"What happened to him?"

"We don't know."

Rei looked at Dominic.

For the first time, she understood why his father's reaction had been so intense.

This wasn't merely about Rei.

Dominic's family had been trapped in the same nightmare for generations.

But Mara wasn't finished.

"The program didn't end when Elara escaped."

Dominic looked at her.

"They continued searching for another compatible pair."

Rei's stomach tightened.

"Us."

Mara nodded.

"You and Dominic."

"Why us?"

"Because the bloodline eventually went dormant."

Mara looked at Rei.

"Until you."

Then she looked at Dominic.

"And until him."

Dominic's voice was quiet.

"What makes me different?"

"Your father refused the program. He spent years trying to destroy it. But when you were born, they discovered something."

"What?"

Mara hesitated.

"Your genetic markers."

Dominic stared at her.

"You were the first Vale Alpha in generations to carry the exact compatibility marker."

Rei's heart began racing.

"And I was the first Omega."

"Yes."

"That's why they brought me to Blackthorn."

"Yes."

"That's why they were watching me before I even arrived."

"Yes."

Rei shook her head.

"But why didn't they simply take me?"

Mara looked at Dominic.

"Because they needed him."

Dominic's expression darkened.

"They needed me alive."

Mara nodded.

"They need the two of you together."

Rei immediately stepped backward.

"No."

Mara reached for her.

"Rei, listen."

"No. That's exactly what everyone has been telling me. That I need him. That my blood needs his blood. That I'm some kind of missing piece."

Her voice cracked.

"I'm not a piece of anything."

Dominic looked at her.

"I know."

She turned toward him.

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"You keep saying you're protecting me."

"I am."

"But what happens if protecting me means becoming part of the same thing they're trying to force?"

Dominic's eyes softened.

"Then I won't."

Rei stared at him.

"I don't care what our blood wants."

He stepped closer.

"Neither do I."

"But your wolf—"

"My wolf doesn't make my decisions."

The words were firm.

"You do."

Rei swallowed.

For the first time, she felt something inside her loosen.

Mara watched them with tears in her eyes.

"That's why they are afraid of you, Dominic."

He looked at her.

"Why?"

"Because you're the first compatible Alpha who has the strength to resist the bond."

Dominic frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"It means the academy can't control you."

Mara's voice dropped.

"And if they can't control you, they can't control her."

A violent crash sounded above them.

The hunters had found the hidden staircase.

Dominic immediately moved toward the tunnel.

"How far does this go?"

"Three miles."

"Where does it come out?"

"Near the old chapel."

Dominic looked at Rei.

"Can you walk?"

She nodded.

Mara grabbed his arm.

"There is something else."

"What?"

"Your father isn't the only person who betrayed them."

Dominic waited.

Mara looked at Rei.

"Your stepfather worked for Blackthorn."

Rei's face went completely white.

"No."

"He was assigned to watch your mother."

Rei shook her head.

"That's impossible."

"He wasn't simply your mother's husband."

Mara's eyes filled with tears.

"He was sent into our family."

Rei couldn't breathe.

Every memory came rushing back.

The locked doors.

The arguments.

Her mother's fear.

The nights when her stepfather would stand outside her bedroom.

The way her mother had tried to shield her.

The way everything had fallen apart.

Rei had always believed her stepfather's behavior was the product of cruelty.

Now she realized there had been something far more sinister behind it.

"He knew what I was."

Mara nodded.

"He knew."

"That's why he watched me."

"Yes."

"That's why he kept asking about my scent."

"Yes."

Rei covered her mouth.

The room seemed to tilt.

Dominic caught her before she fell.

She pushed against him.

"I need a minute."

He released her immediately.

Mara stepped closer.

"I'm sorry."

Rei stared at her.

"You knew?"

"I suspected."

"You knew what he was doing?"

"I knew he was watching us. I didn't know everything."

Rei's eyes filled with tears.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was afraid."

"Of him?"

"Of everyone."

Mara's voice broke.

"I thought if I kept you ignorant, they wouldn't know you remembered."

Rei wiped her eyes.

"Remembered what?"

Mara looked toward the tunnel.

"The night your grandmother disappeared."

Rei froze.

"You were there."

Mara nodded.

"You were six years old."

Another crash came from above.

The hunters were getting closer.

Mara grabbed Rei's hand.

"You saw everything."

Rei's breathing became uneven.

"What did I see?"

"Your grandmother fighting them."

"Who?"

"Blackthorn."

"And my father?"

Mara hesitated.

"Not your father."

Rei stared at her.

"Then who?"

Mara looked at Dominic.

"His father."

Dominic's face hardened.

"My father was there?"

"He came to save Elara."

"Did he?"

"Yes."

"Then why did she disappear?"

Mara looked down.

"Because she wasn't the only one taken."

Rei's eyes widened.

"Who else?"

Mara's voice barely carried.

"Adrian."

Dominic's missing uncle.

The footsteps above them suddenly stopped.

Everyone went silent.

Then a voice called from the floor above.

"Dominic Vale."

His name echoed through the basement.

"We know you're down there."

Dominic looked at Rei.

The voice continued.

"You have no idea what your father did."

Mara's face drained of color.

Dominic's jaw tightened.

The hunters knew.

And they were deliberately trying to make him listen.

Another voice followed.

"Ask your mother what happened to Adrian."

Dominic looked at Mara.

"You're my mother?"

Mara shook her head.

"No."

Then she looked at Rei.

"I'm sorry."

Dominic's eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?"

Mara stared at him.

"Your father's first mate."

The basement seemed to freeze.

Rei looked at Dominic.

Dominic looked at Mara.

Everything they thought they knew about their families had just changed.

Mara whispered the truth.

"Marcus Vale didn't abandon the First Omega."

"He abandoned me."

And somewhere above them, the hunters began breaking through the floor.

The escape had become a race against time.

But now Dominic had another reason to run.

They weren't only hunting him because he was the Alpha compatible with Rei.

They were hunting him because his family carried a secret that could destroy Blackthorn.

And his father had spent Dominic's entire life making sure he never discovered it.