They Need Rei

The sound beneath the laboratory floor grew louder.

It wasn't mechanical.

At least, not entirely.

There was something organic beneath the vibration, something that seemed to pulse through the walls like a second heartbeat. Rei felt it in her chest before she heard it again.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Dominic's fingers tightened around hers.

"What's happening?"

Marcus stared at the monitors.

"They've activated the chamber."

Rei looked at him.

"What chamber?"

"The original one."

"Original what?"

Marcus swallowed.

"The first bonding chamber."

Rei stared at him.

"You keep saying things as though I'm supposed to understand them."

"You're right."

His expression was filled with regret.

"You deserve the truth."

"Then tell me."

Marcus looked at the screens.

"Blackthorn doesn't need you because you're an Omega."

Rei's heart hammered.

"They need you because you're the first Omega in generations whose bloodline has awakened completely."

"Awakened to what?"

"The First Omega."

Rei frowned.

"That still doesn't explain anything."

Marcus nodded.

"Your ancestor, Elara, wasn't simply a powerful Omega. Her body carried a mutation that allowed her to influence the biological responses of Alphas around her."

Dominic looked at him.

"Influence?"

"More than that."

Marcus hesitated.

"She could calm an Alpha's aggression. Strengthen an Alpha's abilities. Disrupt an Alpha's scent recognition. In extreme cases, she could even override an Alpha's instinctive responses."

Rei stared at him.

"So I can control Alphas?"

"No."

Marcus shook his head.

"Not naturally. That's what Blackthorn has spent decades trying to change."

He pointed toward the laboratory.

"They discovered that the First Omega's ability becomes dramatically stronger when she forms a genuine bond with a compatible Alpha."

Dominic's expression darkened.

"Me."

"Yes."

Rei looked at him.

Marcus continued.

"And that is why you are both here."

The room fell silent.

Rei looked at the two monitors displaying their names.

REI ANDERSON — O-01

DOMINIC VALE — A-01

"What does O-01 mean?"

"Original Omega."

"And A-01?"

"Original Alpha compatibility."

Dominic stared at the screen.

"You've been testing this since we were children."

"Yes."

"You knew we'd find each other."

"We hoped you would."

Rei's stomach twisted.

"You hoped?"

Marcus looked at her.

"Blackthorn wanted to force the bond. I wanted you to find each other naturally."

"Why?"

"Because a forced bond produces obedience."

He looked directly at Rei.

"A natural bond produces something Blackthorn cannot control."

Rei's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"Choice."

The word echoed strangely in the chamber.

Marcus continued.

"That is the part they never understood."

He walked toward the central console.

"Elara discovered that an Omega's power doesn't come from controlling an Alpha. It comes from the Alpha choosing to protect her without being commanded."

Dominic looked at Rei.

"So Blackthorn needs us bonded."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Marcus's expression darkened.

"Because the system beneath this academy was built around the original bond."

Rei looked down.

"The thing waking up."

Marcus nodded.

"Blackthorn built its entire research program around recreating Elara's biological response."

He pointed toward the floor.

"Deep beneath this academy is a machine."

Rei frowned.

"A machine?"

"Part machine. Part biological interface."

Dominic looked disgusted.

"They built a machine to control people."

"They built a machine to control Alpha instincts."

Marcus's eyes moved to Rei.

"And it requires an awakened Omega to activate."

Rei's throat tightened.

"Me."

"Yes."

"Then why did they let me attend school?"

"Because they needed you to mature."

"And why did they let me work around the hockey team?"

Marcus looked at Dominic.

"Because they needed you close to her."

Dominic went rigid.

"So the hockey team..."

"Was part of the plan."

Rei felt sick.

Her job.

The locker rooms.

The practices.

The endless hours spent around Dominic.

None of it had been coincidence.

She remembered the first time she'd smelled his scent.

The first argument.

The first moment his wolf had reacted to hers.

Had they been watching?

Had someone been waiting for exactly that?

"They put me there deliberately."

Marcus nodded.

"They knew your heat would eventually awaken the bond."

Rei's face went pale.

"Then my first heat..."

"Was triggered by an artificial scent stimulant."

Dominic's expression became murderous.

"They caused it."

"Yes."

"And they knew what would happen."

Marcus looked at him.

"They knew someone would come for her."

Dominic's eyes darkened.

"They used me."

"They expected you to respond."

Rei's mind raced.

The night of her first heat.

The panic.

The strangers.

Dominic finding her.

The way everything had happened so quickly.

She had always believed the one-night encounter was the beginning of something between them.

Now she realized Blackthorn had engineered the circumstances.

But Marcus shook his head.

"There's something else."

Rei looked at him.

"What?"

"They miscalculated."

"How?"

"They expected Dominic to claim you."

Dominic frowned.

"Claim?"

"They wanted an immediate mating bond."

Rei stiffened.

Marcus continued.

"Once the bond was complete, they intended to connect you to the chamber."

Rei felt cold.

"But we didn't."

"No."

Dominic looked at her.

"We chose."

Marcus nodded.

"Exactly."

Rei's eyes narrowed.

"So they can't use us."

"They can try."

"Why haven't they already?"

"Because the bond isn't complete."

Dominic's expression hardened.

"They need us to complete it."

Marcus nodded.

"Yes."

Rei understood.

Suddenly, all of Blackthorn's behavior made sense.

The pressure.

The surveillance.

The attempts to isolate her.

The attacks.

The obsession with Dominic.

The insistence that they belonged together.

They weren't trying to protect a romance.

They were trying to manufacture a weapon.

"What happens if they succeed?"

Marcus looked at the machine beneath them.

"The chamber will connect your nervous systems."

Rei stared.

"Meaning?"

"They will be able to amplify your Omega response."

"Into what?"

Marcus hesitated.

"An Alpha command signal."

Dominic stepped closer.

"How many Alphas?"

Marcus's answer was quiet.

"Every Alpha within range."

Rei felt her blood run cold.

"So they could control an entire population."

"Yes."

Dominic shook his head.

"And Rei would be the source."

"Yes."

"Would she control them?"

"No."

Marcus looked at him.

"Blackthorn would."

Rei understood immediately.

They didn't want her power for herself.

They wanted to turn her into a living transmitter.

Her body would activate the system.

Her bond with Dominic would provide the necessary power.

And Blackthorn would control the result.

"They don't need me alive forever," she whispered.

Marcus said nothing.

Rei looked at him.

"They only need me long enough to activate the system."

"Yes."

Dominic moved closer to her.

"They're not getting you."

Marcus looked at his son.

"That's what I hoped you would say."

Rei turned toward him.

"You said Blackthorn can't control a natural bond."

"They can't."

"Then why are they so confident?"

Marcus's expression changed.

"Because they're planning to separate you."

"How?"

"They intend to force Dominic into an Alpha conditioning chamber."

Dominic went still.

"They'll suppress his free will."

Rei's heart dropped.

"And then?"

"They'll make him believe that claiming you is his choice."

Silence.

Rei looked at Dominic.

The thought terrified her more than anything else.

Not because she feared Dominic.

Because she feared losing the Dominic she had begun to trust.

Marcus stepped toward them.

"That's why you cannot let them complete the bond through force."

Rei nodded slowly.

"Then what do we do?"

Marcus looked at the central console.

"We destroy the chamber."

Dominic stared at him.

"And if we can't?"

Marcus's eyes moved to Rei.

"Then we destroy the bloodline."

Rei's face went pale.

"What does that mean?"

Marcus didn't answer.

Dominic did.

"He means one of us."

Rei looked at him.

"No."

"If the chamber can't be destroyed and the bond can't be stopped..."

"No."

Dominic took her hand.

"I'm not letting them use you."

"And I'm not letting you die."

Marcus watched them.

For the first time, something resembling hope appeared in his eyes.

"That's exactly what Elara said."

Rei looked at him.

"What happened to her?"

Marcus lowered his gaze.

"She chose herself."

"How?"

"She destroyed the first chamber."

"And survived?"

Marcus shook his head.

"No."

Rei's heart sank.

"Then she died."

"Yes."

The room seemed to become colder.

"She sacrificed herself so the system couldn't be activated."

Rei stared at the floor.

All her life, she had wondered why her grandmother had disappeared.

Why her mother had been so afraid.

Why Blackthorn had pursued her.

Now she finally understood.

Elara hadn't disappeared.

She had died protecting the bloodline.

And Rei was now standing in the exact place where her grandmother had once stood.

Except there was one difference.

Rei wasn't alone.

Dominic stepped beside her.

"We're not repeating their story."

She looked at him.

He squeezed her hand.

"They lost because they were forced to choose between each other."

His gaze hardened.

"We won't."

A deep alarm suddenly sounded.

The laboratory doors locked.

Red lights flooded the room.

Then the monitor displayed a new message.

COMPATIBLE BOND DETECTED.

MANUAL ACTIVATION REQUIRED.

SUBJECTS MUST COMPLETE MATING PROTOCOL.

Rei's heart stopped.

Dominic stared at the screen.

"They're giving us a choice."

Marcus shook his head.

"No."

The doors behind them opened.

Armed guards flooded into the laboratory.

Marcus whispered the truth.

"They're giving you the illusion of one."

Dominic moved in front of Rei.

The guards raised their weapons.

A voice came through the speakers.

"Dominic Vale."

The laboratory doors sealed behind the guards.

"Claim the Omega."

Rei felt Dominic's wolf surge.

His eyes turned silver.

But he didn't move toward her.

He turned toward the soldiers instead.

And Rei finally understood the most important thing about the bond between them.

Her body might recognize him.

His wolf might crave her.

Blackthorn might know every biological mechanism connecting them.

But neither of those things could decide what they became.

Only they could.

Dominic looked over his shoulder.

"Rei."

She met his eyes.

"Run."

And together, they charged the laboratory.