The Predator’s Debt

I woke up to the sound of a crackling fire and the heavy scent of expensive leather.

My body felt like it had been put through a meat grinder and then rebuilt with steel. I tried to sit up, but a firm hand pressed against my shoulder.

"Easy. Your body went through a Tier-One spiritual evolution. If you move too fast, your nervous system will fry."

I looked up. It was him. The silver-eyed Alpha from the woods. He was sitting in a high-backed velvet chair, watching me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. We were in a cabin—no, a mansion. The walls were stone, the furniture masculine and heavy.

"Where am I?" I demanded, my voice raspier than usual.

"My territory," he said. "I’m Rowan. Alpha of the Black-Ridge Pack."

Black-Ridge. The rumors about them were nightmares. They were the executioners of the wolf world. The pack that handled the things the Council was too afraid to touch.

"Why did you bring me here? You should have left me to die," I spat, the memory of Damon’s rejection stinging like fresh acid.

Rowan leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "I watched you force an Alpha-prime to his knees without touching him, Kaima. I don't leave assets like that to die in the mud."

"I'm not an asset. I'm an omega. A failure."

Rowan laughed, a short, dark sound. "An omega? Is that what they told you? Is that why your mate—Damon, I believe—discarded you like trash?"

I flinched at the name. "He rejected me for Chloe. She’s a Beta. She’s strong."

Rowan stood up and walked toward the bed. He stopped just inches away, his presence overwhelming. He leaned down, his face level with mine. "Damon is a fool playing with matches while you are a wildfire. He didn't reject you because you were weak. He rejected you because his wolf was terrified of yours and he was too arrogant to admit it."

I looked away, but he caught my chin, forcing me to meet his silver gaze.

"Listen to me," Rowan growled. "Something ancient is waking up inside you. Something that hasn't been seen in five centuries. You can either stay here and let me teach you how to use it, or you can go back out there and let the Council hunt you down like a monster."

"Why help me?" I whispered. "What do you want?"

Rowan’s eyes darkened, a flash of heat crossing his features. He let his thumb brush over my bottom lip, right where Damon had struck me. "I want the woman who can make the world kneel. And I want to be the only one standing beside her when she does."

The air in the room suddenly became thick. The Beast inside me purred—a sound that vibrated through my chest and straight down to my core. It liked him. It liked his dominance.

"I want revenge," I said, my voice growing cold. "I want to see the look on Damon’s face when I take everything from him."

"Then we have a deal," Rowan said, his voice dropping an octave. "But first, we need to test just how much of that Beast you can handle."

He reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the bed. I was wearing one of his shirts—it was huge on me, smelling of him. As my bare feet hit the floor, a spark of electricity shot through our contact point.

"What was that?" I gasped.

Rowan’s expression shifted. He looked at our joined hands, his brow furrowed. "A resonance. It means our souls are vibrating on the same frequency."

Before I could ask what that meant, the door to the room burst open. A frantic-looking guard stood there.

"Alpha! The Silver-Claw Pack is at the border. Damon is demanding the return of 'his property.' He says a thief stole one of his omegas."

Rowan’s grip on my hand tightened. A slow, lethal smile spread across his face.

"Property?" Rowan mused. He looked at me, his eyes glowing silver. "Kaima, would you like to tell him yourself, or should I just send back his head in a box?"

"I want to see him," I said, my blood beginning to boil. "I want him to see me."

"Dress," Rowan commanded, tossing a bundle of black leather gear onto the bed. "We’re going to show your 'mate' exactly what he threw away."