All Chapters of THE OMEGA'S VOW: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

~ Lyra ~Mara.I stopped breathing.I looked at Juno, then at the broken front doors swinging on their hinges in the cold wind, then back at Juno again. My mouth was dry. The numbness spreading up my arms had nothing to do with the energy drain anymore."He took Mara," I said."Four of Darius's men got to the indoor arena while we were holding the perimeter," Juno said, keeping her voice flat and professional, though her hands were tight on her rifle. "She was inside running drills with two of the younger pack members. The members got out. Mara didn't."Kael hadn't moved. He stood beside me, his arm still around my waist, but the warmth in his grip had gone rigid. He went completely still, staring at a point past Juno's shoulder for three full seconds."How long ago," he asked."Twelve minutes," Juno answered. "By the time we pushed the last mercenaries out of the east corridor, they were already past the outer tree line."Twelve minutes. They had a twelve-minute head start in the dar

~ Lyra ~Mara was sitting on the hood of Voss's car when we got to the secondary vehicle bay.She sat upright with her arms crossed and her silver braid half undone, looking like someone who had been moderately inconvenienced rather than dragged through a forest in the dark. She had no visible injuries, and her hands were free.Voss stood a few feet away with her white coat gone, wearing a dark jacket and mud-caked boots. She wasn't moving toward us or away from us. She was waiting.I walked in ahead of Kael.Mara looked at me first. Her eyes ran over my face, then down to my hands, checking for injury. She gave a short nod."You look terrible," Mara said."You were kidnapped," I replied."Briefly," she said, sliding off the hood and moving without any stiffness, which meant Marcus hadn't hurt her. "They grabbed me from the arena. Four men, coordinated entry. They knew exactly where I'd be and when.""We know," Kael said, stepping up beside me. His eyes were on Voss.Voss looked back

~ Kael ~I pulled my hands back.The moment the contact broke, Lyra lurched forward, catching herself on her palms against the stone floor. She was breathing hard, her head dropped, her curly hair falling around her face. The monitor beside Voss screamed a continuous high-pitched tone before Voss silenced it with a sharp press of her hand."What's happening," I said, already moving toward Lyra."Stay back," Voss ordered, stepping between us. She crouched in front of Lyra, pressing two fingers against her wrist and watching the monitor simultaneously. "The bond initiated successfully but the core spiked when the connection deepened. Her body is trying to draw from you already and she's not conscious of it.""I'm conscious," Lyra said, her voice strained against the floor."You're not in control," Voss corrected, not unkindly. "There's a difference. The bond is open now and your core is treating it like an open tap. You need to shut the draw down manually before it pulls past the safe t

Lyra’s POVJuno found us in the entrance hall at ten forty-five.She had traded her usual tactical gear for something slightly more formal — a fitted dark jacket over black fatigues, the Shadowfang crest on her shoulder. She held a folded document in one hand."The Council sent the final terms an hour ago," she said, handing it to Kael. "Paired combat. No weapons beyond what you carry in. No outside interference. The match ends on submission or death." She paused. "Darius filed an amendment this morning requesting that the match end in incapacitation rather than death."I looked up. "Why would he do that?""Because he wants you alive," Kael growled, reading the document. His jaw tightened. "He still wants the kidney back."The cold settled in my stomach. Of course he did. Even now, standing on the edge of a death match of his own making, Darius was still thinking about what else he could take from me."Did the Council approve the amendment?" Kael flipped through another page."They're

Kael's Pov"What was never the plan," I asked, keeping my voice level.He looked at me with genuine curiosity. "You don't know.""Tell me.""I don't need her dead, Kael," he said. "I need her discredited. I need the Council to see what she is with their own eyes. Everything else follows from that." He paused. "Selene knows exactly what to say to make that happen."The cold moved through me fast.Selene wasn't trying to hurt Lyra.She was trying to break her anchor.She was saying whatever she needed to say to make Lyra angry enough, afraid enough, hurt enough that the draw spiked past the limit — and every wolf in this arena would watch the Shadowfang Alpha drop to his knees, and then they'd watch Lyra's eyes go gold, and the Council would have everything they needed.I took a step forward."There it is," Darius said softly, and for the first time he moved to block my path. "There's the reaction. I was wondering how long it would take.""Move," I said."If you cross this floor to help