The Omega's Three Mates

Chapter Seven

The burning bite of silver against my skin took a backseat to the absolute chaos unfolding outside our armored cocoon of questionable safety. Because apparently my life had gone full supernatural Fast & Furious, just with more teeth and fewer family barbecues.

Another neo-vamp launched itself at our vehicle, this one managing to punch straight through the reinforced metal of the roof like it was made of aluminum foil. Cool. Cool cool cool. Totally fine.

"Duck!" Kalel commanded, already pulling the pin from his grenade.

"What happened to using your words?" I yelped, but dropped anyway, curling into as small a target as possible while Caleb's arm kept me pinned against the seat.

The explosion rocked the Humvee, accompanied by an unholy shriek that definitely wasn't making it into any ASMR compilations. The smell of burning vampire filled the cabin—like burnt rubber mixed with week-old sushi and regret.

"You know," I managed through gritted teeth as we took another sharp turn that made the silver chains dig deeper, "when I said I wanted more excitement in my life, this really wasn't what I meant. I was thinking more 'try a new coffee shop' or 'maybe take a pottery class.'"

Kalel's laugh was all predator. "Pottery's overrated."

"Says the guy who probably spends his weekends hunting Bigfoot."

"Bigfoot's a pacifist, actually," Caleb cut in, his voice deadly serious. "Terrible at parties."

I turned to stare at him, trying to figure out if he was joking, but his expression gave nothing away. Great. Add that to the growing list of "things I really didn't need to know about the supernatural world."

The radio crackled. "We've got a problem," Ryder's voice was tight. "They're herding us."

"I noticed," Caleb replied, his muscles tensing under his tactical gear. Funny how I was suddenly very aware of exactly how solid he was, pressed against my side like a wall of supernatural muscle. Focus, Savannah. Now is not the time to appreciate the aesthetics of your extremely dangerous chauffeur.

"There's a reason they're pushing us east," Maxine added. "The old Miller Bridge—"

"Is out," Kalel finished grimly. "They collapsed it last week."

I looked between them. "Please tell me we have a Plan B that doesn't involve recreating that scene from Thelma & Louise."

"We have a Plan B," Caleb confirmed.

"Is it a good Plan B?"

His mouth curved slightly. "Define 'good.'"

Before I could inform him exactly what constituted a good plan (hint: one that didn't end with us as vampire chow), something massive slammed into the side of our vehicle. The impact sent us fishtailing toward the edge of the road, where the ground dropped away into nothing but shadows and promises of a very bad time.

Time slowed. I caught glimpses through the windows—twisted faces, too many teeth, eyes like black holes. The silver chains burned like arctic fire against my skin, but underneath that pain was something else. Something wild and ancient that wanted to tear free, to fight, to...

"Don't," Caleb's voice cut through the haze. His hand found mine, fingers interlacing. "The silver's the only thing keeping them from swarming us completely. Hold on."

The engine roared as our driver executed a move that would have made Dom Toretto proud, somehow keeping us on the road while simultaneously clipping one of our pursuers. The neo-vamp went flying into the darkness with a screech that would haunt my nightmares, assuming I lived long enough to have any.

"Almost to the bridge," Maxine reported. "Ready to execute Perfect Dark?"

I groaned. "Please tell me that's not named after the video game."

"That would be unprofessional," Kalel said with absolutely zero conviction.

"Positions," Caleb ordered, all business now. His hand tightened on mine. "Savannah, when I say now, I need you to—"

The world exploded.

***

For a moment, my world became nothing but noise and fire and the sickening sensation of free fall. The silver seared like molten metal against my skin, drawing an involuntary scream as we tumbled through space. Turns out having a severe allergic reaction to the very thing keeping you alive is exactly as fun as it sounds. I had just enough time to think *this is a really stupid way to die* before everything went sideways. Literally.

The Humvee hit water like a meteor hitting Earth—which, fun fact, is exactly as unpleasant as it sounds. The impact knocked the air from my lungs and probably rearranged some of my internal organs into exciting new configurations. Through the chaos, I felt Caleb's hand still gripping mine, an anchor in the storm. His skin was blistering too—because apparently being an Alpha didn't make you any less allergic to silver. Supernatural hierarchy, meet basic chemistry. Chemistry won.

"Swim!" The order cut through the rushing water. "Now!"

Right. Swimming. That thing normal people do at pools and beaches, not in tactical vehicles currently doing their best Titanic impression in what I really hoped wasn't the same river where they'd found all those bodies last summer. But hey, when in Rome—or in this case, when in a sinking car with a bunch of supernatural CrossFit models who were all trying not to scream from silver burns...

The chains dragged at me like the world's most sadistic jewelry collection, each link leaving trails of fire across my skin. The water was black as ink, cold as death, and absolutely not what I'd planned on doing with my Thursday evening. Note to self: next time pack a wetsuit. And maybe some diving lessons. And definitely a different life entirely that doesn't involve allergic reactions to precious metals.

I broke the surface with a gasp that was half curse, half prayer. The current yanked at me, trying to drag me under, but a strong arm locked around my waist and suddenly I was being propelled through the water like I'd personally offended it. The silver burned where it touched both of us, a shared agony that really put the whole 'we're in this together' thing in perspective.

"Still think pottery class would have been boring?" Kalel's voice was strained under the false amusement, his own skin angry red where the chains brushed him.

"Shut up," I managed through chattering teeth. "At least... at least clay doesn't try to poison you."

"You've clearly never met a mud hag."

"That's... that's not a thing."

"Everything's a thing, little omega. Especially the things that hurt."

A horrible screech split the night—the sound of predators realizing their prey had just gone off-menu. Through the spray of water, I caught glimpses of pale shapes moving along the riverbank, their bodies wrong in ways that made my brain hurt.

"They won't follow us into the water," Caleb said through gritted teeth, his voice tight with pain. The silver chains had left angry red welts where they'd touched him. Apparently being an Alpha didn't give you magical resistance to allergic reactions. "They can't swim."

"Small mercies," I muttered, then yelped as something brushed against my leg. The silver manacles sent fresh waves of agony up my arms. "Please tell me you have fish in these waters. Normal, non-murderous fish."

"Define normal," Maxine's voice carried from ahead. Even she was moving slower, the few silver links that had brushed her leaving raw marks across her copper skin.

"You know what? Never mind. I don't actually want to know. I've hit my quota of supernatural revelations for the day."

The current got stronger, dragging us around a bend where the river narrowed between high cliffs. The roar of rushing water grew louder, and oh—

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is."

"Depends," Kalel said, trying for cheerful despite the pain etched around his eyes. "If you think it's a waterfall, then yes, absolutely it is."

"I hate you. I hate all of you. And I especially hate whoever decided silver was the only option for magical restraints. What's wrong with good old-fashioned rope?"

"No you don't," he replied, but his usual grin was more of a grimace. "Hold your breath."

"Wait, what—"

The river dropped away beneath us, and for the second time in about five minutes, I found myself free-falling through darkness. The chains seared against my skin like brands, drawing involuntary gasps that were definitely not helping with the whole need-to-breathe situation.

We hit the pool below with enough force to make me question several life choices that had led to this moment. The impact drove the air from my lungs, sent me tumbling through the darkness until I didn't know which way was up. The silver dragged me down, down, down... each link a point of white-hot agony against my skin.

Then strong hands caught me, pulled me up through the chaos. I broke the surface gasping, sputtering, probably looking like a drowned rat but too much in pain to care.

"I've got you." Caleb's voice was strained in my ear, his body radiating heat like a supernatural furnace despite the burning marks the silver had left across his chest and arms. "We're almost there."

"Where's—" I coughed up what felt like half the river. "Where's 'there' exactly? Because if it doesn't include industrial-strength burn cream, I'm not interested."

"Look."

I followed his gaze to the shoreline, where massive stones rose from the water like the bones of ancient giants. They were carved with symbols that seemed to move in the darkness, pulsing with a light that wasn't quite light. As we got closer, I felt... something. Like static electricity raising the hair on my arms, like the moment before lightning strikes.

"Territory markers," Maxine explained, already pulling herself onto the rocks with impressive grace considering the silver burns visible on her arms. "Welcome to pack lands, little wolf."

I wanted to say something witty. Something clever about supernatural real estate and magical property lines. But the silver chains chose that moment to remind me that they were, in fact, still slowly poisoning me, and all that came out was a sort of pathetic whimper.

"Let's get those off you," Caleb murmured, lifting me onto the shore like I weighed nothing despite his own injuries. His hands went to the chains, careful not to let them touch his skin again, and—

"Wait." I caught his wrist, ignoring the way my fingers trembled. "The neo-vamps..."

"Can't cross the boundary," he assured me, already working at the locks. "Not without declaring war on every pack in the territory."

"Which would be suicide," Kalel added, examining the angry red marks across his torso with a grimace. "Even for them."

As if to prove his point, inhuman shrieks echoed from the cliffs above—frustrated predators watching their prey slip away. I could just make out their shapes against the stars, all wrong angles and hungry shadows.

"Right," I managed through chattering teeth, watching dark veins spider out from where the silver had burned me. My skin looked like a roadmap of really bad decisions. "Magical werewolf force field. Sure. Why not? That's definitely not the weirdest thing that's happened today. Though I've got to say, the whole 'silver burns werewolves' thing? Could have used that info in the safety briefing."

Caleb's mouth curved slightly as he worked at the chains, his own hands shaking from the contact despite his careful movements. Each link that fell away felt like breaking surface after being underwater too long—pain giving way to blessed relief, though the burns remained. Supernatural healing apparently didn't work at convenient plot-appropriate moments.

"Speaking of things that should have been in the orientation packet," I said, partly to distract myself from watching my skin try to recover from what looked like a losing fight with a jewelry store, "does anyone want to explain why we just did our best Fast & Furious audition? Because I'm pretty sure that wasn't just about my sparkling personality."

The silence that followed was heavy enough to sink a battleship. Great. More cryptic supernatural BS. Just what my rapidly deteriorating evening needed.

"Later," Caleb said finally, his fingers impossibly gentle as he removed the last chain. The angry red marks across his arms told their own story of how much that gentleness was costing him. "First, we need to get you somewhere safe. And probably some healing salve for these burns."

"Safe is relative," I muttered, but let him pull me to my feet. My legs felt like jelly, and not the good kind. More the 'congratulations, you've just survived chemical burns and hypothermia' kind. "Just... tell me one thing?"

He raised an eyebrow, and wow, even with silver burns and river water dripping from his hair, he somehow managed to make that look unfairly attractive. Focus, Savannah.

"This whole 'omega' business." I gestured vaguely at myself, trying not to wince at the movement. "On a scale of one to 'congratulations, you're the chosen one,' how screwed am I? Because I've got to say, between the neo-vampires and the silver poisoning, I'm not loving the supernatural lifestyle so far."

His expression did something complicated. "That's... a longer conversation."

"Fantastic." I ran a hand through my dripping hair, careful to avoid the worst of the burns. "Any other cryptic warnings you want to throw my way? Sacred prophecies? Ancient curses? Destined mate situation that's definitely not going to end in emotional trauma and probably more silver-related injuries?"

Kalel actually laughed, then immediately regretted it as the movement pulled at his own burns. "Gods, she's a treasure. We're definitely keeping her."

"Don't encourage the sass," Caleb growled, but I caught the way his lips twitched despite the pain evident in his eyes.

"Children," Maxine cut in, her voice dry as desert bones despite the way she was favoring her silver-burned side. "Perhaps we could continue this touching bonding moment somewhere that isn't an active combat zone? Preferably somewhere with medical supplies and better safety protocols?"

As if to emphasize her point, another screech split the night—closer this time, despite the magical boundary. The neo-vampires might not be able to cross, but they could certainly make their displeasure known.

"I agree with the smart lady." I straightened my shoulders, ignoring the way every burned muscle screamed in protest. "Lead the way to Casa de Werewolf. But I want it noted for the record that I expect answers. Preferably with visual aids and possibly a PowerPoint presentation. And definitely some kind of supernatural first aid kit."

"Noted." Caleb's hand found the small of my back, carefully avoiding the worst of the burns as he steadied me. "Though I should warn you—"

"Let me guess. I'm not going to like them?"

His smile was grim. "Welcome to the supernatural world, little omega. Nothing's ever that simple. Especially not the healing process."