The Omega Queen

Caleb - Shadows of the past

Caleb

I squat next to Conrad as we watch the Green River Pack territory. Lately, the feral rogues have been attacking packs around Romania. It started with a small pack, in the South-East, near the Black Sea, and slowly moved to the West. I usually don’t care about what feral rogues do, but they are too close to my territory, to my pack. As a rogue myself—a silver rogue, not a feral one—I have worked hard to secure some land in Baciu Forest and build a pack. Another pack lives within the forest, but my territory is warded, and they can’t enter. I would have liked to have my pack elsewhere, but as a rogue, I have no say in how territories are distributed. I am lucky I was allowed to the land the Elders have given me. Not without paying a large sum of money and granting them many favors—favors that I am still regretting and the rest of the werewolves don’t know about. But at least I am the Alpha of my pack, and I get to lead them without any interference from the Elders.

“Any signs of them?” I ask Conrad.

Without taking his left eye from the border—the right one he lost a few years back during a fight with some vampires—Corand says, “Not yet. Are you sure the feral rogues are going to attack this pack?”

“Unless Tatiana is making us waste our time.” My right thigh starts to ache. The injury I received ten years ago from liquid silver hadn’t healed properly, and it still bothers me, but I learned to live with the pain. I shift my weight on my good leg. “Tatiana is rarely wrong,” I let Conrad know.

“I don’t trust her,” Conrad mumbles.

Conrad rarely trusts anyone. His past taught him to be wary.

The bush rustles to my right, and a moment later, Kain and Conon squat next to me. I don’t like Kain, but he is Conrad’s friend, so I tolerate him in the pack. And he is also a good fighter when he is not taking photos of everything.

“Jeremy and Hogar are patrolling on the other side of the border. Ten warriors are with them,” Conon lets me know.

Conon is my Beta, and Jeremy and Hogar have just finished their training as Enforcers.

“Good,” I say.

“What’s the plan?” Kain asks.

Raven, my wolf, growls inside my head. He dislikes Kain more than I do. “Kill the feral rogues, collect our money for each pelt we take to the Elders, and have a beer or two back at the pack,” I tell the vampire.

“I don’t like beer, but I might have a bag of blood left in my freezer. Maybe Tatiana will make her famous cookies for when we return home. I am starving,” Kain says.

“Maybe,” I say. Being around vampires makes my blood boil, but I have to remind myself Kain is not my enemy.

“Tatiana is making cookies?” Conon butts in. “If she would be a few decades younger, I would marry her.”

I snort, “I don’t think she is ready to have kids.”

Conon narrows his eyes. “What do you mean?”

The left corner of my mouth twitches up. “That you need to grow up.”

Conrad and Kain laugh. Conon mumbles something under his breath.

I keep surveying the territory ahead of me, not wanting to be taken by surprise by the feral rogues. Their new leader, Mircea, is one of the cruelest werewolves in Europe. I shift my weight once more. My wound is a reminder of it.

The wind blows, carrying the scent of feral rogues to me. I sniff the air trying to determine how far they were from us, when I catch another scent coming from the same direction.

Cosasi vampires.

The hair on the back of my neck stands. Why are the Cosasi vampires with the feral rogues? I thought Mircea hated them as much as I did. The last time the feral rogues allied with the Cosasi vampires was a thousand years ago, during Queen Sera’s reign—the last Diamond Real Queen. Since then, the feral wolves have mostly kept to themselves. From time to time, they will attack packs and steal food and other things. Sometimes they would take pups as well.

“They are close,” I let the other know.

“Finally,” Kain says as he claps my shoulder.

I look at Kain’s hand for a moment before I grab it and flip him to the ground. “What did I tell you about touching me?” I growl as I put my knee on his chest and push the tip of my ashwood dagger at the base of his neck.

Kain’s throat bobs, fear flashing in his eyes.

“Caleb, let him go,” Conrad says. “Kain did nothing to you.”

I look into Kain’s blue eyes—it must be the only thing stopping me from killing him, that he is not a Cosasi vampire but a Dacian one.

While the Cosasi and the Dacian vampires have the same ancestors, the Dacian vampires are at least decent, not like the Cosasi, that love to destroy lives.

‘Kill him,’ Raven snarls.

I would love nothing more than to free the world from another vampire, but Kain has proved that he is not a piece of s**t like all the other vampires I have met.

‘Maybe next time,’ I let Raven know, and he retreats to the back of my mind. He is angry.

“Go and tell Jeremy and Hogar that the feral rogues will be here in less than ten minutes. Cosasi vampires are with them,” I tell Kain before I have a chance to change my mind and stick my dagger in his neck.

I let Kain go and get between Conon and Conrad.

“Are you okay?” Conon asks.

I am tempted to lie, but I shake my head, letting him know that I am not well. “Barely slept last night. Nightmare.”

“Why didn’t you ask Hector for more drugs?” Conrad wants to know.

I exhale softly. “Hector has a lot on his plate with the new members. Besides, a few sleepless nights won’t kill me.”

Conon looks at me sympathetically. I hate when he does that like he is pitying me. “Do you want me to call Andrew?”

I inhale sharply. Could this day get any worse? “We broke up,” I say between gritted teeth.

Both Conon and Conrad seemed surprised by this.

“When?” Conon asks.

“This morning,” I reply.

“That explains why I saw him crying in the kitchen while Blade was comforting him.”

“But you were the perfect match,” Conrad says.

“He wasn’t my mate,” I shrug, trying to hide my pain.

Conon narrows his eyes. “Don’t tell me he found his mate.”

Damn. Conon knows me so well.

I nod. “Last night.”

“Who?” Conrad asks.

“Mitch,” I say, annoyed. “Are you done with the interrogation questions?”

Conon gapes at me. “You’re f*****g with me, right?”

Conrad stares at me. “Who’s Mitch?”

I sigh. Who the hell needs enemies when I have friends like these? “My partner from two years ago. He came to the to ask Conon and me to help him with something when he met Andrew. Long story short, they are mates. I broke up with Andrew because I knew he would not since he had feeling for me.”

“Son of a b***h!” Conon mutters. “Why haven’t you told me anything?”

“Because it doesn’t concern you,” I let him know. Conon seems hurt by my statement. “Look, I know you are worried about me, but I am fine. As for Andrew and Mitch, I am happy for them. Mitch is a good male and an excellent Beta, and he will make Andrew happy.”

“What about you?” Conrad asks.

I frown, not understanding Conrad’s question. “What about me?”

“When will you be happy?”

Tatiana, Conon, and Conrad are the only ones who know about my past and what I have done.

‘And Mircea,’ Raven reminds me.

I don’t worry about Mircea. He is the last person to open his mouth and talk about the past. Not when our pasts are entwined.

“I don’t deserve happiness,” I say. While I love Andrew, he is better off without me.

“Bullshit,” Conon scoffs.

The scent of the feral rogues and the Cosasi vampires grows stronger, and I prepare to shift and let Raven take over. We take our clothes off while keeping our eyes on the forest.

“One day, you will find your mate,” Conrad says before his wolf, Pau, takes over.

“The entire Black Ruby Rogue Pack will cheer for you as you take your mate to the Ritual Stones and mark him,” Conon says before shifting into his wolf.

I gave up on the idea of having a family a long time ago. Besides, what do I know about raising my family when my own parents are scum? Nah, I am better of alone.

‘I want our mate. I dream of running with him under the Full Moon,’ Raven says.

I pop my neck. ‘The Moon Goddess will never bless us with a mate,’ I say as the feral rogues step into the clearing.

I let Raven take over. Shifting is always painful, but it is over in a few seconds.

Raven

The foul scent of the feral rogues reaches my nose. I am not sure if they ever heard of water or if they want to stink on purpose. Caleb and I have been rogues for many years, but we never smelled so awful.

‘Because we were forced to take a bath twice a day,’ Caleb reminds me.

I growl, not wanting to remember and step into the clearing. I try to spot Mircea’s wolf, but there are at least ten vampires and twenty rogues to kill. Mircea will have to wait.

I let the darkness take over and jump on the first vampire I see. He tries to harm me with his long nails and fangs, but years of fighting them had taught me how to sever his head without receiving many wounds. My sharp canines sink into his neck while my claws dig into his chest. Another vampire attacks me from behind, his nails painfully cutting across my ribs. His nails are poisoned with wolfbane, and I already start to feel weaker. The darkness spreads even more, and I welcome it. I rip the head of the first vampire before I fight the second one.

Pau and Cookie—Conon’s wolf—are fighting a group of three rogues. Jeremy and Hogar reach the clearing, the warriors and Kain behind them.

I don’t understand why Caleb insists on letting Kain live in the pack we built from scratch. We should kill him and dispose of his body somewhere no one will find him.

’Kain is not our enemy,’ Caleb says.

All vampires are the enemies of werewolves.

The vampire manages to s***h the muscle in one of my front legs, and more wolfbane enters my system. My movements become fuzzy, and it takes me longer to kill the second vampire. The warriors that fight against the vampires also move slower, proof that they too have been poisoned with wolfbane. If I had known the Cosasi vampires would band with the feral rogues, I would have prevented this. My body starts to feel numb, but I refuse to give up. My canines sink into another vampire, blood splashing on my fur. Rogues surround me. Things start to become blurry.

Pau and Cookie fight hard, trying to get to me, but maybe this is my end. I feel at peace…. Odd. I thought I would feel angry. Maybe it is for the best. Jeremy, Hogar, and the warriors have killed more than half of the rogues. Kain is killing a vampire. It is so strange. I see everything happening around me but in slow motion.

Canines bite me trying to rip chunks of my flesh.

Dying is so easy. I have no regrets except one—that I have never found my mate. I would have liked to run with my mate under the Full Moon. Just once.

I fall to the ground. Blood strains my fur.

‘We are not worthy of a mate. Doubt we even have one,’ Caleb says. ‘Thank you for being my wolf.’

‘You are wrong. We are worthy. Our mate is out there, in the world, somewhere. Being your wolf has been the best thing that has happened to me.’

‘Liar. I… love you, Raven.’

‘We shall meet under the Moon, in the Goddess’ realm.’

Do I really want to die without fighting? I try to move, but the wolfbane has me paralyzed. Strange.

A strange sound passes next to my left ear, and one of the rogues falls to the ground. The next moments pass in a blur until a female with long black hair kneels next to me. She has a syringe in her hand, and whatever it is inside it, she injects it into my paw.

“It is an antidote,” she lets me know. She takes out another syringe from a pocket of her leather jacket. “This will speed the healing.”

It doesn’t take long for the numbness to go away, and I can finally stand on my paws. The female waits patiently next to me while the effects of the wolfbane pass and my wounds heal.

My men and two males I haven’t seen before finish killing the vampires and the feral rogues.

“Can you shift into your human form?” she asks. “There are things we need to talk about.”

I bare my canines, letting her know I am not about to take orders from her.

‘Raven, behave.’

I scoff before I let Caleb take over.

Caleb

I look at the female in front of me. Her black eyes scan my body, my scars. I hate being looked at like I am nothing more than a piece of meat.

“Give me a moment,” I say, and I rush to retrieve my clothes from where I left them.

‘Who do you think she is?’

‘I don’t know,’ I reply to Raven’s question.

Once I am dressed, I return to the clearing. The battle is over. From what I can see, two of my warrior didn’t make it. I will have to let their families and friends know as soon as I return to the pack.

“Thank you for saving my life,” I tell her.

A crossbow and a quiver with ashwood and silver-tip arrows are across her back. I glance at the rogues and vampires that attacked me—they all have arrows in their foreheads. I should get a crossbow as well.

“Tatiana sent me. She said you might need my help,” the female says.

I rub the back of my neck. “I didn’t count on the wolfbane.”

“It is not only wolfbane; it is mixed with liquid silver.”

I look at the vampires. “That explains the numbness.”

A very tall male—around 7 feet tall—approaches us. “Elena,” he says.

“What? Can’t you see I am talking?” she snaps at him.

My eyebrows shoot up.

The male puts his hands in the air, his palms facing her. “Geez, no need to bite my head off. I just wanted to let you know that everyone has received the antidote.”

“Fine. You can go wait for me in the car,” she tells him angrily.

With a sigh, he leaves.

“Your name is Elena? Sounds familiar,” I tell her. Where did I hear it before?

She shrugs before taking two small glass vials from an interior pocket of ther jacket. “One contains the modified wolfbane, and the other has the antidote.”

I take them from her. “Why are you helping rogues?”

“Ask Tatiana,” she says before turning on her heels. “Mark, let’s go.”

I watch how Elena and Mark disappear into the forest.

“Are you alright?” Conon asks me.

I nod. “Let’s get those pelts and go home.”

It takes us about an hour to skin all the feral rogues and dispose of them and the vampires. Before we leave, I go to talk to the Alpha of the Green River Pack to inform him the danger is gone. He looks at me with fear. Probably because I am covered in blood—some of mine, some from the enemies. And because of my reputation. Once I tell him what I have to say, I leave.

It is morning when we make it back to the pack. I get out of the car and look at the houses that I built with my own hands.

Home.

The Black Ruby Rogue Pack is my home. It is not officially a pack since the Elder refuses to officially accept us as one of the twenty packs of Romania. While we would have more help if we would stop being seen as rogues; this way, no one can dictate how I should lead my pack.

The warriors take the dead ones to the clinic.

“Do you want me to talk to their families?” Jeremy asks.

For a moment, I am tempted to say yes. Breaking up with Andrew had mentally drained me. His sweet Omega scent still lingers around the pack. Goddess, I hope he and Mitch are gone by now. Else… I might beg Andrew to stay.

“I am sure Sarah is waiting for you,” I tell Jeremy. “Besides, this is something I have to do as the Alpha of the pack.”

Fortunately, Conon comes with me to talk to the families of the dead ones. Conrad, Kain, and the others retire to their homes, to their families. Being alone sucks. It is almost noon when I make it to my room. Andrew’s vanilla scent is so strong my knees go weak. I need to move rooms because if I sleep in the same room where I shared so many sweet moments with the person I wanted to be my forever, I might go insane.

Raven, who never cared if Andrew was in my life or not, also seems sad. He and Teo—Andrew’s wolf—are good friends.

After I inform Blade—the Omega that takes care of the packhouse—to move my things into another room, I go into my studio. It is the only place in the pack where I can be myself. And it is the only place that doesn’t have Andrew’s scent since he hasn’t set foot inside. While I am here, I can hide from the world and the past and everything else. I sit in front of my piano, touch the keyboard, and play a few songs.

Once I am in control of my feelings, I stand and go to the door, wanting to see if Blade did as I asked. Months will pass until I will be over Andrew, but he is a sweet Omega and deserves to be with his mate. As for me, I will survive, as always.

I am about to grab the doorknob when the door opens, and Tatiana enters. She gives me a stare that I am not sure how to interpret before going to sit on the sofa.

“I knew I would find you in here moping around,” she says as she sits on the sofa.

I sigh. The last person I want to talk to right now is Tatiana. I close the door and sit on a chair across from her.

I roll my eyes. “I am not moping around.”

She arches an eyebrow. “That’s why you asked Blade to move your things to another room?”

This female sure does like to snoop around my pack. “You want to know the truth? It f*****g hurts to lose the person you love!”

Her eyes soften. “I know. But that’s not a reason to want to die without fighting. What would have happened if I had not sent Elena to save your furry ass?”

I shrug. “I was supposed to die a long time ago anyways.”

Tatiana narrows her amber eyes. “Is this how you repay me after everything I have done for you?”

“I never asked for you to save me! I was perfectly fine with dying. Same for Raven. But you keep saving us. Do you have some savior complex or something?”

Tatiana huffs. “You will understand soon enough. During the next Full Moon, I need you to run along the border with the next pack.”

I lean in the chair and fold my arms over my chest. She knows how many problems we had with the other pack living in the Baciu Forest. The last thing I want to do is run around the border. “Why?”

“The solution to all your problems will be there.” She stands. “The moment to face your past is approaching. Be ready.”

I clench my fists. Maybe I finally get to kill Sinn and his good-for-nothing little brother. “What do you mean?”

“The vials Elena gave you, have Hector examine them.”

I have almost forgotten about them.

Tatiana goes to the door and opens it. “Don’t forget about the next Full Moon. And Caleb? Be a good wolf and take a shower. You stink like a rogue.”

“I am a rogue,” I remind her.

“But not a feral one.”