If Corey hadn’t known that omegas could get pregnant, he wouldn’t have known that was what was happening to him. It was very subtle, a very slight change that manifested itself first as an awareness of some other soul. Whenever he focused hard enough, he could feel its presence there inside himself even though he wasn’t all that far along. It shimmered, a faint blue wisp of thoughtlessness alongside his inner wolf. Whether it was male or female, alpha or omega, he couldn’t tell.

There were no other changes in himself as of yet, no signs that a casual observer would have been able to pick up on. He didn’t know much about pregnancy in general, but he did have a feeling that it was far too early for such things. He wouldn’t gain weight or feel anything else for a long time except tiredness. That had already started, dragging at him like chains no matter what he did or where he went. Though that nagging exhaustion was physical and reminded him of his first few days of being in Eureka, where all he wanted to do was sleep, it certainly didn’t help that he was plagued by fitful dreams and bouts of insomnia. At every corner, nightmares awaited him and they didn’t always wait for him to fall asleep first. They were a part of his life, because they were Jefferson.

He could only thank what little luck he possessed that the alpha hadn’t as of yet noticed that anything different was going on. Jefferson was no mere casual observer. He was a wolf and a police officer, and not as dull-witted as he often seemed because of his incredible stubbornness. It was only a matter of time before he noticed that Corey was pregnant with Dell’s child, and then he didn’t know what would happen.

I was wrong about Dell, became the mantra of his life. His stunned anger had clouded his judgement, but all clouds cleared away with time. As he lay sleepless in the bed beside Jefferson each night, where the alpha insisted he rest, he thought over and over to himself that Dell hadn’t told him about an omega’s ability to get pregnant because he simply hadn’t known how to proceed with the topic. And who would? It was a mistake on both their parts, he could see that now. Dell had saved his life and offered him council; had helped him and protected and sheltered him, so he had seen the man as simply more than he was. He wasn’t an all-knowing god, nor was he a wise man. He was simply himself.

And Dell had made the mistake of treating him as a child, trying to shield him from something that was part of himself, that he couldn’t ever change. They both fucked up and now he was sleeping in the bed of another man, no longer allowed even a small facsimile of freedom.

That first day with Jefferson, when he had left the protection of Dell’s castle and gone to the rust-red wolf’s citadel, was only just short of perfect. He was allowed to ask anything he wished, and in return, Jefferson listened to him jabbering about what memories had returned to him and what still evaded his grasp. The communication was beautiful and Jefferson was attentive.

Too attentive.

The second day, Jefferson gave him a list of tasks to do about his flat while he was out working. It wasn’t the chores that he minded so much. After all, he might as well do his part, right? He would have done the same for Dell if the alpha had ever asked. No, what bothered him was the way Jefferson looked him in the eye and said, “You might as well get used to your place here. Dell was too lax with his tutoring.”

“What do you mean?” Corey had asked, only to be ignored. Jefferson had gone into the bedroom to finish getting ready and then went out the door without so much as a goodbye.

My place here?

The significance of that escaped him until the ritual of being given a list of chores repeated itself day after day. His place. Not his personal place, but his place as an omega. He was nothing more than a housekeeper here, pushed to the limit each day with a series of ludicrous tasks that left him without much in the way of a will to escape. Tomorrow he would leave, he promised himself. Tomorrow he would return to Dell and they would make up their differences.

Tomorrow never came. The tasks never stopped.

Whereas Dell lived an immaculate, Spartan lifestyle, Jefferson was the epitome of a bachelor. Dishes filled the sink, piling up until fruit flies hatched in the leftover grease and food scraps. The trash was never emptied until not even another tissue would fit inside, by which time the contents would fill the rest of the apartment with an unholy stench. What dishes weren’t in the sink were everywhere else, on the counters and the furniture. Junk food trash littered the carpet and the areas of hard flooring—the wood of the foyer and the tiles of the kitchen—were so covered in crumbs that one couldn’t walk across without leaving behind a trail worthy of Hansel and Gretel.

Corey set about to work with sweeping and vacuuming, ridding the household of its overflowing trash. He washed dishes until his right hand clenched into a claw-shape as if he permanently held a sponge. His fingers ached and his skin turned red from the harsh soap. But the work didn’t simply stop there. The blinds needed dusting, the bathroom swabbed from floor to ceiling and no part of it could be missed. The air vents needed cleaning and the furniture had to be shuffled around to get at the detritus which had gathered in the corners over the years.

The fridge and freezer needed emptying out of moldy contents, and cleaned afterward.

The drains needed clearing.

Clothes needed washing, as did the bedsheets.

The stove needed to be cleaned, its interior covered in an inch of grease and grime. That one took literally all day.

And even as much as he cleaned, as hard as he tried to keep up with what was asked of him, Jefferson continued to add to the mess every day. He never picked up after himself, and he was distinctly opposed to getting rid of any of the clutter. If Corey deigned to touch something to clean it and it didn’t find its way back to the exact right spot afterward, he would endure a lecture on how his worth was decided by his work.

It was too much to handle, yet there really wasn’t much to complain about if he was honest with himself. There was no verbal abuse, no beatings. He was simply looked down upon in a way Dell had never done.

And the night of the new moon drew ever closer. He prayed and prayed to whatever God existed that he would have a chance to speak with Dell, but, after that disastrous first training session, he never saw the other alpha. Clearly, Jefferson had decided it was best to keep them apart. Though that was difficult to deal with, he couldn’t help but to be thankful anyway for the chance to spend time outside. It only lasted so long, however, and then he would be cramped inside once more with the smell of soap and polish in his nose, detergent stinging his eyes.

“Psst. Hey. Corey. Wake up.”

Corey opened his eyes, which instantly adjusted to the darkness of the bedroom. A broad silhouette stood over him and his hopes soared for a moment. “Dell?”

In the next instant, he knew how wrong he was when the silhouette’s thin lips formed a slash of disgust. “No.”

“Jefferson! I was dreaming. I’m sorry.”

Jefferson snorted and tossed his head. “You weren’t dreaming. You’re still loyal to that bastard who lied to you. But there’s no time to discuss that. We must leave.”

“Leave?” Corey sat up and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes, unable to keep from yawning. “Where are we going?”

“It’s new moon.”

For a moment, Corey believed him and then he was just confused, as his struggling brain finally caught up to things. “No, it isn’t. That’s tomorrow, remember?”

“No!” Jefferson snapped, growling. His teeth clicked together as he bit at the word. “It’s past midnight. Today is the day. The moon is new.”

On a technicality, I guess you’re right.

“Why do we have to leave?” he asked, swinging his legs out of bed and standing. Inside him, the little soul stirred and then resumed its slumber, still much too young to understand. “Everyone else won’t be ready until later.”

“We aren’t waiting for the others. Come.” Jefferson gestured for Corey to follow him over to the dresser. A filthy plate and a number of pieces of trash littered the top, cascading into an open drawer. “Here. Put these on and then we’re leaving.”

Corey dressed in his clothes, still confused as hell and trying to comprehend why this was happening. Perhaps something bad had happened and the plans had changed, but Jefferson didn’t exactly look like he was in a panic. Dread stirred in his stomach, warning him that not all was as it seemed here.

They left by the front door and paced through the silent town on quiet feet. Everything was still, the darkness pushed back only by the streetlights and the occasional rare glow of an illuminated window where a mother nursed her child, and a couple discussed their future. But for those snapshots of wakefulness, the rest of the world was an album of sleep.

They reached the outskirts of town and shapeshifted at Jefferson’s bidding. Corey followed along after the alpha, keeping track of him in the night by the jaunty flash of his wagging tail. He definitely wasn’t worried about anything, not with that body language. More confused than ever, Corey just kept on following as they worked their way deeper into the hills and then circled around to the other side of the city. He lost track of time, though the seconds seemed like eternities.

What was that?

Squinting, he saw it again. Something moved at the top of a nearby hill. The way it moved was more than a little familiar and the dread in his stomach surged up and caught in his throat. “Jefferson!” he barked, startled and digging in his paws so that he jerked to a stop.

Jefferson turned to look back at him, calm in every way. “Just come,” he growled, and continued onward toward the panther crouched on top of the hill.

Corey hung back, frozen with fear, but the anger that snapped in the alpha’s eyes was more than he was capable of resisting. He approached, pushing his body down as close to the earth as he could.

The panther seemed completely calm. It crouched there with its paws folded underneath it, black pelt smooth. Its luminous eyes were slitted as it sat there like a statue, the only moving part of its body being a twitching tail tip.

As Jefferson drew nearer, the panther sat up and dipped its head in a diplomatic gesture of welcome. Jefferson didn’t bow back and they set off together down the other side of the hill.

Is this some part of the coming battle? Some sort of meeting between leaders? But, shouldn’t Chief Michael be the one out here?

If he tried to run, they would catch him in an instant. All he could do was follow along and hope he could stand what happened next.

At the bottom of the hill were panthers. Dozens of them, more than Corey had ever imagined. Each one was bigger and sleeker than the last, with bodies bulging with muscle. They were relaxed, either sleeping or milling gently about. Instead of deadly predators with a grudge, they resembled a flock of sheep waiting to be ushered on home.

And Jefferson was the sheep dog who would herd them, wasn’t he?

He transformed back into a human and shook his head, planting his feet in the grass. The wolf ahead of him turned back and glared, a warning stark in its eyes.

“You’re a traitor.”

Jefferson shifted and grabbed Corey’s wrist, as fast as lightning. There could be no escape. “That might be what they’ll call me for a long time, but that’s not what I am.” Jefferson glanced over his shoulder, looking at the panther who had led them here. He was a panther no longer but human, and one that Corey recognized. It was Ian Blackwell himself. “Do you mind if I speak with this omega for a moment?”

Ian grunted. “Take all the time you need. We aren’t going anywhere.”

The grip on his wrist tightened hard enough to be painful, grinding the bones in his forearm together. Corey bit back the whimper rising in his throat and followed Jefferson several yards away from the group of cats.

He didn’t even say my name. I don’t mean anything to him.

“Listen,” Jefferson growled. “I’m not going to repeat myself. You wolves, you’re all so foolish. Defending Eureka when we should be forming alliances. Isolating ourselves when we should be making pacts. One country can’t stand against an empire.”

Corey held his tongue, not saying what he felt deep inside. Jefferson had delusions of grandeur. He was blinded by what he hoped could be, instead of what was.

“I can tell you don’t understand. None of you do. You’re all too weak-minded.”

“Not weak-minded enough to join forces with the group of panthers that are going to attack us!” he burst out, unable to help himself.

“It’s called strategy.” Jefferson spread his arms, gesturing to the crowd behind them. “There is no way that we would win this fight. If I’m on the winning side of things, I can get them to spare us. We can form an alliance, the first of many. Our future will be secured, Corey.”

In a twisted sort of way, it made sense. Instead of risking everything on an unclear outcome, Jefferson was trying to ensure that something could be saved no matter what. Would Corey have done the same thing if he was in that position?

“With Dell out of the way, I will prove myself to be the strongest wolf. I will lead our pack to a glory it has never known!”

And there it was, the underlying motive behind all this. There was the true reason, which could not be denied no matter how Jefferson tried to spin it.

“Why did you bring me here?” he asked. “I’m not… part of this like you are.”

“Oh, but you will be.” Jefferson nodded. A self-satisfied grin formed on his lips and it was terrible to see. “I saved you from that idiot Dell. You’re mine now. It will be our children who begin the next generation, our children who grow up knowing a peace that few ever do.”

“Dell won’t let you do this.”

Jefferson’s grin warped to a faked look of sympathy. “Didn’t you hear me before? Dell is out of the way. He won’t bother us anymore.”

Corey pulled in a deep breath, not quite a gasp. The world spun beneath him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that no one has seen the poor bastard since you chose to jump in front of me at training that one day. Last we know, he ran off into the hills. Probably killed himself.”

The night pressed in around Corey, pushing into his eyes. He saw very little and felt almost nothing. When he hit the ground on his knees, the pain didn’t register. Dell? Dell was gone? Because of him?

Rope looped around his wrists, guided by an unseen hand. Corey closed his eyes and let them do what they would because he no longer had anything to fight for.