Are you awake yet, or what?” I asked, staring at the tied up shifter.

I knew who he was immediately. He was the soldier who came after me. I planned on leaving the camp today, but I couldn’t talk to Valchek with a soldier breathing down my neck. No, I had better plans for the day. These guys were interrogating my father, so it felt only right to have my own interrogation take place inside my tent.

He opened his eyes and acknowledged me with a painful grimace. “Don’t tell anyone,” he said.

“Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing following me in plain clothing? Isn’t that illegal?” I asked.

He tried to move his arms, but his wrists were zip-tied behind his back. He groaned in pain. “The seizure. You can’t tell anyone about them.”

I didn’t give two craps about his condition. What interested me the most was what they had on me. I needed to get out of this country fast, but if they had a team looking for me, I knew it would be difficult.

“I asked you a question,” I said.

He slid his body into a slumped, but upright position. He was breathing heavily. Tears were even forming in his eyes. The omega was putting on a pretty entertaining show of emotion.

“Why do you think? You defected,” he groaned.

“You can’t defect if you were never registered,” I said.

He nodded. “That’s not how this game works, and you know it,” he said.

I felt the rage boiling inside of me. Just two days ago, he was aiming his rifle at me. With one pull of the trigger, he could have blown my brains out. I wanted to punch this guy’s teeth in.

“Life isn’t a game to me. Life is beautiful and full of wonder. It’s shifters like you who drain the color out of life,” I said, putting my boot on his back, just like he did to me.

“How do you like it?” I asked him. “Does it make you feel good?”

“No, dammit. Please, just get off me. I’ll explain everything,” he said.

I wasn’t like him. I didn’t find joy in hurting other people, let alone my own kind. I eased off of him a bit and knelt down. “Go ahead. Explain.”

“I don’t know as much as you think. I’m here because my commanding officer wanted me to follow you,” he said. I raised my boot to his face. “That’s all I know! I swear!” I cried.

“Why me? Why my father?” I asked.

“Because regulations are getting tighter. They’re trying to force all of the gray wolves to register,” he said.

“What else is new?” I looked outside my tent to see if anyone had witnessed me tying him up, but no one seemed tuned into it. There were at least a hundred fights a day. His seizure went relatively unnoticed.

“Look, just don’t tell anyone about what happened. People can’t find out about me,” he said.

Tears were really starting to fall down his cheeks now. I had too much damn empathy in bones to kick him around some more, so I waited for him to calm down.

I could only connect with his pain so much. “You can’t keep running from the truth. Eventually, it comes back to bite you in the ass,” I said.

He tried his best to hold back his tears. I didn’t know whether to feel for him, or to hate him. These days, it was impossible to know who I could trust. “You don’t understand. I have no one. My parents are gone. I had to sign up for this job.”

“Yeah. Welcome to the club. You think I’m going to have sympathy for you, just because your parents are missing?” I asked.

“Killed. They were killed,” I said.

I lowered my eyes for a moment and felt my throat tighten. Don’t cry too, asshole. But it was almost impossible not to. My father Garreon meant the world to me. He taught me how to be gentle and kind. He showed me how easy it was to fall into hate. He told me never to take the easy route. So many times, I had failed in that regard.

I figured it was a ploy to get me to feel for him. I had to exercise caution. I cleared my throat out of anxiousness. “I’m sorry for your loss,” I whispered.

“It’s okay. They knew the consequences. They were offered their freedom, but they didn’t accept it,” he said.

“In the barracks? Do you call that freedom? What planet did you grow up on?” I asked him.

“Say what you want about the system. But the wolves I met in the barracks are loyal and true toward their friends,” he said.

I couldn’t hear any more of this. It was making me too anxious. I leaned over the soldier and searched him. On his hip was a handgun. He kept a knife attached to his ankle. I took his body armor off of him and threw it in the corner of my tent.

“There,” I said. “Now you’re just like me. Omega.”

He was lying on the floor, panting for air. “Don’t call me that,” he said.

His tight white shirt hiked over his abs. I felt my body turn hot. My lips were so close to his body. A desire washed over me, so strong that I started to forget who he was. I quickly glanced away from him.

What was happening to me? Was I really checking this guy’s abs out?

“But you’re an omega. That’s who you are. You can’t just wish that away,” I said.

He gulped loudly. He was looking at me with extra worry in his eyes. I instinctually glanced down at the center of his tight pants. This time, I had to close my eyes, but it was too late. My cock was already upright and pressing against my underwear. My body betrayed my better judgment.

“They’re not the best and brightest over there,” he said.

“And you?” I asked him, unable to stop stealing glances toward his most appealing curves.

“I’m bright enough to know what I need to do to survive,” he said.

I was still so close to him. I could smell his omega scent, plain as day. The musty smell of an omega was something I hadn’t experienced in ages. My heart was pounding with desire. I grazed his belt buckle with my finger. I couldn’t control my alpha instincts.

If I hated him so much, then why was I thinking about topping him?

“And what do you need to do to survive?” I asked him.

My voice turned into a whisper. His pink lips parted open. “I… I can’t,” he murmured, looking down.

Then, his eyes met mine. They were yellow and beautiful, with dark speckles. Having that kind of color was rare. I knew right then and there that I had to kiss him, despite everything else. All my worry dissolved away somehow.

“But you’re an omega,” I said again. “You might be one of the last.”

His eyes lit up. “I am one of the last,” he said, confidently.

I bent my head down, closer to his face. We both closed our eyes. My chest tightened as our lips crushed together. Everything changed after that.

It was the heat of the moment, and it got to us like a wild brush fire. Our tongues met with an explosion of electricity. Goosebumps furrowed up my neck. I wrapped my hands around his waist and moved on top of him.

Releasing from our kiss, we noticed how fast we were breathing. “If anyone finds out about this, they’ll kill me,” he said.

“Then, I guess you’re going to have to be a good omega,” I muttered.

He hiked up his waist, grinding his pelvis against me. I reached into his pants and felt his warm cock starting to grow against my palm. The spongy flesh felt incredible, and within two seconds it was rock solid.

“I’ve never really done this before,” he said, looking a little embarrassed.

“You’ve never gotten laid by an alpha? Or are you saying that you’ve never fucked a defector?” I asked, slipping out of my shirt.

I unbuckled his pants and slowly slid them down past his ankles. He shivered with desire. “Neither,” he said.

I gave a sly smile. His abs looked incredible. I traced the outline of each muscle with my index finger. I slowly moved downward. “Maybe we met for a reason,” I said.

“Quit talking like that,” he said.

It was an insane thought, and one I quickly dismissed. This man helped put my father in the interrogation cells. He was hot, but he was no saint. I don’t care how sad his story seemed.

In these situations, the desire to mate always took precedence. We were both naked and vulnerable. I spread his legs open. My hands gripped his upper thighs. He groaned and pressed his head against my chest.

“Carter,” he moaned.

I lowered my head and kissed his inner thigh. He smelled so fucking good. I fell into my animalistic tendencies. My desire was uncontrollable at that point.

“You want me to lick that hole, don’t you?” I asked with a quick grin.

“That would be great, but maybe you can loosen these ties first? My wrists are killing me,” he said.

There was no way that I was going to loosen those wrist ties. “How ‘bout we keep them on,” I said.

He sighed, but as soon as my tongue tasted his hole, he tilted his head back with satisfaction.

“Alright, fine,” he said. “We can keep them on. Just keep eating me.”

My tongue circled his rim, licking all the way up his taint and balls. I wanted to get him right and ready for me. I traced my tongue back down to his hole, inserting it as much as I could, loosening him up.

I pulled away and watched him squirm. “Don’t… ever… stop,” he panted.

“You’re so helpless,” I smiled. “It’s kind of cute.”

His smile turned into a sharp grimace. “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this,” he said. “This isn’t right.”

I kissed his stomach. Then, I kissed his chest and sternum. I could see his heartbeat against his skin. I could smell his desire. “What do you really feel? What I mean is, what does the wolf inside of you desire?”

He gulped again. “You. It desires you. I desired you from the first time I saw you in that clearing. You were in the water, and your shirt was latched on tightly to your body. I hated you for it. You looked freer than ever.”

He thrust his waist into the air and bit his lower lip. I moved back down, inserting a finger inside of him slowly. He howled, “Oh, fuck!”

“Slower?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “Yes. I’m not used to this yet,” he said.

Before I gave him what he wanted, I glanced at his big cock. For an omega, it was massive. I clutched around his shaft and stroked him sensually, teasing him with my lips sliding down his shaft.

With my other hand, I cupped his tight balls. He was already on the verge of climax. As I glided my hand down, I whispered, “Now, I want you to relax.”

He closed his eyes and exhaled. His muscles relaxed, and he lay on the tent’s floor, with a glazed smile. “I’m relaxed,” he said. “Keep stroking my cock like this, and you’ll make me cum, alpha.”

I tightened my grasp around his balls. He opened his eyes, alarmed. I said, “Now, I want you to realize something. Out here, you have no jurisdiction.”

His face turned red with agony. I wasn’t hurting him, but I was letting him know who had control. “What the fuck are you doing? I thought—”

Something had snapped me out of the sex-crazed trance. I couldn’t fuck this guy, let alone mate him. My mind kept racing back to the image of my dad in that cold prison cell. It wouldn’t be right to do this.

“No. That’s not how this game works. Remember? Life is a game to you soldiers, right?” I asked him, smiling.

“No! What the fuck, man? You said we were cool,” he said.

“Did I? I don’t seem to remember saying that, but I guess it’s your word over mine. That’s usually how it goes in the courts,” I said.

He tried escaping my hold, but when I tightened my grip on his balls, he stopped moving. “Okay, okay, okay! I’ll do anything you want,” he said.

I let go and looked at him very curiously. I wasn’t a violent person. I wasn’t a rebel, nor was I ever going to be a soldier. I was in the middle of all this insanity, and I just wanted my old life back.

“Just give me my dad back,” I said.

I had my sleeping bag packed, along with all the rest of my necessities. I zipped up my pants and threw on my shirt. I took his weapons and body armor. “I’m probably going to need this if more soldiers are coming after me,” I said.

“Come on. You can’t leave me like this. I’m naked! If the guards catch me like this, I’ll be the laughing stock of the barracks,” he pleaded.

“You guys killed one of my fathers. Then, you put the other one in prison. Now, you’re trying to come after me. I’m your own kind. How can you fuck someone that you wanted to kill a day ago? No, wait. Don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter,” I said, leaving the tent.

I ran toward the edge of the camp. I saw Valchek’s armored vehicle parked on the north side. I ran as fast as I could toward the tank, tears falling from my eyes.

There was no going back now.