by Peyton Bogue
“The omega’s been to my garage,” Rhys bites out sharply. “I can smell him all over the fucking workshop.”
Sage’s blood runs cold, and his eyes immediately find Kai’s again. Whatever Kai reads on his face makes his mouth twist up discomfortingly, and he shoots a resolute glance towards Mikalina. Mikalina stares back at him confusedly, before her eyes trail over Sage’s face, assessing him. Sage doesn’t even know if he’s holding back his panic anymore, but Mikalina continues to watch him for another moment, before she nods her head sharply towards her office door. A silent dismissal.
Sage is up and off of the couch immediately, shooting her a relieved look.
Kai follows after him, and Sage opens Mikalina’s office door and quickly walks back towards his desk, grabbing his briefcase and his car keys. Rhys is still growling down the line, and the harsh and menacing threat of it only adds to Sage’s panic. Rhys sounds furious, as if he’s seconds away from shifting, and Sage can’t let him run off yet, not before he tells Rhys what he knows.
“I'm coming to the precinct,” Rhys finally says after a few more seconds, and Sage shakes his head even though he knows that Rhys can’t see him.
Rhys’s garage is only about ten minutes away from the precinct, but Sage can get there in half of that time. He knows that Rhys needs to see that he’s safe and unharmed. If the omega was at Rhys’s garage, he could have easily made his way down to the precinct. He could have been this close to all of them this entire time, even before Rhys had smelled him on Sage.
“No, I’ll come to you. I'll be there in five minutes,” Sage replies, and the only sound Rhys makes is another threatening noise low in his throat. Sage disconnects the call, shoving his phone back into his pocket.
Kai is right behind him as Sage pushes open the glass door of the precinct, and they both make their way towards Sage’s Camaro hastily.
“What’s going on?” Kai asks him, keeping his voice low, and Sage spares a quick glance around them, but the sidewalk and the rest of the street is empty.
He looks back at Kai, muttering, “The omega was at Rhys’s garage.”
Kai’s eyes widen, and he seems to realize abruptly what Sage isn’t telling him. The omega’s been near us this entire time.
“What are we going to do?” Kai asks as they reach the Camaro, and Sage shakes his head angrily as he unlocks the car and steps into the driver’s seat.
He throws his briefcase towards the backseat and starts the car when Kai settles next to him.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he says, and they both buckle their seatbelts quickly. “That’s what we need to find out.”
Kai’s jaw clenches and Sage puts the car into drive, whipping the Camaro out of her spot and turning the wheel sharply.
“What had you looking so freaked out back there?” Kai asks him after Sage nearly runs a red light, and Sage bites the inside of his cheek, his hands tightening on the steering wheel as he shoots Kai another look out of the corner of his eye.
He doesn’t know for sure, but something deep inside of him is screaming at him that he’s right. All of the information is beginning to slot together like missing pieces, and honestly, it’s been in front of him for a few days now. Nothing is a coincidence, and he should have known this the second Rhys had growled that there was another werewolf in his territory, that the werewolf had scented Sage just so that he could send a message that he wasn’t going away without a fight.
He’s been blind. He and Kai both have been blind.
“I think I know who the omega is.”
PART THREE
OMEGA
TEN
“What?” Kai asks shrilly, and Sage knows that Kai is looking over at him in surprise even as he keeps his eyes forward on the street, quickly switching lanes and cutting off a gray Kia.
The Kia honks behind him, but Sage just pushes down on the gas pedal harder.
“Why do you think you know who the omega is?” Kai asks. His voice is steady, demanding, but Sage knows that he’s panicking. His right hand is gripping the dashboard in front of him, bracing himself as Sage continues to swerve through the busy Brooklyn traffic, while his left hand balls into a fist against his thigh.
Sage glances out of the rearview mirror before switching lanes again, and when he jerks the wheel back quickly, his briefcase flies across the backseat and smacks harshly against the rear passenger side door.
“There’s cross-species DNA on four of those guns, Kai. Who do we know that has cross-species DNA?” Sage asks, trying to keep the annoyance from his tone. Kai isn’t purposefully being dense, Sage knows, but Sage can’t help the fear that settles into his abdomen. He doesn’t want to lash out at Kai, but he’s having trouble holding back his anger.
“Rhys,” Kai answers timidly. “But you destroyed his samples, like, almost four years ago, dude. Why would his DNA show up now?”
“It wouldn’t,” Sage replies, pressing down on the gas pedal harder to make it through a yellow light. “It’s not his DNA that’s on the guns.”
Kai is quiet for a second, but Sage doesn’t say anything, just turns the wheel sharply to turn left onto another street.
After a few more seconds, Kai inhales sharply, slamming his hand into the dashboard. “It’s the omega’s DNA, then, right? That’s why you freaked out. The omega works for Sirin,” he bites out harshly, shaking his head.
“Yes,” Sage replies.
“That could be anyone, Sage,” Kai says. “Sirin has hundreds of employees, and Hazel said that the samples Mikalina collected were too badly degraded to analyze.”
“We don’t need anything analyzed,” Sage says roughly. “I know who it is.”
“Who?” Kai asks.
Sage glances at him, biting out, “Damian Steele.”
From where Sage is still looking at him from out of his periphery even as he turns back to the street in front of him, Sage can see Kai’s lips purse in confusion, and a troubled look settles over his face.
The name may be unfamiliar to Kai, but it’s embedded into the surface of Sage’s brain like a brand.
“Damian Steele,” Kai repeats slowly, as if he’s trying to test out the words on his tongue. “Your Army buddy? The one we saw a few days ago? The guy who is Aleksander Kharkovy’s personal assistant?”
His tone is angry, harsh, and Sage nods his head vehemently in response. Kai should be angry. Sage is angry. He doesn’t know how they missed it for this long.
“He scented me in the lobby,” Sage says harshly, finally turning the Camaro into the parking lot of Rhys’s garage. The parking lot is empty. Rhys’s motorcycle is probably parked inside, out of the view of anyone passing by on the street because he doesn’t want anyone to mess with it. Kai’s eyes drift over the empty spaces in the parking lot, and he scoffs. Sage turns back to him, running a hand through his hair in irritation. “At the precinct a few days ago, I literally ran into him, but it was like he was waiting for me, Kai. And before he left, he scented me, and neither one of us realized it.”
“Fuck, Sage,” Kai replies, shaking his head. He runs both of his hands over his face irritably, sighing. “You’re right, shit. How did we not notice that?”
“I don’t know,” Sage says, biting the inside of his cheek. He parks the car quickly, hurriedly pulling his keys out of the ignition and opening the door. He probably slams it shut harder than he normally would have, but he can’t bring himself to care.
Rhys’s garage is a normal, one-story brick building on a corner facing out towards the street. Sage and Kai both quickly make their way around the backside of the building to avoid the busy street, and Sage opens the side door and steps inside.
He’s not surprised to see that Rhys is pacing in front of the door, a scowl on his face and his red eyes illuminating clearly even in the bright light of the workshop, and as soon as Sage clears the doorway, he pulls Sage into his arms and hugs him tightly to his chest. Sage wraps his arms around Rhys’s bulky shoulders, letting
the warmth of Rhys’s body ground him from his panic.
Kai moves around them, making his way further inside the workshop and plopping down across from the floor jack in the left corner of the garage. The sliding doors are pulled shut and fastened tightly on the opposite side of where Rhys and Sage are standing, but there’s a window open above the welding machines adjacent to the jack, and Sage knows from visiting Rhys multiple times throughout the past three and a half years that Rhys never opens that window.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly into Rhys’s ear.
Rhys makes a sound in his throat that isn’t entirely soothing, but he pulls away from Sage and nods. His beautiful red eyes meet Sage’s, and they’re full of fury and anger, but Sage can still see the relief behind Rhys’s hardened gaze, and he lets Rhys move his hand to the back of his neck, scenting him.
“I’m happy that you’re safe,” Rhys says, his voice full of rage, and a growl sounds from his throat as he continues, “but I’m fucking pissed.”
“I know,” Sage says, not hiding his own irritation. He sighs again, and Kai flicks one of the jack straps holding an old Kawasaki in place on top of the jack as he huffs loudly.
“I cannot believe this,” he says. “He’s been here this entire goddamn time.”
“He wants me to know that he’s close,” Rhys says, snarling. “He wants me to know how close he is to you.” His thumb rubs over the top of Sage’s spine, and Sage shuffles back slightly but still stays tightly pressed to Rhys’s left side.
“Well, he’s fucking right,” Kai says, huffing again. He runs a hand over his face.
“Did he do anything?” Sage asks, crossing his arms. He sweeps his eyes over the garage carefully, as if he’s assessing a crime scene. Rhys’s normal sundry supplies are lying over on his workbench, undisturbed, and his automotive body tools are in their correct places. The welding machines are untouched, the tire mount isn’t broken, and the sandblaster is clean and tidy on the other side of the shop. The only thing that looks out of place is the broken glass that is spewed across the concrete from underneath the welding machines, and Rhys’s stool he normally sits on is toppled over and broken. Sage looks above the welding machines, and the window he’d thought was open is actually broken, caved in as if the omega had to punch in the glass in order to get in. Sage turns back to Rhys, asking, “Did he leave a note, or something?”
Rhys chuckles sardonically. His laughter is bitter and harsh as he bites out, “No, Sage. He didn’t leave a note.”
Sage winces lightly at Rhys’s brutish tone. “Okay, well, did he take anything? Why was he here?”
“To mock me,” Rhys says, his voice heavy with venom, “because I haven’t found him yet. His scent is covering every inch of this room. He wants me to know he’s waiting for me to accept his challenge.”
“Accept his challenge?” Sage repeats. “His challenge for what?”
“This territory,” Rhys replies harshly. “He wants my territory.”
“How does that even work?” Kai asks, standing up and crossing his arms as he frowns.
Rhys growls again. “Any werewolf can challenge an Alpha for that Alpha’s territory. This omega has challenged me. I haven’t accepted.”
“Why?” Sage asks.
Rhys turns to him, exhaling sharply. “Because I don’t actually want to kill anyone.”
Sage’s eyes widen in shock, and he glances at Kai, who gives him a startled look. They both turn back to Rhys, who is still growling lowly.
“Why would you have to kill him?” Sage asks Rhys gently, unwilling to irritate Rhys further. He doesn’t want to push Rhys too hard and encourage him to shift. Rhys needs to keep a level head right now, especially when he’s already struggling to control his wolf.
Rhys growls deeply in his throat, his face contorted in anger. “To win the challenge, I’d have to kill him,” he says harshly. “It’s the only way to assert my claim to this territory.”
“He’s trying to goad you into accepting, right?” Kai asks, scoffing. “By breaking in here and spreading his scent over everything, he’s trying to make you angry enough to fight him back?”
“Yes,” Rhys snarls, his red eyes flashing a shade darker. “And it’s working. I want to rip out his fucking throat.”
“Rhys,” Sage says softly, placing his hand between Rhys’s shoulder blades and rubbing the space between them soothingly. Rhys glances back at him, sighing, and squeezes Sage’s neck in reassurance.
“You don’t actually plan on killing him, though, right?” Kai asks tentatively.
Rhys’s eyes snap back to Kai, and he glares menacingly. “It’s the only way to make sure that he’s no longer a threat.”
“It’s not the only way, Rhys,” Sage interjects, frowning.
“Do you have a better idea? Just because I said I didn’t want to kill him doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t. He’s dangerous, Sage. He’s so close to you—to both of you,” Rhys says, motioning towards Kai. “I’m not going to let him endanger my pack.”
“We’re police officers, Rhys,” Kai says sternly, his frown deepening. “We can’t exactly condone the killing of an innocent civilian.”
“Innocent,” Rhys mocks, scoffing. “There’s nothing innocent about this omega.”
Sage can’t exactly argue with that. The last word he would ever use to describe Damian Steele is innocent.
“What if we could convince him to leave?” Sage asks, shaking his head. “If we could get him to understand that you’re not going to give up this territory and that he’s got nothing to gain here, we could get him to leave.”
“How do we do that, Sage? We don’t even know who he is,” Rhys says, a growl still caught deep in his throat. He scowls again, and his muscles are pulled taut against his bulging biceps. He looks absolutely menacing.
Sage shares a look with Kai, then turns his attention back to Rhys as he takes a step away to fully face him, keeping his hand on Rhys’s shoulder. “Actually,” he says timidly, “we do.”
Rhys snaps his gaze back to Sage’s, his red eyes shining like the dying embers of a fire. He risks a glance at Kai, who just gives Rhys a small shrug, before Rhys narrows his eyes at Sage, his entire body stiff.
“What do you mean,” he bites out, his jaw clenched tight.
“We know who the omega is,” Sage says simply, and a low snarl rips itself from Rhys’s throat.
“How?” he asks sharply, his entire body tense with rage.
Sage immediately backtracks, moving closer to Rhys to rub his hand over Rhys’s shoulder in reassurance. “We pieced some things together, Ree,” he answers softly. “We haven’t seen him again. He hasn’t come back to the precinct.”
He feels Rhys relax infinitesimally, but Rhys is still glaring as he looks back and forth between Sage and Kai.
“Who is it?” he asks.
Sage exhales sharply. “Damian Steele,” he says, the name like acid on his tongue.
Rhys just stares at him, his red eyes blank.
“Steele and I served together in Afghanistan,” Sage says, answering the unasked question in the air. “He works for Aleksander Kharkovy, now. He’s the one who scented me that day.”
“How do you know that he’s the omega?” Rhys asks. He’s not discrediting Sage’s words or asking because he doesn’t believe Sage. Rhys is still seething from his anger, but he’s being genuine with his question. He knows that Sage is telling him the truth. Sage wouldn’t be telling him something like this if he didn’t completely believe what he was saying.
“Hazel found cross-species DNA on a few of the guns from the shootout at the truck stop,” Sage replies. “She pulled some prints, too, and the prints matched a redacted Army file.”
“And you’re sure it’s him?” Rhys asks.
“He scented Sage in the precinct that day, Rhys,” Kai cuts in, and Rhys looks at him sharply. “I was there. We didn’t realize that’s what he was doing. He’s the only one that makes sense.”
“He’d h
ave direct access to those guns,” Sage adds. “He was a high level Army operative. His DNA wouldn’t be in the system, and neither would his prints. Neither were mine when I first started at the precinct. Kharkovy is also probably covering for him.”
“Was he a werewolf when you knew him?” Kai asks.
Sage shakes his head. “Definitely not.” Sage has sparred with him, and beaten him, enough times to know that Steele couldn’t have been a werewolf during their Army days. “Up until a few days ago, it’d been years since I’d last seen him. He could have been turned at any point between then and now.”
“How are we going to convince him to leave?” Rhys asks, his jaw clenched tightly.
Sage glances at Kai again, and Kai’s eyes light up when Sage nods at him.
“The masquerade,” Kai answers the unasked question in Sage’s eyes, pointing at Sage encouragingly. “That could work.”
“What masquerade?” Rhys asks confusingly, glancing between Sage and Kai again.
“Aleksander Kharkovy is holding a charity masquerade ball in a few days,” Sage replies. “Kai and I are going to go undercover to try to get into his finances at the ball for Mikalina. Steele is Kharkovy’s assistant. He’ll probably be there. We could corner him. He can’t do anything to us in public without the risk of potentially exposing himself.”
Rhys nods. “I could get in—explain why he needs to leave.”
Sage shakes his head, saying slowly, “I think I should be the one to talk to him.”
Both Kai and Rhys snap their gazes to him sharply. Kai frowns again, shaking his head, but Rhys scowls, growling out, “Absolutely not.”
“Rhys,” Sage says, “Steele is a werewolf, and he’s a lot stronger than me. I’m not a threat to him. If I could get him alone, I could explain to him why he needs to leave in a rational way. Out of the three of us, I at least somewhat know him. He’s a strategic Army operative. He knows when to pick the best option, and his best, and only, option is to leave your territory before someone ends up hurt.”