Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that all of these amazing powers will be great for our kids—for every wolf’s future child—but you know who benefits shit-all? All of us who’ve already been born.”
“Yeah?” he cried, throwing up his hands. “So?”
“Think about it, Badr. Think!”
“Think about what? If you’ve got something to say, just say it.”
I blew out a hard breath, clenching my fists. It wasn’t him I was frustrated with. I just didn’t want to speak this vision. I never wanted to talk about it again, because the last time I did, I lost everything.
“But you have to know,” I whispered. “You have to know that in the vision there was a shadow. A person—dark and dangerous—who’ll lurk on the edges of this war, pulling the strings of our destruction. A person that I can’t see. That I don’t think even Luame can see. And that person is the one who’ll do it.
“They’re the ones who’ll steal our babies’ powers and give them to the highest bidders.”
Thud!
See? I knew the words would drop him on his ass.
“What?” he hissed. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“A soul stealer,” I whispered, barely hearing him. “That’s what Luame called them. Born with an awful curse, they’re wrong in every way. But they’re just as powerful.
“Badr, our sun, moon, and elemental powers come from the tiny piece of Luame living in our souls. Take our souls, and you take our power.”
“And then we die!”
“Yeah,” I replied, voice dead. “We fucking die. They know that, Badr. The council knows exactly what’ll happen to every child given up to Project Destiny, but they don’t care.”
“Project Destiny.” He circled the hole, moving closer to me. “What is that? The message left by the lunch lady said that. Destiny is known. Destiny is dead.”
“That message was for the council,” I bit out. “I want them to know their secret is out, and someone is working to stop them!”
“Stop them from doing what?”
“From taking the omega babies born from every new powered clan and selling their powers to the old generation. Invisibility? One million dollars? Transmutation and the power to turn a rock into a diamond? Five million,” I cried, lips twisting. “But oh no, is that not enough for you? Want the power of the six and a dab of immortality to go with it? That’ll be twenty million dollars.
“That’s how much our children will be worth, Badr. Twenty million! And that’s only after each one of the council gets our children and their abilities for free. That’s their fucking destiny! To be rich and powerful until the end of time.”
“But they can’t do that. They can’t just—just— Sell and murder babies! All of Wolf Nation would revolt!”
“This is what I’m trying to tell you!” I burst out. “It does happen! It will happen if someone doesn’t stop it. Do you want to know what was going to happen that night after the ceremony? After we all mated before the eyes of the clans?
“The council was going to ‘surprise’ us with a bonding gift. A new home for all seven of us to live together. But that home—”
“—was going to be a prison,” he finished, face draining of color.
I nodded. “They want to breed me, Badr. Like a fucking animal. They’re going to strap me down, load me with fertility drugs, shoot me up with your, Paxton’s, Edric’s, Orion’s, and Nyx’s sperm over and over again, year after year, until they’ve gotten as many children out of me as they can.
“And then that fucking soul stealer will tear the souls out of our babies, and give them to anyone who pays.”
Badr was shaking his head, eyes huge and wild. “People would fight. We would fight! We wouldn’t let them do that to you, or our kids—”
“You’d be dead,” I dropped. “Once they’ve milked you of sperm, they won’t need you anymore. Every single one of you would’ve been killed so you can’t do exactly that. Fight to save me. And as for all of Wolf Nation rising up to save omega children? Ha!” I barked, making him laugh. “No one gives a shit about omegas, alpha. Do you know the kind of horrible things that are done to them now and no one does a thing about it?
“Do you know how many omega girls Mason raped before he ever got his hands on Nia? Do you know how many of them reported it? And do you know what punishment he faced?”
Badr gave me a long, nauseated look. “None.”
“But,” I continued, sighing, “let me be fair. Not every alpha or beta is a soulless psychopath who’d sit idly by while innocent babies were sacrificed. Especially when their own babies are on the line. As you know, an alpha can give birth to an omega, and an omega can give birth to an alpha. This is a fight that affects everyone.