Kegan stayed still, eyes wide in shock at the statement of his wolf. He'd never heard his wolf speak before, but now he wouldn't shut up.

"That's our mate, Kegan! Go to him!" his wolf ordered, but Kegan stayed in the same spot he'd been in for the past hour.

The Alpha approached him, making Kegan shuffle further into his corner. He didn't trust the Alpha in front of him and, mate or not, Alphas only ever granted him one thing, and that was pain.

"Alpha, they're not surrendering! We've basically defeated them, but they're not backing down!" called a familiar voice.

"Leave them. We've got what we came here for," the Alpha said, surging forward and picking Kegan up, despite the smaller wolf's whines and attempts to get away. "Good work, Tali."

Tali nodded, standing in the doorway to Leon's room. "Of course, Alpha," she said, making Kegan's eyes widen with betrayal.

He thought Tali would protect him, but she gave him up to another Alpha. All his life, Kegan wanted to find his mate, but now that he was with him, all he felt was dread.

The Alpha would never accept him as a mate. He'd reject him or treat him just like Leon had. There was no way any Alpha would ever want to be mated with someone who'd given themself to another Alpha out of fear.

Kegan was terrified, the potent scent of his fear filling the air as he was held. He squirmed once again, trying to get out of the Alpha's grip, but the Alpha wouldn't let him go.

"Calm down, love," the Alpha murmured, putting out his own calming pheromones to try to soothe the Omega. "You're safe now."

"Trust mate," Kegan's wolf ordered him.

Kegan mentally scoffed at his wolf. "You ignored me my entire life and you expect me to listen to you? Every time I have we've ended up getting hurt!"

His wolf whined pitifully. "I've been trying to protect you," he said, making Kegan shake his head. “If I had spoken to you, you would have convinced me to give in to their demands as you did!”

"Liar. You shifted and ran, only vanishing so I could take the punishment you caused me!"

"I could feel the pain too! We're connected!"

Kegan didn't want to hear it, so he cut off the connection. He glanced up to see the Alpha looking at him in concern.

"Why are you fighting with your wolf?" the Alpha asked.

Kegan growled at his wolf. "You snitched to his wolf?!"

"I had to! You're not listening!"

"He's an Alpha! He'll hurt us!" Kegan thought helplessly, shocked that his own wolf couldn't see that Alphas had always been the ones to hurt them. "You're being irrational!"

The wolf growled, fighting for control. "Stop fighting me, Kegan! I want to talk to my mate!"

Kegan persisted, ignoring the concerned and confused looks that the Alpha gave him. Eventually his wolf gave up the fight, settling down irritably in the back of his mind.

"Prick," the wolf snarled.

Kegan didn't respond, instead starting to squirm again and escape the Alpha's grip. They'd finally made it outside the mansion and Kegan could see a car ahead of them with its doors open, the Alpha carrying him straight towards it.

There was no way Kegan was willingly going to be taken away again. Especially not by some random Alpha and that traitor Tali.

The North River pack was mostly destroyed, if the fire in the sky and the growls and yells had anything to say about it.

That meant that Kegan was free from them. He would be able to run and escape. Maybe stay human and join their world. Anything to get away from being owned by another Alpha.

"Hey, what's going on?" the Alpha asked, realizing that Kegan was fighting even harder to get away from him. "Calm down, love."

Kegan snarled, showing his teeth to the Alpha. He didn't care that he was challenging an Alpha or that it would most likely result in a public rejection. He just wanted to be rejected so he could get away from all of the packs that had made his life a living hell.

The Alpha didn't put him down or growl back. He instead raised an eyebrow and continued to walk toward the car.

"Put me down!" Kegan whined, irritated that the Alpha was continuously ignoring his attempts to escape. 

"You're in preheat," the Alpha stated. "I can smell it all over you. There's enough Omegas in my pack for me to know that cramps occur during preheat and that it's a lot of work to move and use energy. I don't want you to get hurt."

"He's so smart," Kegan's wolf sighed dreamily, falling head over heels for the Alpha.

"I've walked during my preheats before and I can do it now!" Kegan argued, trying to kick at the Alpha. "Put me down!"

The Alpha continued to ignore him, walking to the car and placing him inside.

Kegan instantly crawled to the other side of the car to try to unlock the door and get out, but it opened and Tali climbed in, wrapping her arms around Kegan to keep him from escaping.

Kegan hissed and tried to get away from her, but Tali was much stronger than he was. She glanced at her Alpha, obviously talking through their pack link, before moving her hand to the back of Kegan's neck. Gently, she applied pressure, forcing submission from the Omega, as well as making him tired and dazed.

"Alpha Calix! You have no rights coming onto my pack grounds and taking what belongs to me!" yelled Leon, appearing from the mass of North River and Blood Moon wolves that were fighting in both human and wolf form.

Calix, the Alpha who had taken Kegan, turned away from the car and looked at the other Alpha.

"Do you speak of the Omega?" he asked, and Kegan could hear the intensity and anger in his voice.

Leon sneered. "Of course I speak of the Omega! He belongs to me!"

Calix raised an eyebrow. "Then why did my wolf hear a distress call from his mate? The same mate who happens to be intertwined with the Omega that you claim belongs to you?"

"Don't play games with me, Calix!"

"I'm speaking the truth, Leon. That Omega is my mate and I will not have him treated like an object by you. Your pack is strong, but it needs correcting in the way you treat Omegas." Calix paused and looked around at all of the wolves, all of them paused and staring at the two Alphas. "Surrender now and we leave your pack. If you don't, I will send some of my warriors in to correct your pack."

Leon growled, pacing the ground in anger. He was silent for a few minutes before he finally looked at the Alpha again. "Leave my pack and take your slut with you," he snarled.

Calix growled at the insulting name, but he didn't fight back against Leon.

"Blood Moon pack members! Get back to our territory!" Calix called, watching as his pack all members shifted into their wolf forms if they weren't already in them and ran off to the forest.

Calix climbed into the car on the other side of Kegan, taking the Omega from Tali and holding him close.

It was different that how Leon held him. Leon was always nearly squeezing the life out of him trying to showcase his dominance and leadership.

Calix didn't try to crush him. He held Kegan gently, running his fingers soothingly up and down his spine, emitting calming pheromones into the air.

"You're safe now, mate," Calix whispered, burying his nose in Kegan's hair and breathing in his scent. "No one will treat you like he did ever again."

Kegan's wolf was swooning, but Kegan didn't react. He didn't trust the Alpha and he refused to completely relax in his grasp.

The Alpha may have promised good treatment, but Kegan knew it would only be a matter of time before he was beaten and assaulted again.