Under the new conditions brought in with my relative 'freedom', I could only leave Lunar accompanied by my handler and the Alpha. I had an meeting scheduled at a facility set miles out from Lunar, hidden by the relatively docile farmland and the untamed forest that rose out of nowhere from the flat land, with dark, imposing pines that darkened the horizon.

As the trees closed around us, my breathing for a second.

A warm hand clasped mine. Easton sat in the back and continued staring forward, a calloused thumb tracing over my knuckles. I relaxed into the touch, trying not to show how touch starved I was. The Alpha didn't need the encouragement, but since I returned from the hospital, he had been finding reasons to just touch me. An errant hair. A piece of lint on my arm. Lingering two long when I handed him his morning coffee and the briefest touches were like shocks off a livewire.

Shocking. Addicting.

I didn't know if I liked the hold it had over me, so I was trying to acclimate myself to it. Get comfortable so it didn't weaken me.

In the front seat, Lux continued to speak and Blav murmured a few comments, his eyes on the dark road. We drove through a great seat of dark metal gates, into another compound. There were soldiers there, stoic and grim as they watched the jeep roll in.

"They're waiting to meet the terrifying Omega." I grumbled.

Lux glanced back at me. "Can we tell them it's me?"

The thought brought a smile to my face. Tiny Lux, a terrifying monster. Easton raised my hand, his lips a whisper against my knuckles. "We will be fine."

"Of course we will. They are just sacks of flesh and blood."

Blav looked at me in the rear-view mirror. "Perhaps, refrain from calling them that. We want to appear human."

"You're using a lot of we here. They aren't here to see you Blav, or even you Easton." I steadied myself, staring at the great room filled with jeeps and cars and all sorts of dangerous things that cost too much and caused a lot of damage. Before they could say anything else, I popped open the door and stepped outside.

The waiting soldiers seemed to grow more still, eyes riveted on me. Assessing. Taking in what the Ravi had created. I knew, by the hitch of their hearts and the soft intakes of breath, they did not find me lacking. I smiled at them – that too cold, too brutal smile.

A soldier, an older man who stood with power, stepped forward. His hair was silver-blond, his gaze bright and sharp. Lines of age drew down his mouth and his hooked nose had been broken one too many times. "It's nice to meet you, Omega."

"Not a lie." I murmured. "Curious."

"Who wouldn't want to meet creation of the Ravi under peaceful circumstances?" He questioned. "You are an anomaly. A human born with the moon's blessing. A weapon created against us, now being wielded by us."

I took the hand he held out and he squeezed, hard. I returned it with a harsher grip, watching his face as I felt the bones grate, right on the precipice of snapping. "I was never the Ravi's to wield. Nor yours. There is no one here that hates the Ravi more than me."

Easton stepped around the side of the jeep, his mouth a stern line of disapproval. "Alpha Elan."

Briefly, Easton touched my lower back. "Nova, this is Alpha Carada Elan. Carada, this is Nova Linden."

"You're moon-bound." Carada looked over me. "Power begets power, doesn't it, Supreme Alpha? The Lycan who dismantled the monarchy, and the human reformed by the Ravi. Paired by the moon."

"We were paired before that." I pointed out.

"And you both changed still, to match the other." Carada said, before shaking his head. "But no matter. Don't let me ramble and become boring and old as my men say I am. We have a friend of yours staying here, Ms. Linden. Another creation of the Ravi."

"I hope he hasn't been harmed. He hates the Ravi too."

"A lot of us here hate the Ravi." Carada replied flippantly over his shoulder.

Not as much as me. I would bet on that. I didn't know what to think of this Alpha yet; he was either stupid, or incredibly gullible to knowingly turn his back on me. I eyed the back of his neck, and amused myself with imagining how quickly I could get to him and alarm the others.

But that wasn't a good alliance obeying Omega.

The corridor to the Ravager was well lit, but the dark walls soothed my growing worries. We were oddly silent in the hall and the only noise came from the squeak of Lux's sneakers. My little peppermint friend walked shoulder to shoulder with me, unflinching as she was surrounded by towering, supernatural beings who could easily end her. But Lux didn't think like that.

We were brought into a dimly lit room, where a one way mirror gave us a glimpse of the hulking man sitting at a flimsy table. His hands were bound, but I knew he only kept that way by choice.

"A Ravager." I murmured.

"Another of the Ravi's creations. More breakable." Carada commented.

"He looks pretty unbroken to me." I replied.

"He won't speak to us."

"Confinement can make a person clam up." I said. "I am going to speak to him."

"That isn't protocol." Carada moved to place a hand on my arm as I stepped towards the doorway. His fingers brushed my skin and a low growl thrummed through the small room. Carada froze as I arched a brow and the big bad Supreme Alpha standing at the mouth of the door, took a single step forward.

"I wasn't asking."

"Take your hand off of her." Easton said. "Now, Carada."

"Ohhh." My stomach tightened and I flashed Carada a smile, all teeth. "You're in trouble."

The older Alpha rolled his eyes, but dropped his hand. "A force of habit. I didn't mean any harm by it."

"Hmm, I've done a lot of things out of habit before." I mused. "But never put my hands on someone I knew to be unstable and much stronger than me."

I pushed open the door and the Ravager's dark eyes travelled to me lazily. He had garnered a few more scuffs since I had seen him in the cells, but he looked relatively unharmed. For a product of the Ravi.

"Omega." He greeted me softly. "You look more humane after a shower and some fresh clothes."

I slid into the chair opposite him. "You allowed them to keep your hands bowed."

"People are generally more comfortable when they think they're in control."

"When they think..?"

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "I can't see them. You can't see them. Yet, I can hear their hearts, the change in their breathing. They don't like what they don't understand."

I kicked up my boots onto the table, crossing my arms. "You and I spoke of stopping the Ravi."

"Something I still intend to do."

"From inside a ... questioning room? My lingo is all whacked. Everything I know comes from old guard show reruns."

"I'm not here because I chose to be." He told me. "These Lycans don't let Ravi freaks out."

"I'm not locked in a cell."

"Well, not all of us have the mercy of being bound to the country's most powerful Lycan."

"Look, could you not pretend to be happy for me Ravager? A little bit of luck has finally come my way."

The Ravager rolled his eyes. "Did they inject you with pixie? I can imagine you annoying your cell mates to death."

I tried to resist a smile. "I didn't have cell-mates. I usually killed anyone who wandered into my cell without subduing me first."

The Ravager sighed, pulled his hands apart and broke the bindings that held him. I heard a scuffle on the other side of the door, a panicked shout.

The door flew open.

The Ravager held out his hand to me. "I am Adken."

I pulled down my legs and sat with my feet on the floor. I leaned forward and slipped my hand into his. I did not fear the Ravager sitting opposite me. Instead, it felt as if I had met a kindred soul. Someone who understood the Ravi's depravity like I did. Someone who had been subjected to their torture and had endured it, if only to endure more because of that.

"I am Nova."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Nova." Adken pulled back and smiled politely at the Supreme Alpha who stood in the doorway. "And you must be the Supreme Alpha Young."

In a move that was decidedly not subtle, Easton leaned his shoulder against the door-frame and gave the Ravager an attempt at a cautious smile. "I am. And you are Adken."

"I am." The burly Ravager examined the Supreme Alpha quickly, then looked past me to the one-way mirror. "Do you think I can get something to drink? All this excitement has worked up quite a thirst."

The corners of Easton's mouth quirked. "The humor must be a Ravi thing."

The Ravager laughed, a low rasp from reshaped vocal chords. "Only the ones that find a sick sort of humor in the pits of hell survive. Now, that water?"

"He is handsome." Lux sat in the canteen of the base, her chin on her hand as she gazed across at the Ravager.

I cocked my brow at her shameless display, but couldn't bring myself to replay. The room was choked with Lycans, all fighters and the instincts embedded inside of me raged at the threat that surrounded me. I kept my hands still and concentrated on not shattering the thin glass in my hands. I was calm.

"He can hear you and don't you have a little mate."

"Your disdain for Nicolas is obvious, Nova." Lux turned her attention to me.

"I've never tried to hide it."

Her mouth tightened. "I like him though."

A pair of Lycan males walked past, their gazes lingering a little too long on Lux and I. My lip curled, a snarl thrumming in my throat and I watched them unblinkingly until they passed. The word Omega bounced around the canteen frequently, as well as the eyeballs of those that I wished to pluck out the longer they stared. I didn't like it here. It was too big, too noisy and even though it was not burning white, the coldness of the walls reminded me of the Ravi's centre.

The whispers churned and changed when a new victim appeared. They did not last long however, as their respect for him was too great. A whisper about those terrible scars, about his mate's true nature. Poor Commander Young. Did he not deserve a mate who would compliment him and not trouble him so? I pitied the girl that they imagined for him. Someone soft and sweet, who baked cookies and greeted him at the door with a blinding smile. Someone to soothe away the worries of his work.

A girl that could be so easily crushed.

If I wanted to crush her that was.

Still, I rose as he approached. He looked over me and smiled, greeting Lux softly before tapping my plate. "You did not eat much."

"I wasn't hungry."

He gave me a disbelieving look, before fishing into his pocket. He pulled out a breakfast bar that looked pitifully small in his scarred hands. "Walk and eat with me. Have you gotten something to eat Lux?"

"I'm full."

Satisfied with that, Easton motioned for us to follow him. We stopped by the Ravager's table as we headed to the opposite door. He had cleaned through three lunches already and was tearing into a chicken sandwich.

"Would you like to come with us, Adken?" Easton asked.

Adken frowned and set down his sandwich. Slowly, his attention shifted to me. He stared at me for a moment, silent. I waited for that rise in anger, that bite of the Omega that demanded his eyes shift from me but it never came. Instead, almost as if on instinct, I dipped my chin.

Adken set aside his lunch and rose. "Yes."

We followed Easton through the halls of the base. I walked at his side, growing increasingly uncomfortable with how people stared at me. I had grown used to being watched in the Ravi's prison but my months of freedom had given me new identity. Now, my secret was out and...

I shoved it down, reminding myself that lamenting would help no one and especially wouldn't help me find the Omega.

The lights dimmed. Lux whispered about faces in the dark and I slowed to walk beside her, a hand on her arm as her human eyes struggled.

"We have another prisoner." Easton told us as we stepped into a low ceilinged room, sparsely filled with Lycan soldiers. Carada and Blav stood at a screen, staring down at the image of a man in the cell. There were computers and monitors through the dark-walled room, with flashing lights that whirred and beeped. The sound grated on me and I curled my nails into my palms, controlling the rise of violent, irrational anger.

"Who?" I asked.

Adken leaned over Carada and Blav. His eyes darkened with hate. "That's a Ravi doctor."

I was at his side in an instant. The man on the screen had looked up. He looked haggard and wore torn clothes, but Lordie, I knew that face. Knew the smell of him. The cigarette smoke. He used to crush his cigarettes into his ash-tray when he was scheduled to watch over me. Used to goad me. If I hadn't been so dangerous, he would have taken advantage of the power that he had over me. Still, he had gotten to close once. I was the one who had taken the fingers on his left hand. Down to the stub.

"I know him." I croaked.

"Who is he?" Carada asked.

"Doresly." I examined his face. "He was on a team of doctor's once that was tasked with...my modifications. He was a cruel and imaginative bastard."

He had been one of them to stoke my anger. During one of the first experimental changes, I had been a malformed beast of torn skin and fur. My hips had shattered when my femurs grew up into the Omega's size, then snapped themselves. The healing was too quick and my mind exhausted.

I leaned closer, my breathing pinching. It was his heel pressing down onto my jaw, growing heavier and heavier when my human mouth would not shift. They needed it to break and elongate. The entire process would have taken Lycans less than a minute.

I had lain there for what seemed like hours, half-changed and clinging to consciousness. If I had blacked out, I would have died but the Omega was present early on – malicious and furious in my mind and it was one of the last moments that the old Nova truly existed.

"He operated on you." Easton asked tightly.

"Broke my bones to encourage my first complete shift." I said, my tone dull. "Doctor Mai was there, but he was the one to take the sledgehammer to the bigger bones that would not give into their modifications."

Smashed to pieces. I remembered the way my blood tasted in my mouth. I remembered the whine of my breathing, how my hands and feet would not respond to me. Shoes – shoes of those standing over me, lamenting about another promising patient succumbing to the pain. My consciousness was holding on by a thread and for the first time, I didn't hold on out of the desire to protect myself or my family. I held on with un-natural, dark hate. A promise of revenge, of bloody vengeance.

A warm hand settled on my shoulder, heavy and reassuring. Easton said nothing as I looked up at him, but his simple presence was enough to startle me. My claws slid out from where I had dug them into my skin. "Why haven't you killed him yet?"

"We hope he can lead us to the Ravi, but he hasn't talked yet."

"Doc-Mai won't come for him. She wouldn't risk the organization for one doctor."

"They killed one of our own when we took the Tube." Blav explained. "We had an informant on the inside whose attempt to find the missing Morely siblings had outed him as a Lycan spy. We know they're moving their operations when they can but the big compounds that house their prisoners, cannot be moved easily."

I looked back to the screen. "Let me talk to him."

The room fell silent. Easton's hand on my shoulder seemed to grow heavier. "Why?"

"I want to look at him from the other side. It would give me a lot of happiness."

"We can't have you killing our prisoner." Carada said.

"I won't. Death would be too easy for him."

They shared looks but Easton didn't seem opposed so what could they say. At the opposite end of the room, the light above it flashed green. Easton walked with me to the door. As it opened, he stopped us in the threshold.

"Will you be alright?" He murmured.

I eyed the dark hallway that beckoned, lined with barred doors. My stomach churned with an excited nervousness. I curled my hand in his and squeezed tight once, nodding. He stepped back and stayed in the doorway.

I walked soundless, down the dark halls. There were people in the other cells who looked up only when I was gone by, the wind of my passing alerting them. Doresly wasn't looking as I stepped in front of his door. A pitiful door, of metal bars and a small lock kept him safe from me.

He had his elbows braced on his knees, his head bowed. He traced the scars on his left hand absently, murmuring something under his breath that even I couldn't catch.

It took a few minutes of silence before he began to realize something wasn't quite right. Maybe he felt the weight of my gaze, the depth of my rage.

His head shot up.

In sick delight, I watched as shock shot across his face. It didn't last long before something better came. Something sharp and strong, that twisted his insides and made his small heart begin to thunder.

Fear.

I inhaled the scent of it greedily.

"Omega." He breathed.

I smiled widely. "Hello Doresly."

He began to scream when I reached for the door. The lock snapped when I tugged on it and his screaming ratcheted higher. He scraped at the walls and threw himself into the corner as I filled the doorway. I knew what I had to do.