Claiming His Fire by Ellis Leigh Page A

waited as Beast and Gates growled, that fact hitting too close to home for both of them as I knew it would. “Short version: some group is stealing Omegas and possibly drugging them. Whatever they’re using is strong enough to dull the mating bond so they can’t be tracked. We’re making the assumption that it’s the same group that tried to snatch Kaija back in October.”
    Gates growled. “Fuckers said their boss wanted to add her to his collection.”
    “Why only Omegas?” Beast asked, looking serious and pissed as hell. His stepdaughter was an Omega, the first that we knew of born to a human mother. He had just as much to lose, if not more, than his brother should these kidnappers get away with the shit they’d been doing.
    “We know they keep them alive,” I said, pushing off the wall to pace the length of the small room. “Cleaner Beelzebub happened to find his mate on that mission to rescue the fifteen-year-old Omega. The two women had been being held prisoner, and his mate said they called her the dud after they found out she was sterile.”
    “So they want to breed them.” Rebel shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. I met Gates’ furious stare and nodded. Gates’ growl turned darker, louder. Beast joined him, the two filling the room with the threat of a battle no enemy would survive.
    Rebel gave the two a dark look. “I know this is personal to you both, but we need to keep calm while we figure this shit out.”
    When Killian gave me a confused look, I shrugged. “Gates’ mate is an Omega and was almost taken, and Beast’s human mate just gave birth to an Omega shewolf.”
    “Well…fuck.” Gideon shook his head, his shoulders sagging. “Blessings to you both, for the matings and the baby. We had hoped for the same, but…”
    When he sagged, his emotions obviously holding back his words, Killian leaned forward. “They killed half our pack, focusing on our shewolves and our pups. They purposely destroyed our pack by using our weaknesses against us. We’re a strongly bonded pack, an old one. We were able to fight back and kick them off our mountain, even taking a few out along the way. But it’ll be decades before we can rebuild our numbers, and longer before those scars heal. I can only imagine the devastation these animals cause when they take on a smaller or younger pack.”
    I nodded, looking to Rebel. “They’ve decimated four packs that we know of, taking out every single member.”
    Rebel’s eyes went wide. “Jesus, fuck.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “When will Jameson be here?”
    “Within the hour.”
    “Can I see?” Gideon asked suddenly, surprising me, looking at Beast. “Do you have pictures of your daughter?”
    Beast blinked twice, seeming startled by the request, but pulled his phone from his pocket. “Of course.”
    Gideon and Killian scrolled through the pictures, Gideon’s face a mask of pain, Killian’s almost furious.
    “Kalie and I wanted to have pups right away. We spent her heat cycle away from the pack for some privacy, you know?” Gideon said, his voice harsh and filled with pain. “The fuckers who took her, they snuck into camp not long after we got back. They killed our packbrothers and sisters, our young ones. They took away a lot of our future as a family and a pack.”
    Killian handed the phone back to Beast, his eyes darkening and a low rumble sounding in his chest. “I want these fuckers dead for what they did.”
    “I understand that and will do whatever I can to help,” Beast said, laying a hand on Gideon’s shoulder. “Do you have a picture of your mate?”
    “Of course.” Gideon pulled his own phone from his pocket, scrolling through pics with a wistful smile on his face. “Here she is. My little firecracker.”
    My gut clenched at the nickname, my thoughts immediately going back to Scarlett, my own firecracker. Jesus, if she were in danger like Gideon’s Kalie, I’d be a wreck. A violent, raging wreck