Pulling out his phone, West flicked at the screen. “Whatever. He’s fine. Probably destroying everything I own as a fuck you for hauling him back here last night.”
I raised an eyebrow.
Brody rubbed his jaw. “Topher’s wrist cuff has a built-in tracker. The room downstairs is wired remotely, too. It’s how West and Cal caught up to him last night when he tried to run.”
“Again,” West added dryly.
“Wow. Thought he was doing better.”
“He overheard us talking to River. And completely lost his shit.”
Brody leveled him with a stare. “If staying here with us isn’t going to work out—”
West rubbed his eyes, starting to get back up. “Can we not do this? Can we go even twenty-four hours without you wanting to rehash all the reasons we should send him packing?”
“Sit. This conversation isn’t over.”
Fists clenched, my brother dropped back into the chair.
“None of us asked for this. I get that having him here has put a lot of pressure on you. But I have to look out for everyone in the pack. No offense, but you both look like hell. And I get that it was messed up, what with the way this siring business started. So if it needs to be someone else—”
“Don’t you get it?” West’s voice was raw. “It can’t be anyone else. Not when he’s imprinted onto me.”
“Okay, time out,” I cut in. “Not following here. He imprinted on you? That’s—”
I trailed off when my brothers exchanged a look.
Brody lowered his voice. “This doesn’t go any further—”
“You’re serious.”
West didn’t smile. “Do you remember that summer you and Ethan were constantly at each other’s throats?”
“Yeah, gonna have to narrow that one down.”
“I’d just turned twelve, I think. Things were bad, all the time. Ethan was always doing sneaky shit, hiding your stuff. You wouldn’t stop needling him. Sharing a room with the two of you was a complete dumpster fire.”
“Yeah, I remember.” Fights. Shouting matches. My dad dropping me to the floor, my limbs turning to jelly until at last I submitted to his dominance. Ethan fighting for hours longer, often until he made himself sick. And West, who’d been caught in the middle every time. I opened my mouth.
“Save it. I’m not telling you any of this because I’m looking for an apology. What you need to know is that on one of those nights that you probably don’t remember I sort of… lost it. You and Ethan were going at each other, clawing and punching, wild with moon madness, and I’d had it. I screamed at you to shut up, to just stop.” He swallowed, eyes distant. “And then, you did. In fact, both of you did. As if I’d willed it so. Because I had.”
“Yeah. Still not following, bro.”
“I’m an Omega.”
Everything out on the patio went silent but for the shh-shh of oak leaves stirring over the flagstones. I waited for either of them to laugh. Neither did.
“The hell. If you’re screwing with me right now—”
West laughed bitterly. “You don’t know how much I wish this were a joke. That day, Mom felt my abilities manifest. She knew it the instant I was able to shut off your emotions and manipulate the pack bonds to get you to do what I wanted. She knew I was way too young for something like this to be happening, and that made my powers especially dangerous.”
Major returned with the tennis ball. West lobbed it back across the field, then slumped back in the wrought iron chair.
“Okay,” I said. “So why didn’t Ethan and I imprint on you?”
“Because the family bond is already so strong, siblings are generally immune. If they do imprint, it wears off within days. As happened with the two of you.” West rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Omegas are a closely guarded secret within the shifter world. Many people believe most of the powerful urban packs have one, someone close to the Alpha manipulating pack loyalties just below the surface. If you’re careful to stay below a certain power threshold, your target doesn’t imprint.”
“I can’t believe you’ve been holding this in, all this time.”
“Mom warned me how dangerous what I could do was, that I would have to train very hard from that moment forth to learn to suppress my powers.” He closed his eyes. “And for the most part, I have.”
Special talents among shifters usually made themselves known by sixteen. They were extremely rare and tended to follow the Alpha bloodlines. All along, we’d believed only River and Brody were gifted, Brody’s abilities mirroring our dad’s, but at only a fraction of his power.
“So how did things go so sideways with Topher? I’m assuming this was the night you and Ethan tracked him out to Bluff Point.”
“It takes constant mental vigilance to suppress my power. It’s the same for River, when he needs to switch off, get the voices to stop screaming in his head. That night, Topher was getting ready to jump. I could feel that he wanted to die. And in that instant, I was so desperate to stop him that my concentration slipped, just for an instant, and from that need to save him—” West cleared his throat. “He ended up dragging us both over the edge anyway.”
“It was an accident,” Brody said. “The Council wasn’t going to try to rehabilitate Topher at all until we offered to take him in. Quit beating yourself up.”
“You think that makes me feel any better?” West sighed. “I let my emotions get in the way and forgot that no matter how much I might think I’m doing something compassionate, I can never escape what I am. Omegas are the sirens of the shifter world. No one can resist our call, and now I’ve bonded Topher to me against his will.”
I raised an eyebrow. “No offense, bro, but I think your magic wand might be broken. Topher thinks you’re public enemy number one.”
“Yeah. Thanks for taking this seriously.”
“I am. It’s just—”
“One, you don’t see him when we’re alone. Of course Topher despises me. I forced this unwanted connection upon him. So naturally that’s the primary emotion that comes through. But it’s more complicated than that. We’re bonded, and below the surface.” West hesitated. “Below the surface he’s very messed up over what I did to him. Cal’s been trying to help him sort it out, but progress has been slow, and if the Council discovers what I am—”
“They won’t,” Brody growled. “You think Cal and I forgot the promise we made to Mom before she left?”
“So why did Topher run? You said it was something he overheard between you and River.”
“Council surveillance out in the field has been picking up a lot of vamp chatter in the area. He got really spooked.”
“Any details?”
“With our luck lately?” Brody threw his bottlecap at the trash.
My phone buzzed. Lacey. I swiped to answer.
“Hey—”
“I can’t get a hold of Naomi.” She was breathing hard, voice so faint it was barely audible. “There’s something wrong with me. It’s back. The dizziness. The vision changes—”