The Omni-Wolf’s Choice novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Running into the same old headlines…

Bridget’s POV

While Ryder was off training, I wandered into the pack’s library.

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Dark oak wrapped the walls in built-in shelves, polished and imposing. The room rose two stories high,

with a rolling ladder that tracked the perimeter so you could reach the upper level. It hit something

familiar in me-growing up, I used to disappear into the public library for hours. Books were the one

place my home life couldn’t follow. I could finish a novel in one sitting and keep every detail.

Warrior Jasper had escorted me here. He was easy to talk to, a little older than me, and already mated.

He told me he had met his mate when he turned twenty, and they have been together for two years now. They were also expecting their first baby-except they call them pups. “Pups” still sounded

surreal.

I had also learned Ryder wouldn’t put any unmated wolves on my detail. Was he worried I’d flirt with

the first guy who smiled at me? Or was it that he didn’t trust his own warriors? Either way, I was asking

him later.

After breakfast with Evelyn, the girls had left to wrap up schoolwork. Graduation was coming within

the month, and we were going to meet up soon to shop for gowns for her party-especially because it

doubled as my official entrance into their version of high society.

I settled at a table and pulled two more books about vampires.

The whole supernatural history was addicting in a way I hadn’t expected. I had always loved Interview with the Vampire-yes, partly because Brad Pitt existed. And The Wolf Gift by Anne had been one of my favorite reads for years, like it had been aimed straight at some hidden part of me. Looking back, it felt like I had always known, somewhere underneath everything, that I belonged to this world.

Even now, I still couldn’t fully accept it. Part of my brain kept insisting I was going to blink and wake up on that bus coming down from up north.

These books were incredible.

I had finished the eight books on werewolf history already. Did I mention I had a photographic

memory? School had always been stupidly easy for me. So: witches and vampires next, and then

whatever else was waiting out there.

Jasper stayed outside the library door to give me space. I was deep into The Chronicles of a Vampire when I heard it-laughter, too sharp to be friendly.

A pack of girls.

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< Chapter 12 – Running into the same old headlines…

The mean girls.

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Whitney’s voice led the chorus, and my stomach tightened before I even saw her. I’d always been able

to hear people approaching from farther away than anyone else. I looked up just as she passed the

doorway. Our eyes met. She absolutely noticed me.

Of course she did.

Her steps turned. She was coming in.

“Well, look who it is. Bridgy.” She mangled my name like it was a hobby. She leaned over my table, her

push-up bra doing heroic work under a tight V-neck sweater.

“It’s Bridget.” I kept my tone level. “And I didn’t take you for the ‘book in hand’ type.”

Her friends snickered until she cut them a look that made them choke it back.

“Listen, street trash,” Whitney said, dropping her voice like she was doing me a favor. “You might want

to remember your place. Everything you have? It was mine first.”

Then she swept my books off the table.

I didn’t stand. I didn’t flinch. I just watched them hit the floor.

“Then why is it being handed to me?” I asked. “Couldn’t keep what you were given?”

Her smile sharpened. “Oh, it’s not like that. He still wants more of me. Especially late at night, when he

has…business to handle.” She dragged out the last word, disgusting and smug.

I breathed slowly. She was trying to make me snap.

“Well,” I said, calm as I could manage, “your community outreach program won’t be required

anymore.”

Whitney scoffed. “Community? It’s only been us two. Has he even kissed you yet? Whatever you taste

on his mouth-yeah. That’s me. You’re welcome.”

She waited, practically vibrating with anticipation, like she was hoping I’d launch myself over the table.

I’d be lying if the thought didn’t entertain me.

“Thanks for the warning,” I said. “I’ll remember it. Note to self: get an STD test.”

Her face twisted, and she shoved the book I had been reading off the table too. It thudded onto the

floor with the others.

Now we were close-eyes locked, the table the only thing between us.

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I have been fighting my entire life to survive. I wasn’t raised to fold when someone pushed. Whitney could have sprouted wings and started chanting in some ancient language for all I cared. Honestly, I

could believe dark magic ran in her blood without it surprising me at all.

I wasn’t letting her treat me like a doormat.

The library door opened.

“Everything okay, Luna Bridget?” Jasper stepped inside, his gaze flicking to the books on the floor.

“Yes.” I kept my eyes on Whitney. “She was just…welcoming me.”

Jasper’s voice turned flat. “Whitney, you are not permitted in here. The library is reserved. Should I

contact the Alpha?”

Whitney’s lips pinched. She looked like she wanted to spit, but she didn’t.

“Fine,” she said, backing away. “I’ll come back when the place has been cleaned. Enjoy your stay.

She sauntered out in the direction of the main dining hall, like she hadn’t just thrown a tantrum in

public.

Jasper exhaled once she was gone. “Luna Bridget…are you alright? I felt a cold rush up my spine

before I heard the books hit. Did I just experience your abilities?”

“I’m okay,” I said, still processing the way my body had gone so still, so ready. “Just…who is she,

exactly?”

“Whitney?” Jasper picked up the scattered books and handed them to me. “She’s descended from the

royal family. Her grandmother was cousin to the King and Queen. She takes her unofficial title like it’s

law. Did she give you trouble?”

I knew he had heard every word with wolf hearing, but he let me answer anyway.

“No,” I said. “I handled it.” Then I nodded toward the door. “Are the elders here? Are they ready to meet

me?”

Jasper took the books from my hands again as I gathered myself. “Yes, ma’am. Alpha Ryder just mind

linked me. Come with me.”

We headed for the elevator.

My heartbeat began to climb, quick and insistent. Anticipation, nerves, questions-too many of them. And Ryder was getting all of them.

Ryder’s POV

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Training had eaten up most of my morning. Hours of drills with my warriors, sweat and impact and discipline-yet Bridget stayed in my head the entire time.

I forced focus when I could. I trusted the men assigned to her.

Still, I checked in between reps. Often.

At one point, I overheard a couple of warriors talking about the “new Luna.” They ended up magically earning extra laps, and I personally sparred with them until their mouths forgot how to run.

After a fast shower and a change, I went straight into meetings with the regional Alphas. We compared notes on the border breaches. So far, none of them had experienced anything unusual. It looked targeted-aimed at my pack.

We agreed to increase security across the board until we found the source.

I would do whatever I had to do to keep my mate-my future Luna-safe.

By the time I returned, the elders had finally arrived.

Three of them: Evangeline, Preston, and Lysander.

Each was several hundred years old, Originals in the sense that they could trace bloodlines farther back than anyone alive. Supernaturals live longer than humans, and they proved it-though even with two hundred years on their faces, they barely looked older than sixty.

I was about to mind link Jasper to get his location.

I had assigned him to Bridget on purpose because Jasper had a mate. Any unmated wolf with a pulse would go insane around Bridget, and she was still unmarked. Wolves are sexual by nature, and temptation makes idiots out of even good men.

I wanted her protected.

And there was more to it than that.

Something about her felt rare. Not just to me-others sensed it too. I would be damned if an unmated

wolf tried to claim what belonged to me.

Then Talon started spinning inside my skull, restless and loud.

A heartbeat later, her scent reached me.

Close.

Sweet, like caramel cake.

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I shut my eyes for a moment and drew in a slow breath, letting it fill my chest, steady my instincts.

The door opened.

She walked in.

The most beautiful woman I had ever seen-again, every time. I have had my share of women, and

plenty of them were attractive in one way or another, but none of them compared. Not even close.

Golden skin. Wild hair, blonde threaded with brown like it refused to choose one color. Hazel eyes that

lit when they landed on me-and it always felt like her wolf was right there under the surface. Talon

felt it too.

Her lips formed that slight pout, and it drove me out of my mind.

She didn’t understand her own strength yet.

She also didn’t understand what she had been doing to me since the moment I met her.

Most people who crossed my path feared me. I was an Alpha built like a monster, and when I spoke,

others listened. Submission came easy around me. That was how I held power-how I kept it.

When I enter a room, people clear out.

The Alphas who ever thought about challenging me usually got smart fast. The ones who didn’t

learned the lesson the hard way.

Women threw themselves at me constantly. I ignored them. I never entertained the ones who “just

happened” to show up at trainings or conventions, preening like they were inevitable.

I was known as an Alpha not worth testing.

A single growl could put a room in order.

I was one of the most brutal fighters North America had ever produced.

And now I stood across from her, trying not to let Talon surge forward.

He wanted to close the distance. To pull her in. To claim.

I forced control back into place so I didn’t scare her again. I had to erase that image from her mind-

the moment I lost myself and became too much.

My soul still ached at the thought that I had caused her any fear at all.

I only wanted her to look at me with love.

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With happiness.

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