The Omni-Wolf’s Choice novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17 Let the games begin..

Bridget’s POV

I felt him-really felt him-for the first time.

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It wasn’t just that crackle we get when our skin meets. This was heavier. Deeper. Like a thread pulled

tight between us until there was no clear line where I ended and he began.

Even from the other side of the field, his presence was there, pressing against me in a way that

steadied my breathing. I’d read about mate bonds-how they carry everything across them: joy, hurt,

grief, all of it. I hadn’t understood how overwhelming that sounded until I was standing in it.

I remembered being curled up in his arms at night, the way his calm slid through my thoughts like a

lullaby I didn’t have to hear to know. Peace had settled over me so completely it scared me a little.

I have never been that happy. Not once.

That soothing, watchful feeling reminded me of childhood-foster homes, unfamiliar walls, and the strange certainty that someone was near even when I was alone. I used to tell myself it was my parents. Now I wasn’t so sure. Now I thought it had been my wolf, hovering in the background, waiting.

And with all the training being forced into my days, I wanted to meet her more than ever.

She had gone quiet after the other night with Ryder-after he’d given me pleasure in ways I hadn’t known existed. I kept catching myself wondering what actual sex would feel like with him, and my thoughts kept drifting there at the worst times.

I had been trying-really trying-to focus.

It wasn’t working.

Elder Lysander had poured history into my head: old packs, old wars, wolves born with gifts that sounded like myths. Elder Evangeline had been drilling the mental side of it-what it might feel like when my wolf finally stepped forward, what to expect when the bond and the power stopped being

theory.

Elder Preston was the problem.

Or maybe I was.

Every session with him turned into a tug-of-war between his irritation and my helplessness. He was angry that nothing was showing itself, and I was going insane because they all kept waiting for some

“magic” inside me to respond on command.

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If I was honest, I was still trying to wrap my head around what any of this meant. I had been dropped into an entirely different life, and everyone around me was acting like I should already know the rules.

The only reliable thing we had discovered was the headache.

When pain started blooming behind my eyes, the sky answered. Wind. Rain. Pressure shifting like the

world had been listening to me.

Unless the Moon Goddess had intended to turn me into some kind of wolf meteorologist, we were in

serious trouble.

An hour later we had accomplished exactly nothing except raising everyone’s blood pressure.

I had just finished another brutal round with Elder Evangeline-because no one else wanted to be the one training with Ryder nearby. We started with sparring and somehow escalated into her throwing daggers at me.

Actual daggers.

Then she brought the elements in, whipping a curl of wind around my legs and yanking my balance out from under me like I weighed nothing. By the time she was satisfied, sweat was slicking every inch of my skin, and my muscles ached in places I hadn’t known could hurt.

And then it was Preston’s turn.

He waited like a statue made of discipline. Tall, broad-shouldered, absurdly fit for someone who had

been alive for centuries. His head was shaved clean, his brown skin almost luminous in the daylight. Jet-black eyes. Jet-black mustache. Traditional martial arts clothes, crisp and neat.

And a frown that said he’d already decided I was a disappointment.

The other elders at least seemed to like me.

Preston? Not even a little.

Maybe it was intentional-good cop, bad cop-but it was effective. Working with him always left me

raw, because he never insulted me outright. He just kept repeating that I should be doing more,

pushing harder, digging deeper.

After days of this, my proudest accomplishment had been learning how to shut down the headache

before it turned into rain and gale-force winds.

“Alright, Luna Bridget,” he said, voice flat and unforgiving. “Ready? We’re starting again. From the beginning.”

Nearby, chairs had been dragged out, and the other two elders sat watching like this was a lesson and

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< Chapter 17 Let the games begin.

not an execution.

I planted my feet.

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Preston circled me at a measured distance, then ground his heel into the earth, carving a ring around

1. The instruction was simple: stay inside it.

Then he let his power move.

Wind gathered, thin at first, then building into something that shoved at my shoulders. Dust rose.

Loose objects skittered and lifted. I lowered my stance, bracing, trying to push back with power that refused to appear.

The gust hit harder.

I slid-and then I was outside the circle.

It happened again.

And again.

“Again!” Preston barked.

My mouth went dry. Swallowing felt like sandpaper.

stepped back inside the ring, shut my eyes, and forced my hands into a fighter’s guard. He shifted

position, pushing from a new angle, driving at my side instead of my chest.

I reached for anything-heat, pressure, lightning, whatever I was supposed to have.

Nothing.

I felt ridiculous.

“Luna Bridget,” he said, voice sharpened with controlled contempt, “I’m asking for the same

commitment you’ve given my other colleagues. They insist you’re extraordinary. I have yet to witness anything that supports that. Frankly, I feel cheated.”

Ryder’s frustration flared across the bond like a sudden burn.

I glanced toward him to soothe him, to anchor him-

“No.” Preston stepped in front of me, blocking my view on purpose. “Eyes here. This is my session.”

He moved behind me, and his energy pressed close, dark and heavy like a storm cloud pressing down.

It was getting under my skin.

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I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t want to be out here humiliating myself in front of everyone.

I wanted the lodge-Ms. Miriam bustling around, chores that made sense.

I wanted Ryder’s arms and a quiet bed and the sunrise spilling over us while the world stayed out.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Somewhere nearby, Elder Lysander was mind-linking someone. I had been noticing that more lately-

threads of connection that weren’t mine, voices brushing the edge of my awareness. They were

usually too faint to catch, but I could feel them happening.

I shouldn’t have been able to.

I wasn’t officially pack.

But apparently my life had become a long list of things I “shouldn’t” be able to do.

Then Ryder’s presence surged closer.

Fast.

Angry.

I started to turn-too late.

“You will not speak to my Luna like that,” Ryder roared, closing the distance with a predator’s stride. “I don’t give a damn who you are.”

I blinked, frozen, watching him advance.

Elder Preston didn’t even look rattled.

“Sit down, Alpha,” he replied, calm as stone, “and let us train. Or we will be forced to request that you

leave.”

Ryder’s eyes flashed.

“This is my land,” he snapped, and his Alpha voice rolled out like thunder. “You are a guest here. Don’t

you dare take that tone with me.”

It didn’t bend the elders. If anything, it only made the air feel tighter.

“You should stop him,” Preston murmured close to my ear. “Before I do.”

My stomach dropped.

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I didn’t want Ryder fighting him.

But it was already tipping that way.

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“Ryder, wait!” I begged-out loud and through the mind-link, pouring everything I had into the word.

He didn’t slow.

Whatever Lysander had told him had been the last straw.

“Do something. Now.” Preston’s voice turned firm.

His hands began to turn, shaping heat, pulling fire into a tight, growing sphere.

A fireball.

My chest seized.

“No!” I shouted, throwing both hands up between them.

I wasn’t a warrior stepping into battle. I was a body dropped between two oncoming trains.

“Now, Bridget!” Preston demanded, louder, and the blaze swelled brighter.

Ryder’s shift was starting-his eyes draining to black, the wolf rising.

My hands shook.

Heat washed over me from both sides.

I locked my feet into the dirt and spread my arms, one toward Preston, one toward Ryder, like I could

physically hold them apart.

“Stop!”

The word ripped out of me.

My eyes snapped open.

Preston flew backward as if an invisible fist had slammed into his chest. At the same time, a dome

snapped into place around Ryder and me-smooth, shimmering, solid.

The fireball struck it.

And dissolved.

Instantly.

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Ryder froze mid-motion and stared at me like he’d never seen me before.

Around the field, chairs scraped. Everyone stood. Mouths open.

Ryder’s expression changed first.

He smiled.

I frowned, still breathing hard, and looked at Preston.

He was smiling too.

When I lowered my hands, the dome faded like it had never existed.

“There it is,” Preston said, folding his arms. His voice held something that almost resembled satisfaction-pride, even, like a stern father finally seeing proof. “That power. This is why we kept your mate present. I suspected he was your catalyst. Now you’ve felt it, you can learn to control it without needing fear for him to trigger you.

“It’s yours, Bridget. Not just something that appears when you’re worried about him. It’s time.

He lifted his chin.

“Again.”

I let out a long breath and nodded toward Elder Lysander.

Ryder leaned in, forehead to mine.

‘That was freaking awesome, babe,’ he sent, his voice warm in my head.

‘Thanks,’ I answered, still buzzing. ‘I couldn’t have done it without you.’

He grinned, and as he walked back toward his seat, the mind-link stayed clear between us.

The rest of the training finally started to click.

We ran the same drills, but now something inside me responded. I could lift someone-briefly-before

exhaustion chewed through me. I worked on reining in my rage so I didn’t lash out at the wrong

person.

By the time they called it for the day, I was wrecked.

All I wanted was a shower and my mate and a bed.

Inside the pack house, Ryder fell into step beside me. “How are you feeling, Bridget?”

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I headed for the elevator, but he scooped me up before I could protest, carrying me like I weighed

nothing. I was too tired to fight it.

And I didn’t want to.

“Tired,” I admitted, resting against him. “But….relieved. What did Lysander say to you that made you

come at Preston like that?”

Ryder set me down only long enough to adjust his grip as the elevator doors closed. “He told me

Preston was about to throw an energy ball at you. Said he wanted me prepared.” His jaw tightened. “I

wasn’t going to let him do that.”

He paused, studying me. “You felt him mind-link me?”

“I felt him mind-linking,” I said slowly. “I didn’t know it was you until I saw you storming in.”

Ryder’s brows lifted. “I’ve never heard of anyone sensing someone else’s mind-link.” His voice

softened. “You’re unbelievable, Bridget. That didn’t scare you, did it? I’m trying-really trying-to get Talon to calm down when it comes to you.”

He exhaled. “But this time… I don’t even know who was leading who. Me or him. We just knew you

were being threatened, and it wasn’t going to happen.”

I shook my head. “No. I wasn’t scared.”

Then I admitted the truth, because it was sitting hot on my tongue anyway.

“If anything… it was kind of hot watching you come at him like that. Charging in to protect me.”

It was.

The Moon Goddess had chosen him for me, and he was crazy about me, and I was still learning how

to live inside that reality. I kept replaying the image: his body moving with purpose, every muscle flexed, eyes locked, ready to tear the world apart if it tried to touch me.

I’d never been anyone’s damsel.

But that had turned me on.

My thoughts slid into other possibilities-what being alone with him could mean in every sense of the

word-and I smiled as we reached the door to our suite.

A low growl rolled out of Ryder.

He inhaled.

Then his hand closed around mine.

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“I need you in that room,” he said, voice rough. “I can smell your arousal. Talon and I are starving. You’re a drug, you know that? The things you do-like right now-are going to be the death of me.”

I swallowed, warmth spreading through me.

“I’m so sorry, Alpha,” I murmured, leaning closer. “Would you like to shower with me?”

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