The Omni-Wolf’s Choice novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25 The hunt…

Ryder’s POV

“Fine. You want to play her guard dog? Do it. I’m done.”

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The sentence hits like a blade driven into bone-deeper than any wound I’ve ever taken. I can’t move. I

can only watch her turn away from me.

Talon is roaring in my skull. With every step she takes, it feels like she’s tearing something out of my

chest and leaving it behind.

I have a hell of a lot to explain.

I didn’t pick up Aurelia in my room because she knows how to bury her scent. She has been in this

damn castle since we were kids. And yes-last time I saw her, we had planned to meet.

That was before I knew the one being with all that power was my mate.

Now I’m slammed against my wall like a criminal. The future Alpha is nearly naked, a towel creeping

lower by the second, and my arms are locked where they are useless.

Even with Talon fighting me for control, we can’t break free.

Her magic keeps swelling.

I have to get out of this spell. I have to go after my woman.

I know she crossed the border; I can feel it in my blood. She isn’t safe out there, not alone. I keep trying.

to mind-link her, but she has blocked me. I try my men next-nothing. No one hears me.

How in the hell is she this powerful?

If she weren’t using it to shut me out right now, I’d be losing my mind with pride.

…I’m still impressed.

My sister is still pounding the door, the noise echoing through the hall. They’ll be in here any second.

And my towel is about to betray me.

We aren’t exactly shy about bodies in this family, but this is going to look terrible. I didn’t even do

anything this time. That won’t matter when they see it-especially when everyone adores Bridget.

They all do.

Talon, I need you to reach Drake. Right now. Get him in here.’

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<Chapter 25 The hunt…

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If I can’t contact them, maybe my wolf can. Maybe wolves can still get around whatever this is.

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‘Then we move fast,’ Talon snaps back, furious, still straining against the magic. ‘We’re not letting our

mate disappear.’

I push at the spell again, teeth clenched. From the corner of my eye, Aurelia is fighting too-hands stiff,

lips moving like she’s trying to bite through the binding with words.

“Damn,” she mutters, barely turning her head. “She’s a menace.”

I let out a short laugh, because Bridget is absolutely a menace.

In another life-under different circumstances-Bridget and Aurelia might have been friends.

Then Connor’s voice finally cuts through, a mind-link from outside the door, and I breathe out like I’ve

been underwater.

‘Alpha! What’s happening? We’ve got a border breach-everything’s going sideways across the pack. And now nobody can get into your room?’

‘Connor, send Lucas and Pierce with a team. Start a perimeter search-now. I need Bridget found

immediately. And I need someone in here to help Aurelia break this spell.’

A beat.

‘Aurelia…sir?’ His disappointment is obvious, even through the link.

I force a long exhale.

‘Beta, I need you doing your job. Is that going to be a problem? Your future Luna is missing.’

‘No, Alpha. Yes, Alpha.’

His focus snaps back into place.

Right then the door finally gives-swings open-and, like it has impeccable timing, my towel drops.

I sigh as my room floods with my mother, my sisters, Connor, and four warriors. The warriors fan out

immediately, clearing corners and checking the space like they’ve been trained to do.

Connor bolts to the window, already mind-linking directions through the trees-tracking the path she

took.

Aurelia keeps chanting.

Evelyn stares at me like she’s considering murder.

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< Chapter 25 The hunt

“I can explain,” I say fast. “Just get me down so I can go after her.”

“Luna Adriana,” my mother calls.

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Relief hits when Aurelia’s mother strides in, staff in hand, followed by three young women still in training. The instant they register what’s on full display, their faces go blazing red and their eyes snap

away.

Aurelia’s mom doesn’t miss a step.

“So this is where my daughter has disappeared to as well,” she says dryly. “At least your father is with

the Alpha handling the border breach. Ladies-hands. Now.”

No one comments. Not one word.

But I know I’m going to be dissected later.

All the women-my mom, my sisters, the trainees, Aurelia’s mother-join hands and begin chanting

with Aurelia. The air tightens, pressure squeezing my skin, and then the hold fractures.

Within what feels like minutes, the spell shatters.

We hit the floor.

I’m up instantly, sprinting for the window-the last place I saw my mate. Her scent is still out there,

thin but real.

“Connor, you’re coming.”

I don’t even need to look; I can feel him right at my side.

We launch from the window and shift midair, landing as wolves. This is faster. Cleaner. We can cover

ground and read her trail with our noses low to the earth.

Talon is all heat and razor-edged fury. Not at her-never at her-but at the mess around us.

We are aligned on one thing: we are not losing her.

She knows how to reject us.

And she didn’t.

That matters.

We tear through the forest as night settles in. Creatures scatter at our approach. Branches crack under our paws. Other wolves call from the distance-left flank, right flank-letting us know they’re sweeping

wide.

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< Chapter 25 The hunt…

We pass the water. Her scent is stronger on the far side.

It’s at least a ten-foot leap.

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I clear it easily. Drake is right there with me.

We run.

Then Talon jerks to a stop.

Her scent-gone.

Not fading. Not drifting.

Gone like it never existed.

Pain spikes through me so hard my vision pulses. My chest tightens. Panic claws up my throat.

I can’t lose her.

I won’t.

It’s my job to protect her when she can’t protect herself.

‘Sir?’ Connor’s voice presses in, trying to anchor me. ‘What is it?’

I’m too wired to answer.

He doesn’t let

‘Sir-she needs you. Maybe you can’t smell her, but you can feel her. Feel her emotions. Calm down.

Listen to her heart, Alpha.’

He’s right.

I force myself still.

This moment matters-more than most things in my life. If the elders who worked with her taught me

anything, it’s this: listen. Listen until you can find her even when the world goes silent.

I’m damn lucky Connor is my best friend and my Beta.

I give him a small nod, then close my eyes.

D

The forest dims into quiet. Crickets vanish. Owls become nothing. Rabbits, wind, leaves-gone. Even the layered rhythm of every tracker’s breathing, every heartbeat around us, gets pushed away.

I slow my own breathing.

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Lucian cuts in from the warmpre contigent

“Ten vampires ready to fight, sar

Maxwell, our warlock, steps in close, already working

< Chapter 25 The hunt…

‘Let me mask you-no scent, no sound, Alpha.’

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I nod. Talon is vibrating under my skin, desperate to tear through anything that stands between us and

her.

‘All of you,’ I mind-link across the entire strike group. ‘We go quiet. The closer we get to our Luna, the

safer she stays. Kill. Leave nothing. Clear?’

‘Yes, Alpha.’

The response comes back as one.

‘Move.’

What follows is slaughter done with precision.

No warning. No chaos.

Just clean death.

Bodies drop before they can shout. Throats open. Necks snap. Heads roll into the dirt. Blood floods

the ground, and entrails hang from branches in grotesque strips.

There’s a reason our pack has a reputation.

The stench of rancid blood coats my nose while witches scramble to smother it, covering our trail as

we carve through.

Outside St. Vincent’s tent, the vampire patrol disappears one by one.

Talon’s anger spikes higher, hotter.

None of this blood matters.

The only blood that will satisfy us is the blood of the thing that took my mate.

When the last vampire drops, I sprint up the tent steps-only to find emptiness.

The back flap is swinging in the wind.

Too late by seconds.

But he hasn’t gotten far.

Her scent is still there.

I bolt into the woods behind the tent, tracking the line of her-tracking him. Bridget has been marking

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trees as she’s dragged, fingers brushing bark to leave her trace. Her heels have carved long furrows

through the soil.

Her heartbeat is starting to spike-erratic now, slipping.

What is he doing to her?

Talon drives harder.

If he has touched her-if he has hurt her-his death will be slow.

It will be agony.

And then I see her.

Her back is pinned to a tree, wolf form tense and ready, and a dark figure is blocking her from me.

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