Svana had no cause to get involved, to distract. Her only duty was to keep the contagion hidden and unleash it once their exodus began. If she were to be captured or killed in this ploy, the finale of their great insurrection, of their great revenge, would fail.

Worse, every minute Corday was stuck tending Leslie Kantor, he was not giving them the location of Claire.

Her interference was a disappointment.

Svana’s initial displeasure with his keeping of a mate had been addressed, handled, and resolved. Shepherd had paid the price for Claire—a far steeper price than he had expected—ruining the Omega’s growing affection. He had even fucked Svana in the same bed he shared with Claire, watching the Alpha female grow excited by the scent of his mate, a thing Shepherd hated allowing.

Breathless, Svana had claimed their mating to be the most glorious yet, satisfied when Shepherd’s orgasm was finally achieved. As always, he’d ensured his knot remained on the outside of her cunt; Svana unwilling to let them be linked in a position that left either vulnerable—a long standing sexual rule between them.

Grunting as he gushed, he had offered the answer the female sought, “Glorious indeed, beloved.”

Shepherd pulled out, lay at her side while she petted his broad chest. In a silken voice, Svana had purred out her absolution, “I forgive you.”

The words had seemed unfair. Had Svana not herself fornicated and tried to lure her Alpha body into highly unlikely pregnancy with their enemy? Were not her very words the idealization that their love was beyond the flesh… a thing of spirit and destiny?

Shepherd had fucked her twice more, once almost immediately, simply to keep Svana from speaking on the subject, and again to ensure he’d exhausted her. There had been no more pillow talk. In the end, there had been no demands about Claire at all. As if the hiding Omega was of no consequence, Svana had simply dressed and left. All that was left behind was Alpha female scent saturating the air of his den, blending oddly with the sweeter smell of Omega.

No, that was not all that was left. The Omega who had only a few days prior begun to respond, who for once had been eager at last to be near him, had lain crumpled on the bathroom floor—everything between them left in wreckage—all his effort dismantled and ruined.

He had not seen Svana since, and now he was forced to listen to her subtle manipulations as she sat beside the hated Beta.

“I just assumed… Omega scent is on your coat.”

Shepherd growled so violently at the presumption that Jules ordered the other Followers from the room.

“It’s not like that. She couldn’t even if she wanted to… or even if I wanted to.”

Shepherd gripped the table, the wood beginning to buckle.

Did Claire want to have sexual congress with that male?