The battle is won, but the war is far from over. With his new powers on the loose, Oliver must find balance between good and evil - before the world dies.
*****
"The old world walks the earth once again."
Something big is comi...
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-Jaden-
I watched Oliver closely while he ate his cupcake. I'd been keeping a very close eye on him ever since he got that fucking Echo, and I wasn't always sure I liked what I saw. Mostly he was being the sweet himself, but sometimes I could see the hint of the Echo lurking in his eyes.
I so wanted to get rid of that thing once and for all, but I kept that to myself. Oliver knew how I felt – he could literally feel it. I was scared it would consume him, and I'd lose him already, right after we became mates. But Oliver had strength in him. There was a lot of it, too. If there was a person on this planet who was able to keep it under control, it was him.
I peered at Tilly – another person I'd been keeping a close eye on. She was still poking her cupcake. She wasn't even halfway through it. A very, very bad sign.
Benicio, huh...?
I smothered a sigh and turned to look out the window. I wasn't going to bother Tilly about Ben as long as she wasn't ready to talk about it. I could only hope she would eventually want to talk about it. She was in the exact same situation I was with Oliver, but she clearly wasn't going to follow her own advice.
And then there was Arch and Jack... I trusted Oliver when he said Arch had a good feeling about whatever was going on between them, but I also hoped Arch understood he was literally handling someone's life right now.
One of my neighbors passed by the window with his kids, and I wanted to groan.
I was now their Alpha. Not the Alpha, but an Alpha, nonetheless. And we had a war to win. And it was my job to keep everyone safe. The old me would've freaked out already, but I felt surprisingly calm. Oliver's calmness kept me that way, but my true spirit also had something to do with it.
I felt... I felt strong. Stronger than I ever could've imagined. Like I couldn't be stopped. And it had nothing to do with my physique.
I'd heard the tale of how my parents met when Dad was still a human. Mom used to have a guy she spent some time with, but he refused to take no for an answer when Mom tried to break it off with him. Dad had stepped in, a mere human against an angry werewolf twice the size of him. Dad's Alpha spirit had already woken up, so all it took was one look and the werewolf had backed off.
Dad once told me he'd felt calm and confident at that moment, that he couldn't feel fear or worry over what happened to himself. He'd known the guy could beat him up, even kill him, but backing off had never even crossed his mind.
Now I understood a little what he'd meant by that.
Wherever I walked, I could instinctively feel those who were weaker than me, the people who needed me to protect them. Here in our territory, at school, in the town... I could tell. I also knew who'd be a tough opponent. And then there were those who were still able to make me bow my head. Like Dad and basically any other Alpha who had older spirits than me. That included a lot of Betas, too. I just knew when I looked at people.
