After Kieran explained what had happened, he couldn't believe it. This sort of ability is dangerous! Lilith wanted to exterminate dominant omegas as a personal vendetta against her first lover. It would actually be a more acceptable explanation that it needed to be done because his gender was a ticking time bomb, a threat to society.

"Sorry," he apologized in a whispering voice. It was hard to meet any of them in the eye. This only proved he didn't have a full grasp of it yet. He had accepted himself for who he was, but that didn't mean that everything would automatically be sunshine and daisies.

"It takes time," Kieran soothed. "You just discovered your dormant gender in less than a year."

Blaise agreed and cackled. "Mhm, do you think we knew how to control our dominant alphas when we were crotch goblins? Mother said it took Kieran the longest to fully get his under control."

The eldest glared. "It has a mind of its own."

Has? As in present tense?

"Is that why you're releasing pheromones? You're covering the entire vicinity with musk and mint, ya know. It has a very, 'Back the fuck off,' message to it."

Everyone smelled the air. Blaise was right. Kieran was unknowingly pouring pheromones around them, emerald green sparkles dancing from the pond to the car, spreading into the night between the maple trees.

Teru sat up, touching the spot on Kieran's neck where his pheromone sac was underneath. He watched in awe as the green glitters came out of his skin like sweat, floating away to join the fireflies. He had never fully paid attention before since they were usually so...occupied with other things...in bed...or on the couch...

It's pretty.

Lucas watched him like he was a madman, the way Teru tried to pinch to air. "What are...you doing?"

"Catching the pheromones."

Kieran said, "I don't think that's possible. That's like saying you're trying to catch the smell of food."

"Catch the...what?" Lucas croaked, throat angry with an infection from having trouble healing. Now, there were five holes in his nape to add to everything else.

Without medicine, these wounds could only close so fast from an alpha's licking. Teru wasn't the only one who needed medical attention.

He cupped a falling pheromone falling into his hand. It evaporated when it touched him. "I can see the color of his pheromones, and he can see mine."

Blaise looked around. "You mean the green?"

Teru paused his game of capturing a sparkle. "I thought seeing pheromones was only between destined pairs? How can you see Kieran's?"

"Just another special ability of Lust. I can find anyone, anywhere. How do you think Lucas could let you and the dogs out from the king's secret hideout? I found it. For example, yours is a rarer shade, sapphire blue."

"And Lucas's?"

The two alphas blushed and were weirdly shy, especially Blaise. The vamp's eyes moved back and forth on Lucas, seeing random pheromone spots of whatever color he was giving off. "Can't say, but it's the loveliest of them all."

If this was a romantic show, Teru would throw a pillow at the TV screen, too embarrassed by the corny words. Lucas must have thought so, also. His face was completely pink.

On cue, the horizon was dark blue. Sunrise was coming.

They had just eaten lunch.

It was the middle of their second day of traveling to Fort Wayne. The drive began slowly because the road had split open from a past earthquake caused by Abaddon, forcing them to take a long detour.

Teru had been feeling anxious for a while. Something was wrong, but not with him. It was outside. He felt an approaching energy, sending an emergency signal.

As a vampire, he assumed Kieran had sensed it long before he did. The second Blaise punched the gas pedal, Kieran had his sight glued to the forest, scanning for anything. Then, Blaise began doing the same thing. Soon, Lucas and Teru did, too.

No one mentioned it, but he had the urge to go outside and figure out the problem. He kept quiet, believing he was the only one to not be suspicious.

The sun suggested it was early afternoon, perhaps 3:00. His intuition was making him squirm, constantly folding, crossing, and straightening his legs because he didn't know what to do to ease the uncomfortableness.

Kieran touched his thigh and looked at him quizzically.

Teru suddenly looked ahead through the front window. Observing. Listening. His ears rang, tuning into a wavelength that the others couldn't understand.

They were here.

"SHIT!" Blaise cursed, swerving a hard right to drive off the road. Kieran wrapped his arms around Teru, using them as a cushion for his shoulders and head.

POP!

It sounded like a gunshot. The Jeep sagged to one side.

Blaise smacked the steering wheel. "Motherfu-! Are you serious?! When I get my hands on the animal that decided today was the day it was going to die," he growled and turn around to see what had caused them to go into the ditch and get flat a tire, giving off musky pheromones, "I'm gonna-"

The blonde prince froze, eyes widening across his face. He slowly turned forward. "Nevermind."

Kieran and Lucas glanced behind them.

Teru didn't need to see to know what it was. He smiled.

His pack had finally caught up. Tae-soo promised they'd find him later, and he had kept it.

Though breathing in relief to sense the pack, that bothering itch that made him antsy was abnormal.

Why?

He turned, too, his smile turning into dread.

What he was experiencing was his intuition as the pack leader. It was that instinctual bond between werewolves, to account for all individuals. The pack was staring at the Jeep, giving distressed behaviors to signify that something was indeed wrong.

One werewolf was missing.

Zander was gone.