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"I'm sorry," Bryan said. "I'm wasting your time doing this."

"No," she said. "It's alright. Listen, I wish I could do something further to help you. But you know that I can't falsify the results of this test. I can stall and postpone as long as possible, but eventually he will learn the truth.”

Bryan nodded weakly. "I understand."

She looked concerned and touched his arm. "Will you be alright?"

"Healer Fielding, do you know anything about Uridimm?"

"Uridimm?"

"Uh, the Direlings."

Her expression changed, like he'd mentioned something extremely unsavory. "They're a brutal, savage people with little regard for a civilized way of life. I think it's dangerous to have them so close to our borders. Why do you ask about them?"

"No, it's nothing," he said.

She eyed him. "I know your situation is less than ideal, Bryan. And desperation may lead you down some dark pathways. I know about the rumors of Direling magic."

"You do? What of them?"

She squeezed his arm and smiled gently at him, the way a healer did when giving serious news to a fragile patient. "I've had many ask me out of distress for their situation, and I can tell you that it's all false. The Direlings are a barbaric tribe of primitive shifters. They're shamans. Their healing arts are vastly underdeveloped compared to ours. It’s all just silly superstition."

"I've heard that—" He stopped himself from mentioning the story his father had told him, about seeing the Uridimm bring a man back to life. "Ah, no. You're absolutely right. I just have a lot on my mind."

She nodded. "I understand. You can come see me for anything, Bryan."

He wanted to ask her how he could suddenly experience such intense desires when he'd found it impossible his entire life.Somethinghad changed within his body last night, but he didn’t want to accidentally reveal what had taken place in that forest.

"Thank you, Healer Fielding," he said, and he excused himself.

He would need to find out on his own.

That evening, Josef bent Bryan over the bed and fucked him from behind. Bryan's body was as unresponsive as it had always been—until the moment he looked out the window at the forest and imagined himself back in the hands of the three Alphas. He felt his entrance growing warm and wet and his cock swelling slightly from the thoughts that rushed through his mind.

"Oh, you like that?" Josef grunted. "This is good. This is very good."

Even though Bryan moaned into the sheets, the pleasure he experienced came only from his fantasies and lust for the Alphas. The Minister's cock did absolutely nothing for him.

The sun smoldered behind the tree line and Bryan could sense something pulsing from deep inside the forest, like a heartbeat. It rolled across the land, passing through every tree, every piece of machinery sitting on the edge of the forest, every wall and building, invisible to everyone except him. It beckoned him, intertwined itself around him and tugged his heart and mind to the darkness of those trees and the men who waited for him there. And when the sky had gone black and Josef was asleep in his bed, Bryan snuck out to find them.

He moved through the trees in his wolf form, trying to catch a whiff of Gan's scent and quickly found it lingering in the air like a trail of breadcrumbs. He followed it deep into the forest, no idea where he was or where he was going, blindly trusting the scent would lead him to the Uridimm like it had the night before. It remained strong, and he followed it for a long time. They were the ones who'd found him, he recalled. He looked around and saw nothing but trees, no discernable landmarks whatsoever. He'd gone much further than he had before, hadn't he? And yet the trail had not diminished.

The forest grew even denser, but the thought of turning back never crossed his mind. He was singularly infatuated with the need to find them. The scent grew stronger and stronger until he was moving at a brisk trot towards its source. Finally, he stumbled into a clearing of bare ground, nearly tumbling over himself. His heart just about stopped. Surrounding him was a circle of massive trees draped in the Uridimm's sacred red cloth. It wastheplace from his dreams, the exact same. The holy ground.

Breathless, he fought the urge to panic. It was real. Then he sensed a presence approaching. For a moment the image of the red priests flashed through his mind, and then he smelled them. Bryan turned. Instead of three red hoods, he saw a trio of wolves trot out from the darkness, each one returning to their human form: Gan, Munok and Nugai. Bryan shifted, too.

"I'm pleased to see you've come back," Gan said.

Bryan stared at their faces, drinking them in, feeling the pull of their bodies.They were real. Then he was able to break through the spell and bring some clarity back to his mind. "What did you do to me?"

Gan came to him, towering over him. He touched Bryan's face with his huge, calloused palm and the Omega shivered as a deep need rushed through his body. He felt that strange vibration again deep in his gut, and winced as his cock pulsed to life. He wanted answers, but his ability to think clearly was quickly eroding. "I've never felt like this before. It feels like I'm about to lose my mind if I don't..." He hesitated. He felt paralyzed in place as the Alpha stroked his skin, his fingers trailing down behind his ear to the back of his neck.

"I've only followed destiny, Bryan," Gan said, "by claiming the mate who was fated to me."

"You feel the heat of a mating bond," said Nugai, his voice like a soft breeze. "It would only be ignited by your true Alpha."

Munok stood with his arms crossed over his tattooed chest. "Why do you think you came to us last night?"