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Gan raised his hand to silence Munok, who lowered his head deferentially. "We do not hold much regard for your kind. The Xyletians have pushed us out of our home and continue to drive us further west into the wildest reaches of the forest. The bones of Uri grow dark, tinged with blood and a lust for vengeance."

"If you hate Xyletians so much, then why did you take me?"

Munok was unable to hold back a laugh. "He really doesn't understand anything. Remember, it was you who came to us. Why was that? By accident?"

"It wasn't because I was looking to be..." Bryan paused. "To betaken. I was desperate. Stupid. I wasn't thinking right. I thought that maybe your magic could fix what's wrong with me."

"Is there something wrong with you?" asked Gan.

"Well, according to Josef Zamgarg, there is. My family doesn't have much. When my father became ill, my mother arranged for me to be mated to Josef. He's a very powerful man in my colony—"

"We know who he is," Gan said, exchanging a look with the other two. "We were unaware you were mated to him."

"Then I'm sure you must know what kind of person he is. He did agree to compensate my family for taking me, but on the caveat that nothing will be given until I became pregnant within a month. With the amount of times he's stuck that disgusting thing inside of me, I should've been a long time ago."

Bryan noticed Gan's hand tighten into a fist—a reaction to his words? Was the Alpha angry on his behalf?

"But it never happened. And now I've been told that it will never happen. I'm not capable of bearing children. My family—my little brother—he's..." He found himself on the verge of tears thinking about it. "I need to help him. I need to make sure he's taken care of. And I'd gotten some stupid story about Uridimm magic in my head, thinking your people could do some spell on me to fix whatever is wrong with me. Or, I don't know. Maybe deep down, I was hoping the Uridimm would rid me of my responsibilities. I thought you would kill me."

"You have the wrong idea about who the monsters are here," Munok muttered.

"There is nothing to fix," Gan said. "You will bear a child. Not to that man, but to us. A healthy baby boy, who will grow to be a strong Omega. And you will bear many other children to us after him, too."

Bryan had to laugh. "I don't think you get it. I can't. The healer told me I can't." He patted his stomach. "Whatever goes on down here to make babies doesn't work."

"Your healer is wrong," Nugai said plainly. "It has already been written into time that these things will come to pass, just as you came to find us."

"How do you know that?" Bryan asked.

"Because I saw it," Gan said. "I've been dreaming of it since I came of age. My fate."

"You've been dreaming of me since you came of age?" Bryan repeated skeptically.

"Uri showed me that I would take an enemy as my mate. Even before your people came here, I've known this. Though it wasn't until more recently that I knew your face—and knew of the children you would bear me and my priests."

Bryan frowned. The Xyletians had come to the eastern continent nearly fifty years ago. "Wait... How old are you?"

"Eighty-two."

His jaw dropped. "What? How is that possible?"

"Uri has granted me protection and long life," he said, and absently touched the scar on the side of his neck.

"So, you can do magic."

"It's only the will of Uri. Things happen, or they don't." He reached out and put his hand onto Bryan's chest. "You happened. Just as I'd dreamed, you came to us."

Bryan didn't want to believe any of what he was saying was more than superstition, but if he really was the age he claimed, how could he explain that? And the dreams? Bryan had also been having prophetic dreams. He hadn't known their faces, but deep down he knew that these three were the same Alphas from his recurring dreams.

"Uri has deemed Gan to be the protector of our people," Nugai said. "And you are part of that fate."

"Why?" Bryan asked. "Why me?"

Gan shrugged. "Not everything has an answer."

A log snapped, sending a swirl of sparks into the air. The fire was growing dim. "I will get more wood," Munok grunted, and quickly stepped out of the den.

Bryan stared after him. "Munok dislikes me."