Page 25

TWENTY-FIVE

Reed

I don’t know how long we lay in Fiona’s lap, listening to her read us a story about a human woman falling in love with a vicious alpha wolf. Time passed strangely as a wolf, but eventually, my desire to shift back to human skin and fuck her faded, and a knock on the door came to burst our little cozy mate bubble.

I growled, not ready to go back to the real world quite yet. But Fiona told them to come in, and Shay let herself in the door.

“Hey, Fi. So, umm, it seems Dirge and I aren’t going to be able to go on the mission to see the dwarf king after all. We think I was able to help power the wall barrier back up. We need you to confirm, if you don’t mind. But if so, I need to stay here, and keep this place juiced up so Brielle can’t be sensed yet. Between that and the fact that Reed being unbonded is problematic for the maidens… How do you feel about going on the journey with Reed? Elodie is going to go along too, so it would be the five of you.”

“I’m fine with going, if that’s what the pack needs. I definitely want to stay with Reed.”

“Okay, great.”

Fiona smiled down at me, stroking my wolf’s ears. “You okay to stay in here while I go peek up at the barrier again?”

“Actually, Brielle’s powers have settled back down for the moment, so he should be safe for a bit. Also, Kane needs him. Apparently, they had a call scheduled with Alpha Todd, from our old pack?”

I sat up and yipped, and Shay nodded. “I’ll wait outside so you can shift back.”

She let herself out the door as I leapt off the bed.

“Should I turn around, or…?” Fiona blushed, the pink in her cheeks absolutely delectable before she stood and turned so her back was to me, crossing her arms over her chest.

I quickly shifted and pulled on a pair of pants.

“You can turn back around now,” I told her as I shrugged on my only clean button-up. If we were going on a trip, I’d need my assistant to send more clothes. What I packed to go into hiding wasn’t sufficient for dignitary business.

She blushed and averted her eyes when she saw my bare chest, and I intentionally slowed down, enjoying the scent of her arousal delicately perfuming the air. Then I remembered that I behaved like a caveman before in the courtyard and briskly finished my buttons, shame filling me.

“I’m sorry for how I behaved earlier. You weren’t even comfortable with platonic touch in front of others, and that was inexcusable. I?—”

“No, it’s okay?—”

We both stopped, staring at each other, our unfinished words hanging in the air like so much unwanted confetti.

“You couldn’t help it. I know that. I just didn’t want…” She didn’t finish, her flush deepening as she stared down at her feet.

I couldn’t have her embarrassed with me, not like this, and not when she’d done nothing wrong. I closed the small space between us, lifting her chin with my fingertips so she was forced to meet my eyes with her own.

“I wouldn’t have wanted our first time to be like that either. The first time I take you, I want you to be so ready, you’re begging for it. It will be on our terms. And I promise, you won’t have any doubts that I want you just as much,” I lowered my voice to a whisper, kissing the tender skin beneath her ear to punctuate the words.

She shuddered under the touch, and when I pulled back, her pupils were blown wide with arousal, no trace of embarrassment left behind.

Much better.

I kissed her on the forehead, then turned her toward the door. “You stick with Shay, and I’ll be back as soon as the meeting ends with Kane.”

“Okay.” She was still a little breathless, and she blew me a kiss before walking out the door. Such a small gesture, but still, I was smiling like the luckiest man in the world as I strolled down the hallway to find Kane.

* * *

“Alpha Todd. Thank you for meeting with me.” Kane started the call without preamble. I sat off to the side, where I was still visible to the camera, but Kane was the main focus.

“Of course, High Alpha, Reed.”

Alpha Todd’s second was also on the call and gave us both a deferential nod.

“To what do I owe the honor of the high alpha’s time?”

“It’s not honor, I’m afraid, but necessity. What do you know about the history of omegas?”

Todd blanched, and his second rocked back against his chair. “High Alpha, I can assure we have no connection with any omegas or even rumors of?—”

Kane raised a hand, cutting him off. “It’s fine. The history is complex, and much of what we’ve been fed by the Omega Defense League and the Interspecies Governing Council are lies.”

Alpha Todd frowned but didn’t interrupt.

“I’m calling today to tell you that things have changed recently for our species. You know as well as I that wolves have been in decline ever since the time of the wars.”

Kane hesitated, and I knew he was second-guessing the strategy we’d discussed. But it was the only way I could see, and he agreed.

“Omegas are not extinct, wiped out as we thought. But they’re also not all dangerous, detrimental to wolf shifters or to other species. In fact, they have gifts, gifts that ensure the safety and fertility of our species. Without them, we’ve been slowly dying.”

Alpha Todd swore, rubbing a hand wearily over his face. “So, what, the ODL was all based on lies? Some plot by the pixies or vampires to wipe us out?”

“No, not quite. There was truly an omega who went bad. But killing them all was unnecessarily cruel and unjust. Can I trust that anything I tell you remains in confidence?”

“Of course, Kane, you have my word.”

“My mate, Brielle, who was a member of your pack for so many years, is an omega.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the room. It didn’t even look like Todd and his second were breathing, they were so shocked.

“High Alpha, I swear I had no knowledge of that. If I had, I would have immediately disclosed it.”

Kane raised a hand again, stopping him before he could apologize away Brielle’s existence.

“I did not know either, nor did she, not at first. The details are not important right now. The important part is that she is an omega, but she is also harmless, both to our kind and other species. In fact, since we bonded, she has brought three more fated mates to the males of our pack, ensured the safe delivery of one of our pups, and helped one of the females in the pack get pregnant during her first heat.”

Alpha Todd’s eyes were wide as Kane continued on.

“We’ve consulted with an omega expert, and her gifts are fertility and healing. As long as Brielle remains alive, no female in my pack will die in childbirth. No pup will be lost during pregnancy. And as we speak, my pack is preparing to leave to find a stone that can extend those abilities to every pack in the world.”

“Hot damn. This changes everything . What do you need from me, Alpha?”

Kane smiled then, casting me a quick sideways glance.

“We need your support. Until the ODL is disbanded, Brielle is not safe, and neither is any wolf mother or pup.”

Kane leaned forward, steepling his fingers as he began to unfold the plan for his rapt audience.