The Rogue Omega

Chapter 10

“We’ve moved on from the old system where one alpha ruled over a large pack, while everyone else was treated as betas and deltas beneath them,” Kael explained, his deep voice filling the car. “With so many dominant wolves living across the five cities, there were constant challenges and fights until we decided to try a different system. So now, in Shadow Crest, the twenty thousand shifters are governed by the council of twenty alphas you met today. We’re considered the strongest and most dominant alphas in the city. But there’s one important rule...”

Even though I had no intention of becoming part of this world, I found myself paying close attention. I had to fight the urge to ask questions because there was so much I wanted to know.

“Only one alpha from each quintet or smaller bonded pack is allowed to hold a seat on the council. That’s why Ryker was the only one of your mates there. Every one of them would easily rank among the twenty strongest alphas... right at the very top.”

He was still calling them my mates, and I knew he had mentioned that for a reason. More likely, it was meant as a warning. That pack was full of extremely powerful alphas, and whether I accepted them or not, they were used to getting exactly what they wanted.

“What did Ryker say to you before he left?” I asked.

I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear the answer, but I needed to know more about that pack, especially if pretending they didn’t exist was no longer possible.

“He threatened me,” Alpha Kael answered casually as he turned right, leaving the downtown area and entering a quieter neighborhood filled with houses.

I waited for him to explain that strange and worrying statement, but instead he simply started whistling a tune as if everything was perfectly normal.

After letting out an annoyed breath, I finally asked, “Okay... what did he threaten you about?”

Kael slowed the vehicle as we entered another neighborhood where the homes were much bigger and farther apart.

He definitely hadn’t been joking about making enough money to afford luxury cars.

He stopped the Range Rover in front of a white metal gate. While we waited for it to open, he turned to look at me.

His face stayed calm, but his eyes clearly thought I was a complete i***t.

“You’re not really that innocent, kid. What do you think any man would threaten another man over when they’re close to their mate? I’m lucky he didn’t try to tear my head off back in the council room.”

“Why didn’t he?”

Wait...

The fact that I had even asked that question made it obvious I probably needed therapy.

Kael drove through the open gate and continued up the long driveway before answering.

“You’re nervous around him, and he’s trying not to frighten you away. But he isn’t famous for being patient. That’s my first warning. And here’s another one—if you want any male to stay alive, don’t let them touch you.”

I was completely trapped in a situation I had no idea how to fight.

“If the alphas in the Blackthorn Pack are scent matched, are they sexually involved with each other?”

Maybe I had misunderstood their pack completely. Maybe they were already happy with the bond they shared.

Kael shook his head.

“No. They’re brothers in every true sense of the word, and they’ve always known that the fifth member of their quintet would be a woman they would all share.”

Wonderful.

Just the thought made my v****a want to cry.

Don’t ask me how.

As we got closer to Kael’s home, it gave me something else to focus on besides the disaster waiting for me.

The house was built in a Tudor style, and although it was large and impressive, it still looked like a charming little cottage with white walls and dark wooden details.

“This was all Cora’s idea,” he said as he noticed me staring at the beautiful house. “Her family is English. They moved to America when she was a teenager, thank the goddess, and this is what her family home looked like back in England. She’s my scent match, and if she had asked me to, I would have brought England here for her. Thankfully, this house seems to be enough to keep her from missing home.”

He parked in the circular driveway near the front entrance.

“How many people are in your pack?” I asked.

“Five.”

A complete quintet.

“But Cora is my only scent match and romantic partner. The other three are my brother and his two mates. We’re loyal, strong, and close as a pack. There’s plenty of love between all of us, even if we’re not all bonded in exactly the same way.”

From the little I understood, every pack worked differently.

There weren’t strict rules about how a pack had to function, and it sounded like these five had found the balance that worked best for them.

“I’m not supposed to like shifters or living in a pack city,” I muttered.

I didn’t understand why this place made me feel so strongly that I was home and safe when, in reality, I had never been in more danger.

“Shifters are dangerous, and you’re making it really hard not to become attached.”

Kael didn’t argue with my belief that shifters were dangerous.

I wondered if he was thinking about the pack of alphas waiting for me.

“That’s a problem for tomorrow,” he finally said as he opened his door. “Enjoy these few days of peace before the real world catches up with you.”

As I stepped out of the vehicle, I paused for a moment and wondered if Kael might eventually become someone I could trust when the time came for me to escape the country.

Right now, he wouldn’t help me.

But maybe, if we built enough trust between us, I could finally tell him what had happened to my mom.

I had never had an ally.

I had never depended on anyone before, not even while Mom was still alive.

Every instinct inside me hated the idea of asking someone else for help.

But there was no way I could survive this on my own anymore.

Not now that the packs knew I existed.

For now, all I could do was wait and see.

So I decided to follow Kael’s advice and enjoy a few days protected from the real world.