The Omega's Three Mates

Chapter Nine

I closed my eyes, trying to block out that haunting howl, but another one joined it, then another, until it felt like the whole forest was having some kind of supernatural choir practice. Great. Because what this night really needed was a soundtrack.

"They're welcoming the new moon." Caleb's voice, rough with sleep, made me jump. When I opened my eyes, he was watching me with that intense golden gaze that made me feel like I was simultaneously the most fascinating and most frustrating thing he'd ever seen. Absolutely unfair that he could pull off that look while sporting impressive bedhead and what appeared to be a book indent on his cheek.

"Doesn't Spotify have a playlist for that?" I muttered, pulling the ridiculous silk sheets higher. "Like 'Lo-fi Beats to Welcome Celestial Bodies To' or something?"

His mouth twitched. "You're deflecting."

"I'm adapting. There's a difference." I gestured vaguely at the general situation - the luxury cabin, the sleeping warrior-twins, the whole 'surprise, you're a werewolf' thing. "I figure humor is better than hysteria. Though I'm keeping that option open for later."

"Reasonable." Kalel's voice joined the conversation, though he hadn't bothered to open his eyes or uncurl from his improbable position. "Most people go straight for the hysteria."

"Yeah, well, I've already had enough drama to last me a lifetime. Though..." I touched the pendant again, remembering Mom's dream-voice. The day after tomorrow. "I might have to dip into those hysteria reserves soon."

That got both their attention. Kalel's eyes opened, sharp and alert despite having been asleep seconds ago. Show-off.

"The dream," Caleb said. Not a question. Because apparently alpha werewolves didn't need to waste time with interrogative sentences.

"How did you—" I started, then shook my head. "Right. Supernatural lie detector thing. Add that to the list of 'Werewolf Facts That Would Have Been Nice to Know Earlier.'"

"We can sense emotional distress," Kalel corrected, finally unfolding himself from the chair with a grace that should be illegal at - I glanced at the artisanal wall clock that probably cost more than our old car - 3 AM. Granted, the Kelly Blue Book value of my hoopty is 800 dollars. "Especially from pack members."

"I'm not—" I began automatically, but stopped when both twins gave me identical looks of yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that. "Okay, we're definitely circling back to that whole situation later. But first..." I took a deep breath, trying to organize my thoughts into something resembling coherence. "What exactly happens on the day after tomorrow?"

The silence that followed was heavy enough to crush diamonds. Caleb and Kalel exchanged one of those twin-telepathy looks that made me want to throw something at both their stupidly perfect faces.

"Your birthday," Caleb said finally, setting aside his book - was that actually a leather-bound tome? In 2025? These people were such supernatural clichés sometimes. "When the amulet's power will fade completely."

"Right, because turning eighteen isn't stressful enough without adding 'spontaneous werewolf transformation' to the mix," I muttered. "Please tell me there's like, a WikiHow article for this. 'How to Survive Your First Full Moon: 10 Easy Steps.'"

"We'll help you through it," Kalel said, and something in his voice made the knot in my chest loosen slightly. "That's what pack is for."

"Great. Wonderful. Super comforting." I slumped back against the pillows that definitely had a thread count higher than my SAT score. "Any other bombshells you want to drop while we're having this lovely 3 AM heart-to-heart? Secret prophecies? Ancient curses?"

The twins exchanged another look, this one definitely more ominous.

"Oh come on," I groaned. "That was a joke, not a challenge."

Neither responded.

"So..." I drew out the word, watching their faces. Because apparently 3 AM was the perfect time to have a supernatural crisis meeting with two unfairly attractive alpha werewolves. The universe really needed to work on its timing. "Which one of you wants to explain that ominous twin-telepathy thing? Because I've got to tell you, the whole cryptic supernatural routine loses some impact when you're both rocking bedhead."

That wasn't entirely true. Somehow they managed to make even sleep-rumpled look dangerous. Caleb's dark hair was a mess that shouldn't have been attractive but definitely was, and the way his shirt had ridden up to show a slice of toned stomach was just... inconvenient. For my mental health. And Kalel wasn't helping, all lounging grace and half-lidded golden eyes that made my pulse do complicated things I was choosing to blame on post-traumatic stress.

"Your dream," Caleb said, voice rough with sleep in a way that absolutely did not make my stomach flip. "Tell us."

"Wow, those alpha commanding tones really work for you, huh?" I pulled the ridiculous silk sheets higher, like they could somehow shield me from both the intensity of their stares and my own inappropriate attraction. "Do they teach that in werewolf finishing school? 'How to Sound Authoritative While Looking Like a GQ Spread: Alpha Edition'?"

Kalel's mouth curved, and nope, that was not helping the whole situation. "Your mouth is truly non-stop, isn't it?"

"It's my coping mechanism. Give me a break." I gestured vaguely at... everything. "Besides, shouldn't we be more concerned about the whole 'hunters want to capture or kill me' thing? Because that feels like priority one, even before my apparently impending werewolf puberty."

"We can multitask," Kalel said dryly, unfolding from his chair with a grace he was definitely born with. The movement brought him closer, and wow, personal space was definitely not a werewolf thing. "The dream seemed... significant."

Heat radiated off him like a supernatural space heater, which was just unfair. How was I supposed to maintain my sarcastic defense mechanisms when he smelled like pine and leather and something wild that made my newly awakening wolf want to do very inadvisable things?

"It was about Mom," I said finally, forcing myself to focus. "The day I found her. Except... different. Wrong. There were marks on her neck, like some kind of writing, and she kept saying she was sorry. That she should have told me sooner. That everything changes on my birthday."

Caleb went still in that predator way that somehow managed to be both terrifying and attractive. Which was really not where my head needed to be right now. "What kind of marks?"

"I don't know. Like... patterns? Dark ones, spreading like ink." I swallowed hard, remembering. "They weren't there in real life. I would have remembered that. The doctors said..."

"What did they say?" Kalel's voice was gentle, but there was something dangerous underneath.

"Natural causes." I laughed, and it sounded hollow even to me. "Because apparently healthy thirty-eight-year-old women just drop dead all the time. With their eyes open. Looking terrified."

The twins exchanged another one of those looks that made me want to throw something.

"Okay, seriously, the twin-telepathy thing needs to come with subtitles," I said. "What aren't you telling me?"

"We don't know who killed your mother," Caleb said carefully. "But those marks... they sound like binding runes."

"Binding as in..." I trailed off, not really wanting to finish that thought.

"As in someone tried to trap her wolf," Kalel confirmed grimly. "And succeeded."

The pendant at my throat seemed to pulse, like it knew we were talking about supernatural restraints. Like it was reminding me that it had been doing the same thing to me, just more slowly. More kindly?

"So Mom was like me? An omega?" The words felt strange in my mouth. New. Dangerous.

"Yes." Caleb moved closer too, and great, now I was bracketed by attractive, lethal alphas. This was fine. Everything was fine. "Which means you need protection."

"I need answers," I countered, trying to ignore how my skin seemed to buzz with awareness of their proximity. How something in me - the wolf? - wanted to lean into that protection. Into them. "Starting with why everyone seems to think omegas are such a big deal. I mean, isn't that the bottom of the wolf hierarchy? Sorry, but I paid attention in biology class."

"Werewolf hierarchy isn't that simple," Caleb said, and was his voice always that low? That... intimate? "Omegas are rare. Powerful. They can..." He paused, searching for words.

"Empower alphas. The perfect complement," Kalel finished. "Bond with them. Make them stronger. Or break them completely."

Oh. Well. That explained the intensity rolling off them in waves. The way they watched me like I was simultaneously fascinating and dangerous.

"Super," I muttered. "Because what this situation really needed was more complicated power dynamics and UST. What's next? A love triangle? Some kind of prophecy? Please tell me there's at least a training montage."

That actually got a laugh from Caleb, low and warm in a way that definitely didn't make my stomach flip. "Something like that."

"First," Kalel said, all business despite the heat in his eyes, "you need to learn control. Before the amulet fails completely."

"In forty-eight hours?" I raised an eyebrow. "What is this, supernatural cram school?"

"More like survival training," Caleb said, and there was that dangerous edge again. The one that reminded me these beautiful, lethal creatures were exactly that - lethal. "Hope you're a fast learner."

"Fantastic." I looked between them, trying to ignore how the air seemed to crackle with something more than just supernatural tension. "Any chance this training involves fewer cryptic warnings and more actual explanations?"

Their matching grins were answer enough.

This was fine. Everything was fine.

I was only about to learn how to be a werewolf from two gorgeous, dangerous alphas who looked at me like I was simultaneously their salvation and their downfall, all while mysterious hunters plotted my capture and my mother's killer remained unknown.

No pressure or anything.

At least the view was nice.

Really shouldn't have thought that last part around supernatural lie detectors with enhanced senses and knowing smirks.

This was going to be a long forty-eight hours.

***

The forest looked different in the pre-dawn light, all misty gothic drama like someone had ordered the Premium Supernatural Aesthetics Package™ from Mother Nature. Our little procession moved through it with the kind of coordinated grace that came from years of practice, but I was too busy trying not to face-plant in my old, dependable boots that definitely weren't made for hiking to appreciate it.

The twin alphas flanked me like extremely attractive bodyguards who'd never heard of personal space. Every time I stumbled (which was embarrassingly often), one of their hands would find my waist or lower back, lingering just long enough to make my skin buzz with awareness. Because apparently near-death experiences and life-altering revelations weren't enough drama for one night.

"You know," I said, after Caleb's hand found my back for approximately the eight hundredth time, "I'm pretty sure I can walk without a supernatural GPS system."

"The terrain is treacherous," Kalel said, but the amusement in his voice made it clear he wasn't talking about the ground.

He was talking about the she-wolves we kept passing, who looked at me like I'd personally kicked their puppies while wearing a "Home Wrecker: Supernatural Edition" t-shirt. Each one's reaction was worse than the last - from outright snarls to muttered comments that my newly enhanced hearing definitely picked up.

"Omega bitch."

"Who does she think she is?"

"Just like her mother..."

"Ignore them," Caleb growled, his hand tightening protectively on my waist.

"Why? Because they're just jealous of my naturally sunny personality and impeccable fashion sense?" I gestured at my silver-burned clothes. "Or is there something else you're not telling me about why I'm apparently Public Enemy Number One in Werewolf Weekly?"

Before either twin could answer, a familiar voice cut through the morning air like nails on a chalkboard.

"Savannah." Richard stepped out from behind a massive oak, all concern and fatherly authority that he hadn't earned the right to use. "We need to talk about—"

"No." Kalel's voice was pure alpha power, making even my omega wolf want to bare its throat. "You've done enough damage."

"She's my daughter." Richard's eyes flashed beta gold. "I have the right—"

"You lost that right when you abandoned her." Caleb moved slightly in front of me, his broad shoulders blocking Richard from view. "When you left her defenseless in human territory with nothing but a failing amulet and a mother who had to die protecting your secrets."

The words hung in the air like shattered glass, sharp and dangerous.

"I was protecting her," Richard insisted, but his voice had lost its earlier authority.

"By lying?" I stepped around Caleb, anger burning hotter than my silver wounds. "By letting Mom die alone? By showing up eighteen years too late with your concerned dad act?"

"Savannah, please—"

"Save it." My voice cracked embarrassingly, but whatever. "I don't need your protection. I don't need your explanations. I don't need anything from you except for you to leave me the hell alone."

Both twins growled in warning as Richard took a step forward, their bodies coiled with lethal tension.

"The lady asked you to leave," Kalel's voice could have frozen hell itself.

For a moment, Richard looked like he might challenge them. Then his shoulders slumped, defeat written in every line of his body. "I really was trying to protect you," he said quietly. "From all of this. From what you are."

"Yeah?" I laughed, and it sounded hollow even to me. "Great job with that. Really A+ parenting. Maybe next time try protecting someone by actually being there."

He opened his mouth like he might say more, but one look from the twins had him backing away, disappearing into the misty forest like the ghost of deadbeat dads past.

"Well," I said into the heavy silence that followed, "that was fun. Nothing like a little family drama before breakfast. Speaking of which, please tell me werewolves believe in coffee, because I'm going to need approximately eight espresso shots to deal with..." I gestured vaguely at everything, "all of this."

Caleb's mouth curved slightly. "We believe in coffee."

"Oh thank god. Finally, some good news." I started walking again, very deliberately not thinking about the way both twins immediately moved to flank me again, their bodies radiating protective heat. "So, where are we headed? Please say it's somewhere with fewer death glares and family secrets."

The look they exchanged suggested that was definitely not where we were headed.

Because of course not.