OMEGA

CHAPTER SIX

THE PULL OF DESTINY

AMARA'S POV|

I didn’t sleep that night.

I couldn’t.

Not with the weight of the prophecy curling beneath my ribs. Not with the ghost of Lucien’s rejection still lingering like smoke in my lungs. Not with the ache of something old twisting tighter inside me, whispering my name in voices that didn’t belong to this world.

I stayed by the cracked mirror long after Stacy left, tracing the shape of my reflection like it would offer answers. My blue eyes glowed faintly in the dark, like moonlight trapped in ice.

Was this what it meant to be her?

The White Wolf.

The one born once every hundred years.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to become. Only that something had shifted the moment those rogues clawed their way into our territory, and somehow, I had survived when others hadn’t. Not just survived—felt stronger.

I should’ve told Grandmother Liana everything. About the letter. About the man in the forest who knew my name before I even spoke it. About how my skin sometimes hummed like a tuning fork, like something divine was coiled beneath the surface, just waiting for the right moment to tear free.

But I didn’t.

Not yet.

She had already lost too much. Her son, my father. Her daughter-in-law. Her pack.

She didn’t need more mystery.

Just peace.

Besides, she was no longer the healer she once was—at least not officially. Sixty-seven years old and still sharper than anyone I knew, but she had laid down her role after my parents died. She said the loss had made her hands too heavy for healing. I never truly believed that. She still healed people… just not in the ways they asked for. She healed with stories. With silence. With patience.

And sometimes, with tea that tasted like bark but made your dreams less sharp.

This morning, the scent of one of her brews floated under my door, mixed with the rich aroma of herbs and something burning slightly in the pan. My stomach growled, but my feet hesitated.

I didn’t want to pretend I was fine.

Not yet.

Still, I owed her more than silence.

I stepped out into the hallway, bare feet padding softly against the old wooden floorboards. The cottage creaked like it was stretching from sleep, and I followed the sound of clinking cups into the kitchen.

She was already there, Liana—back turned, long silver braid draped down her spine, steady hands pouring tea like it was a sacred ritual.

“Sit,” she said without looking up.

I sat.

She placed a chipped mug in front of me. Chamomile and something earthier. Calming.

“You didn’t sleep,” she said simply.

I didn’t answer.

She didn’t expect me to.

After a long pause, she finally turned to face me. Her eyes—soft brown, rimmed with age and knowing—searched mine like she was reading a book she’d read before but was hoping had a new ending this time.

“You’re changing,” she said quietly.

My heart skipped.

I looked down.

“Something inside you is waking up,” she added, “and you’re scared.”

“I’m not—”

She raised a brow.

“…Maybe a little,” I admitted, voice small.

Liana reached over and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “You don’t have to be brave all the time. But you do have to be ready.”

I swallowed thickly. “For what?”

She didn’t answer.

Because before she could, the knock came.

Three sharp raps. Not hesitant like Lucien. Not venomous like Stacy. This one was firm. Commanding.

I tensed. Liana didn’t move.

The door creaked open, and a tall figure stepped into the kitchen light.

He wore all black—long coat, boots that carried the scent of foreign lands, and eyes like onyx polished by fire.

Alpha aura. Dominant. Untamed.

But it wasn’t just any Alpha.

It was him.

Kael.

The Alpha King.

Twenty-eight. Legendary. Feared.

And standing in my grandmother’s cottage like the storm had walked inside.

His gaze landed on me.

And something inside my chest…

Shifted

KAEL'S POV |

The scent hit me before I even stepped through the door.

Warm honey and wild rain.

It wrapped around me like silk and sin—ancient, heady, familiar, though I’d never smelled anything like it in my life.

My wolf went still.

Then snarled.

Then howled.

“Mine.”

The word was low, guttural, primal—and it didn't come from my mouth.

It came from him.

The beast inside me, the one I kept buried under years of iron will and cold control, now clawed his way to the surface like he’d just woken up from centuries of sleep.

My pulse spiked. My vision sharpened. The door creaked open, and I stepped into the cottage, the scent growing stronger with every breath.

And then I saw her.

Sitting in a worn wooden chair, eyes the color of frostbitten skies, staring at me like she already knew.

My mate.

The White Wolf.

The one I’d searched for… without even knowing I was searching.

She didn’t stand. Didn’t speak.

But I felt her.

Her wolf was pressed right up against her skin, just like mine, pacing, alert, electric.

Time slowed.

Liana—the retired healer, the woman I’d known for decades—stood to my right. Her voice barely registered.

“Alpha King Kael,” she greeted. “This is my granddaughter, Amara.”

Amara.

The name tasted like fire and prophecy on my tongue.

I nodded once, eyes never leaving hers. “I know.”

I didn’t know how I knew. I just… did.

It was her.

The Moon Goddess’s gift. The one I was never supposed to find. My second chance.

And she was radiant.

Even in grief. Even in silence. Even with the faint puffiness around her eyes from crying, she looked like something born from the stars. Hair dark as obsidian, skin kissed with dusk, those blue eyes reflecting a storm she hadn’t unleashed yet.

And that scent… gods, that scent. I wanted to drown in it.

My wolf surged, demanding I move closer.

Touch her. Claim her. Now.

But I didn’t. Couldn’t.

She looked… scared. No—guarded. Broken in all the places I recognized too well. Rejection lingered on her like a bruise.

Another male did this.

I clenched my fists to keep from shifting then and there.

“Why are you here?” she asked, voice sharp but shaken. Brave.

“I came to speak with your grandmother,” I lied. Partially.

I had come to check on Liana. The rogue attack on this region had reached my ears, and I made it my business to protect the outer packs—especially those with ties to healers.

But the second I crossed into this territory, she pulled me in like a magnet dragging metal.

Amara stood now, slow and careful, like every movement hurt.

We stared at each other. Breathing. Feeling.

Then it hit her.

Her eyes widened just slightly. Her lips parted. And her hand flew to her chest like she was trying to steady something alive beneath it.

She felt it.

The Mate Bond.

Our bond.

Faint, shimmering, but real.

Her wolf rose, and for a heartbeat, I saw her true form flicker behind those eyes—white, ethereal, ancient.

My breath caught.

“I don’t want a mate,” she whispered. “Not again.”

Something hot and bitter twisted in my gut.

“You didn’t choose me, Amara,” I said quietly, stepping closer. “And I didn’t choose you either. But the bond… it’s not wrong.”

“I already had one,” she snapped. “He rejected me.”

“I’m not him.”

“No,” she said, voice trembling. “You’re worse. You’re the Alpha King. You’re another prison in a prettier cage.”

That stung.

But I didn’t move back. I wouldn’t.

Instead, I let my power rise—slow, steady, not to scare her, but to remind her who I was. Not the boy who left her broken. Not a threat. Not a chain.

But a king.

And her equal.

“I didn’t come to chain you, Amara,” I said, low and rough. “I came because something ancient is waking. In this territory. In your blood. In you.”

Silence.

Then she whispered, “How do you know that?”

I let my eyes shift—half-gold, half-shadow—letting her glimpse the storm inside me.

“Because it’s waking in me too.”

She blinked once.

Then once more.

Liana stepped forward, voice quieter than ever. “You two were never meant to be ordinary.”

Amara looked between us, like her reality was unraveling thread by thread.

“You need to rest,” Liana said gently to her. “And Kael… you’ll stay the night.”

Amara stiffened. “What?”

“It’s not for comfort. It’s for protection,” Liana said with a strange calm. “There are more rogues than we thought. The pack border is weak. And something… dark… is circling.”

She turned to me. “Your room’s still the guest space on the east side. You’ll stay close.”

Amara’s jaw clenched.

But she didn't argue.

Her silence said more than words ever could.

She didn’t trust me.

Not yet.

But she would.

Because the Moon Goddess didn’t give me a second mate for nothing.

And this time…

I would burn the world before I let her go.