Wicked Wolves, page 6
He winks at me, and I actually find myself blushing, which is more than a little embarrassing.
"I'm sure you heard these two say my name more than once."
The redhead with brown skin and eyes steps forward, rocking back on his heels and whistling as he gives me a good once-over from head to toe. I feel my blush deepen and have to fight not to look away in embarrassment.
"Adar is the name. Of the four of us, I'm the one most likely to actually get things started, as well as finish them."
The absolutely massive man who hasn't introduced himself yet snorts. "More like, the one most likely to get his ass in trouble and need saving."
"Hush, you stick in the mud." Rolling his eyes, Adar announces with a flourish, "God of fire, in case that wasn't obvious."
It wasn't, mostly because I was too busy wondering how he has such red hair with such dark skin to think about his element. But of course, it makes perfect sense—and explains why I feel a spark of heat whenever I look at him.
It isn't just that he's drop dead, sinfully gorgeous, with a playful smirk on his lips and knowing lust in his eyes. No, that can't possibly be it, Caterina, keep it in your pants.
Especially because you're in the middle of a dream, and if you get all horny now you'll probably just wake up in the tent with your hand down your pants, humping your fingers a few feet away from your horny mateless mother.
That thought puts a damper on my lustful attraction, which is good because the long-haired man is introducing himself, and I almost forgot to pay attention.
"As the god of the sea, I'll be there to put out any fires Adar starts," he says, grumbling a little in his friend's direction and crossing his massively muscular arms over his broad chest.
"My name is Everett, and as the keeper of the planet's most vital and abundant resource, I view my responsibility with great seriousness. You can count on me, whether the tide is high or low, to be there always."
Blinking, I look into his sea-foam green eyes and truly believe that he means it. He hasn't stepped up as close to me as Thale has, but something about the wind has shifted—maybe I shifted it, since this is my dream. I can smell him now, his scent like sea salt spray, cypress, and rosemary.
It makes me feel like swaying towards him. I'm as drawn to his light green eyes as I am to Adar's playful smirk. The desire to lie my head against his broad chest and listen to his heartbeat, which must be steady, slow, and deep, is overwhelming. I've never seen a man as large as him, and yet I feel completely safe, as if he'd never lay a single finger on me.
I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never felt this way before about anyone at all—not even the boys at school who had clean scents and strong wolves.
The only time I felt like this was when I saw the First Alpha in my dreams.
But what if—I realize with a shock to my center—it was never the First Alpha I saw at all? The thread that stretched between me and our mountain was always strange, glimmering different colors. And my dreams of him...
I shake off the doubt. I can't let myself believe that I actually dreamed of gods as my future mate. This must be a trick of my imagination, taking all my idealistic dreams of the First Alpha and projecting them onto these four now that I'm asleep.
Besides, no one woman, much less a not-very-special werewolf, could be a mate to four gods. Believing I was special enough for the First Alpha was one thing. This is just delusion, and the longer I indulge in it, the more heartbroken I'll be when it inevitably crumbles.
I can't stand to be rejected.
Not again.
Chapter 16
Rina
"So I know your names now, and which element you each have power over," I tell them, trying to concentrate on what they are and not how flustered they make me feel. "That should help my pack accept that this is real. What do I tell them to do? Can the coven fix this? Or our alpha?"
Thale falls silent, staring at me for a long, introspective moment.
Which is when Adar steps forward and bluntly says, "You're the only one who can fix it, precious."
I blink, certain I'm hearing wrong. "Me? Also—precious? My name is Caterina, though I prefer to be called Rina."
"Doesn't change the fact that you're precious." Adar steps up, puts his hand on Thale's shoulder, and pulls him back. "I've got this now, big guy. Go sit somewhere and have a ponder."
Thale glares at him. "I was trying to think of the right words to tell her."
"Right words? There are none." Adar chuckles. "Precious Rina, you should know what you are. You're an omega."
I stare at him, waiting for more.
Nothing comes.
"I've never heard of that being possible," I tell the men, frustrated that even gods are, it seems, far from omnipotent. "Alphas, yes. Warriors as well. But betas and omegas aren't real—they're just experiments humans tried decades ago to subjugate us and make us shiftless. We don't do inborn traits or born hierarchy."
Humans have always wanted proof that we're nothing but base animals, without any real culture or ethics to guide us. That's why they put the chips on our necks, try to push back the boundaries of our territories, and have in the past done experiments on us to try to prove we're somehow born with ingrained dominant and submissive traits.
But the word "alpha" is just another word for leader. There are no betas and omegas. Just mates and pack members.
"That's not true," the sea god Everett tells me, his green eyes kind and full. "Or it may be true now, but it wasn't always."
Thale nods. "When we were alive, things were different. The packs used to be more aggressive and dominance-based, with positions as leaders chosen by biology and birth. It was chaotic and violent."
"Alphas fought over omegas," Adar says, grinning at me. "And why wouldn't they? That sweet scent, the soft slick—death is worthwhile for just a taste."
With a great sigh, Thale shoves Adar. He stumbles back, a scowl on his face, but rights himself easily. Neither man seems particularly bothered by it—I guess this kind of jostling is typical for them.
It would be, I suppose, if they came from a more dominant, hierarchy-based world of wolf packs.
Which would make them very old indeed.
Lucian steps up and declares, "I think I'll take a turn talking to the girlie, since the rest of you have."
Waving his hand impatiently, Thale says, "Go ahead. No one is stopping you."
With a grin, the blond approaches me, and I get hit with his scent again. Clean linen and morning rain—like falling into a basket of fresh laundry that you never want to get out of.
"You have good reason to be confused, Rina." Lucian winks at me. "After all, the world you've grown up in has been around for centuries. It makes sense that you wouldn't know everything that came before. You've been taught about the First Alpha, though—I assume otherwise you wouldn't be his promised mate?"
"Every Mountain Pack pup learns about the First Alpha," I tell him impatiently. "The wolf packs were chaos. There was no order, no leader to follow. Then the First Alpha arrived, with natural inborn magic. He created the first mating threads and pack bonds. His people elected him their leader, and called him alpha. They submitted to him, and he protected them, bonding them together so there was no more chaos or strife."
I can't imagine the world before the First Alpha. It sounds horrifying and brutal. Far better to have the threads that bond us and keep packs peaceful.
"Some of that is true," Lucian acknowledges, though Adar snorts and rolls his eyes, muttering something beneath his breath. "What you need to know is that what came before wasn't pure chaos. There were wolves who created packs and kept them together with the power born inside of them. We called those wolves omegas, and they were precious—so precious that it was every alpha's job to protect them."
"Okay," I acknowledge slowly. "Why wouldn't I know about omegas if they were real and I am one?"
"Because they were destroyed." Thale speaks up again, true grief in his voice.
"After the First Alpha used the wellspring to remake bonds permanently, his brother, the Second Alpha, tried to kill him and take his place. That's who attacked you—an abusive monster who wanted to control his entire pack.
"He was stopped by the pack's omega. A lot of things have been lost to time and magic's power, so we don't know exactly how she did it. Even our memories are fallible. We do know that she was a small, delicate wolf named Fern. To save her people, she bound herself to the Second Alpha with a magic spell and dragged him down into the well, where they were both destroyed."
Thale closes his eyes briefly, almost as if he's gathering himself.
Reopening them, he quietly says, "By destroying herself, and the Second Alpha, she destroyed the magic that made omegas and betas possible. Only flat threads and bonds remained, with alphas at the head. That is, until now."
"Now? What's changed?" I feel frustrated. "Being rejected, or not rejected, the First Alpha and all of that... why now? Why me?"
"Because her spirit was reborn inside of you," Adar tells me. "When the First Alpha was shoved out onto Earth and reborn as a new werewolf, so was the last omega. So now there's you. The destined one, whose birth will return us to the old ways."
I stare at him, barely comprehending.
Until I start to laugh hysterically.
Chapter 17
Rina
It's hard to believe that this is a dream. Surely if it were, my chest wouldn't hurt this much. I wouldn't be weak and trembling, arms wrapped around my chest, struggling to breathe.
"An omega," I whisper to myself. "Reborn inside me... that's just nuts. It doesn't make sense."
There have been rumors that the First Alpha was reborn inside the body of a pack's future alpha up in the north. The Mountain Pack never bought it, though. Our coven told us it was heresy—they'd performed spells using our sacrificial magic and found the spirit of the First Alpha still intact and waiting to be summoned for our ceremony.
Of course, if what the gods said is true, and the Second Alpha took his brother's place, maybe that's all they sensed. Which still begs the question—why now?
"What changed to make this all possible?" I ask, looking up into the gods' eyes. They're all so tall that I have to crane my neck, which is getting annoying fast. "You said the Second Alpha pushed the First Alpha out, but surely if he could've done that, he would've done it a long time ago."
"We don't know exactly what changed," Thale admits. "What we do know is that your wellspring is more open to the world now, and magic is leaking out. It's affecting the strength of all the pack wards on this continent—and it's why we started to wake up a few years ago."
Lucian says confidently, "Someone did something. One of your witches maybe. It would've been a powerful spell, something hard to ignore, around the time you were conceived."
A powerful spell around the time I was conceived? I could ask my mom, but she's always been close-lipped about anything concerning my conception. Given her resentment of the coven witches in general, I highly doubt she paid attention to what they were up to while she was screwing my mystery daddy.
Ali might know, if it's something well-known in the coven. Other than her, I don't have many witch friends. Hell, I don't have many friends at all, because other than being the First Mate, I've never had much to recommend me.
Too small and delicate to be a warrior. Too mouthy to be a perfect mate. Bad at numbers, so not a businesswoman. If it weren't for my mom's charm and Alpha Morgan's generousness, we wouldn't have a place in the pack at all.
And my mom's charm has its downsides, as her string of broken intendeds can tell you. Plenty of alphas would've exiled us by now, or at least downgraded our living expense stipend and the size of our house.
Now that I've been rejected and poisoned the bonds, that's all in jeopardy—unless I really am as special as the gods say, and I can fix all of it myself.
Unwrapping my arms, I try to calm my unsteady breathing and face the issue at hand. Thale is looking into my face with concern now, and Everett has approached as well, his salt spray scent tantalizing to my nose. I get the sense that they think I'm weak and small, so I straighten my back and try to look less like an overwhelmed, doe-eyed idiot.
Still. These are gods, after all, and they clearly know more than me. Maybe it won't hurt to be a little vulnerable.
If my mom has taught me anything, it's that vulnerability and charm can get you pretty far in life. Especially when you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
"Are you okay?" Thale holds out his hand as if he wants to touch me, to comfort me, and I draw in a sharp breath. "This is just a dream space, but physical ailments do carry over. If your body isn't healing well..."
"I'm fine," I tell him, trying not to feel disappointed when he drops his outstretched hand. "This is just a lot to take in."
Adar snorts indelicately. "Of course it is. We're showing up from your myths and legends to tell you that your dead fiancé hasn't doomed you, but oh wait, you were born different and now you have to save your whole pack. If I were you, I'd try to marry the ghost again instead. Maybe if you go booOOooo-ooOo he'll decide to give it a go."
"Adar, don't mock her people's traditions," Everett rebukes softly, while Lucian covers up a chortle with a cough. "I don't even know where you get these references."
Lucian says, "It's called television. You should try peering into the mortal world sometime. If we're going to expect the girl to save it, the least we could do is understand her."
Save the world. I feel a chill of intimidation at the suggestion that might be my responsibility.
"I'm supposed to save the world?"
"Not right away," Thale says, while at the same time, Lucian quips, "Only if you want to live in it."
"I don't understand." I try to put my thoughts together, but I feel dizzy and uncertain, like the ground is tilting underneath me. "If I'm special enough to save the world, and the First Alpha didn't reject me, then why are all my pack's bond poisoned? What's this threat I'm supposed to prevent?"
There's a long, almost awkward silence. Thale opens his mouth to say something, then pauses, making a thoughtful noise beneath his breath. I start to feel unnerved.
"I'll tell her if you won't," Adar declares, stalking towards me with a wicked look on his face, his brown eyes sparking with mischief and anger. "She deserves to know. No more avoiding the subject, like that'll change anything."
"I was going to tell her. I just don't want to—"
"You're the reason why the bonds are poisoned."
Chapter 18
Rina
As he says this, Adar reaches out to skim his fingers across my cheek.
"Precious as you are, the rebirth of an omega has changed everything. The instant they put you in that Mating Circle and opened up the gate to the wellspring, they caught the attention of the Second Alpha—and integrated your nature into your pack. The power of your biology is too strong for your pack's delicate little mating threads to survive."
I rock back on my feet, disturbed. "What do I do to fix it?"
"You take them over," Adar declares with a twist of a smile. "Find an alpha whose scent you like, hell find more than one alpha with a scent you like, and ride 'em into the sunset. Make your pack return to its primal, biological nature. The bonds will fall where they're meant to, and everything will be restored."
"And the violence will be immeasurable." Thale's mouth twists as he knocks Adar's hand away from my cheek, his flat, patient nature turning into anger. "Before the First Alpha changed everything, alphas fought and killed for omegas. Packs were destroyed overnight. We can't let that happen again."
"There's no way to stop it from—"
I feel like whimpering, so I let one loose this time. It comes out as a high-pitched, breathy whine that somehow fills the entire Mating Circle.
As soon as I make the noise, I feel a flash of embarrassment and shame. Here I am, meeting the four gods of my people, and I've just acted like a child in front of them.
The four men looked just as shocked as I feel.
"Sorry, I didn't—"
Stumbling back, I wave my hands in the air like I can make it go away. "I shouldn't have done that."
I've barely said the words when suddenly, Lucian has appeared in front me, moving as fast as the wind. He seems to glide across the ground in three fluid movements, his striking blue eyes piercing me.
Wrapping his arms around my shoulders, he pulls me against his chest. I don't protest—the smell of him, so clean and soft, feels familiar and comforting.
And when he pulls my face against his chest, I hear him purr.
It's a strange, animalistic sound I've never heard before from anyone. Growls, grunts, snarls, even whimpers and howls, yes. But purring? That's strictly house cat behavior.
Werewolves don't purr.
But this one does.
And it goes through me like a car motor on top speed, thrumming through my ear, down my neck, through my chest, and all the way into my thighs. Grabbing onto the front of Lucian's slightly transparent white button-up shirt, I fist my hand in the soft material and push my ear against him for more.
Just as quickly as he appeared in front of me, he suddenly disappears. Like the wind itself, moving and changing from one extreme to the other. His shirt slips from my tight fingertips, and I find myself bereft suddenly.
I didn't even know what I was missing until just now. But for some reason, now that I've heard a man purr against my ear, it's... all I want.
Blinking, I focus on Lucian, desperate to beg him for more—but Thale has jerked him across the Mating Circle and away from me. There's a hard look in his eyes as he glares down the tall blond, whose expression is mulish and stubborn.
"Sorry about that," the god of earth says, letting go of Lucian with a rip of his shirt. "He just got... carried away."
