Page 90 of Bonds of Fate

The bench nestled in among the pruned rose bushes is a piece of art, with its iron roses and ironwork back, and not designed for long periods of rest, but it will do. They’re not out of sight of the house but far enough away for a degree of privacy.

Arlo sits gingerly and sighs. He’s distracted by the yard and some autumn birds pecking away at the grass. Nix just enjoys the sunshine and waits. This isn’t his show.

“Hmm. I’m not sure where to start. I asked to come, and yet I am still uncertain. May I be blunt, Nix?”

The breeze carries a faint hint of peach—pleasant and sweet.

Nix can appreciate that. He nods. “Sure.”

“The straightforward part, then: I am omega.”

Nix hopes his mates can’t see the pure shock on his face.

“You’re omega? Like me?”

Not alone. He’snot alone.The realization hits him so hard it makes him momentarily dizzy with relief.

“I was born omega, though, unlike you,” the other man explains. “Dan and Ewan were certain, the last time they were here, that you might be omega. They haven’t broken their oaths about anything else—except to say that you’ve had a hard time.”

Nix meets his fellow omega’s gaze and nods, a flood of emotions and questions crashing through him.

“Do you have questions you feel comfortable asking? I can try to answer them.”

Arlo shifts, looking uneasy—and Nix understands why. Questions about secondary gender inevitably lead to topics of sex and biology.

Some people are uncomfortable discussing such things with strangers. Arlo is only here because another omega needs him.

And because, in the end, they only really have each other.

Nix thinks he’s brave, and it makes Nix even more grateful he’s here.

“Really? Thank you so much! Yes! First—are there more of us? I mean, we thought I was the only one.”

If the world already knew about omegas, Nix wouldn’t have spent so much of his life hiding. His entire existence, his choices, everything—it would all be easier.

Arlo rubs his hands over his belly, stretches, and settles back against the bench. More comfortable now, but still careful.

“There are six that we know of,” he says. “One in Argentina—he’s fifty-six now, I believe. One in Japan, who just presented…seventeen. Another in New Zealand. Then you and I here in America. And one in France. All in our twenties.”

“Six? In the whole world? How did you find them?”

The other omega smiles fondly.

“My mate, Baz, is like a dog with a bone. Honestly, I’m not even sure how, but he’s been searching for years since I presented at nineteen—so almost nine years now.

“He’s made connections, and the most recent one—from Japan—found us through an academic specializing in Omegan History. It’s a small, reliable network, and we’re still very careful about keeping quiet. But when Dan said you were here, in Nashville…that’s two in the same place.”

Arlo’s voice drops slightly, thoughtful.

“Baz thinks that since most of us are in our twenties, maybe more are being born all the time. Australia, Asia, the Americas, Europe—we think there must be at least one in Africa, too, but we haven’t made contact yet. That’s one of the reasons I came today.”

It’s almost more than Nix can take in. He must get lost in his thoughts because he’s startled when Arlo says, “Dan said that the person who hurt you is in jail.”

It’s gentle, but the shift in subject feels abrupt.

Nix flinches but answers anyway. “He is. If I don’t go to court to testify, he might be out in less than twenty years.”

Weres lived a long time.

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