Page 72 of His Unicorn Alpha
Dexter pouted as he took one beside Sergio, with Eric rolling his eyes and taking the seat next to me and across the table from both of them. Beck sat at the head of the long, timber table, tugging Ollie into his lap. Brandi and Lena were further down the table, across from Damon and Rex.
Because we had been told this meeting was important, most of the kids were being taken care of by other pack members —people Beck and Ollie had vouched for, though Ollie had winced and muttered something about Jazz giving the twins too much sugar. Brandt and I had our babies with us, though. They were sleeping in their strollers by the window at our backs, and they’d only need to be fed and changed when they woke up. (Unlike Beck’s kids, who would probably attempt to scale the curtains in their boredom.)
“So,” Beck clapped his hands together and looked towards Eric for guidance, “where do we begin?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Ihear you have located information to unbind a shifter’s repressed designation and abilities,” Sergio said not long after our meeting began. His eyes drifted casually over Beckett, then Micah, then Rex and Brandi. “And I can see that you have already begun doing so.”
“Actually, no,” Beck told him with a slightly sheepish smile. “We, uh, we didn’t control this. It kind of just happened naturally for us.”
Sergio’s eyes —set in a face so similar to my alpha’s, it was almost as if we were seeing into the future— widened.
It was difficult not to pull Micah into my embrace and help him process the shock of meeting this man —this unicorn, hisbiological father—without warning, but he seemed just as eager for answers about the magic as the rest of us. Later, I would force the issue with him but, for the moment, we would focus on the task at hand. I would most certainly be having words with Dexter and Sage later, though. It was unlike my brother to allow his friend to be quite so chaotic.
“Naturally?” Sergio questioned.
Beck nodded. “Yeah. Rex, Brandi and I…we all thought we were human. Then we met our omegas and,” he cleared his throat, glossing over the mating ruts which led to their knots forming, “suddenly, we weren’t really human anymore.”
“Fascinating.” Sergio shifted his gaze to Micah. “And you?”
Micah shrugged. “I thought I was a beta. But then Brandt…uh, well, we felt drawn to each other and we put the pieces together and made a conscious choice to bond and draw out my knot and my alpha. At least, with the way we felt sounding so similar to what everyone else had experienced…it was an educated guess that it would happen.”
I was surprised that Micah did not mention that he also believed that he was a horse until after our mating and bonding, but then, we had no idea about Sergio's intentions. It was likely wise to withhold any unnecessary information until after he reciprocated in kind.
The older unicorn nodded slowly and scratched his bearded jaw thoughtfully. “It does seem conveniently coincidental that it has happened to a cluster of people in such a small geographical area.”
“To be fair, we were in New York, and Rex and Day were in Texas…” Ollie interjected.
Sergio’s lips lifted in a little smile. “But to all be in the United States and all around the same time…it is still odd that we haven’t heard of this happening anywhere else in the world, isn’t it?”
“I agree,” I told him, tilting my head genially. “Unless others are keeping it extremely well hidden, it does seem strange that it has all happened here with us.”
“I think part of that can be attributed to the magic itself,” Sergio said. Eric and I both straightened in our seats.
“How so?” Eric asked him, then gestured between himself and me. “We don’t know a lot about the old ways, I’m afraid. They were dying out before we were born.”
“Well, it’s sort of like the way your parents’ pack sees it,” he replied, gesturing genially towards Micah with an upturned palm. “The magic —or fate, or the universe, however you wish to name it— generally blesses those it believes are worthy. The theory I and the other remaining mages and shamen believe is that magic itself began shielding alphas from their abilities until such time as we, as a species, respected each other enough to use the abilities correctly.” He looked back over to where Oliver was seated on Beckett’s lap and smiled. “You were chosen by magic first, correct?”
“Yeah…” Beck answered slowly, while Ollie nodded.
“The magic must have sensed that you would treat your mate and others as equals.” He sighed. “The shifter community has lost its way. The mistreatment of omegas has been appalling. Perhaps the magic saw something in you…a potential to change the world and restore balance.”
Beck snorted. “I was a nobody. I’m still—”
“You’re a born leader,” Micah cut him off. “The way you talk about this pack, about protecting everyone here and omegas in general…Beck, you’re kind of made for this.”
Sergio shot Micah a smile before he continued. “And once you settled here, so did the magic. It likely drew the others here as well,” he waved a hand over the table, “ensuring that you had the support you needed to start bringing order and balance back to our world.”
Eric slumped back in his seat. “So you’re saying there’s still no way to know who might have an alpha side locked away? Not until the magic springs their mate on them and —bam— instant family?” He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his notes. “The journals suggested there were spells…”
“With the magic cooperating, there are, yes.” Sergio nodded, completely unruffled by my brother’s intensity. “However, the spells themselves were hidden away. When the magic became erratic and uncooperative, the spells no longer worked.”
“And so shifters began to forget the old ways,” I finished for him solemnly. “How is it you are still able to wield magic?”
“I am old,” he admitted, then looked at Micah with an unreadable expression. “We unicorns live as long as the dragons. We are mystical creatures tied to magic itself. It is a blessing and a curse.” His gaze drifted past us, to the strollers parked against the wall. “Our numbers have dwindled without alphas. Even our betas have had declining fertility.” He met my gaze. “We have been going the way of the dragons. Losing hope. There are not many of us left in the world. But with magic on our side” —Once more, he looked towards the strollers, smiling softly.— “Balance is being restored, and so is hope.”
“That doesn’t answer—ouch.” Eric jumped in his seat and then frowned at my mate. “Did you just kick me?”
