Page 82 of My Monster's Keeper
“No, I learned how to light the fire so I could stay alive. If I let it out sometimes, I couldn’t bring it back. There was nothing to burn, so I had to use my energy to fuel it. I learned all the different types of snow and ice. There isn’t another Fae like me who can use both fire and ice. They are opposites. I’m not supposed to exist.”
“And yet, here you are, existing, stronger than anyone ever thought possible, free, and with this most precious mission entrusted into your care. Big step up, don’t you think?”
Frost laughs. The sound is entrancing, and I lean my head on one arm so I can watch him.
“It is a big step up.”
“Do you think you’ll ever find any of these omegas?”
“Everyone seems convinced they are here, and where there’s smoke, there’s normally fire,” he says evasively.
I smirk. “You would know.”
He turns his head towards me and, in the light, with that smile, he is one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen. I freeze, my thoughts vanishing in an instant. My eyes drop from his to his lips. What does he taste like?
Frost’s expression sobers, and he inhales sharply.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not strong enough,” he murmurs.
It still takes me a few seconds to turn away.
I lick my lips and clear my throat. “So, why are these omegas so important, anyway?”
“You’ve seen how strong our personalities are. This is nothing. Before you came, Puppy and Stix were actively trying to kill each other, and the pressing threat of Wilder had us one step away from destroying this city. An alpha’s rage can be one of the most damaging forces.”
“I’m not an omega,” I whisper.
“You are someone that needed our help. Puppy brought us to you that night. Stix gave us permission, but Puppy is the one who found you. He wasn’t going to listen to Stix. You didn’t seem like much, but I was so angry that they would have hurt you. And my anger for you stilled the rage I feel towards the others.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that without you, we don’t work. It’s only with you near that we’re able to find calm.”
“I’m not an omega,” I repeat. “You need an omega.”
“Are you sure?” Frost whispers. “Are you sure you aren’t? Because all signs point towards you being one.”
“That’s not what Diablos said-”
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He thinks omegas are meek and mild, but the omegas I remember were warriors and queens.”
“You met them?”
“Many, many years ago. Being without an omega is like walking around in life with your senses dulled. It’s not right, you can feel it all the time, this wrongness, this need.”
I sit up and wrap my arms around my knees. “It’d be awful to live the rest of your life like that.”
“Unless you had someone else to live for.”
I turn towards him, startled. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying when we get back home, prepare yourself-”
Crimson smoke explodes into being, and Diablos and Hartley appear. Diablos has a picnic basket and sets it down.
They have the worst timing. I want to scream at them to go away so I can make Frost finish that sentence. Prepare myself for what?
Hartley gives me an apologetic look but spreads out a picnic blanket and sits down.
