Page 58 of Unsubmissive Omega
Epilogue
XERES
I shifted uneasily on my chair.
Darius and his mate would be here soon, and I didn’t know how they were going to take what I had to tell them.
I rubbed my hand over my face. Shifters… they were so unpredictable. This was one of the reasons I kept my distance from the pack. This… and others.
I knew they were on their way. I didn’t need magic for that, my hearing was good enough, and besides they made a racket whenever they were together, either smooching and carrying on, or messing around. Despite his sullen attitude when he first came here, Xander had turned out to be very playful once he and Darius had got their shit sorted.
The voices grew louder.
“Come in,” I said, not waiting for them to knock. I knew Xander could read the runes anyway. Today they said ‘Enter at your peril’. I liked changing them around, even if no-one could read them. Only now, someone could.
I took a breath, pulled my cowl over my head, and steeled myself to tell my Alpha about his mate.
The door swung open noiselessly. Darius and Xander hesitated on the threshold; they were holding hands. I sighed. Would they still be holding hands when they walked out of here?
“Come in,” I repeated, wanting to get this over and done.
The pair exchanged an uncertain look. It was certainly a rare day when I summonedanyoneto my study, much less the Alpha and his mate. There was a moment of awkwardness on all our parts, then…
“Hi Xeres,” Xander bounded forward andhugged me. Over his shoulder I noticed Darius’ raised eyebrows. Stunned, I managed a faint pat on Xander’s back. This was not the customary way of dealing with mages – we were respected and feared for the most part, with the emphasis on the latter. I didn’t know quite what to do with this display of emotion.
“Greetings, Xeres,” Darius said, more formally, as his mate finally let me go and stepped back. “You wanted to see us?”
“Greetings Alpha, Alpha Mate. It might be best to be seated.” I waved towards a pair of high-backed wooden chairs upholstered with dark leather cushions, which seemed to materialize out of nowhere. In fact, they had always been there but were often overlooked in the gloom of my room.
When we were seated, Darius broke the awful silence. “What did you want to talk to us about? I’m assuming it’s serious?”
I exhaled.
“A better word would besignificant.” I’d thought and thought about how best to approach the subject, but then as now, I reallyhadn’t been sure of the best way to do it. Maybe just wade right in.
“Some aspects of Xander’s kidnapping and recovery need to be discussed,” I began.
Xander leaned forward in his seat, alert. From the expression on his face, he might have had a few questions of his own.
“Which particular aspects?” asked Darius.
“The main one is the magic used to collapse the house,” I began.
“That was magic?” Both Xander and Darius looked intrigued.
“Yes, it was magic. And magic has a very specific signature, depending on who wields it, which means…”
“You can tell who destroyed the house from the magic’s signature!” interrupted Xander, excitement written on his face.
“Precisely.”
Darius intense brown eyes had latched onto mine. “Who was it?” he demanded.
Instead of answering, I turned to Xander.
“Xander, when did you find out that you’re a mage?”
Xander spluttered, jumping to his feet with an outraged thud. “What?A mage?No, I’m a shifter!”
