Page 27 of Captive Omega
I’d known Rowan, Sam, and Nate were my mates, of course, just like they’d known I was theirs. But at that moment, our connection went beyond that. It tightened around them too, piercing their hearts and souls.
That was when they remembered. Flashes of the past coursed through their minds and into mine. They remembered the last chaos, when they’d attacked one another, when all of them had wanted to reach me and protect me, but in different ways.
“Of course,” Rowan whispered. “No wonder you seemed so familiar.”
“No wonder we couldn’t kill one another,” Sam mused.
Nate nodded. “No wonder we were guided to each other again.”
Through the memory I saw, I tasted their blood in my mouth. I felt them tear each other apart. I felt their anger and hatred, their desire to destroy, kill, and claim.
It should have upset us, but on some level, we weren’t surprised. It was like we’d finally come full circle. Hostility and resentment mingled with need and desire, with the knowledge that we were meant to be together. And I came, safe in the knowledge that my mates and I would never be separated, not again.
“Never again,” my mates echoed me.
Renewed waves of pleasure exploded over me, bright and fierce, but so comforting. I surrendered to it, all the while feeling the echoes of my lovers’ ecstasy. I didn’t know how long it lasted, but by the time it was over, I felt stronger than I ever had in my life.
For so many years, I’d been a captive of what had happened to me, of a past I couldn’t change, of expectations I couldn’t hope to meet. I’d stopped being Luna Clayton, a worthy member of the Wolfsbane Pack, and had become just the Omega, just a tool in my father’s hands. But that was all over now, because I’d finally found the true meaning of my existence. Yes, I was an Omega, but that didn’t mean I had to be weak.
My mates’ voices echoed in my head, fierce, but loving.
“You’ve never been weak, Luna.”
“You’re stronger than you know.”
“I wish you could see yourself through our eyes.”
It wasn’t a futile wish. Our bond allowed me to do exactly that, to see myself through their eyes. More than that, it allowed us to feel one another and ourselves. And maybe on some level, I didn’t agree with their assessment of how beautiful I was, but that was okay, because it wasn’t what mattered. The savage intensity of our connection was more beautiful than I could ever hope to be.
Even the battle they’d once fought was beautiful. They might have attacked one another, but that had been a natural response too. And it was just as natural to love one another like this, even if ours was a violent, terrible love.
That knowledge settled over me, penetrating every pore in my body. As the sensations dissipated into a comfortable afterglow, pure contentment enveloped me, echoing into my new bond with my mates.
I had semen all over me, dripping from my pussy, drying in my hair. I loved it. My mates had claimed me, and they’d claimed one another in the process. And even if this connection had once seemed so unlikely, that was no longer the case. For us, it was exactly right. It was what we needed. It would anchor us all throughout our lives together. And no matter what our past had been like, even if we’d had moments when we’d been cruel and violent to one another, I would never be afraid of it.
* * *
Rufus
In the wake of my failed mating ceremony, the ground of our pack’s settlement was stained with the blood of countless dead shifters, both Firewolves and Wolfsbanes. The stench of death and fury filled the air. The sound of angry howls still echoed in my ears.
I hadn’t felt so alive in years. Licking my fangs, I enjoyed the taste of the blood still lingering in my mouth. The crimson light of the moon reached out to me, taunting me with dreams of gore and viscera.
It would have been very easy to lose myself in it, but I had a pack to lead. My Firewolves needed my guidance. Albert approached me, looking a little lost and dazed. “Alpha, the Wolfsbane Pack has retreated. What do we do next?”
I carefully mused over my next course of action. Normally, during a chaos, tracking down a mate took precedence over everything else. After all, that was why the chaos existed, to guide us to our other halves.
But there was just one problem with that. My brother had attacked me during the chaos. In a way, he’d even beaten me, although if he hadn’t fled, I might have been able to recover and kill him. Still, those details didn’t matter, because he’d challenged me for the leadership of the Firewolves.
“We have an imminent pack war on our hands. Alpha Clayton lost a lot of people, and his daughter on top of that. But there’s also my treacherous brother to consider. He needs to be hunted down before he becomes a problem.”
My mother approached me, keeping her head lowered in submission. “Alpha, with your permission, I could go after Rowan. I’m sure none of this is his fault. That filthy Omega twisted his mind. You know he would have never attacked you otherwise.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You think that taking out the Omega would be enough to bring Rowan back?”
My mother nodded. “You know how the Wolfsbane Pack is. Rowan and Luna Clayton were very close to one another during the ceremony. She could have poisoned him.”
Yes, but they’d been close to me too and I hadn’t noticed anything suspicious. Then again, I’d been a little distracted by the beauty of the Omega I’d chosen as my mate.
