A Curse of Fate (Shifter City Fated Mates #1)

Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

I stared at the sleek, black phone which looked like it belonged in a sci-fi movie set a hundred years in the future. There weren’t even any buttons, and I had no idea how to work it. After a few minutes of pressing the screen, it turned on, and I found it was already fully charged with five apps on the main screen.

One of which was for messages, with a tiny thirteen next to the curved symbol.

Thirteen messages already?

I opened it and immediately found the group chat titled:

*Alpha Quads Unite to Woo our Omega*

That title had Kellan written all over it, which was further confirmed by the first message in the thread.

Golden Boy: Welcome to the family chat. I’ll be your host this evening, so buckle in and enjoy the ride.

I secretly loved that he’d used my nickname for him.

Daddy Alpha: Kellan, what the actual fuck are you doing?

My lips twitched as I imagined Hunter’s face when he wrote that message. Kellan had called him Daddy Alpha before, which I’d wisely ignored, but it was apparently no secret.

*Daddy Alpha has changed his name*

Alpha Hunter: Stop messaging me during work hours unless the omega is in trouble.

Golden Boy: Uh, Emme is in this group chat, asshole. Try not to fuck it up for us.

*Grouchy Bear has left the conversation*

*Slade has left the conversation*

Ouch. Well, it’d be easier without them in here by the sounds of it.

Daddy Alpha: Emmeline, is everything to your liking at the pack house?

Daddy Alpha: What the hell, Kellan? How did you change my name again?

Golden Boy: A magician never reveals his secrets.

*Grouchy Bear was added to the chat*

It hadn’t escaped my notice that not even Kellan fucked with Slade, which had me itching to add him back to the chat myself. I mean, yes, he was legitimately terrifying, but I refused to let anyone scare me that much .

Grouchy Bear: Spiders.

*Grouchy Bear has left the chat*

Golden Boy: Fin might be out for a while. For my safety’s sake.

Daddy Alpha: Emmeline. You haven’t answered me.

Golden Boy: She probably doesn’t even have the phone on her. Give her a minute.

The time symbol indicated that Hunter had waited exactly one minute before he’d messaged again.

Daddy Alpha: Get your ass home right after practice, Kellan. Check on our omega.

Golden Boy: Yes, sir, alpha sir. Not like we don’t all know you’re stalking her via the security cameras anyway. She’s fine.

*Daddy Alpha has changed Golden Boy’s name*

That was the last message in the thread, and I glanced up in search of a camera, but couldn’t find one in the bedroom. Apparently other rooms in the house weren’t so safe.

Hitting the message thread, I started to type, grinning when my input name popped up.

Pretty Girl: Thanks for your concern, Alpha Hunter, but I’m perfectly fine. Your house is ridiculous, and I appreciate the mini vacation at Reeves resort. P.S your housekeeper is a freakin’ gem. I’m stealing her. P.P.S Stop watching me via the security cameras. It’s creepy.

It took a few tries, but I changed my name to Emme, mostly to fuck around with Kellan.

While I was doing that, three dots appeared as someone typed.

Daddy Alpha: Answer your phone when I message, and I won’t have to watch.

This bossy asshole…

Emme: Should I bark when you call too? Would you like me to get a custom leash with your name on it, so everyone knows who I belong to?

Annoying Pup: LOLOLOLOLLLOOLOLLOL. *skull emoji* *drool face emoji* Pretty girl, now you’re just giving him ideas.

Annoying Pup: Awww, Daddy Alpha, that name change is mean.

*Daddy Alpha has changed his name*

*Annoying Pup has changed his name*

Alpha Hunter: I’ll be home in two hours for dinner. I’ll have the leash ready for you.

I swear my body flushed in twenty different shades of red, and I regretted my need to act nonchalant in the group chat. I’d made it so much worse for myself.

*Emme has left the group chat*

I dropped the phone on the bed and forced myself to breathe in and out, in and out , until eventually my pulse steadied and my lungs stopped heaving. These alphas were too much, and dealing with more than one at once had me so far out of my league it wasn’t funny. If all four ended up in the same room as me, I’d probably have a cardiac episode and die.

At least Hunter wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours, so I decided to take a quick nap, and see if I could find the strength to erect that damn shield around my emotions once more. I had to harden my heart before one of them tore it from my chest.

Bringing Mom’s face to mind didn’t work quite as well as before, but it was enough to halt me from leaving my room to find Kellan and start up a conversation.

I wanted to learn about him. About all of them.

How old were they? Where did they grow up? What was their favorite color? Did they have demons just like me?

The problem with indulging in these curiosities, though, was it allowed me to truly know the alphas. What if they were actually good guys?

The odds were that good guys or not, if we bonded and shared power, it would corrupt their beasts until everything decent bled away. Though, I only had my mom’s pack to base this off, and they’d never been good guys. Not even before they bonded her into their quintet.

Was there another omega in our world with a different experience bonding into a pack of alphas? If so, how the hell did I find her? I still needed to speak with Chelsea, but her experience in a mixed dominance pack wouldn’t be the same.

My reading skills were too poor for me to comprehend any books on the subject—not only did I receive minimal schooling, but letters jumbled on the page, making it near impossible to both read and comprehend complicated texts.

If I trusted the alphas, I’d ask them for help, but it was too great a risk. I’d have to reveal what happened to my mother, which would also reveal the energy exchange possible between an omega and a pack of alphas. Maybe they were already aware, but if not, I sure as shit wouldn’t be the one to tell them.

Maybe Chelsea… or Cora knew of other omegas across the cities.

Cora, I trusted as much as I’d ever trusted anybody, despite my doubts over Warrick allowing Hunter Reeves to stalk me. Not that I fully blamed him—I was their scent match, and according to Pack City Law, I belonged to my mates. We might have evolved over the years, but at heart, shifters were still ruled by our beast and instincts.

Unable to nap around all my chaotic thoughts, I picked up the phone and scrolled through the numbers already listed. To my surprise, Cora was there with BFF in brackets next to her name. Awww . Kellan made me hope for impossible things.

When I pressed her number, it rang twice before she picked up. “Annandale Interiors, Cora speaking.”

Just hearing her gentle tone lifted my spirits. “Cora, it’s Emme.”

Her professionalism faded as her voice grew more excited. “Emme, I was just thinking about you. How’s your first day in Reeves Pack house going?”

“It’s been great actually. They left me alone and I swam and ate all their delicious food. Basically, a free vacation.”

Cora laughed delicately. “Next girl’s night has to be there. I’ve been dying to see inside their space. No one gets in unless they’re family, or friends of the family, and we’ve never made the cut.”

“Well, you have now.” I dropped back on my bed and pressed the phone harder to my ear.

“I assume you called for a reason?” Cora sounded like she was wandering through her house, as I picked up other voices. “Is everything okay?”

“Totally fine,” I rushed to reassure her. “I was just wondering if you’ve ever heard of an omega being bonded into a full pack of alphas before. In Golden Claw, or any of the other pack cities?”

There was a brief pause. “You know… I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that specific scenario before. I mean, a quintet with four alphas is almost unheard of by itself, but add in an omega and you’ve got one rare goddess-blessed combination.”

My sigh escaped as she confirmed what I suspected. “That’s what I figured, but I wanted to ask anyway.”

“I’ll do some research,” she added quickly. “If this quintet is out there, or has been out there in the past, I’ll find out about it.”

I almost told her about Mom but decided at the last minute not to mention it. She shouldn’t find out on her own; in the pack world we never existed. And Mom’s story would be no help anyway—I already knew that tragic ending.

“I would appreciate that a lot,” I said, my eyes closing as I attempted to release the tension from my muscles. “Let’s organize that girls’ night soon. I think I’m going to need a little break from all the alpha-ness around here.”

Cora’s laughter was soothing, and I relaxed just a touch. “I’ll see you at the track on Sunday morning. We can plan it then.”

“Perfect.”

When we hung up, I knew there was no way I’d sleep now, so I headed into the bathroom. Filling the clawfoot tub was therapeutic on its own, as I sniffed the different oils and salts. Everything was fairly neutral, so I just tossed a handful of each one in, pinned my hair up to keep it off my neck, and sank into the warm water.

Bliss . Absolute bliss engulfed me as I bathed in temperatures just shy of a hell pit. I mean, was it even a bath if you weren’t bright red and half-baked?

As the water cooled, I finally drifted off into the nap I’d wanted, waking wrinkled and disoriented, with just enough time to get dressed and race down the stairs for dinner.

To my relief, when I reached the kitchen, Kellan was the only alpha there, chatting with Florence and a male shifter I hadn’t met before. The golden shifter turned as I entered the room, the blue of his eyes darkening as he took in the damp tendrils of my hair curling around my face.

He looked amazing, having changed into a fitted, dark blue Henley that was an almost perfect match for his eyes. Gorgeous. This alpha was distractingly gorgeous.

“Hey there, Shortcake,” he said, and I blinked at him, not hating his choice for once but needing to point out the facts.

“Shortcake? I’m five feet eleven, I’ll have you know.”

A broader smile appeared, and I forced myself to look away. It was that or step into him, which was dangerous. “You’re short in this house, Emme, but I actually chose that one from Strawberry Shortcake . As a tribute to all your glorious hair and those adorable as fuck freckles.”

He tapped me gently on the nose, and my breath caught as his thumb scraped along my right cheek, leaving a tingling path of heat in its wake.

“Why not Strawberry?” I huffed out, my brain unable to come up with anything better through the haze he’d created.

Another stroke of his thumb and I was relieved when he removed his hand before I irrevocably fucked up my life. “Wouldn’t want to be predictable, pretty girl.”

Just kill me now. Take my damned life and throw me into the trash because Kellan had shattered every protective barrier around my emotions in less than twenty-four hours. He’d worn me down so quickly that I wondered if he was an actual magician.

“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes.”

I jumped at the reminder that we weren’t alone.

Kellan placed a hand on my back and nudged me forward. “Gerald, meet the fifth of our quintet: Emmeline. She’s part of Reeves Pack and will be joining us for meals from now on.” He tilted his warm smile toward me. “Emme, if you have any allergies, or specific requests for food, you can go through Gerry here. Or Florence.”

The housekeeper nodded enthusiastically, and I couldn’t help but shoot her a genuine smile. I had thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with her today, and hoped she felt the same way about me.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” I said to Gerald, who was a short, plump shifter giving delta wolf vibes. “I have no allergies, and I’m not super fussy as long as the meal is eighty percent meat.”

Kellan’s hand on my back flexed, his fingers brushing along a sliver of bare skin between my jeans and shirt.

“Easily done.” Gerald let out a huff, looking relieved. “Alpha Slade would end my family line if I didn’t serve a majority of meat in the dishes.”

“Well, scary shifter and I have that in common,” I replied, my smile a touch more forced at the mention of Slade.

Kellan threw back his head and laughed, his hand sliding higher on my bare skin, and I needed to move out of his hold before I begged him to strip my shirt off completely.

If only I could find the strength to step away.

“You nailed his nickname,” he said, “and I might even be brave enough to use it in the group chat.”

“Please don’t,” I choked out with a grimace. “I like you too much to watch you get torn to pieces.”

Kellan released me to flex his impressive biceps, the striations visible even though his long sleeves. “I’d hold out for longer than you think,” he said, with all the stupid confidence of an alpha. “Don’t you worry about me, Shortcake. I wouldn’t let you down.”

Of that I had no doubts. “So, where do we eat?” My voice was breathless, but I felt too flustered to care. “I really can’t see Hunter perching at the kitchen counter like we did this morning.”

Gerald cracked a smile while Kellan nodded. “You’re correct. We eat in the dining room of course. We’re not savage beasts .” He mimicked Hunter’s gruff tones for the last four words.

We ended up in an adjoining dining room, and I was relieved to see the table—which could easily seat ten alphas—was only set with three places.

Looked like I’d get a reprieve from Finley the Grouchy Bear and Slade the Scary Shifter tonight.

Thank the goddess.