Fated to the Warrior Wolf (The Hunted Omegas #3)

5. Leigh

FIVE

Leigh

I was trying not to freak the fuck out, but it wasn’t working, so I talked. That’s what I did when things went wrong. I talked too much, until the bad things went away or everybody forgot why they were mad.

It worked when I was a kid, and my mom was too drunk to take care of me. She’d go on a bender every Friday night after she got paid and stagger through the front door well after dark, muttering about how my father was a lowlife werewolf who abandoned her for “some furry bitch,” and I’d pull a blanket over her on the couch and talk until she passed out.

I’d been doing it ever since, and frankly, why change what worked?

So, I rambled a whole lot of nothing at Olivia to cover up my utter panic over the fact that I’d been marked with some freaky glowing mark that had knocked my bestie on her ass. I didn’t want to be a human glow bug, please and thanks.

But as usual, I got a big old fuck-you from the universe, because when did I ever get what I wanted? Absolutely never.

I bit my bottom lip as we strapped into the luxurious leather seats and had to backpedal a bit .

I wanted Petal. She was maybe the first—okay, my besties were the first good thing, I amended. She was only the second truly good thing to ever happen to me.

The jet was ritzy, with soft lighting and plush seats in intimate groups of four, with low tables set into the floor between each pod. There was squidgy carpeting underfoot that I bet would feel great under my bare toes. A chipper flight attendant with one of those little blue neck scarves and a starched white shirt appeared like magic at my elbow, a tray of real crystal stemware in hand and wearing a hat like Mary Poppins’s on her head.

“Good morning. Would anyone like a mimosa for the flight? We’ve also got an assortment of fresh-pressed juices, sodas, and sparkling or still water.”

“Apparently, we’re bougie, now,” I said under my breath, staring across at Bri, who looked as shocked as I felt.

“Water’s fine, thanks,” Kane said with a polished smile.

The rest of us also placed a drink order, and Mary flitted off to procure them. We waited in silence for her to pass them out and retreat to her station behind the cockpit for takeoff. It was only once we’d leveled off in the air and my stomach had done about twelve backflips that Brielle leaned in and waved the others over.

All four of my packmates were out of their seats and huddled around in seconds, eager to hear what she had to say.

“So, I think I had a vision or something? I’m not sure how else to describe it.”

“Like the dream walking from the wine?” Shay asked.

“No, I was still aware. It was almost like a… download? Like a bunch of information poured into my brain all at once. I could still see and hear. It was just overwhelming.”

“Your eyes turned completely white,” Kane said, worry edging his words.

She squeezed his hand and gave him a tight smile. “I’m sure that was scary, but it didn’t hurt, I promise.” She sucked in a fortifying breath, and nerves danced through me.

“Just spit it out, Bri,” I begged, the tension killing me. Now wasn’t the time for deep thought. I just wanted her to tell me what the heck was on my palm.

“Sorry, it’s just surreal. That”—she pointed to my palm, and then Olivia’s—“is the omega seal.”

Olivia’s face blanched white as a sheet, and she fell back against her seat in shock. She didn’t know that Brielle was an omega, so she was probably shitting herself right about now.

Not that I wasn’t. I totally was.

“What the fuck is that?” I blurted, unable to control my motor mouth in times of stress. And you could definitely say I was stressed right now.

Brielle held up a hand for me, giving me a hang on one second look as she turned to Olivia. “Olivia, is there any chance you could be pregnant?”

“What? No,” she said, shaking her head.

“You’re a hundred percent sure?” Brielle asked gently, using her doctor voice.

“I’ve never, umm,” she blushed to the roots of her hair and looked down.

Definitely a virgin.

“Okay, that’s okay. I just wanted to check because the omega seal serves one very specific purpose.” She held my eyes, speaking slowly and clearly, still in that doctor voice that made me think I was dying or something. “It marks the women who will be bringing the next generation of omegas into the world when they’re in the presence of a mated alpha-omega pair.”

For the first time in my life, my brain went completely blank. Nothing but static. Leigh had gone off-line.

A heartbeat, then another, and a million questions burst into my head, all at once and utterly overwhelming. But out of them all, one was the most important, the most dangerous .

“My baby’s going to be an omega?” My hand fell to my stomach, terror ripping through me like a scythe.

Please, Goddess , no .

Brielle’s face was grave as she nodded, and I felt faint.

“That mark is for protection. The mated omega pair takes in any women who have it, so the new omegas can be trained up in their pack and protected until they’re ready to leave to help their own packs as adults.”

“So Brielle, if Kane’s an alpha, does that mean you…” Olivia trailed off, swallowing hard as she stared first at her palm, then at Brielle.

“It does. Does that make you uncomfortable? I’ve never intentionally hurt anyone, and I’m as bound by my Hippocratic oath as any other doctor.”

Olivia pressed both palms to her cheeks, clearly overwhelmed. “I don’t know what to think, but I know you’ve been nothing but kind and helpful to me,” she finally said.

Brielle nodded with understanding. “We can talk about it more if you have questions later. It was a surprise to us as well.”

Olivia nodded and fell silent.

“I’m sorry, I’m going to need you to back up.” Gael’s voice was harsh, disbelieving, as he stared laser beams through my palm, as if he wanted to carve it off my skin with his eyeballs.

But I couldn’t focus on that.

Breathe in, breathe out, Leigh. Just breathe, so you don’t pass out.

“Of course, Gael.” Brielle was in full doctor mode and not the least put off by his surly attitude.

“Does it mean this baby is an omega? We’re now on the run from the ODL for more—” He cut a look at the still-pale Olivia and cleared his throat, changing directions. “We’re now in danger of the ODL hunting our child?”

Brielle bit her lip, shooting an apologetic look at Olivia, who maybe didn’t need this much information dumped on her when she was already in shock .

“Omega mothers only have one child. And that mark means that the baby will be an omega.”

Darkness prickled around the corners of my vision, and I slumped back in my seat as the implications dragged me under.

I was cursed. My Petal would spend her whole life on the run, in danger.

Or she’d be killed as soon as she was born, ripped from my arms, and murdered right in front of me.

It was too much. Too much .

The blackness was a tunnel, getting longer and longer, and the last thing I saw was Gael’s panicked face as he shook my shoulders as all the light winked out.