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

26. Leigh

TWENTY-SIX

Leigh

I lay on my back in bed that night, Nugget batting at my fingertips as I wiggled them around for him to chase. Thinking, processing.

Gael had gone off to check on security or something like that, after kissing my forehead and dropping me at the door after dinner.

A dinner where Bri had had to use her magic to get my stomach to settle enough for me to eat, but she’d looked so exhausted. Guilt gnawed at me over letting her help me. A little vomiting wasn’t uncommon in pregnancy, after all, but a knock at the door interrupted my self-flagellation.

I scooped Nugget into my arms and opened the door to find Shay and Olivia waiting side by side in the hall. To my surprise, Dirge wasn’t hovering behind Shay, her usual silent shadow.

“Hey, can we come in?” Shay asked, already walking in. She knew what the answer was going to be. Olivia waited politely, though, for my nod.

Once they were inside, I shut the door and followed them back into my room.

“So, I’m worried about Bri,” Shay started, helping herself to a bag of chips on my desk and plugging her phone into my travel speaker to turn on some music.

“I asked Olivia, herbalist extraordinaire, if there was anything we could give her to support her energy levels, but there wasn’t any specific plant known to support omegas, at least not that we know about in modern times.”

“Makes sense. Most of the knowledge about omegas was lost after the wars,” I said.

“I hate to think about all that healing knowledge being destroyed, let alone the people who died,” Olivia said, a sad tilt to her eyebrows as she offered Nugget her fingers to sniff. He butted her hand happily, then scent marked her.

“Me too,” Shay agreed. “So I was thinking, maybe there’s something else I can do. Kari.” She paused, regarding Olivia carefully. “Brielle has a family friend who’s a witch. She said that the more power around her, the more she can recharge, like we’re her personal battery pack. But nobody really knows how that works. So, I thought, instead of trying to work on the zap thing, what if I could intentionally… push power to her? Like she pushes her healing powers into you, maybe I could push a little fae energy her way?”

“And you came to test it on me?” I asked, bewildered.

“No, silly. Your eggo is preggo, so you’re not available as a test subject. But all the guys are busy with prepping for the tribunal, and Olivia agreed to let me test on her, but we wanted someone else to be around in case it went sideways.”

“Uh… Okay, then. I guess me and Nuggie will get comfortable and then you can try not to zap her while you do your thing.” I scooched onto the bed—after I stole back my bag of chips—and waited to see what happened.

At first, the answer was a big fat nothing. The two of them joined hands, and after a moment, Shay closed her eyes to concentrate.

Nugget was snoring, curled up against my leg by the time Olivia swayed back on her feet, eyes wide. “Oh my word, Shay, stop!”

I stood quickly, unsure what to do as Olivia tried and failed to snatch her hands free. Shay blinked slowly, as if she were trying to swim up through syrup, not simply open her eyes.

But when she did, they glowed brightly with her wolf as she finally released her grip on Olivia. “Did it work?”

“I don’t know what that was in terms of power. All I know was that it was strong and a little unnerving. I’m sorry I panicked.” She bit her bottom lip, but pointedly did not offer to be Shay’s test dummy a second time.

“What did it feel like?” I asked. “When Bri does her thing, it feels cool and soothing. Like when you’re a kid with a fever and your mom puts a cold rag on your head to cool you off.”

“Nothing like that… It was electric. Hot, a little itchy and crackly, like it was trying to crawl under my skin. My wolf didn’t like it at all.”

“Sorry,” Shay said with a grimace. “I wasn’t trying to zap you, but maybe that’s just what fae power feels like to a shifter? I can’t feel it.”

“Maybe it won’t be like that for Bri, if she needs the recharge,” I offered. “If you’re a battery pack, maybe she will enjoy the charge. Or not feel it. She might overall feel better.”

“I do think I figured out the how . Do you think we should go wake her up, or wait until tomorrow?”

“I’d wait. If she’s depleted, she needs the rest too. And if it feels as weird to her as it did to Oli, she won’t be able to go back to sleep.”

“True,” Shay said with a sigh. “I just hate to feel useless. I want to be doing something, you know?” She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, and an idea struck me.

“Maybe we could all get together and do some exercise in the morning? BD took me to the best place today. It’s quiet, and we’d have it to ourselves, unlike the gym.” I grimaced at the memory of the drama that had started there.

“We have to do something, or we’re going to go stir crazy in this castle,” Oli said. “I’m ready to climb the walls.”

“Good. Well, you guys can give me some feedback, and maybe I can see if any other pack females want to join us. I’m tired of sitting around too. And I could stand to earn some money for Petal, because my bank account is sad o’clock somewhere right now.”

Shay snorted. “You think Gael is going to want you to get a job like you had back in Texas?”

“It’s not up to him, for one, and for two… I still need to be me . I can’t let myself get swallowed up in him. I’ve done that before, and that wasn’t good for me.” I looked down, feeling silly for saying it. Of course a mate bond and a baby changed things—not that I’d shared that, yet—but… I didn’t want it to change who I was deep down.

And I liked my work.

I blew out a breath, trying to decide if I should tell them about the mating signs. I mean, it was so fresh and yes, Reed already knew. Apparently he was getting all my important news first these days. But it didn’t feel right to tell Shay without Bri. We did these major life things together . And Gael being my fated mate? Well… it was definitely major news.

So, one more day.

I’d tell them tomorrow, when we were all together.

“Take in a deep breath and reset. I know this is a challenging pose, but hold on to your intention for the practice this morning.” I said the words calmly, in my best yoga-teacher voice, even as it felt like all the blood was rushing to my head.

Other than the occasional grunt or a squeaky yoga mat, it was quiet in the atrium. Somehow in the morning, I could smell the greenery surrounding us. It was like even the air in here was green. When enough time had passed for a few good breaths, I shifted poses.

“Okay, slowly work your way up to standing, stretching your arms high overhead. Feel the stretch all the way through your rib cage, letting yourself expand with energy and light, and exhaling any negativity.” My fingertips were tingling. “And, don’t forget to stretch your fingers too,” I added, trying to wiggle the strange feeling out. But it wouldn’t go away.

“Let’s step forward into warrior…” I froze when I landed in the lunge, a wave of dizziness hitting me out of nowhere.

“Warrior what?” Shay asked, her voice strained as she tried to balance, her arms flapping wildly at her sides. When she finally looked up, she jumped back out of the pose. “Leigh, what’s wrong?”

“I’m fine, I think?”

Bri was at my side in an instant, fingertips on my wrist, checking my pulse. “I need you to sit down, please. Right on your mat. But hang on to us and take it slow.”

“Is her pulse steady? We can have her elevate her legs,” Olivia offered as she stepped behind me and steadied my shoulders as I lowered carefully to the ground.

“It’s a little fast, but not crazy for her activity level,” Brielle said, doctor voice clicking into place.

“Guys, I am fine . I got a little dizzy, NBD.”

“What is NBD?” Olivia asked.

“No big deal,” Shay translated. “But dizzy and yoga don’t exactly go together, Leigh, now, do they?” She pinned me with a look as I got comfortable on my mat.

“I really…” My vision went blurry, and panic sent my heart racing faster. “Guys, something is wrong, I can’t—you’re all blurry?” The black pinpricks at the edges of my vision were mo re worrisome, but I suddenly found that I didn’t have the words.

“Someth…”

“Lay her down!” Brielle snapped, both palms going flat on my cheeks, her cooling energy flooding my system, but I didn’t hear the rest of her words.

The edges of the world went fuzzy and dark, and still, my damn fingers wouldn’t stop tingling.