An Alpha's Commitment : an MMM Wolf-Shifter Romance (Leongatha Pack Tales, Book 2)

Chapter 13

TALIUS

“It did what it needed to do, but it’s not enough.”

I growled low in my throat, remembering the moment Isca had reverted to being that frightened omega running from his mate in the forest. As wolves, our brains worked on instinct and past memories were powerful drivers. I should perhaps have realized the run might trigger flashbacks – it was the first one he’d been on since the night he’d run from his sadistic alpha – and there was definitely an element of pursuit in a pack run. I was just glad I”d been nearby when I saw the onset of the panic attack and had reached Isca before he”d disappeared in the forest. With Irian on one side of him and me on the other, we”d been able to bring him back to himself.

So, we’d done our best to make the run safe for him, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to be properly claimed and mated to me. That was the only way he would feel truly secure.

“What can we do?” asked Isca. It was the day after the run, and he was remarkably calm after the events of the previous night. Maybe it was the wolf sex or the fucking we’d done as humans once we’d arrived back in our room afterwards, or maybe it was the relief that nothing bad had actually happened and that we had been there when he needed us.

“I received a message from the Council this morning – or rather, from my friend on the Council, so it’s unofficial,” I told the omegas. They were both sitting cross-legged on our bed, and two pairs of soft brown eyes watched me intently. Irian’s eyes were bright and wide with hope, Isca’s were more subdued, narrowed, interested but wary. A small frown creased his forehead.

“It wasn’t good news,” I sighed. “He hasn’t been able to find any documented case of a successful breaking of the mate bond, other than one case where the alpha renounced the mating and the bond was broken without harm to either party. But that’s not particularly helpful as I can’t see Zarbius – if we could even locate him – agreeing to that.”

“I don’t want to see him ever again,” Isca said quietly.

I laid my hand gently over his. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to.”

“I don’t suppose an omega could renounce the mating, could they?” Irian said, eyes flashing, his tone decidedly snarky.

I was sorely tempted to roll my eyes. It wasn’t a very mature thing to do, but Irian was predictably feisty when it came to omega rights. I agreed with him, but there were other ways to make changes. He was cute though, when he got snarky.

“So there’s nothing we can do then?” Isca’s voice was small and resigned. I hated seeing my omega just give up like this. Goddess knew he had a right to, he”d been put through the wringer in his short life, but he had Irian and myself now and we were going to fight for him.

“I’m not done trying yet, Isca. There might be other ways we can do this.”

“Such as?” piped in Irian.

“Well… I”ve thought about this. I wonder if a mage might be able to help us.”

“A mage? You mean, magic away the bond?” Irian sounded doubtful. And I had to admit, now that I’d voiced it out loud, it did sound absurd. Still, I wasn’t going to back down until I’d tried every option.

“I don’t know if that’s exactly what I’d call it, but there might be something a mage could do.”

“Where would we find one? A mage is.... they’re not very common, are they?” Isca was macerating his lower lip. I was fairly sure he was scared to let himself be too optimistic.

“My mother would know,” Irian jumped in. “She’s on the Council, so she’d have access to one for sure.”

I groaned. “Not your mother. I really don’t trust her. She loathes me.”

“She’s just annoyed because you’re so much more handsome than the guy she wanted me to mate with. She didn’t like that I could organize better for myself than she could.” Irian preened.

I huffed. ”You organized me, did you?”

He had the decency to shrug. Then spoilt it by adding, ”Of course.”

“Well, I”m flattered, but I suspect it has more to do with her wanting to achieve a good political connection with the mating. Luckily Marius was just as interested in going along with her plan as you were.”

A somber look clouded Irian’s normally cheerful face. His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned as he pursed them together. I knew he was probably remembering the terrifying moment when he’d realized Marius could have forcibly mated him and no-one would have faulted him for it. It would have been a politically favorable match for both families. Fortunately, Marius wanted another omega he had fallen in love with more than he wanted to play politics, and he’d helped Irian escape from where he’d been locked up. The experience had left scars though, emotional scars, and Irian hadn’t spoken to his mother for a very long time after that.

“That’s all in the past,” I reminded him gently, and he rewarded me with a half-hearted smile. He was a strong-willed omega and the impotence he had felt that day had been devastating. I knew this because we’d talked about it a few times over the years. We were also in love by then too, and it had crushed him to think he might lose me forever.

The truth was, he wouldn’t have lost me. I would have killed Marius if he’d taken my future mate from me, and I would then have claimed Irian as mine. There was no doubt in my mind that I would have been successful – I was one of the better fighters of my birth pack, and I knew full well I would have obliterated the other alpha. Anything that was his would have become mine, according to pack law. Fortunately, it hadn’t come to that.

“Anyway, not your mother. One of my old packmates used to have a mage in his pack. And he”s Pack Alpha now. I”ll find out if he”s still with them, and if he is, see if Darius will ask his mage to help us.”

“Ooh, Darius? We haven”t seen him in ages!” Irian exclaimed, eyes lighting up.

“He”s had his hands full since becoming Pack Alpha. There were some problems within the pack which took some sorting out. I still talk to him on the phone from time to time, though.”

“He wasn”t Pack Alpha when I last saw him,” observed Irian. “What happened to Marius? Wasn”t he supposed to take over the pack?”

“Yes, he did. Darius joined another pack.”

“A new pack? I bet there”s a story there...” Irian looked at me expectantly.

I shook my head. “Not my story to tell,” I told him.

Isca”s head was ping-ponging between Irian and I as we talked. Finally he blurted out, “But do you think he”ll help us?”

“I”m sure Darius will if he can. We used to be very close. It”s probably more about whether his mage can or will even agree to.”

Mages were fickle things. I hadn”t had many dealings with them myself, but I”d heard from people who had.

◆◆◆

A couple of hours later I was on the phone to my old packmate Darius. We’d grown up together. He’d been there when I first met Irian as an underage wolf holidaying with his family asguests of our pack leader. And he’d been the first of my friends to be welcoming and accepting of him, even though Irian was several years younger than the rest of us. At 17 and 18 years old, three years had seemed like a big age difference to most of my peers. It didn’t now.

“Hey, Darius! How’s things?” I greeted my old friend when he answered the phone.

“Talius! It’s been a while,” Darius recognized my number so he must have had me in his contacts.

“Yeah, I could say the same to you.”

“True. But you know what it”s like, right? Packs don”t just run themselves. Especially mine with the mess I inherited.” Darius” sigh was a little weary, a little wistful.

“From what you”ve told me, I think I”ve got it easy with mine.”

“Yeah, well, you started from scratch. I inherited problems. Still working through them. Anyway, that”s old news. How”s Irian?”

“Irian?... well, Irian”s Irian. He hasn”t changed. Cheeky as ever. Keeps me on my toes.”

A deep chuckle rumbled through the phone.

“I can believe that.”

“How about you, have you heard anything...?” my voice trailed off, he knew what I meant. We”d talked about this the last time we spoke several months ago.

The pain in the sigh was palpable over the phone. “...my mate? No, nothing. I”m starting to think... I”m starting to think I never will.” Another despondent sigh.

“Don”t give up.”

“I won”t.”

For a moment, we sat with silence at each end of the phone, both wrapped in our respective thoughts.

Darius cleared his throat and spoke with an attempt at an upbeat tone.

“So, tell me, what”s going on? I assume there”s a reason you”re calling me right now. Not just to shoot the breeze?”

“Yes, you”re right. I have something that needs the help of a mage and I know your pack has one, so…”

“And so you remembered your old friend, Darius.” He sounded curious rather than put out. “What do you need a mage for?”

“Before I tell you, I need your word this won’t go any further than us, okay? My omega’s life may depend on it,” I told him, somberly.

Darius’ voice was laced with concern. “Of course, but... Irian? What’s happened to him? You just said he was fine!”

“Um. Don’t get this wrong. I’m still with Irian, but this is not about him. I have two omegas now.”

A long silence ensued. I waited, letting him process what I”d just said.

“Two omegas. You”re not just talking about your pack omegas though, are you? Are you saying…?”

I cut him off. “A second mate. And yes, Irian is perfectly fine with this. In fact, he was the one that brought it up first. Iscais a friend of his. We’re a triad now.”

A hearty laugh echoed out of the phone. Darius sounded amused. “Irian always was a handful. How did this end up happening?”

“It’s a long story,” I told him, “but the short version is Irian made a friend. It turned out this friend was being abused by his mate. His mate came close to killing him and then abandoned him. The fucker left him to die in the forest! I found him and brought him home. It was touch and go for a few days whether he would survive.” I shook my head, remembering, though of course Darius couldn’t see. “But he did and he joined us as our third.”

“Hang on a minute! You’re saying you’re involved with a mated omega? Someone else’s mate?” The incredulity in his voice was clear.

“Yes. And that’s why I need your mage. Isca wants to break his bond with his alpha. I won’t tell you the things that he did to Isca, but I can promise you, it was unthinkable. Even if he hadn”t left him to die. And it wasn”t as if Isca wanted to mate with him in the first place, but, well, as you know, sometimes alphas don’t respect the choices of omegas.” I paused in my diatribe. “So... will you help us?”

There was a long silence.

“I’m not sure it’s even possible,” Darius said, finally. “I’ve never heard of it being done. Have you spoken to the Council about it?”

“I have a friend on the Council who looked into it for me on the down low, but he couldn’t find anything to suggest it had ever been done or that it could be done. He couldn’t look any further than that without risking word getting out.”

“And that’s a problem, specifically, why? Apart from the fact this guy is someone else’s mate?”

“At the moment, Zarbius – that’s Isca’s old mate – doesn’t know he’s alive. But as soon as we start asking questions publicly, word might get around, and it wouldn’t take too much for him to figure out his mate is still alive. I’m 100% certain he’d come back and either kill him or take him back just to torture him. The guy is an out and out sadist. I can’t let that happen. Isca is the sweetest, gentlest omega you could ever wish for. I don’t know how he survived his life in that pack.”

Once again, there was silence. Then Darius said, “How about you pay us a visit? I’ll explain the situation to Xeres, our mage. If it’s at all possible, he’ll find a way to do it. He’s an exceptional mage. I don’t know how we managed to get him to stay with us, but he has.”

“Is he… discreet?”

“Yeah. You won”t have to worry about that. He keeps to himself, doesn’t say much to anyone. I half suspect he’s hiding a ton of secrets himself, but he’s never let me into his confidence. You know how mages are.”

“Sure. And thanks. But please emphasize how important it is that no-one hears of this,” I pleaded. I hated that more people than just Irian, Isca and myself had to know about it, but there was no choice.

“Of course,” soothed Darius. “And anyway, I don”t think I”d want it to get out that my pack was helping break mate bonds. I”ve got enough problems without that one. Now, I assume it’s urgent. When can we expect you?”

We spent the next few minutes making arrangements and then ended the call. Later this week I would be spending a few days visiting with Darius’ pack. Hopefully, his mage would be accommodating.

You never knew with mages, they often seemed to have their own agendas.