Chapter 14

TALIUS

Xeres was a mysterious creature. He wore a dark robe with a heavy cowl over his head that kept his face in shadow. Though I”d never met him before, I”d caught glimpses of him when I”d visited the pack not long after Darius took over as Alpha. He always had that damn hood down. I’d never seen him without it, so I really had no idea what he looked like.

Mages were strange individuals; they kept to themselves, and though a few shifter packs had one associated with them, it was never quite clear who benefited the most from the association. It seemed to me the mages got protection from the mortal and physical world while they fiddled about with their private magical endeavors, but I’d yet to see what benefit there was for the pack.

Nevertheless, I was sufficiently desperate to try anything, so here I was sitting in the rather dark, squashed room that was Xeres’ study.

The walls were lined floor to ceiling with books, old books to judge from their faded covers and the spines labeled with strange scripts. A few of the tomes closer to hand looked newer – the covers were brighter and the titles in a familiar language, even if the words seemed excessively long and pretentious.

A small amount of light curled around the edges of heavy drapes, peeking into the room from a window high up on one wall.

The overall effect was somber.

I”d arrived in Darius” packlands after two days of travel and Darius had greeted me warmly. We spent a pleasant evening catching up over dinner and I”d slept the night in a guest room in the main lodge. The next morning he”d introduced me to the mage, who had simply nodded under his hood, and then Darius had left me alone with him. The mage had yet to speak a word to me.

“I believe Darius explained my situation to you?” I broke the awkward silence that followed Darius’ departure. The hooded figure gave a small inclination of his head but remained silent.

“I need to find a way to break the old mate bond, so I can replace it with a new one.”

Silence stretched from corner to corner of the dimly lit room. A few dust motes drifted past, caught in the hazy beam of light sneaking around the curtains.

I waited, my heart thudding in my chest. Tension gripped my muscles, though I tried to maintain a relaxed posture, outwardly calm. If this reticent mage couldn’t help me, then I had run out of options. How many centuries had they been practicing their craft? Sometimes these mages were so ancient that they lost their connection with the real world, the world of humans and shifters. Perhaps they wouldn’t care about my problem…

“I can’t help you break a mate bond,” the words hit me like a hammer. It was so unexpected, like a slap across the face – Darius had assured me his mage would help. My heart sank and I felt my stomach clench. I felt sick.

There was nowhere else to go.

“Tell me about this omega,” said the mage, startling me from the dark recesses my mind sought to go. It was only then that I noticed how youthful he sounded. This was no crusty old mage. If his voice was anything to go by, he was probably not much older than my own two omegas.

I couldn”t help the smile that softened my lips as I thought about my sweet Isca.

“He’s gentle and sweet, quite shy although he’s starting to come out of his shell. He was badly mistreated by his first mate, so his life hasn’t been easy, but he’s learning to trust me. And he’s young, only 24. He has a chance at a good life.”

“I see.” A pause. “What made you think you could break the mate bond?”

Was there judgement in that question? It was impossible to tell.

“I hoped that we could… because he had no choice about that mating in the first place - he didn”t want to be mated, and he didn’t return the bite… Since the mating was incomplete, I thought maybe it would be possible. His old mate is a sadist, he shouldn”t have to be tied to him forever.”

“Mmm. Does he want this bond to be broken?”

“He does.”

“Or is it that you want the bond to be broken?”

“Well, that’s also true. I want it broken. As does my other mate.”

The covered head lifted and I caught a glimpse of the face beneath the hood – a youthful chin, clean-shaven, a small sharp nose, dark eyes, a curl of dark hair.

“You already have a mate,” he stated, flatly. “Why do you want another? What of your first mate?”

“He wants this too. We’re… a triad. But Isca can’t share the bond with us while he’s mated to another, and I need it to keep him safe.”

”A wolf-shifter triad. That”s... unusual.”

There was a soft amused snort from beneath the hood. I thought I caught a twinkle in his eyes, though there was surely not enough light in the room for that.

“Your mate is Irian, is he not?” he almost chuckled.

“He is.”

The soft almost-chuckle repeated itself. “Of course, he would be the one causing waves.”

“You- you know him?” I asked, surprised.

The mage sighed. The hood flipped back off his head, and he shook out a mass of curls as if glad to set them free. Oh my Goddess, he really was young.Would he even have the skills to do what we needed?

Oblivious to my doubts, the young mage leaned forward, pale arms resting on the table.

“Yes, I know him. We kind of grew up together. Not pack. But his mother was on the Council as was mine, so we ended up spending a lot of time together.”

He gave me a shrewd, appraising look. It seemed out-of-place on one so young. Perhaps he was an old soul.

“So you’re the Alpha he was so enamored with,” he mused, drumming his fingernails on the wooden desk. “Tell me… who found this other omega you have in your triad? Yourself or Irian?”

“Uh, well, Irian made friends with him first,” I admitted.

“Of course he did,” it was said with a sigh of fondness, like a mental shaking of the head.

Silence fell between us, interrupted only by the rhythmic drumming of fingernails on wood.

A faraway look brushed across the young mage’s face, his eyes blank.

He blinked and brought his focus back to me.

“I can’t break the mate bond,” he repeated, “but I can help you forge another.”

******

“He’ll have to submit to you… completely and permanently. So the question is, does he have the personality to do that? And would he be willing?”

I got stuck on the first statement. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this.

It was different with Irian and I, there was never any ‘having to’ anything. Although I was his Alpha, and he my Omega, he wasn’t afraid to argue with me if he thought I was wrong, or if he had a point to make. But always, if I refused to budge, he would submit to me with a grace and good-nature that was astounding. And he acquiesced in the best possible way. I never used my alpha compulsion with him, he just... submitted, and by the Goddess it was so damn sexy that I always wanted to take him to bed straight after. Given Irian’s enthusiasm for sex, maybe that was part of the reason he submitted so freely.

But he always had that choice. He knew if he truly objected, I would not force the issue. It sounded like Isca would not have the choice.

“I… I don’t know about that. That’s not how I operate. Irian stands up to me on the regular,” I told him.

“Maybe that works for Irian and you. But this is a different relationship. I ask you again – does he have the personality to do this?”

“But it’s unfair,” I protested, again not answering the question, “for Irian to have freedoms that Isca doesn’t. The whole point of this is so they’re equal in the relationship.”

Xeres gave me a look that suggested this was taking a great deal more of his patience than it needed to.

“He’ll still be an equal partner. Just because you’re in a triad doesn’t mean the relationship between each of you has to function the same. It depends on the personalities and needs of both parties. Even if they’re very similar in many respects – and from what you’ve told me, they are – there will still be differences between them… otherwise they’d just be clones of each other. This omega will have different needs from your relationship than Irian does.”

“Oh.” I thought about that for a few minutes. It made sense. Although Isca was gaining in confidence every day, he was much quieter than Irian and he was very submissive. He may well have been naturally submissive. And he often seemed unsure of himself. Maybe he would be happier in a completely submissive role.

“I’d have to ask Isca how he’d feel about it,” I decided. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable forcing something like that on him.”

For the first time since we’d sat down, Xeres’ mouth twisted into a half-smile. His eyes glinted, whether with amusement or just good nature I couldn’t say. He was an enigma, this mage, and yet somehow I felt I could trust him.

“Of course. I wouldn’t expect you would do otherwise.” Then he surprised me by winking, and adding, “Irian told me a lot about you.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

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