14. Cherry
Cherry
Omega? I’ve heard that word before, in one of the stories Gage read to us. I try to remember what I heard about them and realize everyone has turned to look at me. Sitting up, I shrink into the back of the couch from the weight of their intense gazes.
“She can’t be,” Hunter says slowly, his brows pinched in confusion. “She’s a wolf shifter.”
“She can be both,” Gage says, calmer now as he continues to stare at me.
“But…” Chase starts before frowning and turning to look at Gage. “But don’t omegas have mind control power?”
“That’s right,” Hunter nods as if remembering. “They can control a small group of supernaturals. Their control signified by a burst of…. light.” He turns to me, his eyes widening. “There was a burst of light when we confirmed our bonds with her,” he says in shock.
Chase glares at Gage as he asks, “Are you trying to tell us Cherry has been controlling us all this time?”
I feel my heartbeat speed up in worry. I definitely don’t think I have any sort of mind control powers. But how could I argue it?
“Hold on,” Maddox says, holding out his palms toward Gage and Chase.
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves here. First of all, I refuse to believe Cherry has been controlling us.
” He gives me a smile and lowers his hand to run along my back.
“Second of all, besides the burst of light, do you have any other proof to support your claim?” he asks, his question aimed at Gage.
Gage nods, almost excitedly, as he flips back a few pages in his book and sticks his finger in. “The information we’ve been taught on the history of supernaturals is very different from this book. And based on the age of the text, and the information it’s providing, I’m inclined to believe it.”
“What does it say?” Chase asks impatiently.
Gage nods as he focuses on the book. “Listen to this: The Moon Goddess, Alaya, in her heartbroken rage, ripped a tear open between realms, turning her former lover, Magnus, into the first wolf shifter and accidentally allowing the energy from her realm into the human one, giving humans unique powers and abilities and creating the first supernatural beings.
“It was believed by many that omegas were created by humans, to help control the supernaturals with their mind control powers. When, in fact, they were created by the Goddess of Love, Talia, in an attempt to fix what Alaya had done.
“After seeing the way Magnus, now an alpha wolf shifter, protected his love, the much weaker Rosemary, Talia knew that what these new beings needed was a reason. A reason to exist. So she gave all supernaturals one of three designations to help calm the mass hysteria and killings: alphas, betas, or omegas.”
Gage flips the page and glances up to make sure we’re all following before he continues reading as I try to absorb that information. I’m not a beta.
“She created alphas from the most dominant, strong, and fierce supernaturals, while omegas were created in Rosemary’s image, weak, sweet, docile, and with muted senses, along with the gift of having multiple fated mates to give them a better chance at survival.
She believed that the stronger supernaturals, seeing their weaker, fated mate in trouble, would stop the fighting and tend to their mate instead.
Beta designations were assigned to everyone else.
They were the ones caught in the middle of the war, not fighting back and just trying to survive.
“Talia’s plan worked better than she expected. When an alpha met their fated mate, they no longer took out their rage on the humans. Instead, their focus shifted entirely to protecting their omega, choosing to seek out a sheltered life away from humans where they would be safe.
“Sometimes, if an omega met all their fated mates within a few minutes, it was signified with a jolt of light and a flash of power.
This, along with the seemingly abrupt change in the alpha's focus from killing to protecting, was misconstrued as mind control. It drove everyone with an omega mate into hiding from both the supernatural and human communities.”
Gage sets the book down and lifts his head, his eyes meeting mine. “It all fits perfectly. The bolt of light, the muted senses, multiple mates.”
“How did the entire supernatural world just forget there was a third designation?” Hunter asks in disbelief. “I mean, it seems obvious now that it’s a designation, not an entirely different species.” I have to agree with his skepticism. It seems so unlikely.
“Yeah, I feel stupid for never questioning it,” Gage says with a small frown.
“All three are letters of the Greek alphabet. I thought it was just a coincidence.” He glances at Hunter as he continues.
“But I don’t think people forgot. It’s more like they never knew.
Only the ones who had met their omega mate would know.
That’s why we’ve never heard this version before. ”
“But what does this all mean?” Chase asks as he looks between us.
“It means we have to protect her,” Maddox says, his hand still on my back. “There will be many people out there who still think omegas have mind control. For all we know, people in this town think that too.”
“Do you think Erica, the witch, is an omega?” Hunter asks.
“It’s possible,” Gage says with a nod. “Not sure how we would know either way.”
“Do you think that’s why Cherry was taken?” Bain asks. When I look at him, I find him staring at me, a worried look on his face. “Did they somehow know she was omega, and that’s why they targeted her?”
Was I targeted? I still have no idea why they took me instead of my family. That question has plagued me for years. I don’t realize I’m whining until Maddox cups my face. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Shh. We’ve got you. You know we aren’t going to let them get to you again.”
I cut off my whine as I drag in his scent, letting it flow through me and calm me down.
“I think it's time for bed,” he says before placing a kiss on the tip of my nose.
Everyone except Gage heads down the hall to my bedroom, and although I would love to shift, to be held in my human form in their strong arms, the revelation that I'm an omega has me unsure what I would say to them right now, and I welcome the chance to stew in my thoughts.
I'm not even really sure what it means, except for the fact that I'm weaker than the average female wolf shifter, not that I hadn't already felt that way.
But it also seems that I was literally created for them to take care of me, and being a burden like that doesn't sit well.
I want to add to their lives, not take away from them.
I worry that they'll now see me as an obligation to take care of instead of just being their fated mate.
This definitely complicates things. I just hope that we can work through it all.
As the four of them settle around me in my bed while I'm stuck in my wolf form, their strong hands all find a way to touch me, and I cling to that shred of hope that we can work through anything. As long as we have each other.