17. Finley
Finley
Hair dry, I left the bathroom and found women's clothes sitting on the bench at the foot of the bed.
I couldn't stop myself from sniffing them to make sure I wasn't going to put on another woman's clothes, but they smelled brand new. My wolf let out a chuff of approval that they were new and hadn’t touched another woman’s skin before and relaxed.
I on the other hand was frowning, as I checked the sizes.
They would definitely fit right; even the bra was the right size.
Slipping on the dark-washed jeans and the warm knitted sweater that was soft to the touch in a blue color that almost matched my eyes I felt back to normal.
Not bothering with the socks that were left for me, I padded down the stairs on silent feet, pausing before heading down the second set to the main floor.
"How did she seem when she woke up?" Lane asked, voice full of concern.
The sound of a cup hitting the counter quickly followed. "She's fine, alright. I know you wanted to be all noble about the situation, but it's done. Finley is our mate, and I for one am thanking whatever gods might be listening to end up with a woman like her," Zander snarled.
A growl that I somehow knew was coming from Lane echoed up the stairs. "Don't presume to know what I'm thinking, Zander."
"Your skills of being an assassin might typically serve you well, but don't forget you now have scent to contend with as well," Elias said from directly behind me.
I spun on my heel, lashing out at him with a kick, but he deftly moved out of the way. He apprised me with those haunted hazel eyes for a moment before his lips seemed to fight a smile. "Never thought I'd see the day where an omega would attack another wolf, let alone a beta."
"I guess my training is too strong for my new nature to remove it entirely," I offered, not understanding it myself. My wolf, on the other hand, was now awake and utterly concerned that Elias was going to be upset with her.
"That type of conditioning must have started very young, makes me wonder what other surprises you hold. Come let us set your mates at ease now that they know you're close," Elias suggested, letting his hand gently run across my lower back as he brushed past me.
Catching on to what he said, I paused to listen, noticing that the talking stopped. When I looked down the stairs, there they were, looking up at me questioningly.
"You planning on coming the rest of the way down, or lurking?" Zander inquired, letting me know I hadn't been quite as successful at hiding myself as I thought.
I followed Elias into a kitchen which was just as impressive as the rest of the house.
Everything was modern, sleek, and top of the line, making it very clear that the owner of this house had plenty of money to spend.
The island was covered in plates, bowls full of fresh fruit, and platters of piping hot food, making my mouth water.
Lane came up and rested a hand between my shoulders, guided me over to the plates, and handed me one, indicating that I should help myself.
My wolf shot up from her nap alert and was extremely unsettled at being asked to go first before anyone else had gotten their food.
"I can't go first," I murmured, not wanting to broadcast it because the whole thing made no sense to my human brain. My wolf was adamant about it though, I could not take from others of higher rank.
Thankfully, Lane caught on right away and took the plate from me. "Anything you don't like or can't eat?"
I shook my head and dropped my eyes to my hands, pissed that I couldn’t shake these omega instincts even while in my human body. A hand grasped mine squeezing it gently then seeing the stark color difference and the whiff of a warm chocolate scent told me it was Noah.
"Come on. Let's get you a spot at the table, hmm?" Noah suggested as he led me through the kitchen to the large round table and pulled out a chair. "Are you a coffee drinker?"
"Yes, I certainly am," I answered, smiling up at him.
He brought a mug, the coffee carafe, milk, and sugar over to the table for me to help myself.
Surprisingly, he didn't linger while I doctored up my morning brew.
Without him right next to me, my wolf relaxed enough to do this simple task ourselves knowing it had been given to us.
It seemed knowing that they weren't interested in it gave me the freedom to take what was left for myself without fear of upsetting them.
Forgoing the cream, I scooped way more than an appropriate amount of sugar into my cup.
This was my one and only vice; I loved sugary sweet things but rarely let myself indulge.
With my training and job, I normally needed to be at peak health and performance, but something told me I didn't need to worry about that quite so much.
"Bit of a sweet tooth there, sweetheart," Lane teased as he set a plate down and kissed the top of my head. "Good to know."
The plate was overflowing with food, so much I wasn't sure anyone could eat this amount, but all the others had even more on their plates when they sat down. The alphas dug in first, then the betas, while I watched slack jawed, all of them going to town on their meals.
"Still can't eat?" Mason asked, pausing with half a waffle hanging off his fork.
Much to my own surprise, laughter slipped out when I went to answer him, causing everyone else to pause. "Do you guys have any idea how ridiculous you all look? No one should be able to eat a full waffle in two bites, and I'm pretty sure that is a serving spoon, Zander."
Zander looked down at the spoon in question and shrugged. "I hate cold eggs."
For some reason that struck me as hilarious, and I broke out into a full belly laugh. The guys just looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"Oh god, I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard," I wheezed, wiping at my eyes. "If I didn't know you were wolves, I would have guessed I was around bears storing up for the winter."
Colt cracked a smile and shook his head.
"Can't say that we spend much time with people outside our pack or anyone who isn't used to the amount shifters eat.
If you think this is a lot, then I can't picture what you'd think about actual bear shifters.
They cook a whole pig to eat themselves—never get tricked into an eating contest with them. You'll lose."
"Ha, if you think that’s impressive, you've never seen a whale shifter eat before," Zander countered.
"No one has seen a whale shifter eat! They’re the most reclusive bunch I've ever heard of," Lane shot back, stuffing potatoes into his mouth.
Zander growled at him but stopped after what sounded like someone kicking him under the table. Colt gave Zander a warning look before both of them turned to me as if I was supposed to know what was going on.
"His growl didn't bother you?" Colt asked, perplexed.
"Why would it? I wasn't the one in trouble…” I ventured, even though the reason sounded odd to my own ears.
Colt canted his head as he thought that over. "Interesting, and you lashed out at Elias earlier which no one else would do seeing as the pack all think he’s scary. It seems you are turning into a different kind of omega than I’ve seen before. Must be the assassin in you," Colt chuckled.
"Elias wouldn't hurt me. He's my Sentinel," I answered, knowing in my gut that the term rang true even though I didn’t really know what it meant.
Elias's head snapped to attention, his eyes wide. "What did you call me?"
"Ah… Sentinel?" I answered.
"What about Mason and Noah?" Elias pressed.
I turned to look at them sitting there side by side, eyes locked on me with great interest. "They’re Companions. Wait, no. Noah is a Companion, but Mason is a Hunter... yet also somehow a Companion." Turning back to my mates I frowned in confusion. "What does any of that mean?"
"Finley," Zander said, starting to make me tense by using my name, "what’s your family heritage?"
"I have no clue. From what the Organization told me, I was pulled from an orphanage at the age of five. They put me into training right away, and it's all I've ever known… Why?"
"Do you know which orphanage or if it's still around?" Colt continued, ignoring my question.
My hands fisted in my lap as irritation bubbled up, making my wolf whimper at my distress.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and focused on bringing myself to a calm center before opening them to answer.
"There had been no need for me to learn that information since I had no desire to find out anything about my past. Could one of you please tell me what’s going on? "
"You might not have ever been human," Elias spoke up.
"These terms you used for them are Elvish in origin— Light Elf to be more specific. Sadly, elves haven’t been around for quite some time…
or so we thought," Zander added on. "Being creatures of the forest, shifters typically had a good relationship with them. They were honorable and proud people who kept to themselves, but they always came to our aid if we needed it. There were also the Dark Elves, though they were not so kind or honorable.”
“They were creatures of darkness who slipped into people's dreams, living off fear and nightmares. A hundred years before supernaturals came out, there was a war among our kinds when the Dark Elves tried to take over and cast the world into chaos and darkness. The Light Elves took it upon themselves to destroy them because the Dark Elves were created from Light Elves who’d been tainted by dark magic.
The battle was of epic proportions, and in the end, the Light Elves won at the cost of their own lives.
It was presumed that they were all dead, but it might be that there was a survivor or two. "
"You make this sound like such common knowledge, so why haven't I heard of this before?" I demanded. My nails lengthened into claws, digging into the table as irritation turned into anger.
Colt reached over the table and took my hand in his, steadying me.
"You've seen what the world has done with the information that it currently knows.
Do you blame us for not sharing everything about our past?
The elves gave a great sacrifice to the world, but the only ones who know about it are the supernaturals.
The world knows of elves in theory only.
They were private people, gifted healers who loved their community and the nature around them. "
"Okay, so I used terms that they would, but that doesn't mean I'm an elf," I countered, trying to grasp at anything that meant my whole identity wasn't a lie.
"There aren’t many in the supernatural world who take more than one mate—shifters never do.
It's not how we’re built. We mate to one woman for life, and one woman only.
For three alphas to sit here without trying to kill us or each other is a miracle.
In any normal circumstance, they would’ve torn each other to pieces, which leaves the reasoning that it has to be because of you," Mason explained.
I looked at all of them, feeling even more lost than I had after getting bitten by Cory. My training had only prepared me to handle problems I could fix— this I couldn't fix. "None of this makes sense. I have no magic, pointy ears, or anything at all that’s unusual about me."
"Elves have a lifespan of eight hundred years or more. They don't mature into their full form until they turn thirty… Are you sure you know your age?" Colt questioned.
Wracking my brain, I thought back through my life. The Organization didn't really spend time on acknowledging individual birthdays, so they had everyone age up on New Years. It could very well be that I wasn't thirty like I believed I was.
"There’s a strong possibility that I might not be thirty yet although I know it will happen this year.
I just have no way of determining when my actual birthday might be," I answered.
"Plus, I feel like we might have bigger issues to worry about. Has there ever been an elf that’s gotten turned into a werewolf before? "
The guys all looked to Zander who was absently scratching at his jaw as he thought. "I'll have to do some research, but I wouldn't say that it was a common occurrence. Elves didn't believe in mating outside of their own kind."
I was trained to handle things that get thrown at me, to absorb them and find the best move to make forward.
Doing this was default but it also kept me level headed when I felt like everything around me was shifting sand.
First I become a werewolf, then I find out how rare it is to become an omega.
So far I’ve been nagicating this but I know nothing about elves and everyone assumed there weren’t any left alive.
Me being alive was a clear indicator that was incorrect but what do I do with that information?
I needed to know more, the more I knew the better I would feel.
"Alright, do you guys know more about these terms or what mating between elves is like?" I urged, trying to get any kind of answer to my situation.
"Female elves are treasured since not many are born, and they also have more magical talent. Through the years, many other supernaturals have tried to kidnap and enslave female elves to have access to their powers, which was responsible for the creation of their elven mate units—called a Nos. They’re a support system to share the burden of protecting their females and offspring. ”
“Alpha Mates are the ones best suited to be a strong leader for the female in all ways; they also tend to be better breeders. Sentinels are just like they sound, guardians. They’re there to back the Alpha Mates if they aren’t around.
A Hunter is the best tracker and provider for the female, and he also backs up the Sentinel.
Companions are a mate who meshes with the female on an emotional level.
They tend to fill the role of confidant, and they help manage domestic matters," Zander listed, then paused as if he was hesitant to continue.
"The stronger the female, the larger the Nos.
Only the female knows who belongs in the unit.
Seeing as you haven't come into your magic yet, there could be more of us… "