EPILOGUE 1
AGELIUS
We stepped out of the trees to the applause of the pack.
It looked as if every last member was there to greet us, and they were cheering and hollering as though festivities had started some time ago, but in reality, they were simply enthusiastic.
If the pack were going to celebrate, they’d celebrate together.
I smiled, pulling him closer, even as he sought to tuck in beside me. I leaned down and found his perfect lips, cool from the mountain air, his mouth warm and enticing, and kissed him in full view of the assembled pack.
My tongue licked the seam of his mouth, and for a moment I thought his bashfulness would stop him opening to me, but I was wrong.
Right there, in front of the whole pack, we shared a deep and filthy kiss.
If they couldn’t smell it on us – and I was sure they could – everyone there would know we were intimate with each other.
My chest was full to bursting, so full of love and desire, so proud to call this omega my own.
Oh shit! I had a little – actually a large problem – but then I shrugged. What did I care if they saw how much I desired my mate?
Absorbed in the sloppy, hungry kiss, I didn’t notice the quiet descend until, face flushed and eyes somewhat unfocused, I ended the kiss, to find Talius half-way down the path towards me.
He was flanked by Irian and Isca, one on each side.
The omegas were trying to look solemn, but the corners of their mouths kept twitching into half-grins.
They were an irrepressible pair, and Irian seemed no worse for his time in captivity.
His cheeks were round and plump and his eyes shone as he tried to repress his smile as he looked across at his omega mate.
Isca was the more serious of the two, but his relief at having Irian back was evident.
I briefly wondered again how Talius managed to keep two omegas satisfied, when I was exhausted servicing just one, but I didn’t have long to think about that, as the trio arrived to greet us.
Talius’ brilliant blue eyes gazed directly into mine. This experience had aged him. I noticed extra lines on his face, and grey streaks in his dark hair that hadn’t been there before. But his voice was as firm and strong as ever when he greeted me.
“Welcome home, Agelius,” he said, smiling warmly.
I bobbed my head. “Thank you, Alpha.”
“Thank you, Agelius, for keeping my mate safe, and helping bring him home. We won’t forget it.
” He spoke in a voice that was loud enough for the assembled shifters to hear.
There were only a few gasps of surprise…
I guessed rumors had already spread around the pack, and not the bad kind, or they wouldn’t have been so welcoming when we’d first arrived.
Talius’ eyes flicked to the man standing half-tucked into my side, then found mine again. He looked serious now.
I had a sudden pang of uncertainty. Had I overstepped my position here by bringing a stranger into the pack? I was a blow in myself, kindly accepted into the pack by Talius when I had nowhere else to go, maybe I didn’t have a right to bring someone in.
I drew myself to my full height. If he wasn’t welcome, we wouldn’t stay.
“Talius, this is my omega, Tosca. My mate,” I added, chin up daring him to deny him entry.
Talius chuckled, his eyes twinkling. A solid hand pressed reassuringly on my shoulder.
“Relax, Agelius. Your omega is very welcome here.” He turned to Tosca and held out his hand. “Welcome to the pack, Tosca. I’m Talius, the Alpha. I’m very glad to meet you. You’ve picked a fine alpha as your mate.”
Tosca’s pale face suffused with pink, his solemn eyes wide, as he slowly extended a delicate hand and shook hands with Talius. A fine tremor shook his body where it was tucked against mine.
“Pleased to meet you, Alpha,” he said, looking up at Talius through his long lashes.
“Hey,” chirped a happy voice, “I’m Irian. One of the Alpha Mates.”
“One of…? Oh, right, yes. I-I remember,” Tosca stammered, biting his lip.
“Hi. I…,” his eyes darted around uncertainly.
He swallowed hard, dropped his voice, and leant in towards Irian, “I hope our pack didn’t…
mistreat you… too badly.” A worried frown appeared across his brow.
His eyes shifted to Isca and his frown deepened. He looked puzzled.
“That’s Isca, our other mate,” Irian said beaming. “And I’m fine.” Then he nodded towards me, “Thanks to your alpha.”
Irian turned to me, the smile slipping from his face. “I’m sorry I misjudged you. I understand now what you were doing – Talius explained everything to me. You had me convinced you'd joined up with them, I have to tell you.”
I winced. “I’m so sorry about that. I had to be convincing. Zarbius…”
“It’s okay,” Irian interrupted. “Honestly, we’re good. If I hadn’t believed you were working with them, Zarbius probably wouldn't have either.”
I still felt awfully guilty for hurting Irian’s feelings that way, but I hadn’t seen an alternative.
Irian was a kind and gentle soul, and he hadn’t deserved to be in that situation, but he was feisty enough that if he wasn’t satisfied with the explanation, he would have come right out and said so.
I felt the tension slip away as my shoulders relaxed.
There was still the matter of what would happen with Tosca, however.
I lived in the dormitory with the other singles – betas and a few young alphas who'd grown up in the pack and were old enough to leave their parents but not old enough to start their own families (Talius wasn’t the sort of Alpha to toss young alphas out of his pack).
Was Tosca free to live in the omega house?
Almost as if he read my mind, Talius looked from myself to Tosca, and said, “I guess you’ll be wanting to move out of the dormitory now?
You can take your pick of the empty duplexes and set it up however the two of you want it.
That is, unless you’re planning on leaving the pack now you’ve found a mate… ?”
My mind was still stuck on being offered one of the homes.
My jaw had dropped open, amazed at the offer.
The duplexes were kept for mated couples and families.
With the steady expansion of the pack, there was always one under construction, and several completed but empty.
Talius liked to keep ahead of the curve, I think.
Goddess, I could imagine setting up home with Tosca there.
“You aren’t planning on leaving, are you?” Isca asked, shifting nervously on his feet, small wrinkles furrowing his brow.
“What?” I shook my head, bringing myself back to the here and now. “No! No, of course not. This is… this is home, right? I don’t want to leave, if I don’t have to.”
“Of course, you don’t. You’re one of us.
And Tosca is now too,” Talius’ wide smile created little crinkles at the corners of his eyes.
He turned to Isca, “Isca. Why don’t you and Irian take Tosca and get him all the things he needs, and maybe show him around the camp, while I talk to Agelius for a bit? If that’s alright with you, Tosca?”
Tosca bit his lip and cast an anxious glance at me from under his long fringe. I ran a finger under the loose strands, tucking them back from his face. His eyes softened, liquid amber in their depths. The affection I read in them left me breathless. My palm cupped his cheek.
“Tosca? Is that okay?”
“Mmm.” He pressed into my hand, lashes closing as my thumb gently stroked the narrow lines of his cheek.
“C’mon, let’s go.” Irian linked his arm through Tosca’s and gave a tug. “We’ll fix you up with some clothes and then we can show you the duplexes. You can show Agelius around them later.”
Tosca gave me a sweet, somewhat confused smile, and allowed himself to be pulled away.
“Thank you, Irian, Isca,” I said. My eyes followed as the three omegas headed away towards the main house where Talius lived with his mates. Talius also had his office there and a lot of pack business was conducted there.
Then I remembered Talius had asked Tosca a question, and he hadn’t replied. “Uh, sorry, Tosca didn’t…”
Talius shook his head, still smiling. “He’ll get used to me,” was all he said.
I thanked the Goddess that Talius wasn’t one of those strict alphas.
Tosca was a timid omega. He had a spine of steel, but he’d been living in a frightening pack, with an Alpha that must have been terrifying, based on what we knew of him.
We knew Isca’s existence there had been nothing short of hell.
Tosca and I had bonded through our shared experience of his heat, but I could tell he was nervous around Talius, most likely because he was an alpha.
“We’re going that way too,” said Talius. “We’ll talk in the office.”
He turned to the assembled shifters. The murmuring of multiple conversations subsided, as they waited for Talius to address them.
“We have two things to celebrate,” he announced. “Irian’s safe return and Agelius’ new mate joining the pack. These happy events deserve a pack run. We’ll give Tosca a day to settle in, and we’ll run tomorrow night.”
There was loud cheering, and then slowly the crowd began to disperse back to whatever they’d been doing before Tosca and I had emerged from the bush.
“Let’s go. For obvious reasons I wasn’t able to tell you before, but I’ll fill you in…”
No-one was visible when we entered the main house but as we made our way to Talius’ office, I could hear giggles and snickers coming from the level above where the private living quarters were situated.
I paused in the doorway, listening to the bell-like tinkle of Tosca’s laugh ringing down the corridor.
He sounded relaxed and happy, and I was pleased he’d already made two friends in the pack.
In the office, Talius tossed some spare clothes over the desk at me and seated himself while I pulled them on. The visitor’s seat squeaked as I settled into it.