Chapter 2
GREY
“You shouldn’t be here,” I say as I materialize outside of my lair.
Cael stands with his hands in the pockets of his dressy slacks, his dark hair messy and wet from what appears to be a recent shower.
I bet that shower was a lot warmer than my ice bath.
Alas, the blood from the battle in Blood Sector had begun to harden on my skin, making bathing a necessity.
So, when it became clear that Ashlyn wasn’t going to vacate my lair’s only bathroom anytime soon, I opted for the nearby lake instead of waiting any longer.
“I know,” Cael replies, referring to my comment about his presence here being dangerous.
Well, that’s not exactly what I said, but it was implied.
“Now let me in,” he adds, waving at a nearby rune that’s blocking his entry.
It’s the same rune that alerted me to his presence mere seconds ago, thus sending a clamoring alarm through my now aching head.
Narrowing my gaze at him, I do as he asks and alter the rune’s magic to grant him access to my lair. The man is practically my brother, his parents having helped raise me after saving me and my mother from my feral father’s clutches.
Not a memory I want to relive at the moment.
Yet it haunts my every fucking step.
“Thank you,” Cael says, moving into the protective boundary around my safe house—which is actually a cave—and waiting while I re-alter the wards around us.
It’s one of my V-Clan gifts that I’m pretty sure is enhanced by my Z-Clan genetics. A unique form of magic, but exceptionally useful. Especially right now.
“Has our little seer provided anything useful yet?” he asks.
Our? I repeat in my head. She’s not our anything. She’s mine.
Z-Clan wolves are fated.
And this Omega is my intended mate.
I’ve known that from the moment I saw her file in the newly established mating program. It was written in her pretty blue eyes, the way they stared up at me from the screen.
I knew I was staring at my future.
That’s why I joined the program—for her.
I assumed she joined for me, too. But it became evident quickly that she was there for altruistic reasons, which she confirmed a bit ago.
However, her comment about me not being part of her choice to join threw me off. I didn’t believe her at first, but her clarification made sense.
My little riddler is full of cryptic comments. Yet she’s also… truthful. I could see it in her expression, smell it in her scent.
She’s not one to lie.
Though, I have no doubt she’s one to mask the truth, too. When needed, anyway.
“Grey?” Cael prompts, drawing my focus back to him and the frown he’s now wearing.
“She’s not our little seer,” I tell him flatly. “She’s my little seer.”
Both of his dark brows meet his equally dark hairline. “Yours?” He huffs a laugh. “Gone a few hours and you’ve run off and claimed an Omega?”
“There’s no claiming required,” I mutter. “She was born to be mine, just as I was born to be hers.”
He merely shakes his head and releases a low whistle. “I wondered why you joined the mating program. I guess I finally have that answer.”
“You’ve known that answer since the beginning, Cael. Don’t pretend like this is news to you.” He’s the most intuitive Alpha Prince in existence. It’s in his blood. In his fucking gifts. “You can’t play games with me like you do with others.”
“I know,” he replies, sounding sad. “Which makes our friendship so fucking boring.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re an asshole.”
“It does make sparring more interesting, though,” he goes on, pretending not to hear me. “And goading you even more delightful.”
I simply stare at him. “Are you here for something useful? Or just to waste my time?”
“I’m here to talk to our little seer,” he murmurs.
My jaw clenches. “You mean you’re here to get your ass kicked.”
He smiles. “Maybe. Though, I think it would be far more enjoyable for us to go play with some Alphas out here in the Nomad Lands instead.”
“I’m trying to mask our presence here for a reason,” I remind him.
He lifts a shoulder in a partial shrug. “Well, you don’t seem all that interested in letting me speak with said reason, so I was suggesting an alternate activity.”
“You’re infuriating,” I tell him, then grab his shoulder and shadow us into my lair—as there is no door.
“You’re perhaps the only Alpha in existence that can get away with insulting me twice in a matter of minutes,” he says when my living area comes into view. “Dixon doesn’t even press his luck that much.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Your Majesty.” I give him a mock bow, then return to the table to find a third bowl of spaghetti already sitting on the table, as well as a chair that Ashlyn must have dragged in from the living room.
She’s seated in said chair instead of the wooden one I left her in, her small form dwarfed by the oversized tapestry around her.
“Hello, Prince Cael,” she greets warmly. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Little seer,” he murmurs, his charm in full effect as he walks over to take her hand.
I know what he’s going to do a second before he bends, and it takes all my restraint not to come over and rip him away from my fated Omega.
She blushes as he kisses her wrist, the intimate gesture further infuriating me.
Because the bastard knows exactly what he’s doing, and he tells me that with a look. His blue-green eyes radiate amusement, no doubt noting the fury radiating from my aura.
“Looking for another insult?” I ask through my teeth.
“It’s a novelty, to be sure,” he replies, taking the seat I vacated earlier like he fucking owns my lair. “You’re usually quite creative with words, Grey.”
“No. I’m not,” I return, aware that he’s still trying to press my buttons.
It’s what he’s always done.
Hence the reason he’s like a brother to me.
Interestingly, though, he never taunts his actual brother, Dixon, like this. They have more of a silent and steady bond.
Meanwhile, Dixon and I have no bond at all. He’s never accepted me as a member of the family, let alone a member of Lunar Sector.
Not surprising.
Most V-Clan Alphas loathe my existence.
I’m a hybrid mutt and therefore lesser in their eyes.
What they don’t realize is that I mostly take after my mother’s side in terms of mental abilities and power. All I inherited from my Z-Clan Alpha father was his size and his strength. And his feral needs, I think as I look at Ashlyn.
I witnessed my father’s ruts many times throughout my youth.
I have no desire to ever do that to an Omega.
Yet I can feel my beast clawing within me now, demanding I taste the sweet female sitting in my lair. Taste and claim.
Clearing my throat, I force myself to settle into the chair she vacated and reach over to swap the two bowls of spaghetti before Cael tries to eat from my original dish.
But Ashlyn leans forward to swap them back, her eyes meeting mine. “I already knew where he would sit. This was yours from before,” she says, setting it down in front of me. “The spaghetti is nice, by the way. Thank you.”
“Nice?” I echo, not sure I like that adjective. “If you like it, why haven’t you eaten more?”
“I’m not very hungry.”
“I already commented on how I feel about lies, Omega,” I tell her, certain she’s lying now. “You haven’t eaten in days. If you want something else, tell me, and I’ll make it.”
She glances at my kitchenette with incredulity. “I don’t think we have many options, Alpha Grey.”
The Alpha before my name has my beast growling and not because I hate it, but because I like it. That’s why I asked her to call me Grey before. But my little riddler doesn’t seem to want to drop the formalities.
Fine.
“I can hunt, Omega Ashlyn,” I say flatly, ensuring she hears the irritation in my tone—both from her choice in using my designation title and her insinuation that I can’t satisfy her needs. “Tell me what you want to eat.”
Her shoulders fall a little, her gaze lowering to her bowl.
Cael clears his throat. “You’ve had a rough few days,” he says gently, the words clearly for Ashlyn. “I don’t want to pry, Ashlyn, but were you hurt at all…?”
She peeks up at him and shakes her head. “No. Prince Tadhg intended for me to be a gift to strengthen his alliance with the Alpha of Kodiak Sector, so he left me untouched and only asked that I deliver a message on his behalf.”
“What message?” I interject, wanting to be part of this conversation, not a witness to it.
Ashlyn’s lips twist, indicating that she’s uncomfortable. “Prince Tadhg sends his regards and hopes you’ll enjoy me as a token of his continued appreciation.” She utters the words in a monotone voice, then shrugs. “Not very original, if you ask me.”
With that, she takes her fork and twirls it through the pasta while I observe her through narrowed eyes.
Any other Omega would be traumatized by the experience she just summarized in a handful of sentences. Yet Ashlyn forces herself to eat instead when I can tell it’s more of a trial for her than a desire.
At least I know now that it isn’t my food choice that’s bothering her, but the general situation. Or I assume that’s the case, anyway.
While she’s been mostly truthful, she hasn’t been all that forthcoming.
A typical seer, I think, familiar with the traits, as my sister possessed similar talents growing up. All Z-Clan Omegas have fortune-telling abilities, but their skills vary.
Ashlyn, it seems, is quite powerful.
She’s also resilient. Beautiful. And looking at Cael with far more interest than I like.
He’s smiling at her, amusement dancing in his blue-green eyes.
Clearly, I missed something humorous.
Did she speak when I wasn’t paying attention?
“You’re right, little seer,” Cael says, his accent curling around the nickname in a way I strongly dislike. “That isn’t very original at all.”
Oh. He’s amused by her comment.
Fine.
Actually, not fine.
I do not care for him to be amused at all.
He glances at me, his eyebrow arching like he’s heard me. I wish that were the case. Alas, Cael’s mental talents are a lot more complex than simple mind reading. But he can surely feel the furious energy rolling off of my aura.
Of course, in typical Cael fashion, the bastard just smirks and returns his attention to Ashlyn. “Regardless, I’m glad you’re okay, darling. I’ll be sure to pass on your good health to Ivana; she was most concerned about your disappearance.”
Ashlyn winces. “Yes, please do. I didn’t mean to scare everyone.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t have involved yourself in the mating program and played the part of martyr,” I mutter.
She and Cael both look at me.
“Without her sacrifice, Tadhg might still be alive,” Cael informs me, a hint of dominance underscoring his tone.
“I’m aware of that, Your Majesty.” I lean back in my chair, not wanting to engage in this foolishness with him. “But she also put herself in jeopardy.”
“Which was a bold and dangerous choice,” he returns. “And also brave.”
“I know.” I’m not arguing against any of that. “I’m merely pointing out that if she wished not to scare anyone, she should have considered not involving herself in the situation. That’s all.”
“You’re chastising me for a decision that saved countless lives,” Ashlyn interjects, her expression fierce as I look at her.
“You didn’t see the potential outcomes, the future that awaited all of my friends.
I will forever sacrifice myself for those I care about, something you would be wise to remember, Alpha Grey. ”
She pushes away from the table, her gaze bouncing between me and Cael.
“I’m exhausted, so I’m going to make this last part brief,” she says. “I don’t know where Nikiski is, only that I’m destined to help Alpha Grey find her.”
Her gaze turns to me, the haunted gleam in her blue depths giving me pause.
“And the ‘cryptic notes’ in my journal that you mentioned earlier were from visions I’ve had of our future together,” she tells me. “I’ve written down what I know. I’ll let you know when I see more.”
With that, she walks toward the bedroom and shuts herself inside.