Mei
We walk out of the ocean, and Becky throws herself into my arms, like she has done a hundred times before. A second later, Isla join us.
“I’ve missed you!” Becky squeals in my ear.
“Missed you more!” Isla says.
The beach is packed with people. I can hear them, smell them, all the omegas and all the packs. Everyone we’ve helped, those warrior sisters and brothers, and the alphas who make our lives incredible. All the omegas Diablos has saved. All the packs he has helped forge.
This is the first time we’ve all been together like this.
Diablos arrives with Hartley and his nine full-grown cats that are Kit’s offspring. They meow adoringly up at the demon who smacks his lips and pulls out a handful of fish.
Puppy stands close to the water, fixated on the ocean, growling at it.
I’ve spent enough time over the years with the pack to know that anytime the ocean is in sight, Puppy sees it as a threat.
It’s an obsession with him. I have made the Sirens and Leaf agree on no more pranks today, it’s too special an occasion.
Last time, they encouraged some spider crabs to chase the Grim up and down the beach, and Becky and I just stood helplessly and discussed adopting them out.
In the end, we decided to keep them, but our catch-ups needed to be better planned in order to prevent bloodshed.
“What is he looking at?” I ask Becky.
She turns towards the ocean and gasps.
“There are orcas, sharks, and dolphins. Wow.” Becky lets out a harsh sound that is a darker version of a growl.
“No fish,” Puppy snarls in deep warning. “I said no fish.”
“Don’t do it, Leaf!” I say before he can hit Puppy with something that will start a war and get everyone in an alpha brawl.
“It’s time!” Brio announces.
Ronit pulls out a set of panpipes and starts to play a haunting melody.
He stands alone, the ocean laps around his ankles.
His music from his voice is gone, but we discovered they still had the ability to be Sirens.
Reed pulls out a flute and joins him, while Lirin and Brio lift their voices in song.
Leaf joins in, adding his deep throat singing to the mix.
Canto stands beside me; he doesn’t join in the singing, preferring instead to stand guard. But then, sometimes, I think the sound his sword makes when he’s wielding is his music. I reach out and take his hand in mine.
To my surprise, the alphas around us lift their heads and sing. Then the omegas.
Diablos and Hartley join in and the cats with loud purrs.
The whole beach is awash in sound. Canto hums. It’s a low sound, but it’s saturated in power.
I step into the water, letting go of his fingers.
The sounds are being echoed by the Earth itself. By the forests, the trees, and all the other worlds.
Today is a celebration. The experiment succeeded. It works. We can all live together if we embrace our differences. We don’t need to fight.
I open my mouth and sing.
We’re all a family now. A big one, and we come from different places, but we’re all alphas and omegas, and we all love. Everything else is just…decoration.
Something deep and old wakes in the Earth, rumbling its discontent.
I turn my head, listening behind us as it stirs to life.
What have we done now? I’m not worried; we’ve seen so much, fought so much, found people who fit us, brought them into our circle, from Hell to the Darksphere, Heaven to Faerie.
Alphas, monsters, misfits needing homes, alphas looking for love.
The world was ready to change, and we brought it…but now… something’s happening again. Everything’s going to change now…but we’re here to protect the Earth, the people who live here and the omegas that the worlds so desperately need.
The song falls into silence, ending as the world turns to dark and the moon rises.
Friend or foe? Are we fighting or are we welcoming this creature? A shiver of excitement runs down my spine.
“Ready?” I ask my shiver.
“Ready,” Canto says and takes my hand. Leaf, Lirin, Ronit, Reed, and Brio move closer so they stand at my back, where they have stood for the last ten years. My lovers, my alphas, my life.
We are strongest when we are together.
Becky throws her head back and laughs as her pack moves closer to her. She started it all, and this is her world. Stix, Puppy, Wilder, and Frost focus on the distant threat, looking like the dangerous threat they are.
“Are you ready, besties?” Becky asks.
“Born ready,” Isla says with a growl.
I tilt my head back, inhaling the air, reading the world, feeling the life around me, this wonderful, strange human place and all the others beyond that call to us.
“We’re always ready. Always hungry. Nothing can stop my monsters and me,” I say confidently. “Let’s play.”