Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Simon drifts up to my nest a few minutes later, and I crawl into his arms, settling against him. I check on my mate bonds, concern flooding through them from my mates. I swallow hard and send back what reassurance I can.
“So,” Simon begins gently, “Marcus isn’t immune to you?”
I shake my head, rubbing away the last of my tears.
“I thought something was up, but I never would have guessed that. Not in a million years.”
“You thought something was up? Really?”
“Kit-kat, he’s clearly crazy about you and always has been. It’s been plain to see since day one. I just thought he was attracted to you despite an immunity.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s biologically impossible.”
He shrugs and pulls me closer, nestling me against his body.
“Maybe, maybe not. It’s different for me since I’m a beta.
Scent doesn’t affect me the way it affects you and your alphas.
I like the way you and Cass smell, but it doesn’t really affect my attraction to you, you know?
I guess it’s kind of hard to explain since I’ve never known anything different, but I never saw why it couldn’t be the same or similar for Marcus. ”
I pause, thinking his words over. I’ve always known that things have been different between me and Marcus versus typical omegas and their honor guards.
Closer than Bitsy and Connor, closer than Ellie and Jace.
Our relationship has always been more intimate than professional, but I’ve always been too afraid to question why that was.
I cherished Marcus too much to risk finding out the truth.
“I’ve been a coward.”
“You, a coward? Never, Junes. You and Marcus have always been something unique, maybe something even unprecedented. He truly cares for you. Loves you.”
“And he’s willing to put all his feelings aside to protect me,” I murmur against his chest.
“Don’t you think that speaks to the depths of his love for you? He’s resisted every alpha instinct he’s had for nearly two years—all because your safety was more important. I think that speaks volumes.”
I nuzzle his neck where the collar of his shirt meets his skin and snuggle closer. “It doesn’t change the fact that he lied to me.”
I feel a flash of shame from Simon with my affinity, and when he speaks, he’s stricken. “We’ve all kept things from you for our own stupid reasons, often because we thought we were protecting you. It’s never been the right thing to do.”
“But Marcus saw what all of your secrets did to me. He saw how the lies destroyed me,” I say softly.
“Ah, love. Junes. I’m sorry. You’ll never know how sorry I am for my part in keeping secrets from you.” He kisses my temple and strokes my cheek with a sigh. “But you forgave me. You forgave us because, for some unfathomable reason, you love us. And I think you love Marcus too.”
“I do,” I say in a small voice. It’s something I’ve barely admitted to myself, let alone anyone else, but I feel lighter with the words out in the world, shared in the small space between me and my beta.
“Then take the time to come to terms with his lies. Take the time you need to forgive him. You deserve his love, Juniper. And I think he deserves yours, too. He’s a good alpha, and he would do anything for you, just like the rest of us. He belongs here, with you. With our pack.”
Our pack. I let out a long breath. It’s still such a beautiful thought to me, this pack, and Marcus’ protection and devotion are part of the reason I even have my pack.
He protected me, he encouraged me to follow my heart.
He stood by my side as I faced the trials that earned me my place at Fairhaven Academy.
In two years, he’s done so much for me. I nod against Simon’s chest. Deep in my heart, I know Marcus is meant to be part of my pack.
“Now,” he says. “Send your alphas some love through your bonds and curl up and get some sleep with me. You’ve been running yourself ragged lately. Screw self-defense training. Screw studying. You need a break.”
I do. I send love down my bonds to Cassian, then Luca, then Ian to assure them that I’m okay. That I will be. Then, I curl up with Simon, my friend, my lover, my rock, and finally fall asleep.
Friday morning, Ian lingers over his coffee with me as we eat breakfast, staying close to my side.
He should be with the omegas already, working on their magic with them, but he’s taking his time this morning, purposefully letting himself run late.
I see right through him and smile up at him.
He brushes a sweet kiss across my lips, and I sigh and lean into him with a contented smile.
It’s a perfect slow morning. I don’t have my assistantship until after lunch, and I’m currently waiting on a coffee from Cassian.
I smile fondly as my pack moves around the kitchen, Simon shaking his hands and blowing on his fingers after retrieving a bagel from the toaster, Luca getting jam and cream cheese from the fridge, just for me.
I’m even happy to see Marcus making his usual green smoothie.
It all feels so precious, so right, like this is how things are supposed to be.
It’s all ripped out from under me when my head sears with pain.
I swoon, murmuring “vision” just in time for Ian to catch me and carry me to the couch, wrapping me in his arms, before the vision pulls me under.
I see what I’ve seen before.
Omegas in omega traps, their mates being slaughtered before their eyes. Omegas weeping as blood runs down their hands and their hips, tears down their cheeks.
The vision changes, as it always does when I have this one.
Alphas rounding up omegas, casting dark magic and hexes, dragging us to internment camps, killing any who don’t comply.
Armies upon armies of masked Soldiers of Saint Aldous, all led by Baphomet’s Prince in his gruesome mask.
An alpha who fights with ice. An alpha who fights with fire.
But that’s not all I see. Not this time.
I see the omegas I’ve been working with freed, out and about in society, finding mates that love them as much as my mates love me.
Not having to be afraid anymore, not having to be brave anymore, because there’s nothing left in the world to hurt them.
No Soldiers. No Prince. New omega students at Fairhaven Academy.
An entire class taken in after a brutal war, learning magic, falling in love, forming packs. Utterly free.
I see myself, too, with a bite on the pad of my right hand, just below my wrist, where Marcus first touched me when he healed me back at Rose Manor. My happy pack.
The vision switches again, as grim as before, as frightening, as deadly. Baphomet’s Prince flares to life in my head, the thin horns of his mask stretching high above his head, the mask’s faint smile shining in the afternoon sun. He raises his scribe again and mutters a hex I do not hear.
I come to in Ian’s arms with a jerk, tears in my eyes.
I shake my head to clear it, but to no avail.
I know both futures can’t be true. Am I seeing the near future, a future of terror, and then a brighter future after the oncoming war?
Or am I seeing two possible futures? If that’s the case, how can I tell what’s true?
Can I trust these visions, both grim and beautiful?
“I need to see Sienna,” I rasp, my voice hollow.
I don’t know if my history professor and friend will know anything, but I have to find out.
“I’ll take you, my darling,” Ian says gently, stroking his hands down my arms until he reaches my hands, which he takes in his. He presses a kiss to my cheek. “The omegas can go a day without me. You’re more important.”
He helps me up from the couch and up to my nest, where I quickly dress and rake a hand through my hair.
By the time we make it downstairs, Marcus is already starting up the SUV, just as reliable as he always has been. Just as dedicated and devoted.
It takes us twenty-five minutes to reach the headmaster’s mansion and to climb the long set of stairs to the door. I shift from foot to foot, agitated as I ring the bell.
Ian holds my hand, draws me close and presses a kiss to my forehead, to each of my cheeks, to the very tip of my nose, and then to my lips. “What did you see, my darling? What’s troubling you so?”
“I only want to live through it again once.” And then, only through my words. If the future can be changed, I’ll never have to truly live through it. The omegas I’ve seen, my pack, the rest of the world, will never have to live through the gruesome war in my visions.
Sienna answers the door a moment later, a book in one hand, her glasses pushed back on the top of her head.
“Ah, Juniper. You’re early. I wasn’t expecting you until after lunch. Eager to get down to work today? Ian, hello. Good to see you, as always.”
“It’s… it’s not that,” I manage, and Sienna must see how shaken up I am, because she invites me in immediately. She guides us through the mansion’s opulent halls to a spacious yet cozy kitchen and immediately puts on a pot of tea.
“You’re overwrought, dear girl. What’s troubling you?”
“It’s my visions,” I say quietly. “They’ve been so much more intense lately, so much more… traumatic.”
Ian swoops me up and into his lap, holding me tightly. “I suspect they will be the more you grow in your affinity. That they’ll be sharper and more accurate, too.”
My heart seizes at that. “More accurate?”
“What did you see?” Sienna asks calmly.
“A-a lot,” I begin, my voice shaky. “I’ve seen such a grim future, Sienna.
It plagues my waking life and haunts my dreams. I’ve seen omegas forced into internment camps.
I’ve seen Baphomet’s Prince in front of a veritable army of Soldiers.
I’ve seen alphas slain before their omegas.
And something more I don’t understand. Alphas with ice and fire powers, wreaking havoc.
Leading the Prince’s armies to… to victory over omegas.
The visions have been so brutal, felt so real.
I’ve seen myself caught in an omega trap, my mates killed before my eyes. ”
“Saints above,” Sienna murmurs, her voice hitching. “That would be enough to traumatize anyone. And you’ve been dealing with these visions for how long?”
“I’ve been having them for a while, but it’s only been recently that they’ve solidified into what I’m seeing now.
As Ian said, they’ve been sharp and intense.
Clear.” I draw in a deep breath, biting my lower lip before I forge onward.
“But my vision today was different. It was like… like I saw two possible futures. I saw all omegas freed, living happy lives, and a new incoming class of omegas here at the academy. It was beautiful, not the grim things I’ve been seeing for so long.
When I really stretch my affinity, I’ve seen other beautiful things too.
Times with my mates, some that have already come true. ”
I pause, gathering my courage to ask the question that’s been troubling me for some time now. “I know neither of you can definitively answer questions about my affinity since there’s no record of it showing up in an omega before now, but… but do you think the future can be changed?”
Can I be saved from the tortures of the eradication of my kind and seeing my mates killed?
Saints, I’ve seen such gruesome things. If the future can’t be changed, every horrific thing I’ve seen will come to pass.
War will wipe us out, will crush any resistance until what omegas survive will be held under the heel of alphas, ground into the dirt until we’re nothing more than biddable slaves and tormented breeders, forced to bear alpha children.
“Juniper,” Sienna says very softly. “If there’s anyone capable of changing the future, I believe it’s you.”