Chapter 21 Mona #3
My vision blurs at the edges as I sink into the trance.
There he stands—the man who wasn't really my father, but it’s alright because Silent Peak was always waiting for me.
His image fades, and then I’m in my apartment, tired from the medication they gave me, but through the haze, there’s Silas.
He’s at my throat, his fangs breaking skin.
But I see it now, through his eyes—the restraint, the desperation.
Love that existed between us, even if we didn’t recognize it at the time.
Not conscious love, but the need to protect me, to ensure my survival.
He did all that he could, even when his heart was so full of pain.
In the present, my cheeks wet with tears.
Everything happens for a reason. Or, bad things happen, but that’s okay, because good things happen, too.
Those are the platitudes people offer when they don’t know what else to say, but maybe there’s truth there—not that suffering is justified, but that pain carves out space for joy and love, if only we can hang on long enough to see it. To feel it.
I don’t know how much time passes. I was sitting on the bed, and the next thing I know, we’re hugging, holding each other, crying silently.
Andrea and Silas are at the edge of the room, staying back. Like we’re too much.
Like it’s all too much. We don’t mean to—I certainly don’t, and I doubt she has any more control over this than I do, but together, Lily and I overflow with omega support. It pushes into Silas and Andrea.
They’re both leaning against the wall. Andrea freezes. She grits her teeth, trying to fight against it. Lily pushes her way in.
Something lightens in Andrea’s chest.
She’s still the battle-hardened alpha. She’s still her, but we lift a little bit of her darkness, some of that stuck-on, burnt edge inside her.
My omega pushes into Silas. His hurt is so deep. It’s so raw. My heart wrenches. My omega wails. Lily holds me tighter. Silas walks closer on shaky legs. He kneels beside the bed.
And he pulls me and Lily into his arms.
We were healing him, but it’s like we were caught in a trap. And now he’s released us.
“What the fuck was that?” I rasp, after a few moments, and he lets us both go.
“I have no idea,” Silas says. “Are you okay?” he asks, concerned, looking from me to Lily.
I pull away from Lily. “Sorry. That was an awkward way to introduce myself.”
Lily smiles. “I’m less and less surprised by awkwardness these days.” She looks pointedly at Silas, who grumbles and pulls me closer.
“Your omegas are pretty powerful. I haven’t met that many, but they were nowhere near as powerful as one of you, let alone both of you together. They don’t often mingle either. There just aren’t enough of them. But it’s almost like… I don’t know… there’s something different about you two.”
I remember what Ghost said about me being a Seeker. And with all the magic used against Lily… Maybe that’s all it is.
“I’m going to go talk to Doc real quick. I’ll be right back,” Silas says. He leaves the room, leaving me, Lily, and Andrea behind.
Andrea still looks like she’s in shock.
“Are you okay?” Lily asks her.
Andrea nods stiffly.
“Umm… do you, like, need a hand?” I ask dumbly. That snaps Andrea out of it. She steps away from the wall and walks over to us, head held high.
“I’m fine.”
And she is. She is the same old Andrea. But there’s something just a little lighter inside her, too.
“Good to see you again, Lily. I’m sorry all this happened,” Andrea says.
Lily smiles wanly and holds out her hand.
“Good to see you too, Andrea. My mom’s pack misses you, said you haven’t been by for pastries in a dog’s age.
” Lily comes from a big family. She grew up with six dads and two moms. Andrea is much older than Lily, so I know they didn’t grow up together, but a lot of the shifters on this mountain have known each other for decades.
Andrea reaches out to squeeze Lily’s hand. But when they touch, they both freeze. I look at Andrea, whose eyes shoot to mine. Good, she didn’t fall into a weird trance like Lily and I did.
But Lily is doing it again. It’s disconcerting to see it from this side. Her eyes go vacant, and it’s almost as if she’s in rigor mortis, joints locked in place.
“Lily,” I nudge, trying to pull her out of it. But her eyes are wide, pupils narrowing. Like she’s not even here.
And then she gasps and rips her hand from Andrea’s.
“Lily?” I try again.
“Oh my god!” Lily exclaims.
“What? What is it?” I ask, just as Andrea snaps, “What the fuck just happened?”
“I saw her! I… I saw…” Lily looks at me frantically, worry watering her eyes. She begins shaking her hands, breath coming out in short bursts.
Your omegas are connected, Mona. Help her.
How? I shriek at Beep.
She sighs, frustrated she still has to explain things to me—as if all this omega shit is totally normal and when something weird happens, I should just roll with it. Well, damn it, I think I’ve done a pretty good job, considering.
Calm her down and help her understand, Beep tries again.
I don’t know what she expects me to do when I don’t even understand. Lily is still whimpering, her omega trying to soothe her. Andrea keeps shouting. I grab Lily’s hand.
“It’s okay, Lily. Just tell us what happened. Did you see something?”
She’s practically hyperventilating. I suck in a loud breath, making a circle with my lips.
I glare at Andrea, and wave my other hand, indicating she should copy me.
Andrea rolls her eyes, then sucks in a heavy, loud breath.
Then we whoosh it out together. We do it again until Lily catches on and copies us, inhaling and exhaling with exaggeration.
It takes a few deep breaths to get her heart to slow down. Then she swallows, a little calmer.
“What did you see?” I ask gently.
Her eyes open to saucers, then shoot to Andrea, then to me. Then back to Andrea, where they stay.
“You saw Andrea?”
She nods a few times.
“Okay… and what was Andrea doing?”
She looks at me, slightly panicked.
“It’s okay, Lily. Whatever it was. Sometimes I have dreams that tell me things. Omegas sometimes have powers. Did you know that?”
She squeezes her watering eyes shut, and she shakes her head slowly.
“It was all really overwhelming at first. I’m sure it’s overwhelming for you, too.
But what I saw—” I hesitate, but only for a second.
I don’t know if anyone told her, but she should know.
She has a right to. “I saw you. In my dreams. You were with Silas. I wish I understood what I was seeing earlier, I could have helped sooner. I am so sorry for that. But if you saw something too, if you’re like me—”
Ghost called me a Seeker. Maybe she’s a Seeker too.
But my visions were in the present. And Andrea is standing right beside us.
“She was really pretty,” Lily starts, voice cracking.
“This woman. She just looked really happy. She was pregnant. There was a man there. Two, maybe. Her mates, I think. But… Andrea, you were there too. You were rubbing her feet. You had this look on your face, like you were annoyed with something.”
Lily blinks, then says, “Yeah, that look.” She points to Andrea, who does, in fact, look annoyed. Lily chuckles awkwardly. I squeeze her hand, encouraging her to keep going.
“I don’t know what I saw. I don’t know if it’s real. But I could… Andrea, I could have sworn you were fated mates, the two of you. The other guys, they were her mates too, but you two… she looked at you like you were the moon. Andrea, I think that woman is your mate.”
Chills run down my arms.
Lily clears her throat. “She… she had short, curly black hair, dark skin. She had this big smile. She smelled like strawberries.”
Holy shit.
Lily isn’t a Seeker.
She’s a Mate Finder.