CHAPTER TWELVE
CAILYN
They marched in silence, both deep in thought.
Cailyn considered everything that had been said at the Omega meeting and conflicted emotions pulled and twisted her thoughts in so many directions. Before attending that meeting, she would have been happy to negotiate a way for her and Drocco to leave the compound with the least resistance, but now she knew the Mothers were manipulating her Omega sisters, she didn’t feel she could do that. Omegas should have the chance to choose to learn more about being with Alphas if they wanted, without the Mothers’ influence. She couldn’t do anything about her mother and the conditions that she lived in, but she could do something about the Omegas, or she could at least try.
As she and Victoya arrived at the sanctuary, Mother Azia came stalking toward them.
Cailyn slowed to a stop, Victoya doing the same next to her, her nerves fluttering. Had Mother Azia already heard about the Omega meeting? After all, according to Mother Naysa, they were intrinsically linked to the compound. What if they could somehow sense it? Was that even possible?
Mother Azia glanced at Victoya but spoke to Cailyn. "I need you to come with me. Right now."
Cailyn’s suspicions stirred at her tone. "Why?"
"Your Alpha has agreed to remove your charm chain," she said, a small smile on her face. "I need you to come now so he can do it."
"And what did you do to force him to agree?" Cailyn said almost snarling. "I don't imagine he would have suddenly had this change of heart for no reason."
Mother Azia’s smile faded. "He has agreed to take it off. That is the most important thing. Let's go."
Mother Azia turned to lead her into the sanctuary, but Cailyn didn’t move. "And what will happen to him once he takes it off?" she called. "What do you intend to do with him?"
Mother Azia turned back to her slowly, her face grave. "At first, I intended for you both to return to your home. But after meeting him, I believe he is a dangerous threat to the Omega existence. Since he has been here, there have been frequent attacks on the shield that surrounds the compound and even a small breach. He has significantly powerful Talent-crafters that are potentially capable of causing us harm. That charm chain you wear is a perfect example of that."
Cailyn's fear climbed to new heights. "So what do you intend to do with him?" she asked again, the panic in her voice evident.
"I intend to protect Omegas from him, Cailyn," Mother Azia said. "All Omegas—including you. Now come, let him take this chain off. We can talk afterward if you want."
Cailyn forced herself to be outwardly calm, Azia’s words sparked an internal hysteria. Had the brain-dead Alpha in the hidden region been a similar threat? He no longer had a sense of who he was, who he had been, or even where he was. She could not let Drocco stay here to suffer that same fate—even if she had to somehow force him to leave without her.
Mother Azia glanced at Victoya. "Victoya, you should not be here. Please return to your training."
As Victoya opened her mouth, Cailyn grabbed her arm. "Not now, Toya. There will be a time for you to show your true feelings about this, but it is not now. I will meet you back at our floor in the training region. Go there and wait."
"No," Victoya muttered, anger in her voice. "Anything could happen to you between now and then. I want to be close. I will gather some others and wait by the sanctuary."
Mother Azia was watching them, so Cailyn simply nodded in agreement and let Victoya go.
Mother Azia led Cailyn into the sanctuary and navigated through the wide corridors to an observation room with glass walls on the ground floor at the back of the building near the courtyard. As she approached, she saw Drocco.
He knelt, his thick arms outstretched held either side of him by thick cords of magic that coiled around them and snaked around his thighs to keep him still. Although his eyes were closed, he looked as though he could jump into battle at any moment.
Cailyn paused in shock. "I thought magic couldn't hold him?"
"It can't if he really fights it," Mother Azia said. "However, he is not struggling against it this time. He has agreed to this.”
“Where is the cage?”
“In a different room. We need to keep him contained in some capacity while he takes the chain off."
Cailyn almost asked why but didn’t bother. Clearly, Mother Azia wanted complete control.
They entered the room and Drocco opened his eyes at the sound of their footsteps.
"Drocco," Cailyn whispered, as their eyes met. She could help the giddiness that rushed over her. It was the first time in a long while that he had looked at her and saw her fully, without being captive to his harsh instincts.
He didn't respond, although his eyes were filled with something that she had only ever seen once before to such a degree, and that was at the lodge; pain.
She walked to him and he looked up at her as she came close. She reached out and ran her fingers through his thick, black hair.
"Come closer," he muttered, his deep and gritty voice sending a shudder right through her.
She stepped closer and he pressed his face against her stomach, murmuring into it, kissing it, and turning his face from one side to the other, rubbing his stubbled cheek over her bump. The vibrations within her began to jump and jitter.
"She likes that," Cailyn whispered, running both hands over his head and hugging him close to her.
He opened his eyes to look up her and her heart almost broke.
"You promised to take off the charm chain," Mother Azia said from behind her, her voice hard.
She turned to Mother Azia. "Can I have a moment with him please?"
Mother Azia stood still, her eyes flicking between Cailyn and Drocco. "You will not be able to avoid this," Mother Azia said to Drocco. She looked at Cailyn. "I will give you some time, but he needs to remove the charm chain before you leave this room. I will be watching outside."
She turned and left, and Cailyn turned back to Drocco.
His eyes were still on her and she suspected he hadn’t even bothered to look at Mother Azia as she spoke.
"Are you and the baby all right?" he asked, his tone making her frown.
"Yes, of course. Why? If the Mothers have been saying that we're not—"
"You were bleeding," Drocco said. "The last time I was… with you, you bled. I don't know if they let you see a healer."
Cailyn frowned, trying to remember whether she had indeed bled during their last mating. "I don't remember bleeding," she said slowly. "But I have bled before, Drocco, you do remember that, don't you? I bled a little at the lodge. You told me it was normal. You’re the one who investigated and researched Omega pregnancy. You said bleeding wasn't anything to worry about."
"Not after I have been inside you," Drocco growled. "And not when I have bruised you in other places."
Cailyn observed him for a moment, realizing that a tinge of guilt accompanied the pain in his eyes. The Mothers had put that there. Maintaining eye contact with him, she lowered down to her knees and shuffled closer to him, placing her hands on his chest and looking up at him now that she was lower than him in height. "Drocco, how you behaved was not your fault. The Mothers are using your instincts against you."
Drocco's mouth relaxed into a wry smile. "Like how I used yours against you?"
"No!" Cailyn said fiercely. "I always wanted you, I just didn't accept it. What they are doing is forcing certain instincts out to the surface. It’s unnatural, it is not the way that you normally behave."
"It doesn't matter," Drocco muttered, his voice raspy and low. "I promised never to hurt you and that is what I've been doing on a frequent basis."
“Not by choice.”
"It doesn't matter," Drocco growled. "If you had the ability to access magic, you could have used the Talent and stopped me. You could have used the Talent to stop the Mothers from taking you. You could have used the Talent to escape from here. The charm chain has stopped you from doing all of that. Even if the Mothers turn you against me, I need you to be able to protect yourself and our little girl from everything, including me."
Cailyn swallowed, annoyed with herself that she had caused the look in his eyes.
Drocco held her gaze, his expression stern, eyes roaming her face. “Do not mistake me, Cailyn. I am taking off this chain so you can protect yourself, but you are still mine. I am still taking you back to Lox Empire with me regardless of what you or the Mothers do. Nothing changes that, I don’t care what I have to do.”
Cailyn would have sighed with relief if there wasn’t an edge to his tone—an indication that he thought she would object. “I am not resisting.” She paused, realizing she needed to explain. “I chose to leave the palace because they sent one of my closest sisters to erase my memories of them. Erasing those memories may have also erased some memories of us at the lodge."
Drocco's expression morphed into one of disbelief and anger. "They can do that? They can outright erase memories?"
"They are extremely powerful Talent-crafters," Cailyn stressed. "They told me they would be taking my memories from the first time I escaped from you. They said they would take yours as well. I just wasn’t concerned about it at that time. But now, I can’t bear the thought of losing memories of you, of us. I decided to come here to get other answers before that happened so I could understand why they lied. It was never because I didn’t believe you. At the worst, I thought you may have been mistaken." She lifting her face to his. “I didn’t intend to be away for longer than an hour. I was always intending to come back. You are my safe place, Drocco."
He lowered his face and pressed his lips against hers, but did not deepen the kiss to claim her mouth the way she loved. "I am not, Cailyn," he said slowly, his words pronounced. "You left. If I was your safe place you would not have left, no matter the reason."
Cailyn blinked, her stomach dropping as she realized how deeply she had disappointed him, how much she had put him through, and how disillusioned he was with her because of her actions. It cut her deeply that he didn't believe her, after everything that he had shared with her. He would never believe her now. He still wanted her and would still keep her, but he probably would never treat her the way he had at the lodge.
As she stared up at him, realizing the true breadth of distance between them, he glanced up to look at Mother Azia behind the glass wall. He nodded at her, and slowly the magic around his arms, keeping them outstretched writhed up his arms to curl down his torso to his hips and his arms dropped to his sides. Immediately he reached for her, clasping her hair in that tight grip she loved.
Cailyn kept her eyes locked on to his. “It was a mistake. Stop punishing my mistakes, Drocco.”
He paused, a flare of something in his eyes. “I am not punishing you, Cailyn. I am giving you back your magic.”
That wasn’t what she meant, but she couldn’t articulate that change she could feel in him—the change in his approach to her. “If you take off my charm chain, I don't know what they will do to you."
"It doesn't matter what they do to me," he murmured.
Before she could respond, he pulled her into a kiss. A hot, claiming, consuming kiss that told her he still felt the same way about her. She kissed him back, relieved by the passion she felt coming from him.
As he broke the kiss, she felt his hands around her neck. The weight of the charm chain appeared on her skin and she fought the urge to scramble away from him as he ran his fingers along her neck to search the catch.
"Drocco," she said, trying one last time to let him know how she felt. "There is nothing you can do to me that would make me believe that you would intentionally hurt me."
Drocco's hands froze. He looked into her eyes for a long moment. "Are you saying at no point in the last few times that we have been together you were truly afraid?"
Cailyn stared back at him, panic clawing at her insides. She had indeed been afraid of him that first time. It had not been him, but she could not lie.
When a silence stretched for too long, Drocco nodded, a disappointed expression flashing across his face. His hand resumed their search and then she felt the weight of the chain lifting from her neck.
"No," she whispered, almost to herself as the chain dropped to the floor.
Drocco's arms flew back, snapping back into place as the magic claimed them again.
Desperate, she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing herself up against him as much as she could. He lowered his face to hers, nuzzling her temple to get closer to her, but he couldn't put his arms around her the way that she needed him to, the way that she wanted him to.
She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, and ran her nose up toward his ear, seeking out that particularly fragrant spot that always enticed her. When she found it again, she pressed her nose against it, seeking comfort from his scent. And suddenly, her mind cleared. She was no longer exhausted and she no longer denied him. There was a way she could protect him, but more importantly, the urge rose to prove to him that she was his—a craving to claim him.
Bearing her teeth, she bit down on the spot in his neck.
Instinctively, she sucked in the blood that spurted into her mouth, and Drocco inhaled a sharp breath. For an instant, she wondered if she had hurt him, but then the blood in her mouth distracted her. It was strangely metallic and coppery and yet, as it trickled down her throat, she moaned with satisfaction. As soon as she swallowed, something bloomed around her that she couldn't quite comprehend. She pulled on the bite again, drawing more blood into her mouth, and when she swallowed a second time, a another awareness sparked into existence, cushioning her mind. On the last pull, Drocco moaned and her desire spiked. The need to have him inside her raged through her until she swallowed the third pull, and the awareness around her swept through her mind and tunneled deep inside her, created a revolving, spinning vortex in her chest.
She released his neck, sucked her lips to swallow the blood the coated her tongue, and then licked the blood trickling from the bite.
"Cailyn." Disbelief made his voice hoarse.
Cailyn stilled. She heard the amazement in his voice, but deep within her, that rush of amazement embraced the whirlwind in her chest. It was Drocco. Of course. The new awareness within her was Drocco.
She pulled back to look up at him, and his black eyes were wide on her, pure shock in them, while inside her she could feel his jumble of emotions; surprise, desire, and disbelief. He had stopped believing that she would claim him.
"You are my Alpha," she said. "You have always been my Alpha. I will not be separated from you."
The whirlwind in her chest increased in intensity with an emotion she didn’t recognize until it almost burned within her.
"What have you done!" Mother Azia's voice came from behind, her fury clearly apparent.
Cailyn firmed her mind and rose to her feet, aware of Drocco's eyes following her. She turned to face Mother Azia, wiping Drocco's blood from her mouth. "I have claimed my Alpha, Mother. Isn't that what you want me to do?"
Mother Azia's face twisted. "You did that on purpose! You know that we cannot do anything to him if you are bonded, even by a one-way bond."
“What did you expect?” Cailyn snapped. “That I would allow you kill my Alpha? The Alpha you told me to go to and be with but changed your mind once you realized how Alpha he truly is? You have us all at the whim of your emotions, Mother Azia. I see it now.” She stepped forward, snarling. “You are no longer fit to lead the Omegas.”
Mother Azia's mouth tightened and her eyes became hard.
“Cailyn,” Drocco said from beside her, his voice low. “Let me bite you.”
She ignored him, keeping her eyes on Mother Azia, whose face was thunder, and her eyes flitted to Drocco and back to Cailyn. She looked as though she wanted to say something further but decided not to. She stalked forward, grabbed Cailyn's arm and yanked her from the room. Cailyn tried to shake her off, but the woman's grip locked into her hard. She could hear Drocco calling her name and the panic and anger sweeping through the whirlwind within her, but she knew at least he would be all right for now.
Mother Azia dragged her out to the courtyard behind the room.
From outside, she could see through the wall into the room and Drocco still called for her.
"Do you think your bond will stop me from tearing him apart?" Mother Azia thundered, finally releasing Cailyn.
"If you touch him, I will kill you!" Cailyn clenched her trembling hands as she fought the vicious possessiveness charging through her. She took a deep breath. She had to try and reason with Mother Azia, not encourage her to take action. "You know if you kill him it will affect me and the baby you want so desperately."
"I don't have to kill him to severely injure him," Mother Azia hissed. "I have done it before and the bonded Omega learned to deal with it. You will too."
"Just because you were happy to destroy the mind of your own Alpha does not mean I will just sit back and let you do it to mine."
Mother Azia is eyes narrowed. “What makes you think he was my bonded Alpha? He was not. He was bonded to Mother Naysa."
Cailyn's face dropped in surprise and she gasped. "She told me he was your true mate?"
"Yes," Mother Azia said, her voice still hard. "He was my true mate, but he was bonded to her."
Cailyn blinked a few times, unable to comprehend what she was saying. "I thought once the bond takes place, it is not possible to recognize your true mate after that."
"It isn't.” Mother Azia spoke hard, anger imbuing her tone. “My Alpha knew we were true mates before he bonded Naysa. He did it anyway. She, of course, had no idea until I told her."
Cailyn frowned. "Why would he do that?"
"Because he wanted control over as many Omegas possible," Mother Azia spat out. "He knew that I would never be satisfied with another Alpha after having been with him, and he knew that if he bonded with Mother Naysa she also could not be with any other. It was a way to control us, Cailyn. These are the kind of tactics that Alphas use. It is one of the ways they tied us to them so that we could not escape them."
Cailyn shook her head. “You told me an Alpha is not interested in any other once he finds his true mate.”
“My Alpha rose to power in a time when Omegas were a commodity,” Azia said. “True mates were considered a weakness and my Alpha wasn’t happy to have found his. But he didn’t touch Naysa until after he forced himself to bond with her.”
Cailyn nodded slowly, finally understanding the truth of what was happening here. Mother Azia had been hurt deeply and had witnessed horrific events. She would never understand or be willing to admit that life could be better. And there was nothing Cailyn could do to convince her of that without her seeing for herself that the Lands had changed. And yet, if she left the Compound, it would surely weaken.
Within her, the whirlwind spun with rapid intensity. Drocco worried for her.
"You have simply made things harder for yourself now, Cailyn," Mother Azia continued. "Without your Alpha, you could have still thrived here, you could have been the first to have a child in the compound, you could have been an inspiration to many Omegas. But now you have chosen to bond yourself to him, you will experience pain."
"You have no right to make such decisions for me,” Cailyn raged. “I never once agreed that I would have stayed here or had my child here. I always wanted to go back to my Alpha. And you promised I would. But instead of keeping your word, you have chosen to be completely unreasonable." A heat prickled the back of her neck, and she clenched her fists, trying to hold on to her ability to speak without screaming. "Regardless of how much you want to help Omegas, you cannot simply decide to destroy my Alpha because you dislike him."
"He is in my compound making threats against my Omegas," Mother Azia snapped at her. "It is my job to protect them."
"He did not come here to harm any of them." Cailyn almost shouted. "He came here for me."
"He would not have only just taken you!” Azia stressed. “He would have taken as many Omegas as he could."
"He could have been reasoned with," Cailyn said. "You could have made him understand why you made the choices you have. Instead, you have imprisoned him and used his own Omega against him, going even as far as using magic—the thing he despises most—as a weapon against him. He will never listen to you now."
"I don't need him to listen to me!" Mother Azia yelled. "He is captured. He will not be causing any more problems for me as soon as your bond has settled."
"You don't see it do you?" Cailyn said bitterly, shaking her head. "You have lost, Mother. His army knows where the compound is now. You said it yourself that we are being attacked as we speak. We are no longer hidden, it is only a matter of time. If you keep him here, they will never stop. And what about the Omegas? Do you not think they have questions? Do you not think that some of them will be wondering why things are not making sense?"
Mother Azia's eyes narrowed. "What you mean by that? What the hell have you said?"
"You have made decisions that have caused Omegas to question you," Cailyn said hotly. "It has nothing to do with me. What will you do when they begin to wonder and question and seek out answers for themselves? What will you do then? Erase all of their memories? The tide is already turning, Mother. Do not let it crash into you."
Mother Azia's fiery gaze burned into Cailyn. The fury that emanated from her was beyond anything Cailyn had ever experienced before.
She felt magic moving around her and the sudden realization hit her that she could detect and use magic now that the charm chain had been removed. It was in abundance around her and Mother Azia was drawing on it.
“What do you intend to do, Mother?" she asked evenly.
"I have decided not to wait for your bond to settle." Mother Azia’s face contorted. "The baby can be nurtured without you needing a sound mind."
Cailyn stilled. "You seriously plan to hurt me, Mother?"
"If you are a threat to everything I've built here, then I will do what I need to."
"Of course," Cailyn retorted. "You have already put me in a situation to be abused by my Alpha, why should I be surprised that you plan on hurting me yourself."
Azia didn’t respond. A number of erratic, magical sparks appeared in the air and Cailyn finally panicked. This was a Mother. One of the strongest Talent-crafters that existed in the Lands. There was no way Cailyn could battle her magically and hope to win. None of the spies were seasoned warriors. They learned tactics and methods to use when needed, but not to outright battle another.
Two of the sparks darted toward her, she backed away, frantically drawing on magic to create a shield, but suddenly, the vibration in her stomach kicked into a more powerful tremor. She grabbed her stomach, wincing at the sensation, and at the same time a shield bloomed out from her core encasing her.
The sparks hit the shield and dissipated, and at the same time, a roar came from inside the building.
She turned to glance Drocco, still in the observation room. He fought against his magical bonds and the whirlwind raged within her, wild and unstable. He was trying to get to her.
Another three sparks crashed into her shield and bought her attention back to the Mother before her. She was materializing a number of sparks in the air now and sending them shooting at Cailyn.
Cailyn called to the magic around her and it responded immediately, moving almost before she turned her attention to it. She created three small orbs and directed them at Mother Azia. Although it pained her to attack a Mother, one that had once been her favorite, she had no choice. But the magic seemed highly responsive and almost out of control. The orbs crashed into Mother Azia’s shield creating a flash of light with each hit. By the third Mother Azia stumbled back, shock on her face. Cailyn gasped, her hand over her mouth. Magic had never been that easy to call on or direct before—or that powerful—it could be dangerous to use. She didn’t want to kill Mother Azia, or anyone that happened to be near. And as she glanced around, Cailyn noticed a crowd of Omegas had indeed begun to gather, Victoya among them.
"Azia!" Mother Naysa came running toward them. “Azia,” she breathed. “What are you doing?”
“Join me,” Azia said, through gritted teeth. “Help me capture her.”
“No!” Naysa exclaimed. “This is Cailyn.”
“I don’t care who or what she is anymore,” Azia snapped, turning to Naysa. “She is disobedient and completely brainwashed by her Alpha. She is of no use.”
Who or what she was? What the fuck did that mean? What was she? Cailyn watched the Mother’s argue, her mind racing as fast as the whirlwind in her chest, thoughts crowding her as the baby’s vibration held the shield strong against Mother Azia’s continued attacks.
She was a true Omega.
She glanced around at the gathering crowd. How many of the Omegas had Omega mothers and Alpha fathers? And what did that matter to the Mothers?
A strange flickering flared into existence next to the two Mothers. The outline of three figures flickered into existence. The other Mothers were coming.
“It is the baby,” Naysa was saying calmly to Mother Azia. “The baby has created the shield.”
Azia’s face hardened even further. “Why is she so powerful? She is not even at the third stage of her growth yet.”
“She was being given magic by the twins, remember,” Naysa stressed pointedly. “Plus she has been in this environment too long, and you cannot discount who her parents are. She is a true Omega and incredibly powerful already.”
Cailyn’s breath caught in her throat and her entire body tingling.
Omegas begin absorbing magic into their bodies from in the womb. It’s threaded into our physical being.
Cailyn had always been one of the strongest Talent-crafters spies—was it because she was a true Omega? A true Omega would be dynamically stronger… isn’t that what Drocco had said? Her mothers’ words floated back to her.
"Is she true?"
Mother Orlee nodded. "Yes, you did well."
"Which one? Which one is that? I don't remember."
“The best one. The truest."
The nature of her dynamic had been the only thing her mother had cared about, and yet she seemed to also be a dedicated to her mission and the Omega cause.
Cailyn gasped in a breath, trembling uncontrollably and hoping the direction her mind was leading her was not true. “What was my mother’s mission?” she said to Mother Orlee, as soon as she stabilized.
Mother Orlee and the twins took in the scene before them, surprise uniforming their expressions. They seemed to be most astonished at Mother Azia, and stared at her, immobile with shock.
“What was my mother’s mission!” Cailyn yelled, causing almost everyone to turn her way. “Tell me. Tell me now!”
Orlee breathed heavily, glancing at the other Mothers.
“Just tell her,” Mother Freya said, irritably. “She should know.” Both she and Fern turned to the Omegas that watched and spoke gently to the crowd. But Cailyn’s eyes remained on Orlee.
“Your mother was tasked to seek out true Alphas in the Lands,” Orlee said, slowly, “and breed with them.”
The confirmation of her suspicions didn’t make hearing it any easier. Drocco’s bellows reached her ears and the whirlwind in her chest jerked and jumped so raggedly it could have torn her apart. He wanted to get to her desperately, but she could barely think.
“My mother was a breeder?” She spoke slowly, the many sensations rocking her serving only to twist and magnify her anger. “She was a breeder for Omegas?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Cailyn shouted. “Why did you use her like that? There was no need! You collect Omegas from the Lands every day!”
Orlee took a breath, glancing at Azia and Naysa who were still locked in argument, though Azia had stopped attacking. “We need strong spies out in the Lands, Cailyn. True Omegas are stronger Talent-crafters, and with the lack of Omegas out there, very little true dynamics are being born.”
“So you prostitute out your own Omega sister so you can have a few true spies?” Cailyn spat.
“No,” Orlee said sharply. “They agreed to do it. They are proud of their contribution. Your mother, in particular, came from a line of true dynamics.”
Cailyn’s mouth dropped open. They? “All the Omegas in that hidden region are the birth mothers of some of the Omegas here,” she said, breathless with shock.
Orlee didn’t answer, but she didn’t have to.
Do you think the other Mothers would put up with such outbursts from some of the other spies?
“What the fuck!” Yera pushed her way forward. “Are you saying our mothers are hidden in the compound somewhere?” Mother Freya pulled her back, away from Orlee, but she struggled and continued to argue.
Cailyn shook her head, bitter disappointment making her heart sink. Her whole life had been one lie after another.
Where are the rest? her mother had said.
“Where are my siblings?” she asked Orlee, her voice weak.
Orlee kept her gaze steady. “All of your siblings are powerful spies, Cailyn. They are all out in the Lands on missions.”
“Unacceptable!” Yera yelled from the crowd, in a fury. “Some of us fuck each other. You should have told us.”
Gasps and exclamations from the crowd drew Azia and Naysa’s attention.
“None of you in romantic relationships are siblings,” Fern called. “We have made sure of that.”
“I don’t think I believe a fucking word you say,” Yera declared.
Cailyn ignored them, her eyes drifting over the compound, the place she had always thought of as home. It wasn’t her home. It had never been. She had been a tool for Mother Azia’s misguided cause and they planned to use her daughter in the same way.
Drocco was a true Alpha. That had to be why they were so concerned about her child. Hadn’t Drocco said that the Southern Lands arrange marriages to keep the dynamics as true as possible? Is that what the Mothers had been doing?
I prayed you would not get pregnant too soon or at least that you would not have an Omega for now.
And the other Mothers encouraged me to go back to him…
Because they prayed that you would.
“You don’t want to protect us from our true mates,” she said slowly, lifting her eyes to Azia and Naysa. “You want us to find them. That’s why the blocks don’t work against them. You wanted me to breed with Drocco so you could take my child and use her in your cause. That is why you care about her so much. You want her to be able to use magic because she will be more powerful than most.”
Mother Naysa began to respond but Cailyn didn’t listen. Naysa had already listed all the ways that the baby was incredibly powerful. She had been absorbing magic from the twins who were more powerful when they wove magic together—their physical makeup clearly affected their use of magic; she was the daughter of parents who came from generations of true dynamics; she was the daughter of true mates; she had been growing and developing while in the magical environment of the compound… the list went on.
Suddenly. the whole environment around them crackled and shuddered and everyone quietened.
“Mothers!” Everyone turned to Mother Azia who had bellowed out. She looked utterly furious as she addressed the other Mothers. “We have been breached.”
“Everyone back to their quarters,” ordered Mother Fern. “Now!”
The Omegas were slow to move until Mother Freya lifted a hand and created magical bolts to fire above their heads.
“There is no time for argument or discussion,” Mother Azia said sternly to the other Mothers. “We agreed to keep this compound safe regardless of our own feelings and we have now failed at that. We agreed that none of us are above corruption and that we had to do whatever it took to protect Omegas. We can still do that. We can protect the compound and the baby from whatever has entered our home.”
“No.”
The Mothers turned to Naysa.
“No, Azia,” she said quietly. “You have to stop now. This approach will not help us. Can you not feel the mood of the Omegas? They are distrustful. If we cause any deaths here in our home, we will lose their loyalty. Not all of them will reject the idea of being with an Alpha.”
Freya’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know that?”
“I made it easy for them to return to see Cailyn with her Alpha. They are more curious than afraid.”
The Mothers were shocked into silence.
“You betrayed me,” Azia said through gritted teeth. “I specifically said that no one was to watch them again.”
“Yes, but your plan already backfired. They were too intrigued and had too many questions. Azia, we are in a different time now from a century ago,” Naysa said, almost pleading. “Those older Alphas have died out. The Alphas know what they are missing without us. We should try to negotiate.”
Azia’s eyes flashed. “Never!”
Suddenly, all of the Mothers turned to face Cailyn, but they weren’t looking at her. They were looking beyond her. As she turned, she felt it. A flickering magical mass moving in the distance, heading their way.
Suddenly a shot of relief pierced the whirlwind within her chest. She turned and saw Drocco marching out of the sanctuary. His arms dripped with blood from deep gashes that laced them, but they didn’t seem to slow him down. He came straight toward Cailyn, walking through the shield that the baby had created.
“Drocco,” Cailyn said, a mixture of relief and horror sweeping her as she took in his injuries.
Drocco didn’t say anything. He lifted her up, maneuvered her legs around his waist and wrapped his large arms around her, pressing her against his body. She automatically hooked her arms around his neck.
“Drocco,” she breathed, glad to be in his arms, bloody as they were. He was her home. Whatever happened, it would better in his arms.
He nudged her head to one side, and pressed his nose into her neck and scenting her as he always did. And then bit into her hard.