Page 28 of An Alpha's Commitment

Darius cleared his throat and spoke with an attempt at an upbeat tone.

“So, tell me, what's going on? I assume there's a reason you're calling me right now. Not just to shoot the breeze?”

“Yes, you're right. I have something that needs the help of a mage and I know your pack has one, so…”

“And so you remembered your old friend, Darius.” He sounded curious rather than put out. “What do you need a mage for?”

“Before I tell you, I need your word this won’t go any further than us, okay? My omega’s life may depend on it,” I told him, somberly.

Darius’ voice was laced with concern. “Of course, but... Irian? What’s happened to him? You just said he was fine!”

“Um. Don’t get this wrong. I’m still with Irian, but this is not about him. I have two omegas now.”

A long silence ensued. I waited, letting him process what I'd just said.

“Two omegas. You're not just talking about your pack omegas though, are you? Are you saying…?”

I cut him off. “A second mate. And yes, Irian is perfectly fine with this. In fact, he was the one that brought it up first. Iscais a friend of his. We’re a triad now.”

A hearty laugh echoed out of the phone. Darius sounded amused. “Irian always was a handful. How did this end up happening?”

“It’s a long story,” I told him, “but the short version is Irian made a friend. It turned out this friend was being abused by his mate. His mate came close to killing him and then abandoned him. The fucker left him to die in the forest! I found him and brought him home. It was touch and go for a few days whether he would survive.” I shook my head, remembering, though of course Darius couldn’t see. “But he did and he joined us as our third.”

“Hang on a minute! You’re saying you’re involved with a mated omega? Someone else’s mate?” The incredulity in his voice was clear.

“Yes. And that’s why I need your mage. Isca wants to break his bond with his alpha. I won’t tell you the things that he did to Isca, but I can promise you, it was unthinkable. Even if he hadn't left him to die. And it wasn't as if Isca wanted to mate with him in the first place, but, well, as you know, sometimes alphas don’t respect the choices of omegas." I paused in my diatribe. “So... will you help us?”

There was a long silence.

“I’m not sure it’s even possible,” Darius said, finally. “I’ve never heard of it being done. Have you spoken to the Council about it?”

“I have a friend on the Council who looked into it for me on the down low, but he couldn’t find anything to suggest it had ever been done or that it could be done. He couldn’t look any further than that without risking word getting out.”

“And that’s a problem, specifically, why? Apart from the fact this guy is someone else’s mate?”

“At the moment, Zarbius – that’s Isca’s old mate – doesn’t know he’s alive. But as soon as we start asking questions publicly, word might get around, and it wouldn’t take too much for him to figure out his mate is still alive. I’m 100% certain he’d come back and either kill him or take him back just to torture him. The guy is an out and out sadist. I can’t let that happen. Isca is the sweetest, gentlest omega you could ever wish for. I don’t know how he survived his life in that pack.”

Once again, there was silence. Then Darius said, “How about you pay us a visit? I’ll explain the situation to Xeres, our mage. If it’s at all possible, he’ll find a way to do it. He’s an exceptional mage. I don’t know how we managed to get him to stay with us, but he has.”

“Is he… discreet?”

“Yeah. You won't have to worry about that. He keeps to himself, doesn’t say much to anyone. I half suspect he’s hiding a ton of secrets himself, but he’s never let me into his confidence. You know how mages are.”

“Sure. And thanks. But please emphasize how important it is that no-one hears of this,” I pleaded. I hated that more people than just Irian, Isca and myself had to know about it, but there was no choice.

“Of course,” soothed Darius. “And anyway, I don't think I'd want it to get out that my pack was helping break mate bonds. I've got enough problems without that one. Now, I assume it’s urgent. When can we expect you?”

We spent the next few minutes making arrangements and then ended the call. Later this week I would be spending a few days visiting with Darius’ pack. Hopefully, his mage would be accommodating.

You never knew with mages, they often seemed to have their own agendas.

Chapter 14

TALIUS

Xeres was a mysterious creature. He wore a dark robe with a heavy cowl over his head that kept his face in shadow. Though I'd never met him before, I'd caught glimpses of him when I'd visited the pack not long after Darius took over as Alpha. He always had that damn hood down. I’d never seen him without it, so I really had no idea what he looked like.

Mages were strange individuals; they kept to themselves, and though a few shifter packs had one associated with them, it was never quite clear who benefited the most from the association. It seemed to me the mages got protection from the mortal and physical world while they fiddled about with their private magical endeavors, but I’d yet to see what benefit there was for the pack.

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