Page 59 of Rebel Fates

I feel the same.

“I gave Gemma a long-range beacon as she ran by me. It should have a longer range than Leva’s ability.” Rok still looks worried as he tells us the news.

“Good… I guess that means we can rescue her if that’s what we all decide to do,” I say with hesitation.

“We need to risk it. My shift doesn’t feel like it’s coming on the same way anymore.” Zeek rubs his arms and looks confused about that.

I grunt, and Rok nods knowingly.

Sensing my life is about to get a lot more complicated than it even was this morning, I ask, “Okay, Rok, what did you discover about her right before she was taken?”

“Her genetic code is changing,” he says, like I should know what that means. But I’m not the one with the science training, he is.

“And?” I prompt when he doesn’t explain.

“Well, I shouldn’t say changing exactly. More like her latent genetic code has been activated.”

Again, Rok pauses.

Zeek growls out, “What the frex are you getting at?”

“She is becoming Hathoran. Or close to it.”

We all sit there, a bit stunned.

A human becoming one of us?

“Are you sure?” Zeek asks.

I breathe out a big bellow. “Her scent had become so strong and intoxicating. And that explains our behavior.”

“But why is she changingnow?” Zeek asks.

Rok has a theory ready, just as I thought he would. “I think our touch, our presence, has activated her latent code. Perhaps our coming into our rut has triggered her to come into her own… her heat?”

“Are you sure about this change?” I ask.

“Completely?No, but from what I understand of genetics… it’s the only conclusion. We’ve all noticed her skin tone changing since we found her. Her body temperature was unusually warm. She was emitting a fragrance to attract mates. When I checked just now, before she was taken by the Tirbs, I discovered her code is activating dormant sequences from her original scan.”

“That fast?” I ask, knowing that we can shift quickly ourselves. But for a human to do so…

Rok shrugs. “It looks as though she inherited this genetic code from her ancestors… from Ancient Egypt. I confirmed with her that one of her lines was from that area.”

“You mean she has in her lineage,TheHathor, Ancient Earth’s Mother Goddess?”

“Yes. I had just found her markers within Gemma, but we should have seen that,scentedwhat she was becoming, for ourselves.” Rok’s voice is strained.

He also looks perturbed, and I believe I have figured out why.

“You are upset we found an omega?” I ask our reserved pack mate.

“What?” Zeek asks before he can answer me. “Rok, why would you be upset? Isn’t that what we need to make us complete?”

Calmly, I ask, “But you don’t want our dynamic to change, do you?” I stare into Rok’s eyes, daring him to lie.

“I didn’t… before. Now? I want her back.” He shrugs. “But it isn’t up to just me.”

“At this point, it isn’t up to any of us!” Zeek grinds his teeth. “And it won’t matter if we don’t get the frex out of here now and get her back. The Tirbs could sell her off and someone else could claim her.”

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