Page 6 of Rome's Mate: Hunted Omegas

“We could have a young seer in our pack. I want security around her. I’ll talk to Jeff at the party.” Seers were rare and important to them. One way they identified young seers was by the visit of the white stag. The goddess of the Dark Night would want to abduct the child or kill her. She was not fond of seers in their pack. They had encouraged the families of seers in the past to move to another pack to keep their children safe. Unfortunately, those other packs couldn’t offer the same perks as the Hunter pack did.

“Let’s take a run before we are needed at the party.” Rome left his office and went to the underground passage that only the inner pack knew about. It took them past the yard where everyone was setting up, deep into the forest. When they came up, the rest of the inner pack was already waiting as wolves.

Rome swiftly changed and led his pack deeper into the forest, where they let out howls. They flew over the land, paws barely touching the ground. When the stag came to run with them, Rome knew that everything was changing. They cried out in a howl of loneliness and need. It covered the land. Something was coming.

Chapter Three

Amelia stood in herroom, looking around. She took in the purple walls and the black accents. They brought a small smile to her face. The memories of her childhood were all on display. The first chess competition she won. Her father hadn’t allowed her to take part in sports, but he encouraged her to do anything that grew her mind.

Her closet was filled with what she called decoy clothes. Around the age of ten, her father started taking her shopping. Except instead of spending hours in a mall or boutiques, he’d take her to the bank or teach her how the human world worked. They did not expose most of their pack to this world at such an early age. Then they would grab one or two frivolous dresses along with anything that caught her attention and make a show of bringing bags into the house. She learned to drive the same way.

Earlier that day, her father had come down to see her. “Sweetheart?” Her alpha father’s voice called out to her.

“Back here, Dad.” She had a studio in the back of the basement where she could paint and draw. It was one thing she liked to do in her spare time. Her father had encouraged her to attend an online college where she’d gotten her accounting degree. She was some weird symbiont of human knowledge and pack law. It never sat right in her mind. Why did her father decide to raise her differently from the other females in the wolf pack? He was her alpha, and she respected him as that as much as she loved him as a father. That love and respect allowed her to follow his orders without understanding the why.

He stood in the doorway, staring at her. “You look so much like your mother, except for the wild white hair. I’ll never know where you got that from.” Her hair was a curly mess that she had trouble keeping under control. It was cut to her chin with white spiral curls all over her head. She was used to it by now and loved it because there was no use hating herself.

“Tomorrow is your twenty-fifth naming day, and I bought you a present.” She was excited despite the blackness she kept seeing in her visions.

“What is it? Where is it?” She rubbed her hands together in anticipation, like she was sixteen again. She ignored the blackness that seemed to hang on the horizon of her life.

“Come with me.” She followed him up the stairs, her heart fluttering until they got outside. She watched her father become the no-nonsense alpha, and it hurt her. He wasn’t supposed to show his love for her where others could see it. The pack smiled at him, but they watched her like she was a gazelle, and they were lions.

She wasn’t stupid. Her father had gone out of his way to make sure that she understood the world even if she didn’t live in it. The pack thought she was an omega and that tomorrow, on her naming day, the abomination she hid inside of her would comeout. The people she thought of as her family were planning to kill her. There was no other way to say it.

He took her on what should be an innocent walk in the woods. They spent their lives walking through these woods, and she knew them like the back of her hand. He stopped right before they could hear the traffic of the road beyond.

“What’s over there?” He pointed to a spot where the tree branches seemed to have fallen. She ran over and cleared the area and then stood back, her hand over her open mouth. There was a cover over it, but she knew a car when she saw one. She ripped the cover off and there was a small dark blue car.

Her eyes lit up as she ran to her father. She wanted to scream but was too aware that the pack might be closer than she thought.

“Is this mine?” She was bouncing as she hugged her father.

“It is.” He placed the keys in her hand. “I’ve loved you from the moment you were born.” His hands went to her cheeks. “Your mom knew the risk of having you. She thought you were worth it. I miss her, but I see her in every move you make. Watching you grow up has been a dream. The others, my tribe.” His tears flowed, and she knew that alphas weren’t supposed to cry. Her dad crying made him seem like a real alpha.

“They think you’re something you’re not. If you are, it doesn’t matter to me. After midnight, I’ll no longer be able to protect you. I’ve done everything in my power to make sure you could protect yourself.”

Her fingers went to his eyes, wiping the tears that refused to stop flowing. He stepped back, pulling a bank card from his wallet. He handed it to her. It had her name on it. You know the number. This is a credit card with your name. If you get into trouble, use it. I’ll always pay the bill.

“Dad.” He stopped her by placing a finger against her lips.

“I need you to make the right choice, for yourself, your mother, and for me.” They stood staring at her little dark blue car for a long time before she covered it up and replaced the fallen branches.

Now she stared at her naming day outfit. It wasn’t the dress that Nicole wanted her to wear. She’d taken out a worn pair of jeans that fit her like a glove and allowed her to move fast. The pair of boots she’d been given. There was a worn jacket along with a spaghetti-strapped cami. Next to it was a backpack with the few things she couldn’t leave behind.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted it buried with her or not. How could she leave her father or her mother’s grave? Did her dad and her alpha want her to run or show bravery by meeting the tribe first thing in the morning? She wasn’t sure. There were too many questions, and her sight was showing her too many paths. It was only eight, but she took a shower and went to bed. Tomorrow would look different.

How long had she slept before the dream started? She was walking through a forest she’d never seen before. The old woman who gifted her the boots was walking beside her.

“I remember you,” Amelia said when the quiet became too much. “You gifted me the boots.”

“I did.” The moonlight broke through the canopy of the trees, shining on them.

The old lady reached out and touched Amelia’s hair. “I thought it was a clever move. Now I worry that I have placed a brand on you and all who come after you.”

Amelia touched her hair, not understanding. “My hair?”

“It’s beautiful and suits you, little wolf.”

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