Page 18 of Rome's Mate: Hunted Omegas

“Whatever you’re holding smells good. It’s nice to meet you.” Amelia gave her a smile.

“I like a big breakfast. Wolves can eat. It doesn’t matter the pack, they will eat you out of house and home. I can’t wait until we have some boys around here.” She winked at Amelia and placed the platter on the table, and her son did the same.

Sheela came around the table and hugged Amelia. “The goddess has told me much about you. I’m happy to finally meet you. What do you think about your mate? He’s a fine one,” Sheela whispered before moving away. She gave Amelia another wink before going into the kitchen.

“Amelia?” Rome asked, concerned by the look on her face.

“It feels like I lived in a vacuum and now the world is opening up and the things I thought I knew are being crushed every day.” She shook her head. “Don’t mind me. Sheela and I had a quick girl talk.” She gave him a mysterious smile that made his cock twitch.

“I have a feeling life is about to be different around here,” Theron said. “Personally, I am here for it.”

They dug into the food. Amelia thought she could eat, but Rome and his pack mates put away three large helpings. It was a good thing Sheela and Todd brought out more food on platters.

“Has anyone ever told you that you can eat?” She wasn’t disgusted. It was amazing to see him taking such pleasure in what was on his plate. His pack mates were nudging each other. It was like a conversation was going on that she couldn’t hear.

“I don’t want to inconvenience anyone, but Rome mentioned last night that I need more clothes. This morning I realized he was correct. I’m planning to go into town and buy some things.”

There was the sound of a small bell that put everyone on instant alert. It wasn’t the border ward going off. It was much more insidious than that.

Chapter Ten

“What’s happening?” Amelia asked.The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a butter knife.

“Shit, is this actually happening?” Saul jumped up and moved to the window.

“You won’t see anything outside,” Theron told him.

The rest of the pack looked nervous, and the ones Amelia thought were the closest to Rome looked like they wanted to kill someone. Rome was the only one sitting calmly and finishing his breakfast.

She took a page out of Rome’s book and sat down. She was eating French toast, and it was too good to waste.

“Sit.” Rome’s alpha voice got immediate attention. Everyone sat and stopped talking. “That soft bell means someone notified a hunter that an omega has presented herself to the world.”

“A hunter?” Amelia’s fingers clutched the end of the cherry wood table. She’d never heard the term, but the word hunter was self-evident.

“The story of how omegas came into existence is long. When we have time, I will tell you all about it. Right now, what you need to know is that the goddess Luna created and blessed omegas. There is another goddess. She watches over the black night. She opposed you being born and created hunters that would kill every child born an omega. They seek them out and kill them at birth. We don’t receive a warning they are out to kill unless they are coming for our mates.” His eyes met hers, willing her to understand what he was saying.

“Someone is coming to kill me?” She ignored the mate part. There would be time to digest that later. “I need to run.” Her heart was pounding in fear, but her wolf refused to run and hide. She belonged here with her mate.

“No. Avoiding the hunter alone is highly improbable. Even if you managed to avoid him, your whole life would consist of running until you grew too tired to care if you lived or died.”

“What am I going to do?”

“Stay here and allow me to protect you.”

“If this man is a hunter, someone who kills newborns without remorse, why won’t he kill you and every member of your pack?” She thought of the newborn Rome was holding last night. There was no way she would risk her life.

“I can keep you safe. We can keep you safe. If the pack is in danger, then you and I will leave and draw the hunter off. After I’ve killed him, we’ll come back.”

“You’re going to kill him?” She didn’t know how to take what he said. It was simple with no embellishments. “He’s a person.” Didn’t he understand that killing was wrong? They were wolves, but the prey was the deer in the fields and other animal life. The kind that didn’t shift and have emotions.

“We could make him a wolf,” one of the young shifters at the table said. She hadn’t caught his name.

“No. The man kills children. He snatches them out of their mother’s arms and puts a knife through their hearts. Then he will drain their blood and might kill the mother just for the fun of it. He dies.” The color blanched out of all the faces of the outer pack. The ones who had lived for centuries nodded.

“How could he?” Amelia felt sick. This man was going to try to do the same thing to her. She thought of going about her day and someone casually stabbing her through her heart. “I’ll be…”

She ran to the bathroom and threw up everything she ate for breakfast. It felt like she jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

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