Page 5 of Omega Haunting

“No. Not full of shit. Wants something. Not from you but something. Not from Martian either. Will probably get it. Things are complicated.”

“Is there any way for me to get in touch with this guy for real? Is he my true-mate?”

“Slow down. More?”

The plate was empty again. Sighing, I looked around the room and spotted the bag of chips I snatched from the kitchen earlier after I busted my ass. I popped them open and poured them onto the plate. Had I known the ancestors who would show up would be starving I’d have planned better. Usually, one plate of sandwiches was enough.

“Bottomless pit of a wolf,”my inner beast sounded off in my thoughts.

The furry guy wasn’t wrong, but I’d have fed him every last scrap of food inside the house if he could give me enough information to find my mate even if his name made him sound like a damn alien.

“Martian is far,” the spirit sighed. “Really far. One must travel. You? Him? Someone.”

“Travel to where?” I asked, quickly as the chips disappeared by the handfuls.

“To where the shiny one and the bratty one are to be married,” the spirit whispered.

“Huh? Who are they? Names would be helpful, ancestor,” I said but was alone in the room again.

The candle flames died and the mirror was just a mirror again and that asshole had eaten the apple. My heart dropped into my stomach. When had he snatched it up? Why had he snatched it up? He was hungry but did he have to eat the only connection I had to my true-mate? The asshole hadn’t given me much to go on. Martian. Marstian.

I searched the name over and over in every pack database I could assess. Of course it wasn’t there because no one fucking named their kid some other version of alien.

Chapter Four

Marsin

THE WEDDING

Going to a whole new world might’ve been more exciting if I wasn’t dead on my talons. I followed the group like a semi-zombie the morning of the wedding. We wound our way through Other World paths that later I’d want to map out but, in the moment, it was just more dirt under my feet. Sequin, Xav, Daliah, and Rosemary had spent the whole week at in the GGB territory putting the final touches on the lavish affair and I was determined to at least appear as if I were enjoying them. Elio kept giving me the side eye, though. So I was probably failing spectacularly.

The club was larger than I expected it to be. I knew in theory that it functioned as a hotel sometimes, but I imagined it to be a cozy little place despite all of my brother-in-law's stories. It wasn’t. It was big and bright and decorated as if the Moonscale Flight was hosting a family reunion. Photos of the happy couples were plastered everywhere, and a seat up front was saved with Lotus Cromwell’s photo on it.

“I wonder how Nelum feels about that?”my dragon chimed off in my thoughts, but I didn’t have the energy to answer him.

We were there before most of the guests but once others started to pour in, the wedding was full of smiling faces, most who I didn’t know. Everyone knew Fred and my brother, Elio. From dragons to rabbits the whole venue was packed with more kinds of shifters than I ever imagined existed. Was this what the Starscale Worlds would look like in a few generations? How would we ever accommodate what everyone needed? There werea few babies now who weren’t dragons, and the councils were already trying to anticipate what they might need in the future. I pushed the thoughts away and pulled myself back to the present moment. A rabbit shifter who was probably barely legal by the smell of him was introducing himself and asking if my date was with me. Long grey ears set perched on the top of his head that made my dragon itchy to pounce. Definitely wasn’t interested in dating someone who made me want to eat them from the top down.

“I’m Marsin and I’m just here for my niece and nephew,” I said as politely as I could manage as I shook his hand.

“Hope you enjoy the city. Glitter Bomb isn’t the only club around, you know,” Phanton said, bowing his head and disappearing back into his friend group. He wasn’t bad to look at but waking up next to a tiny rabbit come morning wasn’t on my agenda. Besides, I had software codes older than he was and they updated themselves pretty regularly.

I stuck close to Elio as often as I could after that and was happy to play gopher for whatever the kids needed behind the scenes. I didn’t know the area well but navigated the spiraling layout of the club like I danced there every night thanks to the Starscale Dragon Flight link. My dragon remained suspiciously quiet as if he eavesdropped for the voice to come back. It hadn’t said a peep since we crossed through the Other World Gateway. Had the voice lost track of me? Was that even possible? Had I overlooked some bug in the house and the voice wasn’t coming from inside my brain at all?

“You can sit down now,” Elio whispered in my ear. “It’s almost time to start.”

“I’d like to stay with you,” I said, gripping his arm.

“Are you okay?”Elio asked, switching to the family link as Minter squirmed around in his arms going on and on about being the ring bearer for both of his older siblings.

“People keep asking if I have a date or a mate. They keep looking at me and I’m tired and I’m---”

“Oh, enjoy it,”Elio laughed, relief flooding his features.“You’ve been so stressed out recently. I don’t know what you’re working on but whatever it is you should really take a break. Even the kids are starting to notice it’s taking its toll on you.”

“I’ll tell you everything after we get the kids off on their honeymoons, okay?”I tried to reassure him.

“I hope it’s just too much work. If you’re having some scandalous love affair, I don’t know what we’ll do. We’re already watching Daliah and Sequin’s kids.”

“I’ll be fine. Go be the happy dad of the people getting married,”I said because I couldn’t call him the carrier of the brides or grooms.

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