Page 58 of Omega Sanctuary

I reached down and touched the water, my thoughts jumbled over themselves.

No one could know everything there is to know about the sea. How far the water goes, how deep it was.

If I died right there I wanted to come back as a fish. A whale, a seal. Something that lived in the water.

Nova approached the water, kicking her feet. "It stays warm most of the year. We can go swimming in the grottoes."

Valens came to stand next to me, and I threw my arms around him. It was too much, all at once. I pressed my face into his shoulder, and he held me.

"It's okay, darling."

"It's so much more than I thought it would be."

Watching the water roll onto the shore and then back out again felt like the closest thing I'd ever come to how magic moved inside me. An odd thought, water and spirit magic were two completely different things, but the vastness of the ocean felt like the same depth as when I watched the spirits dance in the twilight nights.

Nova nodded. "There's all sorts of places to swim."

My heart lighter, we went back to the wagon.

A few hours later, we arrived at the Omega Sanctuary.

A group of Priestesses waited in the front courtyard. Urns of grasses and flowers surrounded them. It looked more like a king's seaside garden than a place to send troubled omegas.

The closer we got to the Sanctuary the more obvious the place's age became. The walls were white, but weathered from time. The cypress trees and flowing vines were all mature plants.

The Priestesses all wore flowing robes in pastel colors, corals, turquoise. They were older women, ranging in age, and I wondered what lives they had led.

One woman stepped forward. Her hair was pulled into a severe bun, and her mouth in a frown. "A wagon, Valens? Really?"

Valens didn't look sorry in the least. I glared at the woman.

He helped us down. I stayed close to Valens, frowning at the older woman.

The Priestess looked at Hashir. "And traveling with an unbonded alpha? What are you thinking?"

"Tibelda," one of the other Priestesses said. She wore a gold leaf circlet on her forehead. "It was an unexpected journey."

Nova lifted her chin. "We encountered soldiers. We had to improvise."

Priestess Tibelda sighed, as if we had done her a great injustice but she was willing to forgive us. She turned away, and Valens looked down at me. He wasn't smiling, but the corners of his eyes crinkled and the annoyance inside me faded. At least he was amused.

I, on the other hand, would have to spent time with the Priestess for the foreseeable future.

The woman with the circlet held her hands out to me and Nova. "I am Priestess Deja. It's good to see you again, Nova."

Nova pasted a polite but distant smile on her face. “Thank you. This is my friend, Zara."

Priestess Deja's brown skin was still smooth, and her coiled black hair looked like night, but something about how she carried herself betrayed her years.

"Welcome. We are blessed to have another omega to our fold."

I crossed my arms over my chest. Deja looked between me and Valens, and smiled. "Valens is welcome to stay with you, as long as you like."

Tibelda shot a look at Valens. She opened her mouth, but the Priestess to her left, a younger looking woman with gray eyes shook her head.

Tibelda was officially in my black books.

I sighed. "I have discussed that with Valens, but his work is important. If he could visit..."

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