Page 8 of Omega Sanctuary

I glanced at the kitchen. Priestess Sabine and Zabir stood in the kitchen.

My little kitchen, where one of Luna's own omegas stood.

"How can I help you today?" I mumbled, tripping over my own tongue.

"Your Nan..." Sabine trailed off, walking further into the room. She studied me like I was a strange creature stumbling out of the Wilds.

Zabir looked at me. His energy expanded in the room until it covered me, a bubble of air and steam.

He smelled good. Not as good as Jaiyen, but still delicious. I swayed forward.

"It is impossible." Zabir frowned, his voice almost a growl.

"Not impossible," Kivai said. "You're just not looking hard enough."

No one else seemed to have heard him. My knees trembled and I grabbed the nearest table. I wanted to go to Zabir, without really wanting it. It was twin desires, equally strong. Go to Zabir, no do not go to him. Not him.

My mind hunted for what I wanted, needed, but came up blank. I reached out for Kivai, but he side stepped me.

"Not yet, sweetheart." His voice was mournful. "Tell them to bring you to a shaman."

The foreign word echoed in my head. "I need..." I took a step for Zabir. He would make everything better, he would fix this.

Sabine looked between Zabir and me. "How..."

Zabir grumbled. "She's too old."

I shivered again, his voice melting the resistance. His energy wrapped around me, calling to me. I took another step forward in a trance.

Heat flared to life inside me. Zabir grunted, and wrapped an arm around Sabine. "Darling, she's switching."

Nan snapped. "What is happening to my granddaughter?"

Her tone should have brought me back, but I was too hot to care. The world went away until there was nothing but the electric energy inside the room, dancing around me. Calling to me. Golden light bathed the room.

Kivai was there, clear as day, his handsome face pulled down into a frown. He was blond, with a slender body. He wore a brown coat but no shirt, and runes ran down his chest like tattoos. The lesser spirits, the fireflies I'd been seeing for weeks, danced in the corner of the fire, and in the eaves, mice and moles, and strange hybrid creatures.

I took another step forward, the dreamlike quality so intense I was sure I was asleep. Zabir was almost close enough to touch. I reached out to him, wanting something warm and comforting, like the last hug my father gave me before he left.

"Do not dare." Sabine glared at me. Her look of utter reproach felt like a slap across the face. Her energy cracked through the room, like a door slammed shut, and I whimpered.

"Sorry." Heat burned off, leaving me shivering from cold. "Sorry." I didn't know what I was sorry for, only that she was glaring.

"Seven hells," Kivai snapped, closing the distance between us. "Does she have no idea what she's doing?"

He lifted his hands, and the stinging pain of Sabine's reproach went away.

Zabir nudged Sabine. "She doesn't know."

Sabine cleared her throat. "We'll get you matched with an alpha quickly."

"An alpha?" Nan's voice was sharp enough to cut. "She's got no business running around with those boys. They'll just use her up."

Sabine nodded at me. "She will have need of one soon."

I swayed, and Nan brought a chair over to me. "Sit down before you pass out. You're white as a spirit."

I got into a chair, strength leeching away. "I don't like to play their games."

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