Page 32 of This Fate That Guides Us
NOW PLAYING: THEWays of Love- Bahari
The sun is barely starting to peek over the horizon as I open the windows in the hotel living room. I should still be in bed curled around my sleeping mates, but my mind won’t settle long enough for me to go back to sleep.
This won’t be the first time I’ve run on only a few hours of sleep. It happens far more often than I’d like to admit.
Ever since my older sister Elizabeth got sick, the early morning hours have belonged to her. While she was at our parents’ house, slowly fading before our eyes, I’d sneak into her nest long after our parents had fallen asleep. Lying by her side I’d talk. About nothing and everything all at once. It didn’t matter what the topic was, I wanted her to know she wasn’t alone.
Hearing what happens when an omega is rejected by their mate is completely different from watching the fallout in person. It is utterly devastating. Heartbreak and depression slowly steal them away. Their scents fade as their inner omega crumbles to dust. Elizabeth barely ate. She almost never left her nest. She was a shell of the person she was before she met her Fated mate.
I tried to save her. To remind her she had a family who loved her and a bright future chasing the dreams she’d clung to since childhood. It wasn’t enough. We had woken one morning to find she’d made her choice. She left us and this world behind.
One day I will see justice brought to the cruel alpha who used her and tossed her aside, shattering her omega and stealing her from us. He and his entire vile family will know the pain she endured during the last several months of her life.
Thinking about the awful rules some states require omegas to adhere to, my mind returns to our mystery omega mate. My concern for their safety hasn’t faded in the year since we discovered their existence. It’s an ever-present feeling at the back of my mind.
Grabbing one of the easy wash markers we keep for writing messages to each other, I get to work. I may have promised our mate we would wait until they were ready to approach us, but that doesn’t mean I have to hold back from checking in when the tension grows too high.
‘Hello Omega. Just checking in to make sure you are safe. We are only a message away if you need us to help you break free of whatever prison keeps you from us. -W’
Looking at the message it feels weird to still be using the initials of our birth names when we no longer use them in real life, but knowing we used them in our last messages with our mystery mate, I don’t want to confuse them by switching to our stage initials. I set the pen aside and settle onto one of the chairs,my feet propped on the wall as I watch the sun rise further into the sky.
As far as I know, none of my packmates has tried speaking to our mystery mate again, so I don’t know if I will even get a response. I let my eyes flutter shut. Watching the sunlight dance behind my eyelids as I attempt to allow sleep to find me once more.
Moments pass before I feel it. Warmth and peace. Like standing beneath a noonday sun in the middle of a summer festival. The energy signature of our mystery mate. The skin below my message tingles signaling they’re responding.
‘As safe as I can be.’
Another few seconds pass before more words start to appear.
‘I’m sorry. Knowing I exist must be stressful for your pack. If I could change things I would do so in a heartbeat.’
I didn’t intend to make our mate feel bad about our separation. I only wanted to confirm they are still out there, alive and unharmed. Maybe to know they still want to be with us too.
‘Please don’t apologize. I promised we would wait for you and I meant it. I just needed reassurance you weren’t in danger. -W’
Another several minutes pass before they write back.
‘I’ve spent my entire life dancing on the edge of a perilous cliff. No matter how many times I may slip or even if I fall, I’ll never stop finding my way to you.’
Wild horses stampede in my chest, the rapid beat of my heart ringing in my ears as I reread their words.
‘What brings danger to such a sweet omega? -W’
They may not answer but I have to ask. I want to know what obstacle is keeping us apart. Maybe if I have a clue I can find them and offer the help they seem so reluctant to request.
Noise inside the bedroom alerts me to one or more of my packmates waking. Glancing into the kitchen, I see it is nearly ten. I’ve been sitting in the morning sun for almost three hours.
“Come back to bed, Neb,” Callisto mutters sleepily as he peeks around the door frame. His shoulder-length hair is messy around his head. Several strands fall down across his face. He blows the pieces away and offers me a hand. I accept it easily, letting him pull me back into the big bed with our other mates. My beta curls against my side, his breaths quickly evening out as sleep reclaims him.
My own eyes grow heavy with sleep, but as I linger on the edge of oblivion, another message comes through. Lifting my arm, I fight back a curse at the words written there.
‘There are people in my life who would destroy us all if they were ever to find me. I’m a threat to you all by sharing this connection.’
Hopefully, one day soon I will find a way to rescue them from the danger causing their fear.
It’s early afternoon when I finally roll out of bed, surprised to find I’m the last one sleeping. We usually have to wake Nexus up to get him moving.
After a quick shower, I hear my mates chattering from the living room of our suite and head that way. Titan is sprawled across the couch, his long legs kicked up on the edge of the chairCallisto is sitting in. Nexus is pacing across the room, his phone in one hand while he chews at the nails of the other. A nervous habit. One we’ve all tried to help him find healthier coping mechanisms for.
