Page 40 of Sinful Shifters

"I know. It worries me too, Wild One." Running fingers through his hair, he adopts an uncharacteristically serious tone. "I'll have a lot of work to do here once I'm alpha. It may keep me away from you and the other packs."

My heart thuds in my chest. "I understand. An alpha's first love is his pack, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Ah, but see, that isn't all." He pulls me to him, kisses me deeply, and holds me close. "This will be your home too, if you'll have me and the Sky Pack. I know I already announced it to everyone—I get ahead of myself—but I want to ask your formally. Will you agree to be my mate and visit me whenever you can—even if I'm stuck in the clouds?"

My heart races, and I admit that this is part of the plan I hadn't even considered. If the four gods are each alphas of their own pack, they'll have to stay with those packs, especially at the beginning when the bond is fresh. That means I'll only be able to be with one at a time.

"I don't want to leave you. I don't want to leave any of you guys," I admit. "I understand that the four packs are in different places, and being their alphas is part of the plan. I just wish I could be in four places at once."

"Once we're bonded, you'll be able to me him at all times," Lucian reassures me, drawing me close with a smile. "I'll miss you too though, my Wild One. Maybe Ali can steal that teleportation spell from Teller so you can come here in an instant."

"I would like that," I tell him, feeling a blush spread across my chest. "I really, really would."

I can feel my heat sparking in the high mountain air. The people of the pack lands are waiting impatiently for their alpha, though. Sighing, I tell Lucian, "You need to go lead your people. But promise me that you'll be with me for my heat?"

"The mountains themselves couldn't get in my way when it's time to knot you and claim you."

We kiss again, and he steps up to the plinth, looking around at the Sky Pack people.

He's never looked so somber before, or acted so serious. As he reaches out with his magic to unite them together, and raises his voice in a speech, I feel a burst of attraction for him in a whole new way.

And I can smell my perfume in the air stronger than before. As heat settles in my belly, and my skin starts to itch, I grab Ali and pull her to the side.

It's time to talk to her about something important.

While Lucian claims his pack, I turn to her and ask her, "Is it really possible for witches to see the future? Especially powerful witches?"

"Yes—but it takes a lot of magic, and I've never done it before." She frowns at me, considering. "I could try a foresight spell, but I have to be honest, it may only show me one of dozens of possible futures. Only powerful seers are capable of sorting through them, so—"

"I don't need to see the future. I've already seen it."

She looks confused, so I explain what Teller showed me. Ali asks several questions, and we come to the same conclusion: it was a truthful vision of the future, but that doesn't mean it has to come true.

"You can change it, but you'll have to knowwhythat future happened," she cautions, taking my hands in hers. "If it's because what we're doing now somehow awakens omegas and causes violence, that's awful. But I don't know if there's another future we can choose. Especially if the alternative is letting Teller get away with his plans."

I swallow, squeezing her hands. "I think he wants to make me his mate somehow, so he can use my omega abilities to poisonallthe bonds inallthe packs."

She whistles, but murmurs, "That makes sense. Why else would he have been so obsessed with forcing your heat? And apparently he managed to give himself a knot, though I don't know how."

"I think he stole it from Eli—the First Alpha," I clarify. "That's what he's calling himself now. And Klaus, the Second Alpha, he called me Fern."

"Do you remember any of it? Her life?"

I shake my head. "No. I'm not sure if I want to remember it, either."

"Whatever happened to her, she could hold some answers for us," Ali says. "Maybe I could find a potion to help you remember, even if it's just in dreams."

"I don't know..."

"It could be the only way."

"I'll try it," I agree reluctantly. "I just hope that what I remember isn't too bad."

"I'm sure it won't be."

I'm not so sure. If Fern really did mate with Klaus at some point, the thought of remembering that makes my skin crawl.

Lucian is finishing up the ceremony, his magic reaching out to all the bonds, so we return to watching. I can feel the pulse of his powers as the wind kicks up around us. Sky Pack members lean in towards him, some of them shedding tears, their faces turned up hopefully.

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