Okay, there was zero chance Jewels knew about us, then. She would hate to have another ancient and powerful line still alive, especially when we were blended with wolves. There was no way she wouldn’t have tried harder to kill me had she known…
“My mom was an alpha wolf,” Constantine continued, “one who was very powerful. She was born in Europe, and at the time theyweren’t forming quintets and instead had large packs. She was the Ultimate Alpha of hers, which was almost unheard of for a female. You come from a strong line on both sides.”
“Did Fletcher know about my heritage?” I asked him, wondering how Jewels couldn’t have known. “Was that why he was waiting for me to shift and designate as an omega…? To see if I also had a magical side?”
For the first time, my father’s expression fell, and his scent turned bitter. Citrus had never been my favorite to start with, and when you added rotten orange, it was even worse. “I believe Fletcher knew most if not all of who we are,” he confirmed. “Your mother followed my instructions for a few years, but after she fell in with the Rogers pack, she was under their control. She would have told them everything.”
“Why did Jewels not kill Emme immediately?” Slade asked, following the same train of thought I’d had before. “That witch would never tolerate another original line running around when she wants to be the top power.”
“Either she doesn’t know or she doesn’t care,” Constantine said with a shrug. “Though that’s unlikely. The most probable scenario is that Fletcher didn’t want to share the power of an omega-witch.”
He was dead now, so his intentions no longer mattered. Jewels, on the other hand, still very much mattered.
“How did your parents meet?” I asked. As a shifter who’d always been kept in the dark about my history and family, I wouldn’t waste this opportunity to learn more about them.
“I could find no evidence of your origins,” Slade said, his warm fingertips tracing softly down the back of my right arm, sending goosebumps over my skin. It was such a casual touch, and yet it had a devastating effect on me. “There’s nothing in our history or reference books.”
Constantine’s expression tightened, and no one could miss the pain as he spoke. “They met during a war of course. Shifters have been battling witches forever. Probably as long as shifters have existed. They were both injured, and found themselves in the same cave. Instead of following their instinct and destroying each other, they helped the other to survive, and then…” He shrugged. “Fell in love, I guess. They snuck around for years, and after the war was over, Mom found out she was pregnant.”
We already knew Constantine was old, so this had to havehappened many decades ago. “They’re no longer alive, right?” He’d basically said that before, but I wanted confirmation.
He shook his head, and there was an ache in my chest as I watched him stand so alone. Just as I’d been for many years. Before my pack.
“They died before you were born, both from aging-related illnesses. Witches and wolves have similar long lives, and those two lived longer than most. I still don’t know how they managed to overcome the rules of nature and produce a child, but apparently we are an anomaly.”
Even in nature, there were animals that occasionally slipped through the genetic cracks and found a way for incompatible DNA to stitch together.
“So, Jewels targeted our pack simply so we’d be in position to take out Fletcher when she needed him gone?” Slade asked, seeking confirmation of our working theory. “It had nothing to do with Emme, or the fact she’s our fated mate?”
“As far as I know, nothing to do with Emme,” Constantine confirmed, his grief fading away as if it had never been there. “She needed Fletcher’s blood-related family to take him out, so she could not only break free from him, but also use his energy to enact her curse. Fletcher was powerful from his stolen omega essences.”
My stomach lurched. “Wait,” I said, holding a hand up. “I thought omegas could only share with bonded mates?”
Mom had said she was a scent match, which I knew was bullshit, but they were bonded.
“Technically true,” Constantine confirmed. “But rumor was that Fletcher figured out how to simulate fake bonds and scent matches. I’m assuming he also wasn’t opposed to forcibly biting omegas during his experiments. There were many ways he could steal their essences.”
A shudder ran through me, and Slade snaked an arm around my waist, as if we both needed the anchor. “I’m lucky he didn’t try that with me,” I whispered.
“I’ll bet that bastard was tempted,” the dragon growled. “Only he had bigger plans for you. One that would power his greatest weapon.”
Constantine rubbed a hand over his face, his eyes holding a weariness that only years of pain and suffering could bring. “Yeah, he wanted Emme’s power, but Talon was his shot to destroy the cities. He made the choice to boost his weapon’s strength instead.”
I had never been happier for him to have underestimated Talon’s true nature.
“Emme turning out to be your mate,” Constantine said, “was the worst thing that could have happened to JewelsandFletcher. She was the chink in both plans, and neither of them knew it until it was too late.”
And the largest reason they hadn’t known, especially Jewels, was due to Constantine keeping me safe, hiding my magic from the world.
Slade snarled, his big chest heaving behind me. “We’re going to be her downfall. I don’t care how powerful she is, or how long this has been in the works, Jewels won’t win. The entire world will burn before that happens.”
I’d be right there lighting the first spark.
“I believe the reason Emme is your mate,” Constantine said, his focus moving between us both, “is that with her Alterni magic in your combined essences, you will be strong enough to stop the witch’s plans.”
It was my turn to scowl. “That’s not the sole reason.” I refused to accept our bonding was only about Jewels and saving the world.
Slade was right there with me. “Emme is the perfect match to our beasts and souls,” he said, a warning snap in his words. “The heart of us all. Anything else is just an added strength from the goddess, as she knows who her most capable soldiers are. Emme would be ours even if we’d all been born human with no magical ties.”
