Chapter 4
My stomach churned with sick apprehension. Noro’s words were something that should have happened in a movie, not in real life. Definitely not something that I ever thought would happen tome.
Great,I thought bitterly.I found out I’m an omega a week ago, and I’m already being lusted after like some kind of breeding stock.
“Well, we’re sure as fuck not letting that happen,” Ramsay called angrily. “So why don’t you tell the rest of your fellow gryphons to go eat a dick?”
I thought Eric might have shoved Ramsay if he wasn’t busy holding me. He snapped, “Are you an idiot? Do you really think they’ll just sayokay, sorry for the inconvenienceand fuck off? No. If we don’t give Matheson to them, they’ll come take what they want by force.”
Mom and Dad whirled around, glaring at Eric. Before they could berate him, he interjected, “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying we’re handing Matheson over. Very much the opposite.”
Despite the situation, I blushed. Hearing Eric be so protective over me was strange. It probably didn’t help that he’d been holding me tightly against his chest for the past five minutes, too.
“The wolf is right,” Noro said. “The other gryphons won’t take no for an answer, especially since the omega in question is a mere wolf in their eyes. They have superior strength, size, and the gift of flight. In a one-on-one fight, there is no contest.”
“Then why have you come here, gryphon?” Mom snapped. I’d never heard her so angry. “Have you flown all this way just to tell me my son is in grave danger?”
“No.” Noro stood again and shook out his wings. It made me realize just how big he was, easily three times the size of the biggest alpha wolf on the island.
“Then what?”
Noro looked straight at me, like his eyes saw directly into my soul. I shuddered.
“Matheson has great power deep inside him,” Noro said calmly. “It only needs to be unlocked.”
“The hell does that mean?” Ramsay muttered.
Noro’s lion tail swished from side to side. “It means only he has the ability to awaken other omegas.”
“What?” I spat, unable to hold myself back any longer. “What ability? I don’t know anything about power or magic, or any of that. I literally just found out about being an omega a week ago!”
“I know it was not your choice, and I’m sorry this responsibility was thrust upon you,” Noro said. “But the gods chose you, Matheson. You must unleash your potential and save the shifters.”
My mind whirled, spinning, making me dizzy. I wanted to shut my eyes and disappear. This was all too much information to take in at once, but at the same time, there wasn’tenoughinformation. I didn’t know what Noro was talking about, and for the most part, I didn’t want to know.
I wasn’t special. I wasn’t a chosen one. I was just one person!
“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I mumbled.
“Matheson,” Noro said, his voice booming. “Listen to me. The gryphons do not yet know of your awakening. They’re unaware of an omega’s existence around the lake. Use this to your advantage. Unlock the magic within you, and become powerful enough to stop them--if, or when, they do find out.”
“Are you threatening us, gryphon?” Gabrielle growled.
“It’s not a threat,” Noro said calmly. “It’s reality. I cannot control the actions of my kin. If they find out about you, Matheson, I can’t stop them. I can only slow them down. But I can help you.”
“Why?” I cried. “If the other gryphons want me so badly, why do you care?”
“I’ve told you already,” he said. “My responsibility as a Keeper is to magic, which you harbor within you.”
“How do I know you’re not making this up?” I barked back. Tears of frustration burned in my eyes. “How do I know you’re not just gonna go tell them about me?”
Noro lifted a talon and reached into a leather pouch around his lion’s waist that I hadn’t noticed before. The wolves around him growled, but it was half-hearted. Noro hesitated.
“Go ahead,” I told him.
The gryphon nodded, then pulled out a tattered old book from the pouch. It was barely held together, and I was almost afraid that it would turn to dust in Noro’s claws.
He opened it to a page bookmarked with a strip of fur.
