“One of our own?” Gabrielle asked, frowning.
“Neil of East Pack,” Eric finished. The corners of his mouth twitched into a scowl. “I’m sure you’re all already aware of his fate.”
At the mention of his name, a few others looked disgusted or disappointed. After the incident with Neil’s first--failed--capture, news had spread about his crime. How he had tried to forcibly take me away from my true mates, and intimidated me with assault. His fate was already sealed for threatening the son of his pack’s leaders, but he doomed himself further by attacking Noro, who had done nothing but help us.
My parents looked especially pissed at his mention.
“Neil,” Mom spat, her face halfway into a snarl. “If I ever see that weasel again, I’ll make him into a new fur rug.”
For once Dad didn’t have any gentle admonishing remarks for her. He seemed just as upset.
“So he’s gone? From all the territories?” Dad asked.
“Yes,” Eric replied. “We made sure of that. But let your pack members know that they should report to you if he’s seen around anywhere. He’s not welcome here.”
The other pack leaders nodded. I guessed that in addition to Neil’s crimes, they wouldn’t be pleased to have an outsider skulking around on their land anyways. It felt good to know that everyone--even members of other packs--were on my side.
I noticed now that most eyes were on me. Maybe I should have been used to being the center of attention by now, but in the month since my awakening, it hadn’t gotten any easier. It was different when I was just with my mates, but here, surrounded by their parents and pack guards, I felt small and insecure, like maybe the prophecy made a mistake choosing me. Maybe there was another omega somewhere out there better suited to this prophecy business, beyond the Lake of Four Directions and the mountains where the gryphons lived.
“Are you gonna tell ‘em the news?” Ramsay murmured, touching my hand. His warmth grounded me, bringing me back to the reality I still needed to face.
“Yeah,” I said. “I should, shouldn’t I?”
“You all figure out the prophecy yet?” Dan, Ramsay’s dad, asked over the fire. I remembered how he had tried to help us decipher it back when I stayed at Ramsay’s barn.
At the mention of the prophecy, everyone perked up and gazed at us expectantly. It was my responsibility to figure it out, after all. I wondered how much sleep they’d lost over contemplating the verse meanings, and how it would affect them.
Or maybe they didn’t lose any sleep at all. Unlike me.
Eric touched my shoulder. Ramsay held one of my hands, and Colton took my other one. Their hands were warm and comforting, giving me the strength to continue.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw curious and mildly confused expressions gazing in our direction.
“Yes,” I finally said. “The four of us think we’ve figured it out.”
“You have?” Mom said, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Oh, do tell us!” Linda, Ramsay’s mom, added.
An excited murmur rose among the small crowd.
I cleared my throat. “Well, er, Noro was mostly right. His interpretation that I needed to find love among the opposite packs was spot on.”
Every pair of leaders from East, South and North Pack all glanced at one another. I knew what they were thinking. If the prophecy stated that I was to fall in love with one of their alpha sons, each of them must have been wondering if it was their own.
Not quite wrong, are they?I thought in amusement.
“And, so, um… That’s what I did.” I shuffled. “And we figured out that the verse wasn’t talking about a season, it was about a flower. With four petals.”
I was met with confused looks. I sighed, knowing I was doing a fine job of screwing this big speech up.
“Huh?” Dan asked.
Behind me, Noro stood. “Shall I recite the prophecy again, to refresh everyone’s minds?”
“Yes, please do,” Mom told him.
Noro dipped his head respectfully, then began:
