After I'd finished telling Farley about all the unlikely mixed species shifter couples in my family, he shook his head in disbelief. "Man, I had no idea there were so many different types of couples out there. Here I was thinking I was messed up for crushing on a fox shifter." He gave me a playful nudge. "And you're saying they're all fated mates too?"
I smiled. "All of them. And I can't wait for them to meet you."
The idea filled me with joy. Introducing Farley to my family would cement his place in it, as one of us. And when our babies finally came, whether they were birthed or hatched from eggs, they would grow up surrounded by the love of the whole pack.
Farley’s brows raised. "You sure?"
"You're my fated mate. Of course I'm sure. What, did you expect me to just keep you a secret forever?"
"An illicit romance between a fox and a finch... Kind of exciting, don't you think?" he teased. "But seriously, Quinn, I would love to meet your family. I just hope they like me."
He sounded uncharacteristically shy when he said that. I supposed that even somebody as strong and stoic as Farley had to be insecure about some things, but I'd prove to him that he had nothing to worry about.
"Of course they will," I assured him. "Trust me, they’re the most welcoming group in the whole freaking wildlife reserve. Hell, maybe even the world."
"Good to know."
I edged closer to him and took his hand. He glanced down at me with a warm gaze.
"I know you're used to being the big bad omega who has to take care of everything himself, but you're not alone anymore," I said. "I'll always be with you. And by the way, I'm not some snivelling weak alpha either. I can hold my own and I can even protect you, if you let me."
A smile spread over Farley's face. He stopped walking and pulled me into a hug. It felt raw and real, like Farley was baring the soft squishy insides of his soul to me. I smiled and embraced him back.
And even though it was a tender moment, I couldn't help running my hands over his sexy shoulder blades and back.
He chuckled. "I can feel that, you know."
"And what about it?" I teased.
* * *
As we approached our destination,the trees grew thicker and denser, like a natural barrier. The whole place had an atmosphere of beingwrong.It gave me the creeps. It struck me that the Society must have engineered their location like this on purpose to avoid being detected by outsiders. That only proved they knew what they were doing was wrong and it made my blood boil.
The building was even more inconspicuous because there was no path leading up to it at all. Since all the shifters who live there could fly, they had no need for a footpath, and obviously there was no gravel or asphalt road for cars either.
Farley held out a hand to stop me. "It's probably safer from here on out if we shift," he said quietly. "The only ones who dare approach the Society in human form are the alphas, and they'll know immediately we’re not one of them."
I nodded, then slipped into the shape of a fox while Farley took on his finch form. With my sharper ears, I heard the sound of dozens of voices coming from up ahead. They had a high-pitched and musical quality–shifters speaking in their finch forms. All of them were speaking over each other as if they were having a million little conversations. But to my surprise, none of them sounded particularly scared or alarmed.
"What is that?” I asked Farley.
"Those voices are coming from the aviary. It's where the omegas get one hour of free flight–" he said that phrase mockingly, "–per day."
I frowned, pinning my ears back. "But it's in a cage, right?"
"Yes," Farley spat. "It's a sick joke that the alphas play on us. They treat us like mute animal pets, not people. And the worst part is that many of the omegas don't even realize it. They spend their whole day waiting for their one hour of free flight, and then the other twenty-three hours hoping that an alpha will choose them as a mate. Makes me sick."
A shiver went down my spine. I couldn't believe such horrible things were taking place inside the wildlife reserve. A wave of guilt washed over me. How could this happen here in my home?
When I spaced out, Farley flew in front of my nose.
"Quinn?" Farley asked, concerned.
Feeling defeated, my fur fell flat. "Sorry, I just… I can't believe something like this is happening here. The wildlife reserve is supposed to represent freedom. How could I not have known shifters were being caged here?"
Farley folded his wings and landed on the ground in front of me. "Of course you won't notice things that aren't directly visible to you. It's not your fault that you didn't know this was happening. But now youdoknow, and you're taking action. That's what matters."
I nodded. He was right. I couldn't let my feelings of guilt stop me from doing something about it.
