Lucky took another bite and pretended not to look at the flirty pair.“I’m not sure my father would allow it,” he said, drawing the distracted attention of both alphas.“The driving lessons.”
Ford sucked his thumb where Chase’s mouth had been.“Don’t worry ’bout your pa.I’ll fix it.”
“Okay.”
Ford changed the subject to Professor Juniper, where even Chase talked about how much of a tyrant she could be, even to alphas.Lucky was sure the omega students were actively having information hidden from them, just because Juniper was a stout, shackle-omegas type of alpha.
When they were finished eating, they headed back to the market stalls.Ford charged ahead, clearly having a goal in mind.When they stopped at a stall with fortune telling, Lucky opened his bag to get money, thrilled with the prospect of getting advice from Omha.Twenty ohmns was a bargain, and he could clearly see the woman’s hand reaching for payment from another customer, revealing a line of familiar sigils on her inner wrist.
Before he could place the notes on the table, as the other customer left, Ford flipped out his hand, holding three notes.“A reading for the omega.And the extra.”
The woman slipped the notes from Ford’s hand and tucked them under a hardback book to her right.She gestured for Lucky to take the single seat in front of her table, then looked to Ford, assessing and cautious.“You can both stand over there.Readings for omegas are private.”
Lucky blushed, but Ford didn’t argue when she pointed to a large tree across the thoroughfare that would keep Lucky in his line of sight.Did the woman realise that Ford needed to keep an eye on Lucky?
“Let us know when you’re done.”Chase brushed a hand over his shoulder and stepped away with Ford, heading for the tree.
Smiling at the woman, Lucky took a steadying breath.She smelled of beta pheromones, but there was no mistaking that this was an omega Seer, an omega who had spoken to Omha, acting as Her conduit and servant, to spread Her wishes amongst omegas.
Now he understood why the readings for omegas were private.His heart pounded with a blend of anticipation and fear that Omha may have a message for him.
When she held her hands out, Lucky placed his hands over hers, palm to palm.“Your markings are beautiful, my dear.”
It should have been unsettling, but where most fortune tellers kept to the old training of reading palms, cards and auras, an omega Seer found everything she could need in the eyes.Lucky felt calmer than he had in weeks as she cocked her head with curiosity.
“Omha has blessed you.”She smiled, the stud in her nose glinting in the light.“I have a gift for you.”
Releasing his hands, the Seer stepped away from the table towards the back of her small stall.While she rummaged over high shelves behind her sale counter, Lucky checked on Ford and Chase.They were clearly enjoying the privacy, as Ford was already kissing Chase.
The Seer returned and said nothing as she laid a small pouch on the table and covered it with both hands.“The tall one who paid is your bodyguard and protector.The other is your true mate.”The Seer folded her arms over the table, attention drifting to where Ford and Chase stood.“You are unique, but I wasn’t sure how deeply you understood your gift.Now I see you have been left blinded in a world of danger, unprepared to fight.Yet you have forged weapons and are prepared to wage battle, even if you must do so blindfolded, shackled and mute.”
There was approval in her tone that gave him shivers.Swallowing the uncertainty, Lucky accepted the bare-faced truth.“I’ll do anything to be with them.The same way my true mate is the other half of my soul, Ford is a missing piece that binds us.”He spoke without caring about the consequences, uninterested in who might overhear or their opinion.Cryptic riddles or not, this Seer plucked his fears into the wide open, refusing to let him hide.
“Omha showed me that the bond ran through all three of us, and I refuse to let anyone?even the law?keep us apart or put barriers between us,” he said, making that promise to himself, the Seer and Omha Herself.He wouldn’t let anyone take his alphas from him.
The woman’s eyes flashed with approval as she sat up.She lifted the book she’d tucked Ford’s money under, slid the three notes out and laid them flat on the table.“There is a feeling deep in your gut that your fate lies in a new direction.”She laid one of Ford’s notes in front of Lucky.“Your heart flutters when he looks into your eyes and your slick flows like a river at a single kiss,” she continued, laying a second note on top of the first.“One omega, two alphas—three pieces of a whole who have found one another.Each willing to fight, to love, to forge a new path, because without one the other two are not whole.”Laying the third and final note onto the pile, she folded her hands atop.
Holding eye contact, the Seer’s voice became mystical and hypnotising.“The lessons you must learn are not clear, but they exist to be found by those with the courage to look deeper.With clarity comes choice, and with a choice, sacrifices must be made.It is unclear whether Omha will ask a sacrifice of you, as that decision is not in your hands.Another will choose.”She paused and blinked rapidly.“In fact, the choice has already been made.
“Although a sacrifice must be made, you will survive.For I see two hearts that beat solely for your happiness.Even if it means leaving behind everything you have ever known, your alphas have already made that sacrifice for you,” she claimed, a smile emerging, warm and tender.“Trust in them.Trust in your heart.If you are wise, strong and hold tight to one another, the difficulties you face will soon evaporate and unite you stronger than you could have dreamed.”
Before Lucky could ask what that meant, the Seer lifted her hand and waved, gaze focused over his shoulder.Lucky blinked, disappointed the reading was over.
“Will you allow me to donate to Omha?”
“I will.”
Lucky reached up to untie his hair.A hand brushed over his shoulder as Ford leaned his hip against the wooden stall post, politely keeping his distance while reminding Lucky that they were here.
“Your faith is magnificent.”The Seer lifted a prayer bowl to hold at heart height and blew until a glimmer of smoke emerged from the embers at the bottom.“How much?”
“Whatever Omha asks for.”
Lifting the burning stick of thick, homemade incense from the side table, the Seer dipped it into the bowl, closing her eyes as she said a silent prayer for Omha’s guidance.Lucky held his breath until she lifted the stick to his hair.
“Lucky!”Chase protested, crouching by his side.“What’re you doing?”
Ford rested a hand on the back of Lucky’s shoulders, gentle and comforting.“These are the old ways, meda.Not for alphas to interfere with.”
