I didn’t move, didn’t breathe as she circled the desk, reaching down to brush her fingertips over it. One last second of hesitation, and then she made contact.
Nothing happened.
She frowned, reaching both hands down to cup the large gem. The second she lifted it from the table, white light flared, blindingly bright as it filled the entire room, rendering us all momentarily sightless.
“What the fuck,” Galyna growled under her breath. I swayed her way, letting my shoulder bump hers in reassurance.
The light dimmed slowly, and I squinted, trying to see past it to make sure Brielle was okay.
While the rest of us had been startled, she was the picture of calm, a serene smile and gentle cant to her head as she lookeddown at it. Her hair floated softly in the air around her, as if so charged with magic, it couldn’t possibly lie flat.
Brielle looked up, and I gasped, because her eyes were glowing white too.
“It’s working.”
Chapter 2
Valens
Everyone’s eyes were on Brielle, but I only had eyes for Elodie.
Sure, the little omega gleamed like a power beacon, awe-inspiring and terrifying in equal measure. Terrifying becausemymate was meant to stand between that beacon of light and the onslaught of attackers who would surely be on our doorstep soon.
My wolf didn’t like it, not one infinitesimal bit.
But perhaps the dangers of her job would be a moot point. I knew very little about the maidens, but one of the key job descriptors was that they were unmated females. Now that I was sure she was meant to be mine, well, it was only a matter of time until she no longer qualified.
Granted, she had shown zero acknowledgment of what I now knew. Maybe she was in denial? It was a shock to find one’s mate, especially a stranger from a recently enemy pack.
I was shocked, at the very least. But the shock was quickly wearing off in favor of awe.
Elodie was a glorious she-wolf. Fierce, loyal, strong, and so gorgeous that any male would be lucky to have her. Her dark brunette hair was a contrast to her smooth, creamy complexionand her rosy cheeks. She wore red lipstick every time I’d seen her, accentuating those utterly kissable lips. And her eyes, well… The crystal blue was mesmerizing, framed by thick dark lashes. I wanted to stare into those eyes for the rest of my life. Even in her uniform, she shone like the brightest star on a velvet night.
The way my pulse raced just being next to her was absolutely insane by human standards. But touching her was like being struck by lightning. Every cell in my body hadchangedwith the instinctual knowledge that she was mine. My mate, my forever, irrevocably.
The greatest gift the Goddess could bestow, standing before me in the flesh.
Granted, at the moment, she was standing with her arms crossed, keeping her distance as if she might catch the clap from evenglancingmy way.
That was okay. I’d win her over if it took a hundred years. What was a wolf, after all, if not a hunter?
I would hunt Elodie Carmichael to the ends of the earth, if that’s what it took to win her bond.
“Holy shit, that’s incredible,” Fiona said, drawing my attention back to the matter at hand. The whole landscape of the wolf-shifter world, changing during my lifetime. “Do you feel anything different?”
“Peace.” Brielle lifted her hand from the omega stone, and her hair slowly floated back down, her eyes regaining their usual frosty brown color. “An overwhelming sense that everything is going to work out.”
Gael ran a hand over the back of his neck, his concern practically hanging in the air around him. “As heartwarming as that is, I think we were all hoping for something a little more concrete. There’s no chance you stay hidden now, which means all our days are numbered unless we have a plan.”
Brielle shrugged, casting a look over her shoulder at the high alpha. “I can’t tell you anything other than the stone feels…” She lifted her hands in the air, searching for a word. “Connected. Alive. I don’t know for sure that my omega gifts have spread to all the packs worldwide, but maybe we can figure out a way to test it?”
Gael nodded, jaw tight.
“What powers are you hoping to test?” I asked, still unfamiliar with the history of this unique pack I was now linked to.
“That’s where it gets tricky,” Lucien answered from my other side. “She has powers of healing and fertility. No female wolves in our pack will ever die in childbirth again as long as Brielle lives. Our hope was that the stone would extend those powers to all wolf packs that serve the high alpha, if not every wolf worldwide.”
My knees nearly buckled at the words, sorrow and memories grabbing me by the throat with the force of an eagle’s claws. “A blessed gift indeed,” I managed to choke out.
