“Well, I know you said that you two were…,” she thought about how best to put it, “together. But somehow Cat doesn’t realize you’re a ware? Is that correct?”
“Yeah, so what?” I returned, not sure what she was getting at.
Kierston’s green eyes rounded, and her cheeks got a touch of pink in them. “Well, um, she didn’t think anything was strange about the…deed?”
Mad Dog was the first to catch on. Made sense, seeing as though he’d probably been thinking along the same lines when it cameto Kierston. “Your knot, man. If Cat doesn’t know you’re a ware, what the hell did she think you were doing when you knotted her?”
I stilled, surprised I hadn’t considered that maybe my mate wouldn’t change until I gave her my knot. It made perfect sense now that we were discussing it out loud. Wares didn’t go around just knotting everyone they fucked. They usually saved it for someone special, like their mate.
“I haven’t knotted her yet,” I explained to Kiersten. “As you probably know, wares are much bigger than human men. I was working up to it,” I was trying to be tactful. Not because it embarrassed me, but because I didn’t want to disrespect Cat. “I figured when she was ready, she’d turn, and I wouldn’t have to explain what I was doing.”
Kierston’s face went from pink to red at my statement. “Um, no, I didn’t know that about wares,” she muttered, taking a sip from her glass and sending a surreptitious glance in Mad Dog’s direction.
I guess Mad Dog was playing the long game when it came to the pretty witch. He’d better hurry up. With Kierston’s good looks and connection in the supernatural community, she wouldn’t go lonely for long. I suspected the only reason she’d been single until now was because the bartender was waiting for a certain ware to fess up about his feelings for her. That wasn’t my problem, though. I had enough on my plate with Cat right now. I had nothing to spare to worry about my Road Master’s love life.
“So, I just need to knot her then?” I repeated, furious at myself for not coming to that conclusion myself. “Is that it?”
“Hold on,” Kierston said, running behind the bar and retrieving her purse. When she returned to the table, she had her cell phone in hand. “I’m going to call Maggie. She’s a witch friend. She knows everything there is to know about ware mating. If there’s anyone who can tell us about triggering sleeper omegas, it’s her.”
Mad Dog frowned. “How do you know that?”
Kierston paused and glanced nervously around the room. “I didn’t ask her or anything. It’s just her specialty,” she nervously explained. “All witches have them when they come of age. Maggie’s an expert on supernatural procreation and cross species cohabitation.”
Mad Dog looked both disgusted and intrigued at her admission. “The fuck? That’s a thing?”
Kierston kept her gaze lowered on her drink when she said, “It’s a very narrow and rare branch of witch study, but yes, it’s a thing. Maggie’s one of only three practitioners in the world that I know of who focus primarily on it.”
“You asked her about this topic before?” Blitz questioned with a bit of smirk on his handsome face. Mad Dog seemed especially interested in her response.
“No,” Kierston hastily denied. “She told me, I mean, everyone, about it at book club a few weeks ago. Maggie talks a lot once you get a glass of chardonnay or two in her.”
Mad Dog sat up a little straighter in his chair then. “Do I know this Maggie, per chance?”
“Um, I’m not sure. She has white hair and sometimes comes to the bar with Craig,” Kierston explained, her green eyes flittingback down to her phone when she couldn’t hold my brother’s intense gaze any longer.
Mad Dog’s hackles rose at this admission. “That male witch that keeps asking you out and won’t take no for an answer? That Craig?” He angrily demanded.
Pulling a face, Kierston sent Mad Dog a censoring glare. “They’re called warlocks, not “male witches” Nathaniel. I keep telling you that.”
“I don’t care what you call ‘em, Kay,” My Brother returned, “a man that can’t back off when a woman tells them no is just a fucking creep as far as I’m concerned. Plus, I know the impotent bastard hates being called that, so that’s what I’ll indefinitely be calling him.”
“That’s so mature,” Kierston sarcastically returned.
“Has he been back here?” Mad Dog demanded then. “He has, hasn’t he! I thought I told his ass?—,”
Kierston pressed the contact button and held a finger in the air to silence Mad Dog’s rant as she waited for her friend to answer. Luckily, though I’m not sure my brother was happy to be ignored, the older witch finally picked up on the fourth ring.
After Kierston had exchanged pleasantries with the woman, she put the phone on speaker so that everyone could hear the conversation. Catching the older witch up to speed with our problem without divulging any names, Kierston asked Maggie what she knew about triggering a sleeper omega into a shifter.
“They’re rare,” Maggie explained, her voice switching from friendly banter to that of a studious teacher. “I know that not much is written about them, as the ware community is woefullyneglectful about cataloging such things. They’re more concerned about keeping their precious secrets than preserving knowledge for the betterment of the supernatural community,” she heatedly critiqued.
It was no secret that the supernatural community had a lot of infighting. Wares and witches typically squabbled like stepchildren at a family reunion whenever they came into contact with one another. Both races kept their distance from vamps. And demons, well, everyone did their best to stay away from those evil bastards.
“And don’t get me started about their antiquated views on child rearing!” Maggie prattled on, unaware that we were listening to every judgmental word she was spewing. “It’s downright barbaric!”
Kierston mouthed,“Sorry,”before redirecting the woman’s tangent. “I’m kind of in a rush, Maggie. Can you give me the cliff notes version of what could trigger a sleeper omega’s shift?”
Maggie collected herself before she lowered her voice conspiratorially and divulged, “Like most things with wares, it requires sex. From my studies, I’ve learned a handful of things that can be done. This formula, though not absolute,” she warned, “will garner the best chance of success. A rough mating, followed by a bite, and then a brutal knotting of their primitive penises should do the trick. You know they’re significantly larger than human males, don’t you?” Maggie blustered, as though that was the scandalous take away from everything she’d just shared.
