Page 29 of Dual Nature

“Do you feel more relaxed with less of us around?” Noah asked as we climbed back onto the bean bag chair. “I only ask because you seem much less submissive if that makes any sense.”

Taking a moment, I thought about that and checked in with my wolf. She was contentedly napping, feeling safe, secure, and looked after. “Do you think it has something to do with you and Mason being tied to my elven side?”

“It could be, or the fact that your omega nature isn’t as on alert with the alphas being gone. You aren’t just a werewolf. You’re elf, too, so it might bring out some odd quirks in traits,” Noah mused.

“Seems like everything just leads to more questions than answers,” I grumbled.

Noah hummed and ran his finger through my hair. “Then I guess we better get reading so you can find some answers.”

It didn’t take Mason long to join us, arms full of snacks, and we dove into our research.

“Oh, here’s something!” I exclaimed after finding nothing in the first two books. “This explains why I couldn’t eat before you guys. Since omegas are at the bottom of the pecking order, we either have to go last or be given our food by an alpha.”

Mason shifted to look up at me from where his head was laying on my stomach. “I guess we should have figured that one out based on how you acted after your first kill.”

Hmm, he wasn’t wrong on that. I had assumed it was because I was in wolf form.

“Listen to this,” Noah cut in. “Empathic omegas used to be fairly common, but they’ve become more rare. Some can sense the mood of a pack member without touching them if they know each other. Otherwise, to get the best reading on someone, they have to touch them directly.”

“Are elves empathic at all, do you think?” I wondered. “Before my first shift, I could feel some of your emotions, but now it’s like I can’t block them out. At least all six of you guys seem to have your emotions under control for the most part except when you get mad. Could that be why the alphas affect me so much? Because of the double hit of dominance and emotion?”

The twins muttered an agreement with my logic but didn’t have much else to add on the matter.

“Ah, here! In this chat room, some omegas are talking about how stressful dealing with everyone’s emotions can be and how nests are a major help in recharging,” Mason said. “We might need to make you one in the pack house, so if things get too much, you can sneak away there.”

I was beginning to see why omegas lived a very sheltered, coddled life. Everything about them was emotional, whether it was pouring into others or taking the brunt of emotions from them. This was how they created balance, by understanding the mental wellbeing of all the pack members as a means to help them. Colt kept saying how this pack was so healthy, and this made me hope I wouldn’t have too much to deal with.

The trouble was going to come with the fact that I’d never been trained to deal with emotions. Feelings were something the Organization worked out of us, knowing the job would shatter us if we were emotionally invested. After all the research I did, sometimes I agreed with the hit and knew it was the right choice. Other times, it was someone standing in the way of a greedy person who just wanted to be richer. Either way, regardless of my agreement with the course of action, it wasn’t my place to judge. It was my job to pull the trigger or press the plunger, and in order to do that, you had to be good at locking away the parts of yourself that were too human.

Somehow, I was going to have to deal with emotions, my own and others, which meant unlearning decades of conditioning. Let’s hope these men were as understanding as they appeared to be as I figured this out because I could already feel my wolf starting to worry about messing up our job.

“Lane said something about a pack meal. What are those like?” I asked, setting my book down and grabbing some beef jerky.

Noah shifted behind me so he could see me better. “The alphas try to do them once a month so new members can be greeted and foster a better sense of community. See, packs live a little on the hippy side of life.”

“What my twin is trying to say is that we’re basically a commune. We share all the resources that we can amongst the pack. There is a giant ass garden, a school, daycare for working parents, patrol groups, cooks who make lunch for those working on property, and a few other odd jobs,” Mason clarified. “Elias, Noah, and I are heads of the patrols that watch our borders. Our territory butts up to the mountains, and we sometimes get lost humans wandering in. They’re mostly there to keep other packs or uninvited supers off our land.”

“Is there trouble with the other supers in the area?” I questioned, not having considered that issue.

Mason and Noah exchanged a look before they decided on an answer.

“It’s not that we have a problem with anyone, but having a successful, fast-growing pack draws attention these days. Some packs aren’t as well managed, and people are going hungry, sneaking onto our land to steal from us. We help a lot of smaller packs in the area, but they have to go about it the proper way,” Noah stated.

Mason sat up and turned to face me. “Like in anything, there is good and bad in all people or groups. Part of being in a pack is knowing you have protection from the bad in the world. Sometimes Colt will have Noah and me help out another pack if they need some strong enforcers. We don’t mind, of course, since we tend to get paid, but sometimes we help a new alpha stabilize their pack just because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Sounds like I ended up with some very noble mates, now didn’t I?” I said with a smile. “Alright, I think we’ve done a lot of research here today. Let’s do something fun until the others get back.”

“Oh, thank god,” Mason sighed. “What do you say we go check out the movie situation? That TV looked pretty badass!”

One nod from me, and I was tossed over his shoulder, hauled out of my nest and into the living room. It didn’t take us long to find out Zander had every streaming service known to man, plus tons of movies for us to select from.

“Oh, we are so watching John Wick!” Noah announced the moment he saw it.

“Nah, fuck that. The puppy gets killed! Why would we do that to snuggles?” Mason argued.

“Guys,” I interjected, “I love those movies. Keanu Reeves is one of my favorite actors. He does his own stunts and is sexy to watch.”

Noah and Mason gaped at me then gave each other a meaningful look. “Okay, so not gonna happen. What’s your next pick? What about Shrek? No one's sexy in that movie,” Mason offered.