Page 40 of Dual Nature

"It's taking effort to remember to use all of my heightened senses. I keep trying to focus on one of them, but then I lose the others."

"That's because you keep pushing your wolf to the side. If you let her co-exist with you, then you won't need to call on her because she'll already be there," I explained.

Finley tilted her head, giving me a look that told me she didn't understand what I was saying at all. "Okay, so you can feel your wolf in your mind, right? Where is she, and what is she doing?"

"She's curled up, taking a nap off to the side. Being on alert all night wore her out," Finley shared.

"Now, if you needed her, you would have to wake her up to get her attention because she’s completely removed from your human consciousness. If you let her linger in your mind without shutting the door on her, then she would share your state of mind without taking over. She’d be there as support, picking up on things your human side can’t," I said, educating her the best I could.

Being a born wolf, I'd always had to share space with my wolf, and being over a hundred years old, I couldn't comprehend how to live any other way.

"Will sharing space with her increase her omega influence over me?"

Ah, that was the real problem. "Little dove, no matter what you do or how you interact with your wolf, you will forever be an omega. Even when your elf nature manifests, that won’t remove your status as an omega. It might help level things off, or possibly make it worse, but we don't know. Being a born wolf, I don't understand the struggle of fighting against one’s nature, but I do understand not loving being a werewolf. As hard as it seems, learning to accept where you're at now is the only way to survive this life. You'll live half blind and deaf if you keep your wolf locked away like this." I reached up and tucked a flyaway hair behind her ear before stroking her cheek, willing her to hear what I was trying to say. "Don't let your frustration and anger at being made an omega ruin you like it did Craig. Sadly, I've seen too many lost because they couldn't accept who they became after getting bitten."

"I hear you, but it's hard," she answered honestly, leaning into my hand for comfort.

Even without an empathic gift, I could see how tough it was on my mate; she was such a strong, confident woman who was so capable. The glimpse I’d gotten of who she was before her first shift was astounding, but there was a different power in her now. She just couldn't see it yet. All I knew was that I was going to make sure she understood how amazing she was now, and once she matured into her elf abilities, she would be spectacular.

twenty-six

I was enjoying the peace and quiet of Zander's home, but it didn’t take long for the others to join us. Mason pulled me from Zander's arm, ignoring the growl that came from him, and curled us both up in the large overstuffed armchair.

"You know, snuggles, you are hard to get ahold of with all the others around," Mason murmured against my ear. "I had to brave the dangers of pulling you right out of an alpha's arms!"

I rolled my eyes at how dramatic he was being while the others found their spot. "Zander has news to share with us from his meeting today," I announced.

Hearing this, everyone turned their attention to the alpha in question.

"I wanted to wait until tomorrow, but my wise mate warned me that we have no idea what tomorrow might hold if today was anything to go by," Zander muttered. "My contact is old enough that they were around before the war between the elves happened. As far as they know, there has never been an elf that's been turned by a werewolf. By vampires, yes, but nothing else has been recorded or shared in the materials we have access to. They’re sending me books on the Light Elves' history since the Senate collected them all, safeguarding them in the vaults."

"Holy shit, how close are you to the Senate for them to allow such a thing?" Lane asked.

I watched Zander, feeling his internal struggle as he made the choice on how to answer. "It's my mother… Senator Morwyn Vaughan is my mother," Zander announced.

The others shifted in their seats and looked at one another in surprise.

"That certainly explains a lot," Colt responded, running his hands through his hair. "I always wondered why you were allowed to do what you do, proclaiming you’re a werewolf all over the world with your music. It always seemed odd that while the Senate wanted us to be integrated, they didn't want all our secrets told."

"You're right on that. I have to get approval on everything I want to say, especially if it's on live TV or the radio, but I've been known to deviate if there’s something that needs to be corrected," Zander shared with a grin. "As much as it has been a ball and chain in my life, it's moments like this where it's helpful. Mother was able to get me what I needed and shared something that will be somewhat helpful when Finley comes into her power. Oh, she also handled the issue with the Marshals as well, so they won't be bothering us any further."

Perking up at the idea of getting some answers, I leaned forward. "What did she tell you?"

"If you’re a full elf, which I do believe you are, then even though you’re soon-to-be thirty, you are still considered an adolescent. This means that until you come into your powers, you are unable to reproduce. Even if you've gone into heat, your body isn't ready to host a child, so it won't allow it to take root," Zander informed.

My jaw dropped at this; the thought of children hadn't even crossed my mind since I’d never planned on having any. I'd been given an implant by the Organization to stop pregnancies from happening; pregnant assassins just were not a thing, so while that was still my job, children would never be an option.

"So does that mean the birth control I'm on isn't needed until after I've 'matured'?" I questioned.

"The moment you had your first shift that stopped being effective. Werewolves don't process medicine the way humans do; our bodies burn off their benefits too fast. We also don't get sick or contract viruses like humans do. We run too hot for it to survive," Lane interjected. "That’s what our company is working on—medication that can be used on supers when needed. If a wolf, or any shifter for that matter, gets so wounded that they can't shift to accelerate their healing, there’s nothing we can do for the pain. Even the strongest drug only lasts for a half hour at the most."

I thought back to our training and the education the Organization had given us on dealing with supers. Poison wouldn't work like it did on humans; we’d been taught to always take off the head, hit the heart, or burn them so they didn't come back. With what Zander just explained, this made more sense; the poison or toxin would get burned off too fast to kill, so it wouldn't finish the job.

"Mother believes that your elf heritage is why you could be turned into an omega," Zander continued. "Being a born super made you more compatible with the werewolf mutation. Something about elves' natural disposition being peacekeepers and nurturers helped to make the omega designation possible, in particular. But many elves were more than that, with some even being fierce warriors, and this might be why you feel so divided in your nature. So far, you've lived your life like an elf warrior, but the omega nature is now pulling on that gentler side of you. Both are true, but one outweighs the other at the moment. Hopefully, once you’ve matured into your elf nature, it will help to equalize the omega side of things."

Even though what he said made sense, it still meant I was going to be dealing with this for the foreseeable future since I had no clue when my birthday was.

"Did your mother have anything to say in regards to any other known elves?" Lane asked.