CHAPTER 6

"Rhea Mooncrest! Are you listening, Omega?" Professor Olin Greaves' voice, sharp and laced with his usual disdain for Omegas, penetrated the fog of my confusion.

I blinked, trying to focus on the ancient texts he was quoting. Lunaris Academy. History class. It felt distant, unreal. My body kept vibrating, a low, persistent hum that was both uncomfortable and deliciously exhilarating. The warmth, which had got the better of me at the Mooncrest Estate, now retreated to a bubbling undercurrent, a promise to come back. And the bond. the bond was an endless whirlpool of emotions from the four Alphas. I felt their frustration, their rage, their possessiveness, all channelled towards me.

"Mooncrest!" Greaves snapped, his eyes fixed. "I daresay you'd like to enlighten me as to the historical significance of the Alpha Council's decree regarding Omega mate selection?"

My stomach lurched. Mate selection. The very words sickened me. I pushed back from the table, the sound of stone on wood creaking out in the still room.

"I. I must go," I mumbled, not looking at anyone. The desire to escape, to clear myself of the suffocating walls of the academy, consumed me. My body was a stranger, a traitor. It had betrayed me at the ceremony, it had betrayed me with Darius Blackmaw, and now it seemed to be betraying me again, quietly, deceitfully.

"Sit down, Omega!" Greaves thundered, his face purple. "You are not going to disrupt my class!"

But I couldn't. The walls were closing in. The air reeked of Alphas, even though they weren't anywhere in the room. It was the echo of the bond, their presence a ghost limb I couldn't shake. I was running, slamming through the thick wooden door, without regard to the gasps and whispers that followed behind me.

I ran through the halls of the academy, a blur of motion, my lungs burning. I did not know where I was going, just that I had to escape. The scent of the pack, the mutterings, the weight of their expectations suffocating me—it was all too much. I was racing towards the back of the academy, towards the lesser-used paths that led to the Whisperpine Forest. It was where I would secretly run to as a child, a sanctuary, an escape.

"Rhea! Wait!"

The steady, even voice cut through my terror. I didn't need to turn to know it was him. Kai Wolfe. His scent, a cutting, academic smell of parchment and chill air, was now blended with a low, insistent claim that stirred my Omega instincts to a frantic mix of fear and familiarity.

I didn't relent. I walked harder, my legs pumping, the trees closing in.

He grabbed me quickly, his fingers wrapping around my arm. His grip was not violent, but it was firm, unyielding. It gave me a shock, a direct jolt of the bond, and an inrush of his calculating mind, his cold control, overran my senses. It was too much.

You can't escape this, Rhea," Kai growled softly, his voice low and intense. He spun me around, pulling me to a stop, and I found myself face to face with him. His eyes, which were always so stoic, gleamed with something I couldn't quite identify—a hint of worry, perhaps, or just an increased degree of strategy.".

Let me go, Kai," I gasped, pulling on my arm. My skin was scorched where his touched it. The heat was building again, a slow, agonizing sear.

"Games won't do you any good," he replied, tightening his grip. "Your body is reacting to the bond. To us. It's an Omega response to your… unique situation.".

“Unique situation?” I scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping me. “You mean a curse! A mistake! That’s what you called it, remember? You and your friends. You all want to be rid of it. So why are you here? Why aren’t you letting me run?”

His eyes were hard, piercing. "Because you're bound to us. Whether we like it or not, your health is now tied to ours. Your pain hurts us. And your heat… your heat ripples through the entire pack. It's a liability."

"A liability?" I shook my head, my voice full of anger. "That's all I am to you? A problem to be controlled? A liability to be controlled?"

He leaned to one side, his expression unreadable. "You're a Mooncrest Omega. Your mother was… unpredictable. Powerful. This bond, to four Alphas, has never been documented before. It is something we cannot afford to ignore."

"So you're here to study me?" I accused, getting angry. "To analyze the 'anomaly'?

"I am here to understand," he amended, his voice losing a bit of its remoteness. "And to warn you. What you are experiencing now is only a fraction of what this bond will introduce. You are not ready for what we are. For what this is."

He released my arm, but his hand remained for a moment, his thumb following the line of my flesh. It was a light touch, barely perceptible, and yet it sent a shiver running through me that had nothing to do with fear. It was an unsettling, uncomfortable sensation, a jolt of attraction that was frightening and yet overwhelmingly strong. It was the spark, leaping into life, even behind his cold mask.

"What do you mean, I'm not ready?" I squeaked, my voice hardly audible. The heat was mounting, a burning pressure in the back of my eyes, a pulsation in my center.

"This bond… it takes a level of control, of awareness, that you lack," Kai told me, his eyes scanning my face as though he could perceive the turmoil within me. "It will amplify everything. Your emotions. Your fears. And your Omega. You are fighting it, and it will only make it worse. You need to learn to control it, or it will kill you."

"Control it? How? By letting you boss me around?" I snapped back, the memory of Ash's threat ringing in my head. "You are mine. All of us. The four of us."

"Control is not domination, Rhea," Kai whispered, his voice surprisingly gentle. "It is sometimes about knowing. About adapting. You can choose. You can fight us, and be broken by this tie. Or you can learn. From us. From your mother's legacy. And perhaps, live."

He stepped back, creating a small space between us. The air chilled, the energy between our connection lost a little, but his words stayed with me, heavy with significance.

"Your warmth will return," he continued, his tone deep. "And when it does, it will be stronger. More demanding. If you're not prepared, it will be unsafe. Not just for you, but for us. And for the pack.".

He paused, his gaze scanning the road that wound into the Whisperpine Forest. "Theon has guards on the major roads. But the forest… it possesses its own secrets. And its own dangers. Be cautious, Rhea Mooncrest. You walk in paths you do not understand. And you are not as isolated as you think."

And with that threatening warning, Kai turned and walked away, his steps silent on the academy path. He didn't look back. I stood there trembling, the anger brewing inside me, the bond a confusing mixture of emotion. His words, "You're not ready for what we are," continued to echo inside my head. What were they? What was this?

I looked out into the dark, tempting darkness of Whisperpine Forest. It was a risk, but staying here, captive and exposed, was a greater one. My body was fighting me. The Alphas were dangerous. And the only thing I had left to me was my mother's journal, tucked away at the Lake House, Lira's Rest. I had to get there. I had to know.

"Run, Omega," I whispered to myself