My Mate Is An Omega
Chapter 22

Dario

POV

As the days went by, I couldn't get my last interaction with Lancaster out of my head. Two of the people I trust the most were telling me opposite stories, yet I was certain they were both being honest. How?

I am an old man, but I'm not easily fooled. There was a reason why I have managed to hold onto my title for so long, when most Alphas retired around their forties. Aside from having a powerful wolf, who still imposed respect even though he didn't have the same energy as before, I was wise. I surrounded myself with friends I trusted; I knew none of them would ever try to betray me. After Cordelia's insistence, I was afraid I had let love blind me, which is why I decided to test the loyalty of the one I considered to be my own son. The result brought me more questions than answers, leaving me uneasy.

Although Cordelia didn't look older than 35, she had already lived for approximately three hundred years. She joined Diamond Tempest during my father's reign, when I was still a pup. I didn't witness their encounter with my own eyes, but I had heard the story so many times it had been carved in my memory. My father, Hector, was out with his Beta on a regular patrol around the territory when they heard the sound of a fight in the distance. A few decades ago, our biggest enemies weren't bears, but wolves. More specifically, rogues - shifters who had been exiled from their original homes and lurked around in search of prey, usually attacking small packs to steal their resources.

To ensure the pack's safety, my father followed the scent of rotten flesh to the spot where the witch was fighting for her life. She had accidentally crossed paths with one of the feral, ruthless beasts. He and his Beta easily got rid of the rogue, but they still had an intruder to deal with. Cordelia was powerful, but she knew she wouldn't be able to defend herself against two other wolves. Instead, she dropped to her knees and begged for asylum. Hector wasn't brutal; he wouldn't kill a harmless creature after she bared her neck to him. Although wolves and witches didn't usually get along, he decided to hear what the woman had to say.

The two high-ranking males soon learned that the stranger had been cast out of her coven after acting against the other witches' and wizards' interests. According to her story, the ones who had once been their family had been corrupted by dark magic - instead of using their abilities for the good of the supernatural world, they would serve anyone who paid the right amount. Back then, my father still didn't fully trust her; Diamond Tempest only had a hundred members at the time, and he wanted to make sure they were all safe. However, she was quite convincing, promising to help him in any way she could as long as she was offered shelter. Aware of how useful a witch could be to a werewolf pack, he decided to give her a chance to prove her real intentions.

As the years went by, it became clear that there was no need to keep an eye on her. Cordelia's abilities helped the pack greatly on many different occasions, and she eventually became one of my father's closest allies. When I took over, she remained by my side. Whether it was because she felt the need to repay Hector for his generosity or because she ended up developing a soft spot for werewolves, she always did her best to protect me and my followers. I trusted her with my life, so when she claimed the stray was the enemy, I had to at least see if she was right.

However, the moment Lance dropped to the floor after being given a clear opportunity to end me and take my title, I was shocked by his loyalty. Cordelia had never been wrong about her visions before, but I couldn't see a future in which the boy would betray me. There was no wickedness in his eyes when he held the blade against my throat - only fear and love. The idea of harming me in any way frightened him, not just because I was his Alpha, but because he respected me as his own father. And that wasn't the only truth I learned with my little test.

The way Lance broke James' wrist during training, or how he didn't hold back against me, even though he didn't mean to hurt me made two things clear - he didn't know his own strength, and he was more powerful than he thought he was. More powerful than he should be. Cordelia disliked the boy from the moment I made the decision to take him in; she said lost children in the woods were always a bad omen, which is why she insisted I at least tried to replace out where he came from. After the many weeks I spent searching for his biological parents yielded no fruits, she advised me to test his blood. The results showed he was a perfectly healthy wolf of Omega blood. But after our training a few days ago, his lineage made no sense to me.

Lancaster stood out among the other warriors from a very young age. Until now, I blamed it on his determination; he was relentless in giving his empty life some kind of meaning. He worked day and night to prove his worth, so it was only natural for him to be stronger than the rest. But there was a limit to how far an Omega's strength could go, and I was sure he had somehow crossed it. What I couldn't understand was how.

With the amount of questions flooding my mind, it didn't help that I still couldn't figure out who was right: the witch or the stray?

"Alpha? Is everything alright?" The sweet feminine voice pulled me back to reality. Only then I realized that I had been staring out of the huge glass windows in my office for Goddess knows how long.

After blinking a few times, I cleared my throat. "Yes, child. What do you need?"

"I just finished reading the security reports. I highlighted the most important information, but the bottom line is, there have been no more bear sightings near the borders since using Cordelia's scent-changing potions." "Good. Hopefully those bastards will give us a break now." I sighed, looking away from her.

For a while, she remained silent. "Are you sure you're okay, Sir? You seem... distressed."

"You're right. It seems I don't have the same disposition as I once did." The fact that my assistant had been able to perceive my emotions was proof of that; I was letting my guard down. I touched her shoulder, forcing a smile. "Well, I think I'll take the rest of the day | off. You should do the same."

"But Alpha-"

"It's Friday, child. Go fetch Lance and spend some time together. Oh, and let him know I will cover the costs for the rest of his work day. That should get him to let loose and have some fun."

"Are you sure?" She looked at me with questioning eyes.

"Of course." I waved her off before leaving my office.

I was in desperate need of some time alone to think.

***

Caitlyn POV

After mindlinking my mate to inform him of the Alpha's latest orders, I headed back home to change into more comfortable, casual clothes. We hadn't figured out what we were going to do with our unexpected free time yet, but honestly, I wasn't focused on exploring our options - my mind was elsewhere. Although I hadn't known Dario for long, his behavior was quite abnormal. I wondered what could have gotten him so stressed out, considering the bear problem seemed to be under control. Could it have anything to do with the secret training he had with Lance a few days ago?

I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on the subject before my handsome warrior walked into the room. Noticing he had already removed his shirt, my eyes instinctively fell on his bare chest. The sweat dripping from his pecs down to his athletic abdomen made his tan skin shine, highlighting every single one of his muscles in a delicious way. He lifted his hand up to his wild light brown hair back - only now it was darker, drenched in sweat. My eyes finally stopped on his face, which was slightly flushed due to the physical effort his job required. The mischievous smile he flashed me evinced he was already aware of the dirty thoughts that crossed my mind.

"Damn! Mate is a snack!" Faye purred, and I found myself nodding in agreement.

"I'll take a quick shower, then we can decide what to do." The next second, he had his hands on each side of my legs while I sat by the edge of the bed, forcing me to recline as he leaned forward. Our lips were inches away; a single drop of sweat fell from his forehead onto my skin, but I didn't budge. "Unless you'd like to have me like this for a little longer?"

I smiled, pressing my hand against his chest to slowly pull him away. "I can wait until you're clean, you dirty wolf."

"The water won't wash away my thoughts, though." He shrugged, catching the double-meaning in my sentence as he turned around to head to the bathroom.

Once he was clean - and dressed, to my disappointment - we laid in bed together to evaluate our options. We decided to link our friends to meet us at the common area of the pack house so we could watch a movie together. Only Luke and Sasha were free to hang out, since Jasper still had a few more hours of work left. Once they all agreed to our idea, we left the house and made our way back towards the town square.

"It was nice of Dario to give us the rest of the day off," my mate observed, snaking one arm around my waist as we walked together.

"Yeah... But don't you think he's been acting kinda weird lately?" I finally asked. "I'm a little concerned."

He was thoughtful for a moment. "Now that you mention it, he was saying some crazy stuff on the day he took me to the borders. I almost had the feeling he was trying to get me to hurt him." "What?!" I widened my eyes in shock. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I don't know. I thought it was all in my head," he confessed. "He seemed... worried. Maybe he's getting paranoid because he's been leading Diamond Tempest for longer than most Alphas." "You think he's afraid someone might try to take his place?"

"Could be." He shrugged. "But he's fifty-four. Sooner or later, he will have to pass his title on to someone else."

"Any ideas who that wolf could be?" I questioned, genuinely curious.

"It's hard to tell. Never seen him talk about it." He scratched his light beard, searching his mind for an answer. "Perhaps Luke. He has been training to be the second in command all his life, and he's quite strong."

"Not stronger than you, from what I heard," I pointed out. There was silence for a moment before I went on. "You think he could pick you? He seems to be very fond of you."

"I wish," he snorted, turning to look at me with a big smile. "If you were my Luna, I would give you the world. Anything you want, you would get." He lifted me up in his arms to spin me around, making me squeal in surprise.

"I already have everything I want," I whispered sincerely. "You."

For long seconds, we just stared into each other's eyes before I leaned closer. I slowly moved my hands from his shoulders up to his face, cupping each of his cheeks. At last, I allowed our lips to touch, enjoying the sparks that erupted upon our contact. I managed to dwell in his mesmerizing taste for a brief moment before the sound of someone clearing their throat forced us to pull away. When I turned around, Sasha was standing right in front of us, dressed in a light blue sundress.

"I really hope you guys are planning on watching the movie. I don't wanna be the third wheel," she joked.

Lance gave me one last peck on the lips before lowering me down. "Well, you'll still have Luke. Maybe the two of you can have some fun, too."

"Hey, I'm down if you're down." The Beta's son appeared out of nowhere, flashing the black-haired woman a playful look. "You're hot, Sasha. I wouldn't mind adding you to my list."

"Ha! In your dreams," the Gamma's daughter retorted, making us all laugh.

Together, we headed to the small cinema room located on the first floor of the pack house. Diamond Tempest offered different kinds of entertainment to its members, but this was the one which caught my attention the most. Back at Ninebark, we used to have the usual game room and a simple library - as cool as they were, they couldn't compare to this. We all sat on the big light gray velvet chairs, while Sasha scoured through the catalog of the streaming platform in search of the perfect movie while Lance got us some popcorn. Once we were ready, we relaxed in our seats to enjoy the show.

The Gamma's daughter had picked a pretty entertaining romantic comedy; I had never been a huge film buff, but I was having quite some fun with my friends. About halfway through the movie, I noticed a small light from the corner of my eye and realized my mate was looking at the screen of his phone. An instant later, he told me he needed to take care of something and left the room. Usually, I would have requested more information about the situation, but I was too distracted with the movie to think about it. Fifteen minutes had passed when I heard my mate's voice inside my head. "Can you come meet me in the backyard? I need to tell you something."