My Mate Is An Omega
Chapter 55

Caitlyn

POV

I grew up hearing my mother's stories about how nerve-racking it was to have a warrior as a mate, but I couldn't really understand her feelings until I was mated to one.

The first time I had to let Lance go so he could help defend Diamond Tempest, back when we were still a simple Omega couple, I was on edge until we were reunited. Even as a Luna, with the confidence that my mate was the strongest wolf in our pack, the disquieting feeling did not go away. I was utterly distraught when he led the attack against the bears, but this time was even worse - probably because I knew the enemies who had been terrorizing us for so long wouldn't be back unless they were certain that they would get what they wanted.

I paced around our bedroom restlessly. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest as I waited for any updates regarding the battle, subconsciously rubbing my hand over my small baby bump. The thought of having to raise my pup without a father, much like my mother did, terrified me. In fact, I wasn't even sure if I could survive without him. Losing my first mate hurt, but I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose Lance; just thinking about it caused me enormous pain.

"Our mate will be back, Cait. They will not leave us alone," Faye tried to reassure me, but for the first time, I couldn't bring myself to truly believe her. Judging by how she didn't insist when I refused to reply, I guess she didn't believe her own words either. Whether it was the pregnancy hormones or just my irrational fears speaking louder than ever, I had a feeling something was off. From the bottom of my heart, I hoped to be wrong; I hoped my she-wolf was right. I kept staring at the double doors, anxiously waiting for the moment when the love of my life would open them and run straight into my arms. He would shower me with kisses like he always did, before smiling to joyfully tell me, "We won!" Sadly, it was nothing but a fantasy that came crashing down when I overheard the men whispering from the other side.

"Did you hear that? The enemy is retreating," one of the warriors Lance sent to guard the Alpha suite asked, his voice filled with confusion.

"Yeah, the Beta just linked me," the other wolf replied. "But I guess it's not that weird. Hasn't this been their strategy all along? They always hit and run."

My eyes widened as I was overwhelmed by fear. Sure, the man's reasoning made sense, but for some reason it brought me inexplicable despair; I immediately knew this couldn't be good. My feet began to move without command, rushing towards the exit. I was running solely on instinct as I burst out the door.

The two guards were startled when their eyes landed on me, but they sure had fast reflexes - I wouldn't expect less from some of the best warriors of our pack. They both placed their firm hands on my arms and shoulders to hold me in place, careful not to hurt me or the future heir.

"What's wrong, Luna?" The youngest one, John, tried to calm me down.

"Let me go!" I screamed as I struggled to be released from their grip. I was using all of my strength, yet they wouldn't budge.

"Luna, it's not safe for you to come out yet!" William, the older one, argued. "The bears are still retreating. If any of them crosses paths with you-"

"I don't care! I need to replace him!" I cried out. As useless as my efforts were, I never stopped trying to break free.

"The Alpha gave us strict orders to-"

I finally stood still when an idea crossed my mind, and I didn't hesitate. "I command you to let me go!" My hazel eyes glowed golden as I used my Luna tone on them.

There was worry in their semblances as they dropped to their knees, but they couldn't fight a direct order from their Luna. Although the Alpha was still technically the highest-ranking wolf of a pack, their mate had just as much power as they had. A pinch of guilt struck my heart as I looked at the fallen men before me; it didn't feel right to use my power in such an extreme way. However, the feeling disappeared as soon as I recalled what my priority was, and I quickly continued on my way down the stairs.

The moment I stormed out of the pack house, the anxiety grew in my chest, but I didn't dare stop running. There were no signs of battle anywhere near the town square, and it could only mean one thing - whatever the bears wanted, they managed to get it without straying too far past the borders. Tears streamed down my face as I repeatedly tried to reach Lance via mindlink, without any success. I knew it in my heart something had happened to him, but I didn't fully comprehend how bad it was until I made it to the battlefield.

The sight before me would normally make my stomach turn - dozens of corpses lying around over the crimson patches of snow, nurses tending to wounded warriors, cries of melancholy and pain. However, I could only focus on our small team of trackers surrounding the area. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Some of the wolves flashed me saddened looks, while others were too ashamed to even look at me. But it was only when my Beta turned to me that my heart fell. There was only failure washing over his features. I instantly knew he was disappointed in himself for failing his pack - I just didn't know why yet.

"Where's Lance?" My voice was barely a whisper. It would be natural for me to search for him, but I never broke eye contact with the second-in-command. It was as if I knew I wouldn't replace him here.

"Caitlyn, I... I need you to listen carefully." He approached me hesitantly. For a moment, I thought I would break down crying, but when he touched my arms, all I could feel was rage. "Where is he?!" I repeated louder, tapping my foot against the ground.

Luke finally looked down, unable to look at me as the words left his mouth. "We couldn't replace him. Our best guess is that..." He let out a breath before finally saying, "The bears took him."

When realization struck me, I was a mix of anger, agony, and sadness. Faye was desperate inside my head; I had never seen her cry before, not even when we were rejected. I wanted to let her out so we could search for him, but I knew it would be useless. Even if we did somehow replace any clues before our trackers did, we weren't strong enough to fight whoever took him, and I didn't want to risk our pup's safety. Oh, Lance, why couldn't you be more careful?

My legs were weak, my heart was pounding. The world around me was spinning. My vision was blurry due to my tears. There was so much going on in my mind, I thought my head was going to explode. Why would the bears take him? What would they do to him? All I could feel was pain.

Until Luke's voice cut through the silence again, causing my sadness to be completely overshadowed by my fury.

"It's okay, Cait. We will replace him, and-"

"How did you lose him?!" I growled at the blonde man, who just widened his eyes with shock. "You are his Beta! You were supposed to protect him at all costs!"

I lunged at him in a blaze of rage, punching his chest repeatedly, but he barely seemed to notice it. The waterfalls kept rolling down my cheeks, burning my skin as I continued to yell at my mate's best friend. I didn't even know what I wanted him to do; it's not like he could magically fix the situation. At least it helped me vent my frustration.

"Enough, Cait! Luke was only following his Alpha's orders!" Megan shouted. Only then did I realize she was now standing between me and her mate. Being a warrior and the Beta Female, she could easily restrain me. I thought she would be mad at me for snapping at her mate, but when I looked into her eyes, they were full of compassion. "I know you're sad. And you're right, it's our fault. We all failed our leader today," she admitted guiltily. "But screaming and crying won't bring him back. You are our Luna, and the smartest she- wolf I know. We need your brains now."

She placed one of her hands around my head, forcing me closer to her chest as I slowly calmed down. In the end, I finally gave in to my sadness and wrapped my arms around her as I cried louder than ever. She hugged me tighter, trying her best to comfort me. I don't know for how long we stayed there, surrounded by the warriors who all bared their necks in a gesture of grief as they watched their Luna break down.

***

After I ran out of tears, my best friend escorted me back to the pack house while the Beta, Gamma, and Delta took care of everything else. She prepared a warm bath for me and helped me wash my hair. About an hour later, I somehow found the strength to organize my thoughts so we could fix this. Once I was able to think clearly, I thanked Megan for staying with me, but she insisted that's what family was for. I took a deep breath before getting dressed in one of my long formal dresses and walked out of the room. Pushing all of my worries aside, I entered Luna mode.

By the time the sun came up, I was sitting in the Alpha chair in the office with the rest of the ranked members. The trackers reported back to me with the few leads they managed to replace in the short amount of time they had. We didn't have much, but for the next four hours, I relentlessly worked on our next course of action. As long as I could still feel the bond between my mate and I, I wouldn't give up. I was so focused I wouldn't even have taken a break to eat breakfast, but my friends reminded me it was important for my pup's health.

I was stressed out of my mind, but at least it kept me from thinking about the worst.

"Alright, let's review." I cleared my throat, straightening my posture as I held some papers. "Jasper, you will talk to the surviving scouts and see if they can give us any clues. If we can figure out where the bears were coming from, it might give us a more solid direction as to where their second hideout might be."

"I will also compare it with the locations they came from when they attacked us in the past, and try to determine a smaller radius for us to search," the Gamma added. "Exactly." I nodded at him. "Luke?"

"I will gather the warriors who can still fight, and make sure they are prepared to defend the pack. I have already linked the commander to let him know we will be sending more wolves on patrol until the Alpha is back," the Beta informed me.

"Good. For now, we have to assume our enemy's goal was to capture Lance, but we need to be ready in case we are wrong," I clarified before turning to the Delta. "Our priority is to figure out Lance's whereabouts, but we can't put our members' safety and well-being aside. Make sure the shelters are refilled with supplies, and replace temporary houses for those who live closer to the borders."

"Yes, Luna." Sasha rarely addressed me by my title, but my aura probably encouraged her to do so.

"This is all for now." I sighed, finally putting the papers down to look each of them in the eye. "I want you to meet me here in two hours. If you replace any relevant clues before then, link me. You are dismissed."

The Beta and Gamma calmly rose from their seats. The pity and worry in their eyes had been replaced by respect and determination - did I cause that? They bowed simultaneously at me before heading out of the office. The second they did, I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. I looked up to replace James, who had been helping us come up with a plan. There was pride in his semblance.

"We will get him back," he stated confidently. For a brief moment, I noticed pain in his eyes. "I won't let my son make the same mistake that I did."

I placed my hand over his, forcing a smile. "I trust Luke as I trust you."

The older man nodded. He headed out soon after, leaving me with the two girls. They just stared at me for long seconds before exchanging glances and unexpectedly wrapping their arms around me.

"Do you want us to stay?" Sasha asked.

"We can keep you company," Megan added.

I sighed, gently pushing them away. "You have your own tasks to do. And I think I might need some time alone." They hesitated for a moment, but soon lowered their heads.

"Let us know if you need anything at all," the Delta insisted.

They closed the door behind them, and then I was entirely on my own.

It was hard, but I refused to shed another tear. My eyes landed on the ring my mate had given me, and I almost sobbed. To think we were sharing the bed in the Alpha suite not too long ago... I don't think I would be able to return to our room until he was back in my

arms.

Unwilling to remain helplessly seated any longer, I stood up to face the huge floor-to-ceiling window. Alpha Dario used to stand here a lot, and so did my mate once he took the title. Staring at Diamond Tempest's beautiful territory seemed to bring them so much peace, but it didn't work the same way for me. I placed my hand on the glass as I looked out to the huge lake before me. My gaze fell on the horizon. Somewhere beyond the trees and mountains, my sweet warrior was waiting for me.

I slowly turned away from the window, realizing it wouldn't help me feel any better. Because I had nowhere else to go, I just paced around, taking in the details of the modern workplace. I slid my hand over the black bureau until I reached the tiny sculpture of Faye that Lance had carved so many months ago; it was his first gift to me. My she-wolf whimpered when I pulled it closer to my chest, analyzing it carefully. With a heavy sigh, I placed it back where it was, and my attention fell on the many drawers. We hardly ever opened them once we stepped up as leaders. Maybe I could replace something in them regarding the bear attacks.

After opening the first few drawers, I started losing hope of replaceing any relevant information, but at least it was a good pastime. When I opened the bottom drawer, which was filled with files and documents, I noticed something rather curious - one of the folders was sticking out a little, and it was labeled "Lancaster." I immediately pulled it out.

It contained a lot of information about my mate. At first, I didn't think anything of it; it was only natural for our previous Alpha to want to research more about a pup he found abandoned in the woods. I even found the results of Lance's first blood test, which stated that he came from an Omega bloodline. However, the deeper I dug into it, the stranger it got.

The folder not only had medical reports and lists of possible parents, it also had some more recent notes, probably written by Dario. They were actually more like scribbles; it took me a while to understand they were... theories. One of the papers had the title "the vision," followed by some loose topics, such as "the strongest warrior," "can he be trusted," "defeated the Beta in battle," and "is he really an Omega?" What?

I was starting to freak out when I noticed a small piece of paper at the bottom of the folder. It read "ripped a bear's paw off - stronger than a wolf?" and the handwriting was clearly different than the one on the other notes. Could it have been written by James? Then it dawned on me - the reason why the bears were attacking, why they kidnapped my Alpha.

Lance wasn't just an Omega wolf.

Who was my mate? Or better yet, what was he?