Chapter 51

Luka’s POV

“If you work for an Alpha from a hidden realm, why are you here? I mean, why did you help me? It doesn’t make sense. I am an omega,” I asked, feeling out of place and awkward with Noah.

There was a pull on the mate bond, and I could tell Caleb was checking on me.

I frowned, sure Emma was probably cooking up some wild story about me. I didn’t want to go back to the conference right now. I wasn’t ready to face all those people.

We walked to the edge of the woods, where I nearly died a few weeks ago. I shivered, staring into the woods. A strange tingling sensation brushed up my spine. I glanced toward where I heard movement.

“You are an omega, Luka. However, you are the strongest omega to ever come to this world,” Noah said.

A young man stepped out from behind a tree. He was tall and lean, with an edge of power radiating from him. My body tingled.

As the young man moved into the light, I saw light brown hair, brown eyes, and high cheekbones. I recognized a familiarity in his look. I swallowed hard.

My wrist burned, but not like before with Noah. This time, it felt like a thud of a heartbeat. As the young man came closer, his smile was soft and tipped the corners of his mouth up. He bowed before me and scooped me up, spinning me around. He hugged me. I locked eyes with Noah, confused as to what was happening.

“We found you.”

He set me down, and I backed up, moving to Noah’s side.

“I am your brother, Draven,” said the young man, bowing once more. I took him in again, and a knot formed in my throat. He... looked like me.

I clasped Noah's arm. “What are you talking about?”

“We have been waiting a long time to find you,” said the young man, Draven. “You were taken from our home when you were tiny. Once through the portal, we couldn’t sense you. We had to wait until you shifted into your wolf to reach beyond the portal. Tapping into the bloodline.”

I rubbed my wrist, trying to ease the burning coming from the mark. Draven gently lifted my hand and ran a finger over the mark. His eyes sparkled. He turned over his own wrist and showed me a matching mark.

I checked his wrist. “They are the same.”

“Yes, it is the mark of royalty. A mark of our bloodline.”

My frown deepened. “Royalty?”

Draven rested his hands on both my shoulders. “You are the queen of Omegas.”

“I don’t believe this.” My mind was spinning. A queen. Noah and Draven must be mistaken.

Noah grabbed my hand and led me to an odd spot in the trees.

“Close your eyes,” he said in a soft calming tone. He came up behind me, hands resting on my waist. His lips brushed my ear and I trembled. I did as he said.

“What do you feel? Think of your energy as vines reaching out into the world around you.”

I wrinkled my nose, doing my best to visualize long vines with colorful flowers crawling over the ground and reaching out. There was that odd hum again, a vibration that rode the air that energized me. It felt the same as the day I shifted to save Caleb.

“I feel energy running from the ground and in the air. It makes the hair on my arms stand up.” I lifted my chin. “It draws me to a point over there.” I pointed to what I wasn’t sure.

Noah whispered in my ear again, and I pulled in a breath. “That is home. Follow it.”

I took a step forward and every part of me felt pressed upon, squeezed. I took another step, and the pressure eased.

“Open your eyes.”

I did. Noah and Draven were beside me. I gazed out toward rolling grassy hills, growing larger into distant mountain peaks covered with snow. Everything was lush and green. Trees flanked the hills and mountains.

There, not far on the edge of a cliff, was a white stone castle. A castle unlike any I had ever seen. It had a dozen towers with battlements running in between, a massive keep, a gatehouse, and a drawbridge, so wide an army could walk shoulder to shoulder over it.

Below the castle were lovely stone homes with gardens, hay fields, and cattle. People were everywhere, working, and playing. Laughter drifted to my ears. They looked happy, content. It warmed my heart. It felt like home.

Draven walked out in front of me and held out a hand. “Come meet your people.”

“My people? You are the Queen over all omegas, from all packs, from all realms. That is why you are drawn to them. That is why you fight to help them.”

My jaw hung and I snapped it closed. Tears filled my eyes. I had a brother and I was a Queen. It was so confusing and impossible to believe.

“Why…how did I get there?” I pointed back to the way we had come. Looking back, a stone arch marked the gate.

“You were stolen by an Alpha that stumbled upon the doorway between realms. He snuck his way into the palace, wanting to see what treasures we held. The castle is grand, yes. But we are simple, practical people. When he couldn’t find anything to take, he took you.”

“Father felt a disruption in the energy when the Alpha entered the realm, but once through the gateway, we can’t track the bloodline. It isn’t until you shift for the first time that your mark appears, and then we can feel the connection to your wolf and the mark. Noah and I came. The day you shifted and tried to save that man?”

Draven pointed, gaze drifting back in time. “We saw you. We have been watching you, waiting until you were ready.”

“Waiting for me to be ready for what?” I asked, hanging on to every word like a lifeline to a new beginning.

“Ready for you to leave that life behind.”

I worried my hands together, thinking about Caleb. He would be worried about me. Would he? I brushed the mark he had given me the night before. But then thoughts of today’s events pressed forward, slamming against the edge of my mind. The Alphas would be against me now if Emma had her way. I blew out a breath trying to stop the burning in the backs of my eyes.

“I have a mate.”

Noah spoke first. “There is no bond here. You can’t feel him, and he can’t feel you. You can start over here and never go back there again.” Noah’s amber eyes were a caress of hope and desire. I drifted in his gaze for a few moments. But I didn’t let his apparent feelings for me overwhelm me.

I took Draven’s hand, wanting to understand this place. “Show me our home.”

Draven’s smile took up his whole face, and he led me down to the nearby village.

“Are our parents here?”

“Yes, they are going to be shocked. I didn’t tell them I found you because I didn’t know if you would want to come back with me. And I didn’t want to get their hopes up.”

I stopped, unable to breathe. My hands drifted to my mouth. I whispered. “I have a mother and father?”

“Yes.”