“Or their loved ones.”

I nodded at Austin’s statement. “Or their loved ones, who get cast out from their pack. It happens rarely, Sabina.” I didn’t tell her that it had just happened to our neighboring pack—she didn’t need to hear that yet.

She blinked. “So, when you didn’t have a mate shown to you at your covenant, it caused a crisis?”

“Yes. Without a mate, an alpha can’t reign, but then when Eli was so strong, everyone knew he’d never have a position in the pack that wouldn’t be alpha. He was ten times stronger than all the kids his age, and that was when he was eight.”

She eyed me. “I thought you said the first shift happens at thirteen or fourteen.”

“It does. But mine happened when I was eight.”

“The younger the shift, the stronger the wolf?” she guessed.

“Yes.” I blew out a breath. “I was stronger than thirteen-year-olds. I’ve always been strong. I could probably have taken on my father when I was twenty-one, and everyone on the council knew I could have made ground meat out of them by the time I was eighteen, so they kindly allowed me to remain as the heir to the alpha seat.” I rolled my eyes. “Like they had a choice.”

“So they overlooked your lack of a mate, and the pack’s potential loss of a future omega, because you were so strong?”

I nodded. “Don’t forget, we’re ruled by the Mother, who does things her own way. It was unlikely, in everyone’s eyes, that she’d make me such a powerful alpha and not grant me an omega along the way.”

“And they weren’t wrong,” Austin whispered, his gaze on Sabina. “Because here you are.”

Her cheeks burned. “I don’t know what it means to be an omega.”

“Earlier,” I started carefully, “you said you had a vibe?”

For the first time, her eyes weren’t trained on us, but she focused them on her lap. “Yes.”

“Can you explain more? Maybe we can help you,” Ethan murmured, leaning forward and setting his elbows on his knees, his own interest stirred at her statement.

That didn’t come as any surprise. Ethan loved books, loved learning. If he hadn’t been a twin, I had no doubt he’d be a keeper. But keepers were sacred to the pack, and they were only trusted members—no one would trust him because of what he was.

It sucked, and I thought it was a pile of bullshit, but that was how the pack worked.

“I’ve always been able to read auras. You all have an energy around you that lets me sense how you’re feeling. This is like that, but instead of me being able to see it, it’s like I can feel it.”

“My mother said, with time and training, that she could control the entire pack’s emotions.”

“Isn’t that bad?” Sabina rasped, her eyes round as she finally looked at me once more.

“It’s not good,” I agreed, “but omegas never mean the pack harm.”

“Surely there are egocentric ones. Or selfish ones. Or megalomaniacs?”

My lips curved. “That’s not how the Mother works. You’re talking about us like we’re human, but we’re not. Sure, we have foibles and vices. Half the council are self-serving pricks, but they’re elected into that position by the pack. All the pack, from the bottom to the top, votes. It’s an election. They aren’t chosen by the Mother.

“When we are chosen by her, our personalities adhere to what she requires of us.”

“That’s creepy.”

“Is it? Or is that her way of safeguarding her people?” I shrugged. “I know of very few alphas, in history, who have ever abused their positions.”

Her mouth turned as round as her eyes. “That’s impossible. Men are—”

“Men are human. We are not,” I repeated calmly. “My father was a lot stricter than me. He was what you’d consider fire and brimstone.”

“Very much Old and not New Testament,” Ethan added dryly, making me wince. But only because he was right.

“Yeah, that pretty much sums him up. The way I govern the pack, and the way he did, are two separate beasts. But even then, he wasn’t cruel. Not really, and only to Austin and Ethan.”

Her entire face puckered with disbelief. “He was nice to everyone but two boys?”

“Yes,” I said with a sigh. “But I know why that is, and that had nothing to do with being an alpha, just with him being male, which was why the Mother didn’t punish him.”

Austin tensed at my words, Ethan too. They both frowned at me, and I cast them a look. “I only found out by accident,” I told them. “My parents didn’t even know I knew.”

“Knew what?” Ethan demanded. “Why the hell was he so fucking mean to us when we were growing up?”

“Because you’re my brothers.”

For a second, no one spoke, then Austin started laughing. “Good one, Eli.”

“Shut up,” Ethan hissed, sensing something Austin didn’t. “He isn’t joking.”

“No, I’m not,” I stated evenly. “And, to be completely honest, I would never have said a word about this if Sabina didn’t tie us all together, but I have to believe that everything happens for a distinct reason, and in this instance, you need to know the truth.”

“Don’t stop there,” Ethan ground out, fists bunching. “You have answers, give them to us.”

“Mother was like Sabina.”

She gulped. “She had another mate?”

“Yes. Just the one. My father was jealous. She met her second mate later on. Decades after their claiming of one another.”

“What happened?” Austin whispered, his hands around the armrests, his fingers digging into them like he was forcing himself to stay still.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Just that he died. Mother gave birth to you, and my father forced her to give you to Rebekkah to raise.”

“Why would she agree to do that?” Sabina growled. “That’s the shittiest thing I’ve ever fucking heard, and trust me, I’ve heard a lot of shit in my time.”

“I’ll bet,” I rumbled, and then I raised my hands. “I’m only the messenger. I don’t have all the answers, and I shouldn’t even know what I do.”

“How do you know anything?” Sabina queried.

“I heard them arguing way too many times over the twins. My dad hated them with a passion. I think that’s why she had to give you to Rebekkah, because she feared what he might do to you.

“I distinctly remember my father changing when I was a kid. He was a good man, a decent father, and a fair leader. Then he changed.”

“Didn’t you know about the second mate? The babies? She must have been pregnant?”

“She told me she lost the baby she was carrying.” I rubbed my brow. “I remember her being very upset and going away for a while.”

“Bet your damn ass she’d have been upset. I can’t imagine having to give up my kids because my partner was such an asshole.”

“Multiple partners don’t often come along, and when they do, it’s with omegas,” I tried to reason, even though there was no reasoning in this situation.