Omega’s Gamble by Claire Cullen

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The next weekrushed by as they spent what felt like every waking moment forging more weapons. By the end of it, they had a range of hammers and axes that could be distributed among the guards across the island. Raine had also drawn up prototypes for boarding pikes and some sort of cannon. Darien didn’t fully understand how the cannon was supposed to work, and Raine was still trying to make sense of the more advanced alchemy texts so it seemed like something that complex was a long way off. For now, they’d make do with tools and weapons that would even out the fight against the spelled ships.

The unrelenting work began to put a strain on both of them. Darien was all for powering through, but his father recommended they take a day off. He’d been all set to argue until the king had insisted on it, for Raine’s sake. And Raine had a very strong opinion on how he wanted to spend that day.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do for the morning?” Darien asked him as they walked out to the training yard. “We could go to the gardens instead.”

“This is what I want,” Raine insisted. “If you’re not comfortable with it…?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He’d only gone and promised to show Raine his shapeshifting abilities firsthand. Changing form was as easy for him as breathing.

“You look like you’re about to be subjected to another lecture from Lord Alton about decorum and propriety around the castle.”

They’d both been given a stern talking-to only days before when they’d turned up for dinner in the great hall dirt-smudged and triumphant after a successful test of another weapon. There’d been looks and whispers all through dinner but both of them were too high-spirited to take notice. Despite Lord Alton’s feelings on the matter, Darien thought it had gone a long way toward showing the rest of the royal family Raine’s place in his life. Certainly, the attitude of some family members had taken a sharp turn for the better in recent days.

“We’re not children and shouldn’t be treated as such,” he said. “But that’s all beside the point. I’m happy to showcase my shifting ability to you.”

Raine put a hand on his arm, and Darien slowed to a stop.

“Are you worried it’ll change how I see you?” the omega asked softly.

“Of course not.” Raine had already seen him as a bear. This would be no different. Except, of course, for the lack of pirates and adrenaline.

“Because it won’t,” Raine continued. “I’m excited to see what you can do. You’re the first shapeshifter I’ve ever met, and a polar bear at that. I was in too much shock to appreciate it that first time. I sort of thought you were going to eat me.”

He grinned, and Darien barked out a laugh. “You and the pirates. My polar bear never fails to send them running.”

“As it should. I’m excited to see it again.”

They entered the training yard, which was empty so it would be just the two of them. As they did, something occurred to Darien. Had he ever told Raine that a polar bear was only one of the forms he could shift into? Did the omega know that others were a possibility?

“Do you remember how I told you how much I like cats?”

“Of course,” Raine said. “Though I know Ferno takes some getting used to.”

“Well, when it comes to cats, the bigger the better. Only I’m more used to being one than taking care of one.”

“What?” Raine’s confusion was clear. “But you’re a bear. I saw you.”

“A polar bear is just one of the many forms I can take. The best choice for navigating the sea and for pure brute strength. If I need speed, I become a cheetah. If I need stamina, a wolf.”

“All those animals?”

“And more,” Darien confirmed. “The ability to shift is innate. Learning to become different animals at will is a skill. I’ve mastered those three in particular, but I’ve tried almost a dozen forms. Some feel more natural, more right, than others. We tend to stick to those.”

“We?”

“Me and my brothers. My father too, of course.”

“All of your family are shifters?”

Darien didn’t understand his disbelief.

“It’s in our blood, like we talked about before. Our bloodline carries the ability, so all our alphas are shifters. Surely someone in your family can shift?”

Raine shook his head. “Not my brothers. Nor my father. Some cousins, maybe, during ceremonial affairs, but I was never allowed to attend those. As a child, I heard stories about my great-grandfather shifting to lead our army into battle. And my omega father’s family has shifters. My uncle used to tell me about them.”

“It seems clear that many kingdoms, especially those in the alliance, no longer respect what it means to be a shapeshifter. I don’t pretend to understand why, but it worries me. The kingdoms that Stormshield has remained allied with are those who still place significance on the ability to shapeshift.”

Raine looked thoughtful. “Shapeshifting wasn’t a common topic on the airship, but I overheard some of the other omegas talking about how their alpha brothers couldn’t shift, not that they wouldn’t. That where a ceremony usually called for a first or second prince, third princes or dukes were standing in for them.”

Darien found himself frowning at that. Being unable to shift was a very different situation to being unwilling. “I don’t understand how that can be. Shapeshifting has always been a part of the royal blood, going back as far as we have records.” There was strength in being a shifter. Purpose. It withstood the test of time.

“That’s not strictly true,” Raine said suddenly. “The western kings weren’t shapeshifters.”

Darien glanced over at him. “What?”

“I’ve been doing some reading since you talked about your historians believing that you were their descendants. What little survives from their civilization shows no mention of shapeshifting. In fact, the oldest writings that talk about shapeshifters are all from this region of the world. As if the ability began hereabouts and spread outward.”

No one knew the origins of shapeshifting, but Darien couldn’t think of a reason why it would have started there.

“When we have time, we should talk to Thorne about it. He may have some knowledge of the subject.”

Raine smiled brightly, as he always did when Darien said anything even slightly encouraging about his search for knowledge. “I’d like that. But right now, I’d like to see shapeshifting in the present and leave the past in the past.”

He made a face at the omega’s gentle nudging.

“Fine, fine. Any preferences for what you’d like to see first?”

Raine hesitated. “No…”

“Since you’re so fond of cats, how about we start there? Don’t run, okay? It’s still me, no matter what fur I’m wearing.”

Darien shed his cloak, and Raine seemed torn about where to look. “Your clothes…”

“I’m just removing my outer layers. That makes it easier. I can incorporate my clothing into the shift, but the less there is of it the better. Don’t worry, I won’t offend Lord Alton’s sensibilities.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Raine said, a hint of a smile on his face. “I am your husband. It won’t offend my sensibilities.”

Darien laughed. “If a servant wanders in, we may both feel differently.”

He closed his eyes and concentrated, dropping to a crouch. It was important that he focus and not let other thoughts get in the way. That was how you started shifting into one animal and ended up in quite another. He couldn’t deny that he was nervous about Raine’s reaction. What if it did change how the omega saw him? Darien would hate if it made him wary or uncertain around him, all too familiar with how some people painted shapeshifters as dangerous or unpredictable. Refocusing his thoughts, he pushed his body through the change, welcoming the animal spirit that settled within him.

“Oh, Darien.”

Raine’s voice was closer than he expected. He opened his eyes to find the omega inching nearer, a look of pure awe on his face. Raine dropped to his knees in front of him which put him at eye level with Darien.

“You’re magnificent. Truly. Can… can I touch you?”

He reached out slowly, and Darien closed the distance between them, rubbing his cheek against the omega’s hand. Raine’s laughter was pure delight.

“Your fur is so soft.”

He stroked up Darien’s nose, along his head, and down his back. Darien arched into the touch, unused to such attention in his shifter form. His animal forms were for fighting or running. Parts of him that he donned when needed, like his armor. But this was different. This was embracing his shifter form as part of himself and sharing it with Raine. The omega’s emotions were so clear on his face that Darien could read them easily. No fear, no disgust. Just awe and appreciation. With any luck, he’d be competing with Ferno for the omega’s favorite cat soon enough. The thought made him chuff in amusement, and the sound had Raine grinning.

“I can’t believe this. And you were afraid to show me such an important part of you.” He sobered then, the smile slipping from his face. “But then, I suppose I did the same by hiding my alchemy from you.”

Darien nudged Raine’s hand and then leaned in and licked the side of his face.

The omega shrieked and laughed, pulling back. “You’re as bad as Ferno.”

“Isn’t he just?”

They both turned to see Rex and Thorne making their way into the yard.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Rex said, though he didn’t look sorry in the slightest. “But if you’re showing Raine your shifter forms, then why don’t we really show him what we can do.”

Darien paced a few steps away from Raine and shifted back. “What did you have in mind?”

“Let’s show him how we fight.”

Darien glanced at Raine, expecting that would be the last thing the omega wanted to see. But Raine was watching them with eager excitement. “Can you? Please?”

* * *

Raine saton the steps in the training arena, watching the three brothers fight. An airship flew overhead, going in to land on the airstrip outside the castle. He didn’t pay it much mind, too invested in their demonstration. The brothers began training with sticks, the rhythmic smack of wood on wood narrating their movements. He leaned forward, fascinated by them, and more than a little distracted by the bunching of Darien’s muscles as he fought. The outfit the alpha wore to train wouldn’t have been acceptable in Ludinia, but Raine thought it suited him and highlighted his many… attributes. He was so distracted staring at his husband, he almost missed the signal as the three alphas tossed away their sticks, indicating their move to a new form of training.

There was a pause, like a breath of air, and then each of the alphas shifted. There must have been some coordination because Darien and Thorne became wolves, strikingly different in the color of their coats. Darien’s was almost as black as midnight, while Thorne’s was a tawny white. Rex became a fox, his coat a red rivaling Ferno’s. All three were moving instantly, taking different corners of the arena.

He knew they were skilled in fighting—they did it on a daily basis, after all. But seeing it was something different. Rex took off toward Thorne at a run, but it was a feint as he used the wall to propel himself back toward Darien. The alpha reacted fast, jumping to meet Rex in the air. Claws and teeth flashed, growls rent the air, and they landed on the ground, tussling with each other. Thorne, not wanting to be left out, dove into the melee.

Raine’s heart was in his mouth as he watched, telling himself over and over that they were brothers and they wouldn’t hurt each other. Rex was sent flying across the arena and landed with a whimper, leaving Thorne and Darien to duke it out. Raine leaned further forward, unable to take his eyes from the alphas. Thorne was on top, Darien pinned beneath him. Raine was sure he’d be forced to concede. And then Darien surged up, throwing Thorne to the ground, his jaws clamped around the alpha’s throat. Just like that, it was over.

He clapped loudly, impressed and astonished by the alphas’ shifting abilities and their strength. The three brothers changed back, laughing and joking together as they approached him.

“Well, did we pass muster?” Darien asked.

“You were amazing, all of you.”

Rex gave an exaggerated bow. “We live to entertain and rip out the throats of our enemies.”

“Rex,” Darien groaned, holding out a hand to Raine. He took it eagerly, letting the alpha tug him in for a kiss.

They ignored his brothers’ good-natured jibes, pulling away reluctantly.

“Lunch?” Darien suggested. “I hear the chef has prepared that bread you love.”

Raine nodded eagerly and then eyed Darien’s sweat-soaked form dubiously. Darien caught his glance and laughed, grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat off his arms and neck. “Let me go wash up. I’ll meet you in the great hall.”

“Wait, don’t rush off.” Raine had things he wanted to say. Things he thought Darien needed to hear.

“Not going anywhere,” Darien promised him, waving to his brothers as they headed out.

“You really are amazing,” he told the alpha. “You’re so strong. And the way you move from your human to your animal forms is so seamless…”

Darien caught his hand. “I get it, Raine. I hear what you’re telling me. Thank you. It means a lot to me that you see me the way I’ve always wanted to be seen.”

Raine stuck his free hand in his pocket, drawing out a leather cord with an amulet hanging from it.

“I, um, I made this for you.”

He held it out toward the alpha. Darien took it from him and lifted it up to the light to better see the detail. It was made from a piece of steel inlaid with celestial silver. He had painstakingly cut and etched it into the shape of a bear paw, a hole cut into it to thread the cord through.

Darien smiled, running his thumb over it. “It’s beautiful, Raine. You made this?”

“It’s one of a pair,” he explained, tugging at an identical piece of cord he wore around his neck and revealing a second paw-shaped piece of metal. “It’s not just a trinket. There’s silver embedded in it that connects the two amulets together.”

“How so?” Darien asked, peering more closely at his.

“Well, we can talk to each other, in a way. Or, at least, we can let the other person know we’re thinking of them. See, when I press my hand against it here…”

Raine placed his thumb across the very center of his amulet, and Darien’s eyes widened, no doubt feeling the amulet in his hand pulse like the beat of a heart. The alpha did the same to his, and Raine grinned with delight when he felt an answering pulse.

“See?”

“I see. They’re perfect, Raine. Thank you.” It was far simpler than the new portable touchstones Darien and the guards were using to communicate, but it was a way for them to feel each other’s presence or let the other know they were thinking about them.

“I’m glad you like it.”

They walked inside together, splitting up so that he could go back to his rooms to change and check on Ferno. They wouldn’t be his rooms for much longer, since he and Darien were preparing to move in together. After much talking and planning, they decided they would take the north wing and open up the rest of the rooms. They were going to be redecorated, and Raine’s workshop would be moved to a more suitable location near the king’s study.

It was all coming together. Things between them had never been better, and Raine was starting to feel like he had found a home there.