Claimed for their Pleasure by L.V. Lane

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Jessa

TODAY IS THE day of the festival, and I should be feeling happy as I visit with my family. I sit at the old oak table where I have sat a thousand times, watching my mother fold washing. This is not my home anymore, but I still come here most days.

Not long ago, Hazel left to get ready for the feast. I should be doing the same.

I want to talk to my mother, yet I don’t know where to start.

Through the open door I can hear my siblings excited squeals of laughter. Finishing work early, my father has just chased all the brats outside.

For once, their laughter does not warm me, and the weight of melancholy comes crashing in.

“Are you okay, love?” my mother asks, pausing her work folding the last of the washing.

My eyes meet hers, and I see the caring there. But it is suddenly like there is a gulf between us as I remember the whispered conversation she had with my father late one evening.

“Brandon asked me when I last bled,” I blurt out.

Face softening, she puts the clothes aside and goes to the door. I experience a strange pang thinking she is about to leave. But she calls out to my father to watch the brats for a while in a no-nonsense way all mothers seem to have. Closing the door, she comes over and sits opposite me.

“I heard you talking about me late one night. Talking about how I hadn’t yet bled.” I want to say the other things, but they get stuck in my throat.

Her hand reaches across the table to take mine.

“You heard us talking about you being an Omega?”

My eyes widen, and for a stretched moment I forget to breathe. They did not use that word as they talked, and it never crossed my mind. I know very little about Omegas other than whispered conversations. They do not bleed monthly like a Beta lass might, and they also make nests. I don’t remember all the details of their late-night conversation. Still, I remember them talking about me changing and about me nesting.

How did I not realize?

Omega. Can I be an Omega? Is this why I am so strangely drawn to both men?

“I don’t know why you haven’t bled. I didn’t want to frighten you at first. Then after, when you didn’t reveal, I assumed you had started your monthlies but didn’t mention it. You have long done your own washing. You would not be the first lass who doesn’t talk to her mother about such things.”

My thoughts are like leaves in the wind, tumbling about and settling nowhere for long. I might have been an Omega, but I have not revealed thus. I do not know if it is true, but I heard they have an enticing scent that can send weak Alphas into a rut such that they end up claiming a lass without her papa’s permission. Assuredly, I have not provoked such a reaction, thank the Goddess.

But now I am even more confused.

When Brandon first asked me about my moon blood, the words my mother told me had rolled off my tongue. Only after, as I lay snuggled against his side listening to the wild beating of his heart, did the dread begin to bloom.

“Hazel is already with child,” I say. To my own ears, I sound small and lost. I always foresaw a future with children, a whole brood of the noisy monsters, truth be told. Now, I don’t know anything. I watch Hazel with her mates. I see the pride on their faces as they hold Hazel near, resting their hands upon her belly that has yet to even show.

I am so happy for Hazel, but there is also a wound that feels raw when I realize that she has a child growing inside her, and I… and I may never have.

My mother’s hand rests over mine.

“We should arrange to travel to the Baxter clan,” she says decisively. “Molly has recently visited and may not be back until the spring.”

“How can Molly help?” I ask. “I have not revealed, thus.”

“She said that she thought you were a latent. That it might need an Alpha to claim you before you revealed. Omegas are rare in the clans. They are usually born to an Alpha-Beta pairing. The parents know the child will be an Omega even before she is born. How, I don’t know, but Molly was certain of this.”

“There are connections between Alphas and Omegas.” Her hand presses to the center of her chest over her heart. “Here, inside. Like a thread tying them together for all their lives. Perhaps that is how the father senses his Omega child. Your papa and I are Betas. We have no sense of such a thing. But from the first time Molly met you when you were still a babe, she was certain you would be an Omega.”

My mind reels.

Can I really be a latent Omega who needs an Alpha to claim her?

I see the distress on my mother’s face.

I know what it means.

I have bonded to Brandon, a Beta. And a Beta is not enough to force my body to reveal.

“What if it is not that?” I say. “What if I am barren?”

“Ah, lass,” she says softly. “Even barren women still have moon blood. They just do not catch with child.”

Gage. His name crashes through my mind along with our fateful first encounter.

“Do you believe in the Goddess?” I ask.

My mother nods. “Aye, lass, I do.”

“I met a warrior once,” I say. “I was in the forest gathering blackroot.”

My mother stills.

“When I came upon him, he was badly injured after slaying an Orc. His ribs were black, his body battered. I have only seen a man once with ribs that color, and he died of the wet lung. I didn’t think about the nonsense of trying to apply a balm to someone so injured. I did it anyway, like I was compelled.”

It is all tumbling out now, and I don’t have the will to stop.

“I went to the river many times to prepare the balm. I said a prayer to the Goddess after every one. Then when I was finished, I pressed a kiss to his temple and begged the Goddess to make him well.”

“Gage, the king of the Lyon clan,” my mother says.

“Gage,” I agree.

“He was hail enough to stand, by all accounts, before Brandon carried you off,” she says dryly. For the first time since we started this discussion, there is a small smile on her lips.

“I healed him,” I say. “We agreed to keep it a secret.”

She raises a brow.

We both turn as a thump sounds upon the door. “Can we come in yet?” my father calls.

“Not yet!” we say in unison.

“The brats are a test!” my father mutters. “How do you manage them all day?”

His complaints fade away.

“How many times have you met with him?” my mother asks, all business once again.

My cheeks flush. “Gage came to see me… after Brandon carried me off, to make sure I was well. Then I saw him when we were taken by Nola. He was furious at finding us snatched. He hid us out of the way knowing the other clans were coming to war with them. He ordered Nola’s death.”

“I thought you loved Brandon,” she says. Her face softens as she looks at me. “Aye, you love them both. They have been at loggerheads long before you entered the picture. And both are aware of your dual interest if Brandon’s reaction to Gage bringing you back that day is any indication.”

She huffs out a laugh. “My love, if the Goddess should venture to heal a man through you, I have every faith in Her divine wisdom to see the matter resolved. One way or another.”

“They hate each other,” I point out sadly, hardly daring to hope.

“But they love you,” my mother counters. “Their actions speak as much. Have faith, Jessa, for a little longer. You will find your place and the joy you deserve. I have long understood you were different. Even when you were a child.”

Her smile grows, and tears shine in her eyes. “My sweet, firstborn is an Omega no less.”

She seems so sure. I am yet to feel the same.

“What should I do?” I ask. “Should I… should I talk to Brandon about it?”

“Aye,” she agrees. “Find a time when you are both clear of head and talk to him. He will be shocked, I’m sure. But he loves you so very deeply that I’m sure Brandon and Gage will find a way. There will be bumps in your path. Of that, I have no doubt. Now, since you denied your mother a wedding, the least you can do is enjoy tonight to the fullest. The Goddess will be close, and She will be listening. Do not waste such an opportunity on tears. This is your first festival as a woman. Embrace it, my love.”