Page 23 of Escaping Monsters

I needed to eat, sleep, get my shit together, and figure out how to leave this town.

“There aren’t any rooms with locks on either side of the door, but we can install one for you,” Lucas said, and then he calmly but firmly suggested that I let him clean and dress my wound yet again while Declan whipped us up something to eat. Lucas led me into a large, communal-style locker room. The sink was shaped like a trough with three spigots, and the shower stall had a long line of showers, all out in the open. There wasn’t a door between the shower area and the rest of the house. The toilet was the only thing that had privacy with a single door that closed it in.

Lucas kept sneaking glances at me as he cleaned the dirt from my hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah…” I shook my head. “You guys don’t do privacy in here, do you?”

“There’s a private bathroom off Jasper’s room, which I’m guessing will be your room soon. I just brought you here because I think you both need a moment apart,” Lucas said, as if Jasper and I had some sort of squabble, when really, the guy pried into my own private business and erupted at me.

“Lucas, I feel like you would be honest with me.” I swallowed. “Am I safe here?”

His gray eyes came up to meet mine. “Teagan, yes. I can honestly say that you will be protected here, fiercely, and no one will hurt you. What can I do to help you feel safer here?”

“You can explain what just happened with Jasper,” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand.

Lucas cleared his throat, and though his eyes were still fixed on mine, I got the impression that he was suddenly uncomfortable. “Well, how much do you know about omega-lore?”

“I live it,” I said. “So, I’d guess expert-level on myself.”

“Fair enough,” he said, “And how much do you know about omegas and their true-mates?”

I shook my head. “True mates are rare. Werewolves only get one, and they’re usually drawn together. Fate draws them together but sometimes not before one or the other marries. If a spouse refuses to relinquish their claim, a true mate can challenge them.”

“Yes, except one part of that mythology might not be true in all cases. Some werewolves…” Lucas leaned back against the sink, and the motion was just a little bit too casual, “Supposedly, have more than one true mate.”

“I’ve never heard that. Are you saying that omegas are supposed to have more than one true mate?” It seemed like that was the path our conversation had to be heading, but Lucas appeared to be cautious to just say it.

Even now, he worked his chin back and forth, seeming hesitant to answer the simple question.

“I’m making you so uncomfortable, aren’t I, Lucas?”

Lucas’ dimple peeked out. “Can you feel my emotions again?”

“No. I can just tell, but I don’t understand why. Jasper was upset because he thought I had multiple mates and I didn’t? This still doesn’t make a bit of sense to me.”

“Yes and no.” Lucas pulled open a large bandage and pressed it over my healing wound. “All right, Teagan, I’ll tell you what I know, but please know in advance that this isn’t what we expect from you. I hope divulging this to you is the right choice, especially after witnessing Chad’s…” Lucas chuckled, “I don’t know what to call it.”

“Sex-fest?” I suggested. “Demon sex toy party?”

Lucas shook his head. “That’s a whole different mess to unpack. All right. I’m sure you already know that omega females are very rare… usually, it’s males who are omegas.”

I nodded, even though I didn’t know much about omegas other than myself. I had never met another omega female. All I knew was that Kane went to an astronomical amount of effort to find and change and imprison me.

“The last omega was a member of Kane’s pack over two centuries ago.”

“Her name was Agatha. Kane killed her and all of her children,” I nodded, because I knew the story very well. Kane hadn’t told me it as a threat. He’d told me with regret, but it had been engraved in my mind. I had always known that I would rather die than have Kane’s children, but that was the day I decided to put the dream of having children with anyone else away for good. The first time I escaped Kane, I went to a women’s clinic and got an IUD. I would have had my tubes tied, instead, but more than likely, my werewolf nature would heal an injury like that. “Kane told me that he discovered Agatha having an affair with his brother, and he killed them both out of rage and jealousy, then he went on a rampage.”

“He went on a rampage when he killed Agatha…,” Lucas sighed and brushed a finger over his beard, “But, Agatha didn’t have an affair with Kane’s brother, Henry. Agatha left Kane when she discovered that she was Henry’s true mate, and Agatha wasn’t just Henry’s true mate, she was mated to every member of Henry’s pack. Agatha had left Kane decades ago, and everyone believed that he accepted Agatha’s choice until Kane and his pack killed every member of Henry and Agatha’s pack and all their children. There were seven mates and twenty-two children, and only one child escaped into the forest.”

I held a hand out to Lucas. “I don’t want to pressure you into talking about something—”

“Teagan, I’m not quite that old,” he said through a grin, but his mirth faded fast. “This is just hearsay, but it was the belief then that what Agatha had with her pack was the nature of omegas. When Kane bit you, Jasper sensed you as his mate…”

Lucas said this part cautiously, and I nodded. “Jasper told me something like that.”

“Okay.” Lucas nodded. “Well, Jasper challenged Kane, and Kane pointed out that if Jasper won the challenge, it wouldn’t just be taking you from one of your mates, it would be taking you from your pack. Jasper was also concerned that it would be pressuring you into a mating situation with several werewolves you didn’t know.”

“You mean you guys,” I said, twirling a finger in the air.