Page 12 of The Other Omega

“What are you talking about?”

“Your Omega scent, Elowen. It’s completely gone.”

“I don’t wear perfume anymore. It gives me headaches.”

“I see…” She exchanged a glance with the men by the door.

“Elowen, have you taken any medication? Used any new ointments, perhaps?” asked one of the men. He was tall and broad, with dark hair and the same amber eyes as Cedric.

I stared at him. “Who are you?”

Mum gasped, and I turned back to her. “This feels so real.” I took a lock of her hair between my fingers, half expecting her to disappear or for me to wake up.

“I thought…” My voice broke. “I thought someone had kidnapped me or something.”

Her eyes filled with tears as I looked into them. “Is this where you’ve been since you died?”

She sobbed, and I tried to reassure her. “It’s okay, Mum. We’ve been okay.”

I looked at Cedric. “I just don’t understand what he’s doing here. He was awful to us…” I turned back to Mum. “Didn’t you see? How awful he was?”

“Mireya is on her way, my mate,” another man told her.

“Who is Mireya?” I asked, looking between them.

Mum took a shuddering breath and smiled at me. “She is our family physician. You are very fond of her.”

“I don’t know anyone called Mireya.”

The room fell silent before one of the men spoke.

“Perhaps it would be best if we did not overwhelm Elowen with any more information, Eleanor.”

“Mum, who are these two men?” I looked from one to the other. “Are they your friends?”

“They are my mates, sweetling. They are your fathers, just as Cedric is.”

A small, almost hysterical laugh escaped me, but then I saw her face. She wasn’t joking.

“What are you talking about?”

“I think it would be best to give Elowen some space,” one of the men said. “Mireya is on her way. We can speak again once she arrives.”

“No!” I grabbed Mum’s hand. “Don’t leave me. Please stay.”

“Of course I’ll stay.”

“Eleanor—”

“I will remain with my daughter, Matthias.”

Cedric said something to the other two men, too quietly for me to hear, before speaking to Mum. “We will remain here and wait for Mireya.”

“As you wish.” She kept her eyes on me.

“Can you lie with me, Mum?”

She climbed onto the bed beside me, and I sighed as she wrapped her arms around me. She held me tightly, almost as though she was afraid to let me go.