“Be nice Lev,” Orion chastises.
“You’re siblings.” I scoot forward. Dangling on the edge of my seat. “Your family must be highly blessed.”
“Blessed?” Lev arches a thick brow.
“What do you mean, Brook?” Orion asks. I love the gentle timber of his deep voice; he’s powerful, yet not harsh.
“You change so easily. It was like magic.” The brothers cast a confused glance at each other.
“What’s she talking about?” Lev asks.
“We don’t understand what you mean?”
“Changing is difficult, painful, and something only the ones chosen by the Lunar Goddess herself can do,” I explain slowly.
“According to who?” Lev scowls.
“The sacred texts and the Elders.”
Their confused expression reflects my own.
“No. Everyone should be able to do that,” Lev says.
I flinch at the mistreatment of the sacred act of transformation. As if everyone could do it. “Blasphemy.”
“Facts,” Lev replies.
I shake my head. “No.” Why would the elders deny us our birthright? There has to be a misunderstanding.
“Do your people have a hard time shifting? It can start to happen when the bloodlines get too diluted or too closely related.” Orion sounds like he’s trying to tame a willful colt.
“How could you possibly know that?” I whisper. They’re doing exactly what the elders said the outside world would do, change the narrative.
“Science,” Lev replies sarcastically.
“That’s not an answer.” I brace myself for more lies.
“We’ve been gathering data about the decline sweeping through our people for a while now.” Orion nudges his brother with his elbow. “We can show you once we reach town if you’d like. It’s a matter of public knowledge in our libraries.”
His words continue to punch holes in the core structure of our belief system.
“All of you can shift like you two did earlier?” What would it be like to be that touch with our other half?
“The majority, yes, but there are always some who have other issues,” Lev adds. I can hear the pride in his voice. It’s different from how I feel about my pack. There’s a sense of duty and loyalty, but not this warmth.Maybe it’s because they’re siblings.
“Haveyouhad difficulty shifting.” Orion’s dark green gaze pins me to the spot.
“Oh, Omegas, don’t shift,” I laugh.
“What?” They ask in unison.
“Right?” I whisper.
“No. Listen, I don’t know what they’ve been telling you, but you need to stop drinking their kool-aid. Whatever issues you have going on, they’re causing them.” Lev wrinkles his nose. “I smell it on you.”
I cross my arms over my chest and sniff. I’ve been running, but I don’t detect body odor. At least, I can’t detect it. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You smell funny. Like one of us, but not. And I’m going to figure out why.”