his hand on my back, and I smiled at him. Now would be when I would have fainted in the past or needed to go lie down. I felt no such inclination now.
He lifted an eyebrow in question, and I shook my head. “If you want to carry me you can, just because that is sort of fun and definitely romantic, but not because I’m about to fall on my head.”
Anton kissed my shoulder, right on his spot. He loved me, and somehow, he got me when I wasn’t sure that I really understood myself. But if someone as inherently good as Anton thought I was worthwhile, then that went a long way to convincing me that I might actually be able to do this.
The Loup shifted, coming back into his human body. He was an old man, gray-haired, wrinkled. When he opened his eyes, he seemed to view me with clarity. Usually, I didn’t see them like this. I was too busy having to be carted off to recover that I never saw the part.
He sat up slowly and I smiled at him. “My name is MacKenzie. This is Anton, one of my mates. How are you feeling?”
The man rubbed his eyes. “I’ve been looking for you.”
That much I knew. “You found me. Well, I found you. But here we are.” We needed to get him some clothes and some money so he could move on. I doubted he had anything anywhere if he’d been living like this.
I looked at Anton. “We should have brought clothes and money.”
“No.” The man got to his feet. “She told me to find you. To tell you in this moment that you have to defeat him by being who you were always meant to be. But not just you. Everyone. Do you understand?”
I really didn’t. Squatting down, I met his gaze. He looked down. That was wrong. This wasn’t a submissive wolf. He’d just been beaten down. Plus, no one dropped their gaze to the Omega. That was why we were able to help. “Who told you this?”
Maybe he wasn’t done needing help, but my hands weren’t on fire, so it was probably not something I had to do. He might need some human help.
“My mate. The Omega. She said you would know. I did everything I could to help. I broke him once. That’s how you’re here. Just one day, when I broke.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. I would know?
That was when I saw her, like a vision passing in front of my eyes. I rose and stared. She wasn’t really here, but she was an echo. The Omega who visited me in the unconscious. She’d been trying to help from the great beyond. Or wherever it was that happened when this was over. I didn’t really know the general thinking about this, and I wasn’t sure anyone could say they did. At the end of the day, I was back to the faith issue.
But it didn’t matter, because there she was.
I looked at Anton. “Can you see her?”
Or was I asleep and I just didn’t know it? Was that possible?
He nodded and took my hand, squeezing it.
“You’re ready.” She walked toward me. Well, it was more like floating. Her legs were moving like she walked, but she wasn’t touching the ground. I was so glad Anton saw this, too. No one would believe me otherwise. Werewolves, yes. Spirit-like things, no.
She stopped near the man I’d just healed and took his hand. I caught my breath. Okay. I was finally catching on. She was an Omega, and he had been her mate. Or still was. I liked the idea that mating was eternal. I wanted to be with mine forever.
“You sent him to me.”
“We knew things were ending.” The Omega speaking to me turned in my direction. “He volunteered because he’s always been so brave. We knew he’d become a Loup without me. He’d have to live like that, but he fought. Messed with the link between all of them and waited for you. You had to be strong, you had to be ready to feel him. When you found him, it would be time for you.”
I sucked in a breath. The honking behind me had stopped. We might be out of time very soon, but I would not rush this. “Time for what?”
“Do you understand what collective knowledge is?” She took another step in my direction, and I took another toward her.
I swallowed. “It’s when something is passed on