Crave To Conquer (Myth of Omega, #1)(52)

“I don’t know,” Cailyn admitted. “And I don’t know how it came back. He seemed to have spoken a spell that allowed me access again… he didn’t seem to know it would do that.”

“This is worrying,” muttered one of the twins. “If he can stop us using the Talent, it will make things difficult for us.”

“We knew he would likely make some discoveries from his acquisition of the Palace,” Mother Orlee responded. “That’s why we sent Cailyn in the first place.”

Cailyn kept her eyes on Mother Azia. She had stared down at the table as Cailyn had spoken and hadn’t moved. The other Mothers discussed and argued for a few minutes about how to deal with Drocco, but Mother Azia seemed to be somewhere else. Cailyn watched Mother Azia closely every time she had any contact with the Mothers, and it was unusual for her to drift away. Finally, Mother Azia moved, and Cailyn was suddenly alert.

Azia rose from her seat, her eyes on Cailyn, and the other Mothers fell silent.

“We will send someone to come and erase your memories of us, Cailyn,” Mother Azia said, her raspy voice low. “Go back to your Alpha.”

A shot of fear and confusion flooded Cailyn’s mind, and the entire projection trembled. “What?”

“He will not let anything happen to you,” Mother Azia continued. “If you are the only Omega known publicly, it is better that you are at least an Empress. Of course, if you bare any Omega children, we will take them.”

The other Mothers stared at Mother Azia and Cailyn’s mouth dropped open, barely believing what she was hearing. “I know I let you down, Mother,” Cailyn said, desperately. “I know I let everyone down. But this punishment is extreme.”

Mother Azia held her eyes, confusion on her leathery face. “This isn’t punishment.” She tilted her head. “You have forgotten some of your training, Cailyn. Tell me, do you think your blocks were truly defective against the effects of this Alpha? Even though they worked for everything else?”

Cailyn thought back to her training, desperate to try and please her favorite Mother. As she did so, the faces of the Mothers around the table dropped one by one. The mood shifted to a somber one, Cailyn being the only one to not understand.

“I don’t know,” she said, finally. “It was something I was going to ask you about.”

“You can only be affected by your true mate through the blocks, Cailyn,” Mother Naysa said, quietly.

Cailyn stared at her, her face knitting in disbelief. Her true mate? Drocco was her true mate? That couldn’t be true. “No,” she said, in horror. “No, no, no. Absolutely not. You’re mistaken, Mother!”

Mother Azia watched her but didn’t say anything.

“He didn’t…” Cailyn thought back to everything that had happened. “He tortured me. He tried to condition me and use my impulses against me.”

Mother Azia turned to leave the room, and Cailyn panicked.

“Mother!” Cailyn called to her, an anger rising. “I will not be cast away. You cannot leave me to suffer at his hand.”

Mother Azia froze and turned slowly. The other Mothers were silent, all their eyes downcast.

“Suffer?” Mother Azia said. “Did you mate with him willingly?”

“I didn’t want to—”

“Did you kiss him? And encourage him into your body?” Mother snapped.

“I’ve already explained,” Cailyn said. “It was my instincts—”

“It was you,” Mother Azia said. “Your Omega instincts are you, Cailyn. They are a part of you you rarely experience while you are blocked, but they are still you.” She paused, puckering her lips. “I’m sorry that you have not been prepared for this. We devote much of the training to warning Omegas of the threat that Alphas can be that we only briefly touch on the true nature of the Alpha/Omega connection. But you must understand that we are genetically compatible with Alphas. We crave much of their nature. Your reaction to him, to your true mate, is normal.”

“No, I was manipulated,” Cailyn insisted. “Yes, some of it was my instincts, but much of it was conditioning.”

Mother’s gray eyes narrowed. “Tell me, did you nest? Did you purr for him? Did you feel ownership of him?”

Cailyn struggled to find a way to answer that didn’t seem so incriminating.

“You were comfortable with him, Cailyn.” Mother’s statement wasn’t stated as an accusation, but Cailyn couldn’t help but see it as one.

“I nested when he was torturing me,” she bit out. “It was the only way to feel safe enough to sleep.”

Mother Azia looked at her appraisingly. “The strength of his scent caused you to nest, Cailyn. It caused you to find a way to deal with the pain, and in order to do that you took comfort in his scent.”

“No, I didn’t,” Cailyn said, anger blazing through her. “You were not there, Mother. I did not take comfort in his scent. I nested on my own.”

“Where did your nest materials come from?”

“His bed.” Cailyn suddenly realized the implication and quickly added, “The bed he tortured me on.”

Mother nodded. “The bed he soiled with his semen and sweat when he tortured you.”

Cailyn opened her mouth to reply but she couldn’t. She was stunned and utterly speechless.