I Was The Only Omega In The Beast World-Chapter 135: CP : She Can Come

Lucas glanced at Alex.

Alex shrugged helplessly. He does that. You’re one of his now. There’s nothing to be done.

Lucas looked down at the small serpent pressed to his ribs, and something in his face—carefully composed all morning—went briefly soft.

Sally found Alex by the fire sometime around midmorning.

She sat down next to him without preamble, stole the strip of dried meat he’d been eating, and said: "So. Four mates now."

"I know."

"You started this trip with three and you somehow left with four."

"Sally—"

"I’m not judging," she said quickly. "I’m genuinely just—I’m trying to understand the math here. Is this going to keep happening? Are we going to visit the lion lord and come back with five? Do I need to start building bigger sleeping quarters in this theoretical sanctuary of ours?"

"He saved my life," Alex said. "Lucas. He took a—"

"I know," Sally said, softer. "I saw the wound. What was left of it." She was quiet for a moment. "It’s different, right? From the others?"

"What is?"

"This one. With Lucas." She glanced at where the wolf lord sat with River asleep against him, talking quietly with Granite about something. "With Naga and Leo and Zale, you always looked like—like you’d been put together right. Like puzzle pieces. But with Lucas you look like..." She tilted her head.

"Like something that broke and healed, and the healed place is stronger than the rest."

Alex looked at his sister.

"When did you get wise?" he asked.

"I’ve always been wise," Sally said. "You just only listen when I’ve been right three times in a row." She bumped his shoulder. "He’s going to be okay, Alex. They all are. You have a weirdly functional family for people who met in life-or-death scenarios."

"All our scenarios are life-or-death scenarios."

"I know! That’s what makes it WORK. You bond fast when someone’s actively trying to kill you." She stole another piece of his meat.

And another.

"You know," she said thoughtfully, chewing, "I was kind of worried at first. Back in our world, when you told me about all this. About the mates and the snakelings and the dragon politics. I thought—okay, Alex finally snapped, this is it, he’s living in a fantasy novel and I’m going to have to stage an intervention."

Alex snorted. "And now?"

"Now I think you’re still snapped, but in a way that works for you." She gestured vaguely at the clearing. "Like, look at this. You have six kids and each one of them are intelligent and different from each other. You have three—sorry, four—mates who literally can’t function without you. You have a dragon lord who’s ’invested’ in your future, which from all the romance novels I’ve read about dragons means ’I will destroy anyone who touches you.’" She shook her head. "You built this, Alex. All of it. In six months."

"With help."

"Obviously with help. You’re not a one-man army. But you started it." She looked at him, and Alex saw something in her eyes he hadn’t seen since they were kids—pride. "You did a good job, big brother."

Alex didn’t know what to say to that.

Luckily, he didn’t have to.

Granite’s massive form shifted across the clearing, moving with the deliberate weight of a bear who had something on his mind. He settled beside Alex with a heavy thump that shook the ground slightly.

"Alex," Granite said. "We need to talk."

Alex’s stomach tightened. "About?"

"The sanctuary." Granite’s eyes were thoughtful. "Specifically, about the bear territory part of it."

"You’re going back."

It wasn’t a question. Alex had known this was coming—had felt it in the way Granite had been quiet since the wolf attack, watching the politics unfold with the patient calculation of someone who’d spent decades navigating exactly this kind of situation.

Granite nodded slowly. "The Curse lands border bear territory. My territory. Old territory." He corrected himself with a weight that spoke of years of exile. "If you’re going to build something there, the tribe needs to hear it from me. Not from a messenger. Not from you walking in cold. From me."

"You don’t owe them anything," Alex said. " You serve the bear tribe for years."

"I know." Granite’s voice was steady. "And I’d do it again. Every time. But this isn’t about what I owe them. It’s about what the cubs need." His gaze drifted to where the snakelings were tumbling in a pile near the fire, Siddy currently on top, Ripple laughing underneath. "They need a home. A real one. With space to grow and territory that’s theirs and a future that doesn’t depend on running."

He huffed a breath. " And making use of it. And not just that, I can also meet my tribe after four years using this excuse. He laughed slightly. " To let them know their ex-chief hasn’t died yet. "

Alex was quiet for a moment, processing.

"You don’t have to do this alone," he said finally. "I’ll come with you."

"No."

The word landed flat, and Granite let it stay that way for a breath before he spoke again.

"No," he repeated, gentler. " This has to be mine to carry in. I would love to be the part of what you’re building. So, I would also like to contribute on this in my own way. Plus, you walk into bear territory right now, with four mates and a dragon lord and the diplomatic weight of a sanctuary proposal, and the elder council will spend three days debating what you are before they hear a single word you say." He looked at Alex sidelong. "But if I walk in first—just me, just Granite, as their ex-chief, they’ll listen. "

"And if they don’t listen?"

Granite’s expression didn’t change, but something in his eyes went hard. "Then we figure out another way. But I have to try. For the cubs."

Alex felt the weight of it—the years of exile, the loneliness, the quiet devotion Granite had shown without ever asking for anything in return. And now he was offering to walk back into the place that had rejected him, for a family that wasn’t even his species.

"You’re not just their uncle," Alex said quietly. "You know that, right? You’re—"

"Family," Granite finished. "I know." A pause. "I’ve always known."

Sally, who had been listening with the focused attention of someone cataloging every detail, leaned forward.

"Can I come?" she asked.

Both Alex and Granite stared at her.

"What?" She spread her hands. "I’m not a bearer. Although I’m a female and female seems to be some rare stuff like a diamond as far as I’ve learned from this world but my point is, I’m not political. I’m just a human teenager from another dimension. Nobody’s going to argue about me. And I can take notes. Document things. Be a neutral observer who reports back."

"Absolutely not," Alex said.

"Why not?"

"Because it’s dangerous."

"Everything here is dangerous. You literally just got attacked by mercenaries hired by someone called the Shadow Lord. Which, by the way, we haven’t talked about—"

"We’ll talk about it later—"

"You keep saying that—"

"Sally—"

"She can come."

Both Alex and Sally turned to stare at Granite.