Omega Magic

by Maggie Hemlock

  Omega Magic

  Maggie Hemlock

  The Hemlock Pack Series Book Three

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by Maggie Hemlock. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.

  Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga Books

  Omega Studies

  Omega Sight

  For Wind

  Acknowledgements

  When I started the journey on indie writing and publishing the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga I never imagined what it would feel like to publish the third book in the series. I couldn’t see past the first two books and building up a world that lived in my head for decades and sharing the characters I already loved with the world.

  There are numerous people who aided me in this journey and who made it possible for this book to come to life and be in your hands.

  First, the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga would have never made it this far if not for loving and kind readers encouraging me to keep on with the series through their kind reviews and words. You all are fabulous and really make my day!

  Wind, thank you as always for being an everlasting inspiration and the most awesome beta reader ever! And thank you for not grumbling too much about the size of this one or my constant frustration with certain characters and scenes. You’re truly the best!

  Lucy, thank you for always listening me vent and reminding me that sometimes we just gotta say to hell with and go #girlboss.

  Rachel, thank you for all your loving support of my books and dreams.

  Xoxo

  Maggie Hemlock

  P.S. Thank you to my wonderful World of Warcraft Guild who lent me the name for Zoey Hemlock’s favorite boyband.

  Chapter One

  Logan

  Rain drops danced on my window seal providing nature’s own background music to the task at hand. A storm was moving in, but I didn’t mind. It would only kick the potion up a few notches. After working as the Alchemy professor at Hemlock Academy for six years there was one thing I knew for sure. It was colic season and parents across the territory would soon lose sleep to comfort their distressed pups. My concoction of chamomile, secret ingredients, and magic never failed to calm a colicky pup.

  There’s something soothing about beakers and bubbling pots and pans. My old teacher only used cauldrons, but I don’t like starting fires inside. The trapped smoke always set my wolf off in a frenzy. So, the stovetop, the oven, and even the microwave became my best friends of my profession. Besides, it’s impractical to lug around a cauldron. So, I taught my students practical alchemy, because it was something they might actually use one day.

  Watching everyone’s life fall into place around me left me wistful. Sure, there wasn’t a shortage of Alphas around campus to romp with, but that grew old after my second year here. It was always the same. They’d act like they owned me or get bored of me. Or worse. They’d meet their true-mate and there was nothing I could do about it. Not that I’d rob anyone of true happiness, but it got old fast. Not to mention, it was awkward to run into them with their true-mate. Everyone wanted to believe their mate was shiny and new with no past to haunt them. Who was I to kick their illusions in the balls?

  So, four years ago, I gave up dating and romping. I got on the heat shot and focused on my art. And I started baking. If it wasn’t for my wolf’s metabolism I’d be fatter than a sloth shifter. Not that they’re all fat, but the one’s I’ve met all had a belly full of jelly.

  “Logan, you here?” A vaguely familiar voice called out from the living room. Darian, the dean of the academy, was the only one with an extra key to my house and I was sure I locked the door.

  “That isn’t Darian,” my wolf let out a low throaty growl inside my chest. I hadn’t asked other omegas, but sometimes I felt my wolf was more growly than other omegas.

  Is that why I hadn’t found my true-mate?

  So, I picked up my favorite marble rolling pin and headed out to see who was trespassing. I lived alone long enough as an omega to know that not all visitors were friendly.

  “Logan?” The voice called out again.

  I didn’t answer as I crept into the living room. Ross, Darian’s brother, stood with the door open looking around.

  “Oh, it’s you,” I said and sat the marble rolling pin out of sight. I didn’t need it getting around that all this breeding farm and rogue vampire business made me nervous. I wasn’t directly involved in the Omega Liberation Front, but I brewed up the pheromone-blocker for their missions. So, I heard more than my fair share of horror stories.

  “Were you expecting someone?” Ross smiled.

  “No,” I shook my head. “I just thought you were Darian looking for more pheromone-blocker.”

  “No, I need to ask you a favor and Darian lent me the extra key. He said you were probably in the lab.”

  “I was,” I nodded.

  “Sorry to interrupt you,” Ross shoved his hands in his pockets. “I can come back later if it’s a bad time.”

  “Nah, you’re already here. Would you like a cup of tea?” I asked and headed into the kitchen.

  “You’ve already entered my territory. Make yourself at home. That’s what all these Hemlocks do,” my wolf grumbled.

  Ross made me nervous. He possessed Juda’s famed omega sight and I worried if I stayed around him too long he’d see my future. And I didn’t want to know what it held. I liked to be pleasantly surprised about the good things.

  And not to sweat the bad stuff before it arrived.

  Ross followed me into the kitchen and I put the kettle on.

  “I thought I was the only one who still used an actual kettle,” he laughed and sat down at the table.

  “It’s the only way to make proper tea. I apprenticed two years in Great Britain and can’t drink it any other way now. Kettle water over leaves. I was just fourteen at the time, but it stuck with me.”

  I joined him at the table and waited for him to ask for the favor. Dean Darian Hemlock hired me when no other school or establishment would hire an unmated omega professor, so I didn’t mind helping him. I did mind him passing my key out all willy-nilly and I’d tell him so the first chance I got.

  “You’re probably tired of Hemlocks asking for favors,” Ross chuckled as if he read my mind.

  “It’s not the favors I mind,” I crossed my legs under the table and waited for him to get to the point. I didn’t hang out with too many other omegas, because most of them beat around the bush before getting to the point. So, here on campus, my actual omega friends were limited to the dean’s mate Wrynn. That man didn’t know there was a bush to beat around and I loved him for it.

  “It’s our kid sister, Zoey,” Ross said. “She’s moving down here. She’s begged our parents for months ever since Baby Syra was born. Dad told her if she could test out of her classes at school and pass the aptitude exams to get into the Academy she could move here.”

  “He didn’t think she could?” I laughed.

  “No, he didn’t. I tried to warn him, because I saw her doing it.”

  “A vision?” I asked.

  “Exactly,” Ross nodded. “So, she’s going to be staying with us for a while and she’s interested in majoring in a magical subject. She’s showing all the signs of possessing the Hemlock magic.”

  “But she can’t do much with it for another fifteen years,” I laughed.

  If they possessed magic Alphas showed it young. Omegas, like me and Ross, didn’t show it until our late twenties or early thirties.

  “Except she can learn Alchemy, right?”
Ross asked.

  “If the dean approves her for my class I won’t say no,” I stood up to grab the whistling kettle from the burner. I set out my favorite teacups with the tiny yellow flowers on them.

  “Well, it’s a bit more than that,” Ross bit his lip.

  “Of course,” my wolf sighed and closed his eyes. “There’s always more when Hemlocks come knocking.”

  “She’s a bit young to be an apprentice,” I said pouring the water over the tealeaves.

  “Monta and I are up to our ears with the baby and Kimi and his classes,” Ross sighed. “We need someone to show her around campus and make her feel at home here. Sure, she knows she’s welcome in our home, but she’s one of the youngest omegas to ever attend Hemlock Academy. That and she’ll need a mentor to really major in a magical subject and Darian recommended you.”

  “I can’t promise anything,” I cringed.

  I hated telling Darian no, but I wasn’t looking for an apprentice. I had enough on my plate teaching buffoons to be patient enough to turn grass into more useful materials. Most first-timers in my class never accomplished that.

  “I know,” Ross smiled. “Alchemy may not be her thing and if it’s not, that’s okay. But if it is will you at least consider it? I’m sure Darian would give you a raise if you did.”

  “Mentoring should never be about money,” I squared my shoulders. “I don’t take bribes. I can’t be bought. I know that’s hard for some Hemlocks to understand. I’ve had more than one of your rowdy brothers as students. They like to try to buy ‘extra credit.’”

  “I’m not trying to buy you. I just know how valuable your time is and want to see you compensated if you take Zoey under your wing,” Ross sipped his tea.

  “I’ll meet her. I can’t promise any more than that,” I drained my cup and kept it covered with my hand. Rumors flew around that Ross could read tealeaves and I didn’t want him reading mine.

  “Thanks,” he smiled. “And just so you know, I don’t read tealeaves. That’s not what the sight is.”

  “Good to know,” I said, but didn’t uncover my teacup. “When does Zoey arrive?”

  “Tomorrow afternoon,” Ross said. “She’s coming down with one of our brothers who Darian called in for security.”

  “More security?” I arched a brow. “Have there been any new developments in finding the rogue vampire?”

  “Not yet. That’s why we’re getting more security,” Ross sighed. “Right now, I’d welcome a dozen visions a day if it led to the end of this nightmare.”

  “Right now, I’d boil his head and I don’t believe in violence, but the new omega curfew is driving me crazy. When you give my key back to Darian ask him how his Alchemy professor is supposed to pick moon-blooming herbs without going out in the dark?”

  “I will,” Ross chuckled and stood up. “Thank you for agreeing to meet Zoey. She’s a great kid. She really is.”

  “Go give my key back to Darian and next time – knock like a civilized human being. We’re not primitive cave-wolves barging into each other’s territories.”

  “Sorry again,” Ross rubbed the back of his neck. “Back home we never knock.”

  “Well, I’m not a Hemlock and I prefer my visitors to knock.”

  “I’ll remember that,” Ross blushed and turned to leave. Then stopped.

  If he’s having a vision about me I’ll stuff his mouth with a tea towel to keep from hearing it.

  “Darian just thought it would be okay, because Wrynn uses it all the time,” Ross said.

  “Well, Wrynn is my friend. I don’t know anything about you,” I said.

  “We’ll have to change that,” Ross smiled and let himself out.

  “Lock the door behind you!” I shouted and headed back to the lab after hearing the lock click into place.

  Chapter Two

  Jessie

  I killed the radio and reveled in the point two seconds of silence before Zoey complained.

  “Hey! I like that song,” she tried to turn the radio back on, but I knocked her hand away.

  “If I have to listen to one more boyband song I’ll jab my eardrums out,” I sighed.

  “Better than your head-banging music,” Zoey sighed.

  “Let’s just listen to the highway,” I said and turned off the ac.

  “We’re going to die of heat strokes!” Zoey complained as I pushed the buttons to roll down the windows.

  “Put your earbuds in and listen to it on your phone.”

  “My phone is dead, and my car charger is packed away somewhere back there,” she jerked her finger to the small trailer behind us.

  “Well, listen to the highway then,” I said.

  “What? Do you expect me to put my head out the window like a dog?”

  “If that’s what you want to do go for it!” I sighed.

  Six hours locked in a car with my youngest sister left me annoyed and ready to stretch my legs. Zoey had her sweet moments, but since turning seventeen she inherited all the knowledge of the universe. At least, that’s what she thought.

  “Their music speaks to my soul!” Zoey shouted over the wind whipping through the windows. “They say such romantic things! My true-mate will say things like that!”

  “I hope not. If your mate is that cheesy he’ll be a wimp. All those guys are wimps, Zoe. You need someone who can protect you. Not someone who can only sing and pelvic thrust on stage.”

  “Darian’s going to put an end to all this stuff going on,” she said avoiding the words breeding farm. We all avoided using the phrase, but it clung to the back of our minds like a looming threat to the pack. A threat we’d yet to find and devour.

  “Bad guys will still exist,” I told her, but didn’t push the subject. She was too young to understand and none of us really wanted her to anyway. Who wants to tell their kid sister that she’s naive and the world’s a horrible place? We’d all rather just break enough necks or go on enough manhunts so that the world shut the hell up and aligned with the way she saw it.

  “You know Mom and Dad are hoping you find your true-mate at Hemlock Academy and quit head banging all over Hemlock Mountain,” Zoey sighed and looked out the window.

  “All rock music isn’t head banging music and I don’t head bang,” I sighed. “Your musical knowledge is limited to pretty boys with alright voices singing songs written by brainless sweet talkers. Talk to me in a few decades after you’ve listened to some real music.”

  “My music is real music,” Zoey laughed.

  “If you say so.”

  “I do!” She stuck her tongue out at me.

  I turned the radio back on and ignored the music as best as I could. In a few hours, we’d arrive at Hemlock Academy and she’d enter the adult world. Soon enough, it’d knock Zoey on her ass and me and the rest of our brothers would have to beat the shit out of the first asshole to break her heart. But for now, she was safe in the land of boybands being real music.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Our first stop at Hemlock Academy was Darian’s house where Ross and Monta met us for lunch. His mate Wrynn showed Zoey where she could freshen up and we took to the office.

  “I’m glad to pass her off to Ross,” I told Darian as he filled his glass with brandy and passed the bottle to me. “She’s in the boyband phase and showing no signs of regaining her sanity.”

  “She’ll be okay. I’d rather have her in the boyband phase than the boy crazy phase,” Darian took a long swig of his brandy. “If that’s her worst attribute she’s ahead of most of the students here.”

  “Good to know the academy hasn’t changed a bit since I left,” I laughed and downed my own glass before pouring another. “Is Monta taking care of Ross and the pup well enough?”

  I reveled in the light burning sensation the brandy left behind bringing my boyband killed mind back to life.

  “I didn’t bring you here to harass them,” Darian narrowed his eyes on me. “I brought you here because you have a good nose and a short bullshit tolerance. We
need both.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t answer the question, brother,” I said.

  “He’s doing well enough. Not all our siblings can marry into well-to-do packs,” Darian said.

  “Maybe not, but I always thought Ross would,” I chuckled.

  “Me too,” Darian laughed.

  “We better shut up. I just scented the devil we speak of.”

  “Devil?” Ross arched a brow from the door. “I’ll show you a devil if you came here to start trouble.”

  I loved my eldest brother, but we bumped heads a lot. He was high-strung and prissy at times. I’d kill anyone who hurt him, but some days I wanted to lock him in a soundproof closet.

  “I delivered your daughter,” I teased.

  “Quit calling her that,” Ross sighed. “She’s not my kid. She’s our sister and she’s excited to be here.”

  “No, she had to be with Mommy Ross,” I smirked.

  “Watch your toes,” Darian warned, but I didn’t need the reminder that Ross loved to stomp on our toes anytime we pissed him off too much.

  “She just wanted off Hemlock Mountain,” Ross joined us pouring himself a very small bit of brandy. “Though, all you lug-heads she wanted to escape are here now. So, she may change her mind soon.”

  “You three quit picking on each other,” Wrynn stuck his head in the door. “And come eat lunch.”

  “We’re coming sweetheart,” Darian got that goofy smile he always wore around Wrynn.

  “Where’s Monta?” Darian asked.

  “Settling in Baby Syra,” Wrynn said. “She’s not very fond of the other pups. She nibbled on Bobby’s toes when she first got here today.”

  “Just as violent as you, Ross,” I laughed and stepped pass him before he could consider assaulting my toes. The others let him away with it, because he was an omega. I let him away with it, because he was the first born. If fate dealt him an Alpha hand he’d be the Patriarch right now instead of Darian and Sky might still be around. He was always closer to Sky than any of us. So, he didn’t get to be Patriarch and I didn’t bite him for stomping on my toes with his bony heels.