“He was given the antidote this morning and he hasn’t shifted since. The doctors want him to wait a few days before he tries a controlled shift.”
Heather glanced at Ian. He’d been watching the conversation closely, eyes narrowed and intense. If he’d scanned her mind she would have felt it, but what if one of the other rumors were true? “Are you empathic?”
A slow smile parted his lips. “Why’d you ask?”
“I feel like you’re analyzing me.”
“Not intentionally, but your emotions are rather overt right now.”
“Wonderful.” She pushed back from the table and stood. “I refuse to be analyzed.”
“We’re here to help you.” Devon caught her wrist before Heather could escape entirely. “Have you heard about the Omni Prime?”
Heather pulled her hand free and shoved in her chair. She didn’t leave. Instead she rested her hands on the back of the chair and asked, “Has your mother really found someone capable of absorbing multiple animal natures?”
“Two someones, actually. Carissa and Ava Seymour. They’re half sisters. Carissa was defined with the blood of six men. It’s only been a matter of weeks and she can already manifest all sorts of animals.”
Curiosity eroded her anger. Still, she wasn’t ready to relent. Her fascination with the Omni Prime legend didn’t give them permission to manipulate her. “What about Ava? Has she been defined as well?”
“Not yet. Carissa’s willingness to dive right in took the pressure off Ava. We have no reason to doubt that she’ll eventually go through the binding ceremony. She just has the luxury of time.”
“Isn’t she vulnerable until her nature has been defined? What if someone tries to define her by force?” It was a possibility Heather had lived with for the past six years.
“That’s still a real danger,” Devon admitted, “but the two people most interested in controlling her definition are dead.”
“Besides, she’s in sync with Kyle,” Ian interjected. “Any danger to Ava immediately triggers their connection.”
Heather nodded, not sure what else to say on the subject. “What does the Omni Prime have to do with me?”
“The formula I was given created the same potential in me.”
That snapped Heather out of her annoyance. She looked at Devon, searching her eyes for any hint of deception or insincerity. “You have more than one animal nature?”
“At the moment I have three. A true Omni Prime only has one shot at it. All of her animals must be incorporated during her definition. The formula works a bit differently. I’m locked in acquisition mode until I take the antidote.”
“So you can keep adding animals indefinitely?” This all sounded too bizarre to be true. If she hadn’t seen Dhane for herself, she might have dismissed the entire story as some sort of hoax.
“Remaining in this mode is hard on my body and it intensifies certain desires.” Ian chuckled and Devon blushed.
“I thought there were no side effects.” Dhane had been nearly crazed with his need for sex thanks to the formula Devon had been given.
“Unlike the frenzy it created in your brother, it creeps up on me gradually. Unfortunately each episode lasts longer and is more intense. I’ll need the antidote soon.”
Suddenly the underlying implication of all these facts snapped into place. Heather felt her eyes widen and pressed her hand over her chest. “You want to give the formula to me?”
Devon stood and pushed her chair in. “Once you’ve been defined you lose the option forever. Do you understand how powerful this could make you? No one—not your father, not a prospective mate, not an Alpha Council—would have power over you again. You would be strong enough to choose your own future. I know how rare that is for a Therian woman.”
Excitement and fear tugged Heather in opposite directions. Generally when something sounded too good to be true it was, so how was she supposed to believe this was possible? “What do we really know about this formula? You’re presuming it’s safe because it hasn’t killed you yet, but there could be long-term side effects that won’t show up until months or years from now.”
“I was in captivity longer than your brother. I was given several versions of the formula. That’s how they refined it. Each version became less…damaging, more tolerable. Even at its worst, my life wasn’t in danger. The formula emulates a natural process in every Therian female’s body. It just allows us to control the timing.”
“Is there any possibility that your father has been contacted by the backers?” Ian asked.