The Omni-Wolf’s Choice novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Finally, the Truth…

Bridget’s POV

Evelyn is awake at last.

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The witch who did this is in the cells, and the whole operation has done what it was supposed to do. Rocco and Rhett are still down in the ICU, torn up from the fight. Ryder and I have already been by to check on them, and we have made sure their families have whatever they need.

Evelyn has gotten discharged this morning. She is back home, resting, being fussed over the way she

deserves-by her mom, by the staff, by basically anyone within arm’s reach.

Now it’s my turn to be looked over.

Ryder and I are in the office, waiting for my appointment with Dr. Yvette. I’m here because I need to know what has Ryder so tightly wound he won’t say it out loud. And because he still won’t let me mark

him.

I need the truth. All of it.

I glance at Ryder. His face is controlled-always is-but his anxiety is humming under his skin. I can

feel it like static.

I slide my hand into his.

“Talk to me,” I say quietly. “What’s going on?”

He exhales through his nose, eyes fixed forward. “I just want her to start already. So we can get the full

picture. You know?”

The door swings open before I can push further, and Dr. Yvette steps in.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she says, smiling as she sits. “Rhett woke up. He’s improving.”

Relief loosens my chest. “That’s amazing.”

Ryder nods, the tension in him easing by a fraction. “That is good news.”

Dr. Yvette’s expression shifts-professional, focused-as she reaches for my file. “Now. Your

bloodwork.”

She opens the folder like she’s unveiling something rare and dangerous.

“I have to tell you,” she says, passing a copy for Ryder and me to share, “your results were… fascinating. I’ve never encountered a genetic profile like this.”

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“First,” she continues, tapping a section, “you are what we’d classify as a quadri-breed. I haven’t seen it before. Not in records, not in samples, not in living subjects.”

“Like a chimera?” I ask. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on so I don’t get blindsided again. “Those old myths about beings made of multiple species?”

“Similar in concept,” she says, “but a chimera often presents physically as a blend. You appear human

– at least in your baseline form. Whether you can shift beyond the wolf… we’ll have to see.”

She doesn’t hesitate when she says the list.

“Werewolf. Vampire. Witch. Siren.”

My throat goes dry.

“Wow,” is all I manage.

Ryder’s eyes flick across the paper. He’s thinking out loud before he can stop himself. “The wolf part is dominant right now. She has the speed from the vampire side-she has already gifted some of that to

1. Her magic tracks witch. And the siren…”

Something clicks so hard it feels like my ribs shift.

“That’s why I lived,” I whisper, suddenly breathless. “In the water. That’s why I survived and my parents

didn’t.”

The grief comes up sharp and immediate.

“Did they know?” I say, and my voice cracks. “If they knew, they could have told me. I could’ve-maybe

I could’ve saved them. I could have-”

Ryder tightens his grip on my hand, anchoring me. “Bridget. That’s an impossible weight to put on a child. Fighting rapids and dragging two adults to safety?”

Dr. Yvette’s gaze softens. “Alpha Ryder is right. Even if your parents did know, power development that early is rare. You cannot punish yourself for what you couldn’t access at that age, Luna.”

She slides a tissue toward me, and only then do I realize a tear has already escaped.

Ryder’s voice turns firm-certain. “She’s right. You were a kid. No one expected you to save anyone,

not even them.”

I breathe out slowly. My memories of my parents are blurry and small, but love isn’t. I know they loved me. I know they would’ve wanted me to live, not drown in regret.

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“So what now?” I ask, wiping my cheek. “What does being all of this mean for me? Do I have to do something?”

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“It depends,” Dr. Yvette says carefully. “Stories say beings like you arrive for a purpose, but they rarely include a schedule. I’ve been in the lab trying to break down your cells. Nothing takes. I have tried infusions, catalysts-no changes. Your DNA behaves as if it’s… indestructible.”

My pulse stutters. “So I can’t die?”

“We are not concluding that,” she says quickly. “What we are saying is that your genetic material could be a miracle-something that can be used to save others.”

“Like O negative?” I ask. “Blood anyone can use?”

“Yes,” she replies, “but more than that. Your blood binds and repairs at an accelerated rate. It will be coveted.”

Her tone hardens. “That is why I ran the work myself in the pack house lab. Everything is under Alpha lock. No one outside this room gets this information. If it leaks, you become prey.”

Ryder’s jaw sets. “And it’s another reason your training continues. Defense. Control. Learning every part of you.”

“I’m in,” I say, voice steady. “No one gets to catch me unprepared.”

Dr. Yvette closes the folder with a soft thud. “There’s one more matter. It is more properly discussed by the elders, so we asked Elder Lysander to join us.”

Ryder looks at me and offers a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

So this is it.

The knot of worry I’ve been sensing from him tightens.

The door opens again, and Elder Lysander walks in, taking the seat beside Dr. Yvette.

“Luna Bridget,” he says, cordial but cautious. “Good to see you. I’ve heard the last week has been… intense. Alpha Ryder, thank you for inviting me back.”

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Ryder answers.

My patience is thinning.

“Okay,” I cut in, unable to help myself, “no disrespect, but I’m done being the only person in this room who doesn’t know what’s being danced around. So can we please say it?”

I pull my hand away from Ryder without meaning to. His mouth tightens. He reaches for me again,

<Chapter 51 Finally, the Truth.

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reclaiming my hand like he refuses to let me spin off.

My wolf urges calm.

I let him hold me.

‘Sorry,’ I mind-link.

‘It’s okay,’ he answers immediately. ‘I love you.’

Lysander clears his throat. “Very well. As a multi-breed supernatural, you may have a mate from each

species represented in your blood. The timing and the arrangement would be… yours to decide.”

He says it like he’s offering me a choice at a buffet.

My face hardens as I turn toward Ryder. “This. This is what you wouldn’t tell me?”

Then I look back at the elder. “So I can choose multiple mates?”

The indignation rises fast.

“I’m the Omni-Wolf,” I say. “That means I can do what I want, correct?”

Lysander hesitates. “Technically, yes, but-”

“And if I decide something,” I press, “who exactly is going to challenge it?”

He swallows. “No one would be wise to. However, your position could bridge your pack with other

realms if you bond across them.”

“Or I could create a pact,” I shoot back. “A contract. An agreement of solidarity without me being

traded like a political tool.”

“It is what would be expected,” he says, quieter now.

My stomach twists. “So they waited all these years for me to show up just to inform me I’m supposed

to claim mates in all four realms?”

“It’s not quite-”

“It is exactly that,” I snap. “And excuse my French, but it’s bullshit.”

The word lands heavy.

“If I were a man,” I continue, “none of you would be sitting here implying I’m obligated to collect mates

for diplomacy. I am not here to be managed. I will use free will.”

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<Chapter 51 Finally, the Truth.

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“And when Ryder and I have children-if they inherit my DNA-they will choose their own path. No coven, pack, or realm gets to assign them a destiny like a duty roster.”

My voice lowers into something that demands an answer. “Are we understood?”

Lysander looks like he’s shrinking into his own robes. Dr. Yvette is openly smiling. Even Ryder’s mouth curves, pride flickering through his eyes.

Then I face him.

“And you,” I say, heat spilling out of every word, “is this why you wouldn’t let me mark you? You thought I’d go mark other men?”

Ryder’s brows pull together. “Wait-Bridget…”

Lysander rushes in, almost desperate to clarify. “It may help to add: you may claim up to four mates, but you can only mark one.”

I whip back toward Ryder.

“Oh,” I say, voice rising. “So you were being noble? You were holding back so I could choose who gets my mark? Are you serious right now?”

“Bridget,” Ryder says, and now his frustration is breaking through.

Good.

Let him feel how powerless I feel.

My vision brightens. My eyes burn. A tingling spreads through my hands, up my arms. Mystique claws at the inside of my skin, furious and ready.

My heart slams.

“Bridget,” Ryder says again, voice turning commanding. “Listen to me. Breathe.”

The world shivers.

My skin prickles, and then-fur. White, thick, rushing over me like a wave. I drop to all fours, lungs full of wild air, mind flooded with anger and speed.

The window is suddenly nothing but an exit.

I launch.

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Glass and wind and freedom.

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Behind me, Ryder yells my name as I hit the ground running and tear straight into the woods.

Ryder’s POV

Damnit,

Bridget is furious, and now I am too.

I’m out the window after her without thinking, shifting midair as I fall from the third floor. The change snaps through my bones, and then my paws are slamming earth.

Mystique is stunning-pure white, like fresh snow under moonlight-but there’s no room to appreciate it. Not when she’s bolting like she’s trying to outrun the entire world.

She is fast as hell.

I’m chasing at lightning pace, and she’s still pulling away, her vampire-bred speed making it look like her paws barely bother touching the ground.

My wolf is massive, black as a bruise, built for pursuit. And I have been given a portion of her gift-

enough to keep me in this.

If she marks me.

And with her this angry… that’s not guaranteed.

‘Lock down the borders,’ I blast through the mind-link to my warriors. ‘Every patrol out. White wolf on the move. Do not touch her. Do not approach her. If you do, I’ll handle you myself!’

I have to reach her before she crosses pack lines.

She clears a stream in a single bound, then doubles back hard, cutting toward the western stretch of

territory.

‘Mystique, you need to stop!’ Talon pushes into her mind.

The only response is a low, vicious growl.

‘She’s not listening,’ Talon says to me. ‘We.might have to pin her.’

‘Then move,’ I answer, and we dig deeper, pushing until the world narrows to scent and pounding

blood.

I feel Connor, Lucas, and Pierce closing in behind us. They’re trying to reach me, but I can’t split focus. All that matters is Bridget.

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Mystique charges up the mountain path and hits a section where the terrain cuts her off-rock wall, drop, no clean line forward.

Cornered.

She keeps trying anyway, leaping up for a branch, claws scraping bark.

I stalk closer, careful, reading every twitch.

She whips around and bares teeth, a warning growl rumbling from deep in her chest.

‘Mystique, stand down,’ I order through the link.

She answers with another growl, louder.

She is the strongest wolf I have ever seen. The fact that she’s my mate is a damn honor.

But right now I need Bridget back inside her skin. I need to hold her, to tell her I’m sorry, to make sure

she understands: I want what she wants. Nothing more.

I shift back, human again, naked in the cold air, and I keep my hands visible.

Her posture eases a fraction.

My men start forward, and she snaps at them.

I lift my hand sharply. “Back up. All of you. Perimeter. Now.”

They obey, moving out and giving us space.

I turn my attention fully to her. “Mystique. Shift back.”

A warning growl.

“Now,” I say, voice hardening. “And I promise you this-Talon gets time alone with you. You’ll have it.”

Her gaze holds mine, assessing.

‘Bridget knows you keep your word,’ Mystique mind-links.

And then she shifts, white fur folding away until my Luna is standing there again.

The Omni Wolf’s Choice