Jace nodded. “Don’t worry. She will be retrieved and given a proper burial.”
He held his ground and watched as the half of the omegas not coming with him slowly started to disperse. Only a few thought to thank him, but he still didn’t mind it much. He had his Guard roam the hills for about an hour while the omegas staying with him were fed, watered, and allowed to stretch their muscles. Not only would the roaming help them burn energy, it would keep the omegas protected as they started off on their journey.
Soon enough though, it was time to get going. The dead omega was buried beneath enough earth to dissuade predators from going for her corpse, and the others were well on their way.
“Time to get going,” Jace commanded. “We will travel as our counterparts. Omegas, gather behind me and my Guard will flank you for protection.”
As the omegas moved to obey Jace’s commands, he caught sight of one in particular. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what drew his gaze to that particular omega, other than that he was beautiful. He was tall and handsome in a dainty sort of way, with a shaggy mop of blond hair and vibrant blue eyes. His shoulders were thin and his ribs could be easily counted from beneath the ragged shirt he wore, but there was something about him. He clearly wasn’t powerful. No, it was something else. Some sort of grace in the way he moved, and a peculiar daintiness in the way he shapeshifted into a wolf. And his wolf form was beautiful as well, black as a shadow but with white markings.
“Everyone is ready,” Marvin informed him, before shifting and taking his place.
Startled out of his reverie, Jace turned to see that everyone really was in position. Good then. He nodded to Marvin even though the wolf couldn’t see him any longer, and then he himself shapeshifted into his wolf form. While he wasn’t the largest alpha in the world, and not even as large as some of the wolves in his Guard, he had been given royal training and was just as deadly as any of them. He had every right to lead.
He didn’t howl this time, out of respect for the fallen and buried omega. Instead, he lifted his tail up high over his back as a moving-out signal and he started off in the direction of the Capital. His home city was named Auroris, but only spoken of in that general honorific. Capital. A Very Important Place.
Pah. He snorted inwardly. Some people thought themselves too important for their own good. They should all be like him, knowing his own importance but also knowing his place in the world. Ah, well. Some of the first things he planned to do when his turn to reign came would be to install more checks and balances throughout the various governmental systems, to prevent those egotistical bastards from causing more harm than they already had.
Of course, that day was hopefully years away still. His father, the king, the Head Predator, would get better and live out the rest of his life in peace. Jace’s concerns lay with the current moment, until then.
He set the pace at an easy trot, one which would allow the omegas to keep up. If any of them started to lag behind, the guard would take care of it.
Worry not, Jace thought grimly. I will take care of all of you.
Chapter 5
Keiran hadn’t seen the spectacular rescue coming. He had spent a week in the back of that damned truck, sleeping most of the time because it was better than being awake. They were fed once every two days and given a bathroom break twice a day. Water was given to them in the form of a single bucket, which naturally ran out most of the time before it reached the rear of the truck, where Keiran was located. As he was still hogtied on his side, all he could do was sit there with the bucket overturned and lick at what dribbled out. Naturally, he stopped feeling the need to do anything during the bathroom breaks, but he relished the feeling of being able to stretch his muscles for a few seconds. It was almost enough to make him weep.
And then some dashing stranger had broken in, killed everyone, and set them free. And what a stranger indeed. Keiran had never seen anything like that mysterious man, who headed what was practically an army of wolves. He was tall and bronzed by the sun, with muscles so sharp they could have been chiseled from stone by an artist. His eyes were dark and mournful somehow, and his thin line of a mouth made it seem as though he never smiled. His hair was dark brown, almost as dark as his eyes, and cut so short that the shape of his skull was clear beneath the shorn strands. He looked like a guard himself, and not at all the type of man who could promise what he had.
Yet, he had made that promise. So, would he be able to keep it? That all remained to be seen, but what choice did Keiran have? He had been sold and not stolen, so he had no home to return to. It was best to head to the Capital. There would be a lot more opportunities there, right? Maybe he could find a place where it didn’t matter that he was a lowborn omega. Talent had to count for something.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that he staggered sideways and bumped into Ty, who was scampering along behind him. Ty whipped his head around and hissed, baring his teeth. Keiran leaped back into his own spot, an image of similar spiky teeth flashing through his mind. Needle fangs and bulging eyes…That would haunt his sleep for ages. Maybe forever.
Hell, he might never get over any of this.
Keiran shook his head and tried as hard as he could to settle into a regular gait again, but it was difficult. He was weak and his body had already begun to waste away. His tongue was parched in his mouth and his paws kept wanting to collapse from underneath him. His pelt prickled with shame to be so weak when he hadn’t been imprisoned nearly as long as the others, especially when an immense Guard alpha broke formation to push up against his side. A low growl thrummed in his throat; a question.
Keiran yipped in response, confirming that he was fine. The Guard nodded and moved off again.
The shame faded after that, as his tired brain forced him to think less and concentrate more on what was going on in the world around him. It turned out that the Guard alphas were constantly in motion, weaving in and out of the group of omegas to offer an encouraging nudge or to boost them from behind if they stumbled. Everything was perfectly measured and polite.
Did he even give his name?
He couldn’t remember if the mysterious stranger had. Why was it so important? It just seemed that way somehow, in his exhaustion-fogged brain.
Stop thinking. Please. Stop.
His thoughts didn’t stop. They circled and circled, looping in on themselves until he could hardly make sense of them anymore. Keiran shook his head so hard that his ears made a popping sound when they flapped. He staggered to the side again, paws crumpling underneath him. With a yelp, he fell flat on his face and skidded in the dirt before coming to a dead stop.
Just before his own yelp rang out, another omega let out a cry. He must have been shorter, because he was just barely able to detect their thumping fall a millisecond before his own. Everything was too acute; too sharp. He felt like he was dying; like this was his end. And if it was going to be his end, he was at least thankful that he hadn’t technically been the first to give out.
But all around him were more thumps. As if the two collapses had triggered something, the other omegas all began to falter. Their strength had given out.
And the mysterious man’s voice, as sharp as everything else Keiran sensed: “I’m impressed that we made it this far.” From any other man, that might have been an insult. From this one, it became a compliment. “We’ll camp here for the night. Stay still, all of you. Rest. Breathe. We will bring you drink and food once we’ve hunted and secured a water source.”
Keiran just lay there dully in a heap with the other twenty-some omegas, gasping and struggling to get breath in his burning lungs. His legs felt as if they had fallen off.
All around him, other wolves moved. With that same sort of clarity, he heard the mysterious man giving orders. Some of the alphas departed to go hunting, while several others set up a watch around the perimeter of the camp. One or two set about to make camp, marking out sleeping spaces and kindling a fire.
They’re obviously not
good at it, Keiran observed, listening to a man growl with irritation as he struck and bent match after match.
After about five minutes of lying prone, Keiran sat up. He was the only one.
Ty rolled his eyes in Keiran’s direction. He was in human form as well, though not all the omegas were. “What… are… you… doing?” the fox panted.
“Sitting?”
Ty pulled in a deep breath. “Why? They’ll… take care of us. Just… rest. Wait.”
For some reason, Keiran didn’t feel like waiting. He stayed sitting up and Ty huffed, clearly giving up on him. Something nagged at the back of the omega wolf’s mind, some bit of thought he had trouble separating from all the rest. For some reason, he didn’t feel like he should just be sitting around and letting others take care of him when he was at least well enough to continue moving around a little.
Some of the wolves were on their way back now, laying down bottles of water near the exhausted omegas. “Rest,” one said. “Drink when you’re ready. We’ll keep fetching water. Just rest.”
As no omega moved, Keiran suddenly realized what had been nagging at him. Something Abigail said once, about how she would probably still be prescribing cures on her deathbed. “As long as I can still think, I will still heal,” she said. A determined glimmer had been in her eyes.
Keiran could think. As a bonus, he could move. He could heal.
He pushed himself up to his feet and went over to one of the bottles of water. Surveying the omegas around, he picked out a female with her face pressed against the ground and went over to her. She didn’t move at all, not even her eyes.
“Want a drink?” he asked. The sound of his own voice was almost terrifying. He sounded like someone who had been eating sand for every meal.
The woman didn’t do anything.
“It’s safe to drink, see?” Keiran lifted the mouth of the bottle to his lips and took a deep swallow. It was like being kissed by an angel. Pure, magical wetness. Oh, it was good. He nearly cried, but that would be a waste of the precious fluid going into his body. “Try some.”
And still no response.
If she doesn’t drink, she’ll die. They all will.
Keiran tilted the bottle, wetting his fingertips. He gently rubbed the moisture over her cracked lips, feeling the wet scabs melt and split. Her blood stained his skin, but now he had her interest. She stirred, tongue flicking out to lick her lips. Encouraged, he tried to tilt the bottle down toward her mouth to pour some water in, but the angle was all wrong and she couldn’t lift her head anyway. He looked around uncertainly before another idea came to him, then he grabbed hold of his shirt and tore a scrap away from the rest. It would have been hard had the material not been so thin and cheap. Holding his makeshift rag, he dampened the end of it and then pressed it against the woman’s lips so she could suck on it. At first, she didn’t seem to understand, but the cool water must have revived her because her next reaction was almost violent, as she sucked greedily at the rag.
“Don’t get worked up,” he murmured, dampening the rag again and returning it to her. “You’ll choke and make yourself sick. Just keep it steady, okay? There’s plenty so take as much as you need.”
After several more minutes of suckling on the rag, the woman was finally able to lift up her head. Her eyes were cloudy, but she tried to speak. Keiran shushed her. “Don’t worry about talking right now. Just drink. You need water.”
He propped her head up in his lap now that she’d found some strength and gave her water directly from the bottle a sip at a time. She drank greedily and he could almost feel strength flooding into her limbs. No, scratch that. He could feel it. For the moment, this ragtag group counted as his pack and a wolf was always in tune with the members of his pack. That was just how it worked.
When he gauged that she’d drunk enough for now, Keiran gently laid her back on the ground. “Just rest now. There’s more water. If you need more help, I’ll be back in a bit. Just rest.”
He left her there and shuffled over to her neighbor. There was no doubt in his mind that she would be able to get her next drink on her own. Just a tiny bit of water could do wonders for the body.
He repeated the same process as before, again and again and again. Some of the omegas were simply grateful they didn’t have to get up and get water on their own. Not all of them listened to him when he told them to take it easy, vomiting back up what they’d already drank. Keiran moved on from those as quickly as he could. He could help, but he couldn’t help stupidity.
And then there were others like the first, who genuinely needed the help. There was one little omega boy who couldn’t have been more than 14 years old, a common tabby cat if the distinctive pattern of freckles on his face was anything to go by. He was as close to death as a child could come without actually dying. Keiran stayed with him for over twenty minutes, letting him suck from the rag. And in the end, he only had enough strength to lift his head for a moment and still couldn’t drink from the bottle.
I don’t know what to do now.
Keiran looked around at all the others who still needed his help, who needed water. And that was only the first thing he had to take care of. There were injuries to treat as well, and who knew if they would be capable of eating on their own when the hunters returned. Some of them were shivering, either cold or caught in the grip of a fever. And he had no medicines.
Someone lightly touched his shoulder. Keiran turned and blinked at Ty, whose hair was the color of the approaching sunset. “What do you need?” Keiran asked, his voice cracking. He was overwhelmed, thoughts whirling again. He himself had only taken a single swallow of water and desperately wanted to tend to his own needs, but a healer would always put himself last.
Ty gestured for the rag and the bottle of water. “Let me help.”
Keiran stared at him. His mischievous eyes were deathly serious. “Why?”
“Because maybe you’re not half as stupid as I thought,” Ty said gruffly. He glanced away and snatched at the things Keiran held. “And I can move. I can help.”
Though he was still suspicious, Keiran felt relief wash over his tired body. “Okay,” he agreed, and told Ty what to do. He had his concerns that the dumb fox would rush or do something wrong, but the gentleness in Ty’s touch as he reached for the omega cat told him things would be just fine.
And so Keiran moved on. When everyone had been given a drink, Keiran enlisted the help of one more person to continue administering water. With that done, he stood up and staggered over toward the nearest member of the Guard.
“Uh… excuse me.” His voice went up an octave, embarrassingly. Stupid omega, he cursed himself. Too damn shy for his own good.
“What do you need?” the alpha asked, turning to face him with sympathetic eyes. “I saw you in that group. Taking charge. Rare thing for an omega. Well done.”
Praise. I can’t believe it.
Blinking rapidly to chase away tears, Keiran said, “Um, thanks. Listen, do you have any bandages? Or anything?”
The alpha nodded and led him over toward where the fire was now blazing, scrounging around in the packs that lay there before coming up with an armful of rough cloth bandages. No medicine. “This is all we’ve got,” he apologized.
Keiran shook his head. “It’s great. Thank you.”
As he returned to the group, he desperately wished that he knew enough about herbology to go scrounging around in the hills. Maybe there was something he could find to soothe nerves or help with infections, but he would just as likely accidentally kill someone by administering poison. No, best to stick with what he knew.
And he did exactly that, using water to thoroughly wash sores and cuts, binding them with bandages. He braced twisted ankles and aching wrists with more strips of bandage, tied at just the right tightness to avoid cutting off circulation. For those who shivered, he guided them over to the fire. For those with fever, he gave them more water and dampened their foreheads to combat the burning heat. What he could
do, he did. And what he couldn’t do, he wished he could.
A howl over the ridge signaled the return of the hunters. Keiran looked up to see each wolf dragging along a small plains deer. It wouldn’t be nearly enough to feed all of them, but it was a start. Stomachs shrank when a person hadn’t eaten for a while, which meant the omegas would quickly become full during this initial feast, but after that, they would become ravenous. Hopefully, more hunters would go out.
Night approached as the hunters started butchering and cooking the deer. Keiran knelt next to one of the omegas still sitting down and helped him limp over toward the fire so he could be fed and kept safe when it came time to sleep. He was on his way back when, suddenly, a hand clamped down around his shoulder from behind.
A yelp exploded from his throat, not so much from surprise of being touched as surprised by what the touch did. It felt like his entire body had been shocked by a lightning bolt. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and his legs quivered, tingles lacing through his veins. As the electric shock faded, scent reached him: an alpha’s musky aroma. And not just any alpha.
“Hi,” Keiran said shyly, turning his head to greet the mysterious man who had been in charge of saving them. He couldn’t even think about meeting that dark gaze. He wasn’t worthy of it.
“Hey,” the strange man said. His voice was so strange, so clipped and formal and yet now familiar. And friendly. “You don’t have to avoid my gaze, you know.”
“Um… I’m just shy?” Keiran suggested. It came out a question because his thoughts didn’t feel like they were his own. He wasn’t even sure what he felt, except for the last fading echoes of those tingles radiating down from his shoulder.
“Well, you don’t have to be.” The stranger let out a soft laugh. Keiran noticed that he was rubbing his hand, as if he’d also felt the shock. “I saw what you were doing with all those other omegas. I have to thank you for the help because I must admit, I never would have known how to do any of that.”
Royal Affair Page 4