by Emma Knox
I wanted to say more, but before I could say a word, there was a loud shouting coming down the hall. The voice was unmistakable, and I flattened my lips as I waited for Whit to show himself. A moment later, I could see him, he was talking to a group of Alphas, and after saying something to them, and they all went off in a different direction. His eyes roamed around, I imagined looking for another victim, and they landed on me. I startled, then held myself stiffly.
“Alpha,” I acknowledged.
Immediately, he started barking orders. “Evan, you’ve finally shown yourself. Get over here! I’ve got things you need to complete!”
There was a squeeze on my shoulder, and I patted it quickly, shooting a reassuring look at Dad. He was staring at Whit in disbelief, but I wasn’t surprise. If he’d actually stopped his business to inquire about my health or anything, then that would have been a surprise.
“What do you need me to do, Alpha,” I said, stepping up.
“I need someone to go to the Alaskan Shifter Council and inform them that the pack is going to hunt down all the Betas that attacked the gala last night and kill them.”
The order startled me, but I got a hold of myself quickly and gave a sharp nod.
“Yes, sir!”
It wasn’t like I had an option. Speaking against Whit would have its consequences, even though I felt a little tired. I’d just gotten back and I would have to leave once more…
Once he got my confirmation, he didn’t even stop. He walked off in a different direction, calling out to the people he needed. I saw some of the pack members we’d gone to the gala with. I didn’t know if the others just didn’t make it or were just running around somewhere else. We’d all gone together, but none of them spared me as much as a glance. My brothers, also following in Whit’s wake, didn’t even look at me.
Even though I knew to expect it, I was a bit taken aback how no one seemed to care about me, aside from my Omega father. But really, it shouldn’t be so surprising. My night with Max and the attention he showed me was the exception, not the rule. I already knew my position in the pack and in my family. The only one that cared so much was the one to give birth to me. To everyone else, I was simply in the way when I couldn’t be useful, the errand I’d been given however was something just anyone could do, so why shouldn’t I go?
“You don’t have to go.”
I sighed and gave him a sad smile. “You must be joking, Dad. You know I don’t have much of a choice, especially after I said I would. He’ll go ahead with his plans regardless of what I do, and if he gets punished by the council, he’ll blame me.”
Just because I didn’t like it, didn’t mean it would be simpler to just not do it. That route would only create problems for the future.
“I feel a little tired,” I murmured. “Can I head up to my room?”
“Go, go,” he shooed me off. “Wait for me to get you something to eat, okay?”
“Thanks, Dad,” I said, giving him a genuine smile.
I walked up the stairs to the second floor. Down the hall to the right, almost all the way, was where the door to my room was. I let myself inside, feeling like it had been ages since I’d last been there, even though it had only been the day before yesterday. I slid Max’s coat off my shoulders, laying it on the bed. Then I stripped and went to have a shower. It was a little difficult, what with only being able to use one arm, and I had to keep the bandage out of the water. I didn’t manage in the end, though. I toweled myself dry a little roughly, and stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist.
Dad was already in my bedroom, with a plate of foot waiting for me on top of my dresser. When he saw me, he sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening.
“You were injured? Why didn’t you tell me!”
I winced a little at his shriek, but didn’t stop him or move away as he flew to my side and looked at the wet bandage on my arm. It had spots of red on it, and when he touched it, I winced, flinching a little.
“Sorry,” I murmured.
He glared. “You don’t have to apologize. Come over and sit down. How did this happen?”
Dad led me over to the bed, treating me so gently, it was as if I was dying or something. I explained what happened after he told me to leave the event room, how I ran out and ended up being followed, then saved, then left alone to hide, only to get found out.
“I managed to run away, and the guy that helped me the first time showed up later at this cabin I found in the woods. We decided to stay the night there after he looked at my wound. We slept together because there was only one bed, and in the morning we walked to town, he lent me some money, and we went our separate ways.”
I didn’t mention a lot of details, omitting Max’s name, and I didn’t explain what exactly I meant by us sleeping together.
“What a nice Alpha, whoever he was,” he said with a sigh. “Why don’t you start eating and I’ll look for a medical kit to replace the bandage for you? You’ll go see the pack doctor after you do Whit’s task.”
He showed a face of annoyance, but he was smiling as he gave me the plate of food to hold. I waited until he left, then found some clothes to put on, leaving my upper body bear because of the bandage. By the time he came back, I was sitting on the bed and eating, with my underwear, pants and socks on.
Sitting beside me silently, I gave him my arm and he got to work. I kept my face turned away, occasionally wincing at the pain. Then he helped me put on my shirt and coat, and once I was done eating and had everything ready, he called a taxi for me and walked outside with me to wait for it.
Hours later, I arrived at the council’s headquarters. Even though the council heads were all former Alphas of different packs all over the country, once they took a position in the council, they could only leave their pack behind and move to the headquarters, with the option of bringing only their mate. It was in rare cases that a council elder stayed with their original pack, like in Max’s father’s case.
Because Max had been too young to succeed when his father was accepted into the council, he was allowed to stay with his pack, until it was time for Max to succeed him. It worked out for them, because their pack lands really weren’t that far from the headquarters.
I had to wait to see the council, with plenty of other wolves there to name their grievances. There were plenty, actually, after what happened at the gala. I hadn't seen the damage myself, but I could guess that a lot of shifters, Alpha and Omega alike, had been killed. Everyone would want to find the culprit and have a hand at their capture.
After walking around for hours, and by the time it was evening, I was finally allowed to give audience.
I’d come here one time with the whole family, which was how I knew where to go in the first place. But I had never been inside the council’s audience room. The last time, we all waited while Whit went in, and then we left. So I was a little nervous as I walked inside, but tried not to show it.
The room was set up like an interview room, with a long, curving table and each of the elders spread evenly across the length of it. As soon as I entered the room, it felt as if I was under a spotlight. I moved to the center of the room and bowed my head, my hands folded in front of me as I waited.
“Permission to speak,” one of the elders said.
I dipped my head a little lower. “Thank you, Elders. I bring word to you from my father, our pack Alpha, Whit Barrington.”
“Proceed,” the same voice said.
The entire time I didn’t lift my head, and I notified them of Whit’s plans. I didn’t word it quite how he had, but they got the message he wanted me to give them.
“Rejected,” another elder said before I was even finished.
“We accept your request for revenge, but have to ask you to let your Alpha know that he does not have permission to carry it out.”
“Everyone is on edge after the events of the previous night, but we cannot act hastily.”
“Several packs have come to us with the sa
me request, but we cannot allow it.”
“Any aggressive acts right now will only make things worse.”
I flattened my lips, trying my best not to tremble as words came at me from all sides of the room. They had all been settled when I came in, but their words carried fury now, and for being the strongest Alphas in the shifter world and me a mere Omega, how could I not cower? I was probably getting some of the flak for all those others that asked for the same thing before.
All I could think in that moment was, Whit is not going to be happy.
Chapter 9
Max
“We cannot simply sit back and do nothing!” a voice roared through the room. “Our people were attacked and murdered. Aside from my mate and my eldest son, I lost everyone I brought with me to the gala!”
Several voices echoed the first one, all of them loud and angry. I could only sigh wearily and rub my forehead with my fingers.
Shit.
It had been a few weeks since the attack on Alphas and Omegas. Everyone had gotten back and buried their dead and mourned for them, but this side of the issue hadn't reached a satisfactory conclusion. Everyone was waiting for action to be taken, but nothing had been done yet.
Even though I was technically part of the meeting, along with some pack members as representation for my pack, I hadn't said a word yet. For one, I didn’t know what to say, and neither did I think I could make my voice heard with all the other voices clamoring for attention.
“We have heard your words, and we are not ignoring them,” a representative of the elders’ council spoke up, the rest of them staying silent. “We simply cannot make a move yet until the investigations are done. If we act to hastily, we might end up harming those that do not deserve it.”
“Why not just ask all Betas what the hell happened that night!” another voice shouted.
Just like that, the room descended into loud chaos. Shifters could get headaches, and I thought I was getting one from being around such noise.
The meeting had been going on for a long while. Since this morning, and by the time on my watch, the day was already bleeding into evening. The room was big, not the ordinary council’s audience room, this one almost as big as the gala event room, only darker. With dark walls and bare lighting, if everyone present wasn’t a shifter, we might have been blind once it hit dark out, which was only a couple hours away or so. There were even more people present than there had been at the gala, and the numbers then had gone up to over two hundred. Because there were so many people, only pack Alphas spoke, and their people backed them up.
My pack wasn’t the only one that hadn't said a thing, but we were one of the few.
“Alpha,” a pack member called from my side.
I leaned over to hear what he had to say, listening half-heartedly.
“We can only wait for the meeting to me over,” I murmured back. “What we want to say, everyone else has already said. We can only wait for the council’s verdict at this point.”
Everyone was so busy, even if they could hear me no matter how low I spoke, I knew no one would pay attention. With the way things were going, I had an idea what the council would decide at the end of the meeting, so sticking around this time was a total waste of time, but I knew my pack would be looked down on if I hadn't stayed for the duration of the meeting.
“We all know the Betas were responsible for this attack,” an Alpha said. “So why the hesitation?”
The representative explained, “The ones we need are the masterminds behind the attack. You all know that Betas make up the largest population of all shifters and we can't attack them all. The problem is that the Betas went outside of their packs. They banded together, and we can't really identify who was part of the attack and who wasn’t. If you all have some ideas on how to do this, I will listen to you, gladly.”
There was a short silence, and then the clamor rose up again.
I rubbed my head again, just barely listening to what was going on around me. I had a lot of things to worry about currently, this issue was only one of them. In any case, we could only move once the council gave permission. Those who moved without permission, would be punished by the council. The reason why all the packs listened to them was because they had quite a lot of power besides just being council members. Everyone looked up to them as an elder, even though half of them were at least younger than my late Alpha.
When is this going to end? I grumbled exasperatedly to myself.
For the past few weeks, I had been stressed out. Even after finding out my father and Alpha had died, I didn’t even have time to properly mourn because I had things to do as the successor of his position. I’d hardly had a good night’s sleep since I’d come home, and I had to put up with so much ceremony, like today’s meeting, all for the sake of image.
It was exhausting. And I desperately missed my father every day.
After nearly another hour, finally the room settled. No conclusion had been reached, like I’d guessed, but everyone was placated for now, and they started leaving. We couldn’t all go at the same time, though, and some packs stuck around. Mine happened to be one of those. I wasn’t the only new Alpha present, and pretty much all the packs that had new Alphas were the ones that had to stay longer. I couldn’t slip away.
It was another hour before we could leave, and I stepped out trying not to drag my feet. I could barely see the way forward as it was, my eyesight blurring from too much stress and not enough sleep.
“Max!”
The call of my name was unexpected, the voice a little familiar. I looked up, and my eyes widened, my jaw dropping.
“Evan?” I said, surprised.
What is he doing here?
He gave a small smile and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, I came with my Alpha and some pack mates. I saw when your party arrived, but you didn’t really see me. I wanted to talk to you, but there wasn’t any time before the meeting…”
“What are you doing here?” I asked the question that was on my mind. “I mean, I don’t mind seeing you, but shouldn’t you be on your way out? Where’s the rest of your pack?”
I could feel the growing curiosity from the people in my group. These were people I’d grown up with, but they had worked with my father before, not me, so I felt a little awkward around them. I turned to them and forced a smile.
“You can all go ahead first, let everyone know I’ll be right behind you.”
They shot curious looks at the two of us, but didn’t say a word and walked away. I watched them leave, letting out a heavy sigh, then turned to Evan.
“Do you mind if we walked outside?” I asked. “There are too many people around here.”
He nodded quickly. “I don’t mind, let’s go!”
I arched an eyebrow. Rather than not minding, he seemed really eager to get me alone, and I wondered what it was he wanted to tell me.
“How are you here, by the way?” I asked, placing a hand on the small of his back as we walked. “I never even noticed…”
He glanced up at me. “You probably didn’t notice, since Alphas sat closer to the front and Omegas were pushed to the back, but I was in the meeting the whole time. There were a lot of people there, though, I didn’t even get to see you during the meeting. My pack was one of the first to leave, and I’ve been waiting for you since.”
Once again, I was surprised.
“But we were in there for hours, and I got delayed for over an hour,” I said fretfully. “Weren’t you tired? You could have just gone home.”
Evan shrugged his shoulders, pursing his lips.
“My Alpha didn’t receive any good news, so I know he’ll be in a bad mood. The last time he sent me over here and I went back without the answer he wanted, he got mad at the messenger and I suffered for a couple weeks, even though he was the one to send me in the first place, and there was nothing I could do about the council’s decision. I’ll go back home, eventually. I’m at least prepared this time.”
I frowned at his description of Whit. “When did you come here alone? And what exactly did he do to you? Did he treat you badly?”
He waved his hand at me. “Forget about that, it isn’t anything. There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, actually.”
Once we got outside, we walked around for a bit. There were shifters everywhere. It was growing dark, but quite a few weren’t ready to leave yet. The grounds were wide and we ended up in a garden, bordered by the forest. We stopped a distance away from the trees, finally alone.
“Why did you come looking for me?” I asked immediately. “Do you need something?”
He bit down on his lip and looked away, suddenly looking uneasy. I frowned, wondering what the problem was. I held him by the tops of his arms, rubbing soothingly with my thumbs. Evan’s tensed body relaxed, and he let out a sigh, then looked up at me.
“It’s…something important. I was worried about how to get the information to you, actually, so I’m kinda glad I came today.”
I frowned. “How serious is this? Your wound healed up, didn’t it?”
He didn’t get some weird infection, did he?
Evan gave a mirthless chuckle. “It healed up fine, there’s a bit of a scar now and it’s tender, but it’s not too terrible. And the news…you could say it’s pretty serious. No one else back home knows just yet, but…in a while I won’t be able to hide it.”
He looked up at me, and there was such despair in his eyes that my heart clenched. I waited anxiously for him to tell me what the problem was. Whatever it was, if I could help him, I knew I would do it unconditionally. I was feeling a bit stretched taut with pack matters, but for Evan, I wouldn’t care.
“It’s…about the, uh, last time. When we were together. Max…I’m pregnant.”
His words came out haltingly, and I was both confused and frustrated as he looked for ways to say what he wanted. When he finally said it, though, I went stiff, the words echoing in my ear.