I blinked, astonished. This washispack? I quickly schooled my face into a bland expression, aware of the slight tick above my right eye. I didn’t know a lot about the Alpha, but I’d heard his name mentioned in connection with Talius’ second mate, Isca, enough to guess he might have been his first mate. Isca and I were friends, both having joined the pack around the same time, but we never spoke about our past lives. Some things were too painful to reflect on, and sometimes all you could really do was look ahead. However, for all we didn’t talk about it, rumors still circulated through the pack. What I’d heard about Zarbius’ treatment of Isca was… appalling. It made me even more determined to get my omega out of here.
“I’ll wait,” I said. “Got a spare bed?”
He looked like he was going to refuse, so I gambled, “I don’t think Zarbius would appreciate a lack of hospitality.” It was shifter custom to offer hospitality to visitors passing through, and though I didn’t want to say it outright, I was hoping he’d decide I was probably a friend or associate of his Alpha. Maybe he thought that or maybe he just didn’t want to risk a fight with an unknown alpha - and a large one, at that – because after thinking it over, he said, “Sure. Zarbius’ has some cabins where he accommodates his friends. You can stay there.”
He glanced regretfully at the door to the omega-house, realizing his plans for the afternoon had changed. He looked at his companion and shrugged.
“It’s time for the omegas to start making dinner anyhow. Get them moving on that, and I’ll sort something out for this guy. Come on.” The last was said to me and he turned away and headed towards a smaller building on the other side of the compound without watching to see if I followed. I huffed at his little power play, but let it go.
The building he led me to was unimpressive, a neglected cabin set behind the main circle of buildings. Although it wasn’t in great condition, it was still better than the rest of the place. The cabin was divided into two separate sections, with a porch at each end. The beta led me to the nearer side, and pushed the door open for me to enter. Inside was a single room, with two large beds on opposite sides of the room, and a small walled off cubicle in the corner through the open door of which a toilet and sink were visible. In the middle of the back wall was a door, which presumably lead into a similar setup on the other side.
“Dinner will be brought to your room,” the beta told me, implying that I should stay there. I nodded acknowledgement – glad to stay out of the way - and then asked “Got any spareclothes? I had to shift to get here and since I’m going to have to stay…”
Shifters were completely unbothered by nakedness, due to the fact we routinely shed our clothes when we shifted and ran in our packs, but I had no desire to freeze to death if the weather changed and a cold change blew through. In a southerly, blowing in off the Southern Ocean, it would be cold this high up in the mountains, even if it was summer. I had a feeling my beta friend here wouldn’t hurry to supply me clothes if that were to happen. There was also the small matter of clothes hiding any unwelcome attraction to the omega I had come for. I didn’t want to scare him off.
“I’ll send some over,” the beta said, then hightailed it out of there before I could ask for anything else. Lazy fucker.
Once he was gone, I occupied myself by exploring my space, which didn’t take long. I tried the handle of the door between the two parts of the building, but it was locked. The beds weren’t made up and there were no sheets to do so, but there was a pile of blankets and that would suffice to keep me warm. There was a lock on the inside of the door so I could sleep in my wolf form if I needed extra warmth, without having to keep alert for intruders. Zarbius didn’t exactly provide luxurious accommodation for his friends, but it was adequate. I lay down on the bed and waited for dinner to arrive. It was dark outside now, according to the single window above the bed. I caught sight of some magazines under the other bed, and after checking there wasn’t a similar stash under my own, I went over to retrieve them. Anything to keep myself occupied while I waited.
I picked one up. Looking at the cover, I wrinkled my nose. There was an omega on the cover, handcuffed to a pole, with an alpha holding a whip behind him. That might have been okayexcept the expression on the omega’s face was one of terror, not anticipation. I flicked to a couple of pages inside the magazine and then hurriedly threw it away. The images inside were definitely not of consensual play. It just added to the conclusion I had already formed – that Zarbius and his friends were not very nice people. I worried some more for my omega and began plotting how I could get him out of here.
It wasn’t long before there was soft knock at the door. I opened it, to find an omega standing there with a bundle of clothes in her arms, along with a couple of towels.
“These are for you, alpha,” she said, keeping her eyes down.
I reached to take the towels from her, then realized she was shaking.
“Are you okay?” I asked as gently as I could.
“I’m fine, thank you for asking,” she whispered but she didn’t look up.
“Are you mistreated here?” I asked her.
“No, no, everything’s fine,” she stammered, shaking even more visibly now. She shifted from foot to foot. Very obviously things were not fine. Maybe she was afraid I was setting a trap for her. It was clear she wanted to get away from me as fast as possible.
“Thank you for the clothes and all,” I said, stepping away from the door, and closing it. Through the closed door, I heard the sound of feet running away.
The omega who brought my dinner was bolder. He was large for an omega, and although he seemed wary, he wasn’t afraid. He gave me my tray, cautiously looked me up and down, and simplysaid, “If you leave your tray outside the door, someone will come for it later.”
He turned to leave.
“Wait!”
He stopped but didn’t turn around.
“Is there a problem here?” I asked.
He turned around, tipping his head as if he didn’t understand what I meant.
“You mean, why Zarbius wasn’t here to greet you?” he asked, a careful tone to his voice.
“He didn’t know I was coming,” I replied. Then, taking a chance, I added, “I’m not a friend of his.”
“Um, Ok.”
“I was wondering about something,” I went on. “Maybe you can help me.”
“Um, w-what did you want to know?” he stammered, looking a little nervous now. A bead of sweat formed at his temple and trickled down his face. Yeah, hewasactually nervous, he’d just been hiding it well.
