My wolf huffed.He’s ours. Of course he’ll come with us.
But I knew better than to assume an omega would just co-operate… omegas could be difficult - the omegas in Talius’ pack were notorious for having their own opinions. Well, I wanted my omega to have an opinion about me too… as long as it was a good one.
It wasn’t until later that heavy footsteps thumped along the porch and up to my door. From where I lay on my bed, I waited. For a short while, there was nothing, just the scuffing of impatient feet on the timber floor outside. When I didn’t come to the door, there was some irritable mumbling, then a pissed-off voice shouted, “Hey, alpha! Zarbius wants to see you in his office!”
It probably wasn’t sensible to bait a feral beta, but the guy really needed to learn something about respect. I waited. Heard a heavy sigh.
Knock! Knock! Knock!In truth, it was more banging than knocking, but it would have to do. As I stood up unhurriedly and began the short walk to the door, the sound came again.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Hey, alpha. Are you in there?” a note of worry had crept into his voice.
I grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. The man standing there startled, he’d obviously decided I wasn’t in the cabin. But the look of anxiety on his face was replaced rapidly by wary annoyance. I didn’t imagine Zarbius would be too happy if his unexpected ‘guest’ had mysteriously disappeared and was wandering unsupervised around his camp, so he probably wasn’t happy with me for giving him a scare.
“Did you want something?” I asked, though he must know I’d heard him in the first instance. I was a fuckingshifterafter all.
The man’s dark eyes blinked. I assumed he was probably running through a few alternative scenarios in his head but ultimately he decided to play it safe.
In asemi-respectful tone, he said, “Zarbius wants to see you. I’ve come to take you to him.”
“Show me the way,” I replied, the door snapping shut with a firm click behind me.
It turned out that Zarbius’ office was located in a very similar cabin to mine. It was, however, set back from the main camp, and somewhat isolated. It stood dark and somber under thecanopy of the trees, the boards weathered and splitting, the timber unpainted, and unstained. Three or four uneven steps led up on to the porch. A post supporting the far corner of the porch leant outwards, the roof sagging at that point. Everything about this camp pointed to either lack of care or suggested the pack had taken over a previously deserted camp and made no attempt to fix it up.
After pointing out the cabin to me, the beta strode off leaving me alone amongst the trees, as his crunching footsteps faded into the distance.
I took a moment to listen: a few birds twittered, leaves rustled; I heard the scratching sounds of small animals going about their business in the undergrowth, and from the cabin, the sound of heavy steps across the floorboards and the scraping of something heavy being dragged across the floorboards.
I sucked in a long breath of air, cricked my neck and drawing myself up to my full height, strode up onto the porch, the sad and sorry steps creaking disturbingly under my weight.
I knocked and walked in, not waiting for an answer. I quickly assessed the situation. The layout of the cabin was simple, and similar to the one I was accommodated in, except instead of a bed, this one was set up as an office. A wiry, scruffy-looking alpha was slouching in his chair with his scuffed leather boots resting on the desk in an insolent pose. In front of the desk was a single wooden chair. A closed door led into the other half of the cabin. Were those his private living quarters? But I pulled my thoughts together. I didn’t have time to let my mind wander. I had to be convincing in the role I was about to play.
Zarbius motioned me to the empty seat in front of him. He peered at me warily from under scowling brows, his dark eyes narrowed and suspicious.
“Now who the fuck are you? Coming into my pack and pretending to be a friend of mine,” he growled, dragging his feet across the desk, the boots hitting the floor with a solidthump.He leaned forward, planting his elbows on the desk and glaring at me intimidatingly. My wolf bristled, responding to the implied threat.
“I said nothing of the sort. Your betas must have assumed. My name is Agelius. And I’m looking for a pack to join,” I told him calmly, forcing my wolf under control. He wanted to come out and rip the throat out of this threatening alpha. But we weren’t in the wild here, we were just two humans right now, playing a different sort of game.
“And why would that be?” His eyes narrowed further until they were little more than slits, a corner of his mouth crimping tight as he stared at me.
“Didn’t suit me at my old pack,” I said, casually rubbing my fingers over my two-day old stubble.
“Oh? Why’s that?” he sneered, upper lip curling back to reveal broken and yellowed teeth.
“Let’s just say our values didn’t align,” I replied, deliberately evasive. My eyes flicked away from him and then back again, not quite meeting his, like I had something to hide.
“Eh? In what way?” Zarbius’ eyebrows rose inquiringly as he took a bit more interest, perhaps sensing we might have a mutual interest, which was, after all, the impression I wanted to make.
“Well, the omegas there were… let’s say,” I hesitated, “allowed an awful lot of latitude.” I watched his reaction carefully to see if he’d take the bait, and hoping I hadn’t misjudged.
I hadn’t.
Zarbius puffed up his chest, “We don’t have that problem here,” he assured me, arrogance and pride clear in his voice. “None of that new-fangled independence rubbish. Our omegas wouldn’t dare step out of line. They do what their told, and when they’re told to do it.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” I smiled, gritting my teeth silently as I did so. “I’m assuming there’s no nonsense like going off to university or letting them work outside the pack, right?”
He scoffed. “No fucking way! Fucking do-gooders, with their omega reforms, upsetting the natural order. No, our omegas know their place all right,” he ranted. His posturing had relaxed somewhat, now that we seemed to be finding common ground. We weren’t, of course, but hethoughtwe were.
