“Melitia, Alpha,” she whispered in such a tiny voice it was a strain to hear, then dropping her eyes and staring at the floor near my feet. “I’m supposed to show you where the food hall is, Alpha,” she added by way of explanation.
“Wonderful, Melitia. I’m ready to go.” I pulled the door shut behind us, and followed her down a path, past the shed where Irian had almost been molested, and towards another cluster of sheds.
I wanted to talk to her and find out more about the omegas’ situation in the pack, but as much as I sped up my pace, she increased hers, making sure she stayed ahead of me. Her shoulders were stiff and raised unnaturally close to her ears as though she was afraid I might strike her. Or maybe she was just uncomfortable with an alpha behind her. I sighed. It was disappointing and unnerving to be an object of fear when you’d done nothing to deserve that reputation.
It had only been a few minutes’ walk, but I heard Melitia’s sigh of relief and her shoulders relaxed as we approached a long, lowshed. Even as she gestured towards the door, she took a few steps backwards, “It’s in there, Alpha.”
She turned and fled, padding almost soundless across the grass.
Creaking open the door, my ears were assaulted by the racket of discordant voices all tumbling over each other as each fought to be heard above the other.
The pack’s food hall was a long, airy shed with trestle tables set down the length of it. Bench seats lined each side. Zarbius sat at the head of the table, and ten betas were seated down the table, five on each side with one seat spare between Zarbius and the betas on one side. I was surprised. I hadn’t seen all of these men since arriving at the compound and I wondered where they’d been. It was rowdy, with all the men talking and laughing, guffawing and swearing ringing out in the cavernous space. An icebox off to the side was open, beer bottles poking through the ice. I had the impression things might get out of control later. Shifters weren’t actually able to get drunk – although they weren’t entirely unaffected by alcohol - but clearly these guys were intending on partying long and hard tonight.
Zarbius motioned to me to sit in the empty place on his left. The betas side-eyed me curiously. A couple looked openly hostile, but nobody stopped their conversations.
Zarbius stuck two fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle.
“Everyone! Shut the fuck up. I have some announcements.”
The conversations dribbled away into silence.
The betas stared at him, interest in their eyes.
“Listen up! We have a new pack member. This is Agelius. He’s my new second-in-command,” he announced, abruptly, waving a hand at me. “When I’m not here, you answer to him.”
A murmur passed around the table. I thought I heard a low growl of displeasure from somewhere further down.
“And about that omega we’ve got locked up in the spare shed – no-one’s to touch him. I need him in good condition if I’m going to trade him.”
There were some grumbles from the betas.
“That’s not what you said when we told you we’d nabbed him!” protested a shaggy-haired, unshaven beast of a man.
I wondered if he was the one who had been unhappy at the announcement of my new position. He was huge. I considered the possibility that he might have been Zarbius’ second, prior to him handing me the position. If so, I might have made a dangerous enemy, though I didn’t plan on being around long enough for that to become a problem.
“Well, I have a better plan now,” snapped Zarbius, “and if anyone messes it up by doing anything to that fucking omega, they’ll be out on their fucking ass. Got that?”
There were mumbles of grudging assent around the table.
“Right. Make sure you meet Agelius over the next couple days. Now, dinner!” and he picked up a large bell which had been sitting on floor beside him and shook it violently. The bell let out a loud jarringclang-clang-clang,causing the nearest occupants of the table to flinch. As the sound died away, conversations resumed around the table.
It was only then that it occurred to me that there was a glaring absence. No omegas had joined the pack for dinner. In Talius’ pack and in my birth pack, any time people assembled for dinner outside their individual homes, everyone was included. I’d always assumed that to be the norm.
“Tell me more about your pack,” I suggested to Zarbius, who wasn’t talking to anyone, just sitting there scowling as he waited for his food. “Is this the entire pack?”
“Nah, there are six more betas who’re spending the night in town,” he told me.
“Any families?”
“Nah. We just keep a pool of omegas the guys can take their pick of when they want someone. Come to think of it, we should organize one for you for tonight. Since you’re my second, you can take your pick ahead of the betas. I’ll show you the omega compound after dinner.”
“Er, sure,” I stammered, swallowing hard, trying to hide my discomfort at that suggestion. “How many omegas do you have here?”
“Dunno. Maybe twenty or so at the moment? I don’t plan on keeping all of them. Some are for the business. The plan is try them out, keep the pick of them for ourselves and sell the rest. I’ll probably keep about eight or ten, I think. They’re bloody expensive to keep.”
“But you’ve got, what, sixteen betas?” I asked, horrified by the math, but trying not to show it.
Zarbius shrugged. “Eh, the guys don’t mind sharing. Hey, they’re fucking lucky I provide them with anyone at all. Omegas are a pain in the ass. They sit around all day doing fuck-all, wantclothes, eat food, and most of them are useless in the sack anyway. But gotta keep the guys happy.”
