8
Halo
“Alpha, is that enough rabbit for you?” Luce asked Kass for about the millionth time. As we sat around the newly lit fire, Luce and the other fox omegas seemed to be trained on Kass’s every word and every move.
“Please, you don’t have to call me that,” Kass said with a wince. He primly held a roasted rabbit haunch in one hand. “In fact, I really rather you didn’t.”
“But… youarean alpha,” Luce commented, sounding confused. “It’s my place to treat you as such.”
“Luce, we left our skulk to get away from that kind of alpha worshipping,” another fox shifter muttered. “Let’s not continue it here.”
“You’re right, James,” Luce said with a sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s a hard habit to break.”
“You left your skulk?” I asked, more interested in that than the constant apologizing. “And you said you’re from outside Cinderhollow, is that right?”
“Yes,” Luce said.
My mind immediately went to the Cinderhollow barrier, and how it functioned. I scooted forward with barely contained enthusiasm. “How did you get in? Tell me everything.”
“The guards, bless them, were kind enough to let us enter,” Luce explained.
With a flicker of excitement, I faced Kass.
“After we told them our story,” James added with a grimace. “Basically, your run of the millomegas-trying-to-escape-abusive-alphasscenario.”
“You were abused by alphas in your skulk?” Kass frowned. “I’m so sorry.”
James shrugged, but it was clear by his pained expression that he appreciated the sympathy coming from an alpha.
“That’s disgusting,” I growled. “Back in my day - er, when I was younger - the alphas in Cinderhollow used to try and push me around too.”
Suddenly, Luce and the other fox shifters’ eyes widened with unease.
“They did? But… you don’t seem that much older than us,” Luce said uncertainly. “We’ve heard the alphas in Cinderhollow were better than the ones in our skulk.”
Now Kass seemed deeply interested too. He leaned forward on his knees, his face illuminated by the fire.
I shuddered briefly. It reminded me too much of the night he and the Knights advanced on me, their armor reflecting the flames of my own creation.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell us the things you’ve heard about Cinderhollow?” Kass asked gently.
“Yes.” Luce nodded, seeming eager to explain. “We’ve heard rumors and whispers in our own skulk of the land beyond the great barrier.”
I smirked, then quickly wiped it off my face before anyone could ask why I seemed to pleased with myself.
“We heard that Cinderhollow was the greatest tribe anyone had ever seen… Shifters of all kinds, intermingling, mating and having children together. Living in harmony. Where omegas weren’t just livestock, but people with rights and opinions of their own, not pressured into taking a mate.”
Kassius and I both tried to hide the confusion in our expressions, not wanting to interrupt Luce or make it seem like he’d been lied to. While Cinderhollow tribe certainly wasn’t horrible by any means four hundred years ago, I didn’t think it was the best either. Many things could have been improved. One thing Luce said stuck out to me in particular - the pressure for an omega to take a mate. In my time, I was the only adult omega I knew of who hadn’t chosen an alpha. I mean, Kass and I were together at the time, but we hadn’t shared a claiming bite.
My heartbeat sped up as I grew increasingly hopeful. Had the stories Luce heard been the truth? Had things in Cinderhollow really changed for the better?
Please, gods, I hope so…
I noticed Kass’s gaze in my direction from the corner of my eye. Maybe he was thinking the same thing. When I briefly met his gaze, he looked away, back to Luce.
Now Luce paused and glanced over his shoulder. “There is… another thing we’ve heard.”
A few of the other omegas, who had remained quiet this whole time, followed his nervous gaze. They were all jumpy and nervous, reminding me more of deer than foxes.
