Morgan
A sour moodhad taken over me since my run-in with Rock. Who the hell did he think he was, threatening me like that? I didn’t think he would actually do anything about it since alphas like him were all bleat and no bite, but it still got under my skin.
Worst of all were the expressions on his kids’ faces. They’d been so happy and carefree playing with me, and I’d been just as pleased. But Rock simplyhadto butt in and turn everything ugly. I couldn’t stop thinking of his nasty accusation, that I’d been trying to steal his children since I had none of my own. That hurt the most since it contained a nugget of truth. But just because I wanted kids didn’t mean I would ever commit such a heinous act.
I stomped my hoof as I grazed. The bad mood would pass. It always did. But waiting for it to disappear was the hard part.
I’d chosen a spot away from the herd because I needed some time alone. Rock may have thought he “won” by edging me out of the field, but the truth was I needed space. A man could only take so many microaggressions before he snapped.
But I was stronger than any of the bonehead alphas in the herd, and I knew it. I possessed mental fortitude they would never have because they were ruled by hormones, only caring about mating and fighting. In many ways they were closer to natural deer than humans. They rarely shifted, apparently not feeling the need. Even the fawns seemed discouraged from doing so as they grew up.
Not me. I enjoyed both my buck and human forms equally. But taking my human shape while my herd looked down on it—especiallywhen I was already an outcast—was only adding fuel to the fire.
Maybe I needed to get away from this herd. But where else would I go? I didn’t know any life except this one. It was an unfortunate fact that deer were safer in a group, and if I was alone, I’d be easy pickings for a predator.
The snap of a twig made me pause. I lifted my head, heavy with my massive antlers, and gazed in the direction of the nearby thicket of trees. I didn’t see anything and chalked it up to my imagination.
I’m just feeling jumpy because I’m in a bad mood,I told myself.
Though I didn’t have much of an appetite, I grazed anyway. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do except stew in my own feelings, which I hated doing. I prided myself on having a better head on my shoulders than most of the herd did, so it felt embarrassing to mope.
A stiff breeze blew, carrying the scent of alpha. There was a note of unfamiliarity beneath the stink of buck.
I raised my head. Rock, along with some other alpha bucks in the herd, were approaching me. I stiffened immediately. Whatever he was planning wasn’t going to be good. I suspected he wasn’t here to throw me an apology party for his behavior earlier.
The bucks slowly padded closer in a loose semi-circle. There were six of them—and every single one had smaller antlers than me.
At least I hadonething to be smug about.
“Good afternoon,” I said tersely. “Can I help you all with something?”
“You know what you did, Morgan,” Rock said, skipping the fake niceties. “Fess up and apologize.”
I snorted a laugh. “Apologize for what exactly? I’m not sure what I did to upset you this time.”
Rock glared. “Of course. You conveniently forgot.”
I glanced to the other bucks. No doubt Rock had fed them some fake story about my supposed crimes. Things were never exactly smooth sailing between me and the alphas in the herd, but this was ridiculous. Rock was straight-up framing me and none of these boneheads cared enough to think critically about it.
“You’ll have to remind me, Rock,” I said icily, “because I’m quite sure I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Then you’re messed up, considering this only happened a few hours ago!” Rock spat.
I realized with dawning dread that he was talking about the incident with his fawns. Was he seriously accusing me ofactuallytrying to steal them? He was even dumber than I thought. But the fact that Rock was an idiot didn’t change the situation. Dread filled me as I realized he’d somehow convinced these bucks that I was a culprit.
“I was playing with your fawns. Nothing more. Your omegas were there the entire time,” I said calmly. “They can corroborate my story.”
Rock grunted. “Like I can trust them. You’re all omegas, so you probably tricked them into standing up for you.”
I rolled my eyes and glanced to the others. “You can’t all seriously believe this, can you? This accusation is a joke.”
None of them replied. I noticed their narrowed eyes were firmly upon my antlers, seething with jealousy and anger.
So that’s what this wasreallyabout. Rock and the other bucks knew I never tried to steal his fawns. They were just envious of my antlers. Typical entitled, self-serving alpha behavior. It all made sense now. With me gone, they wouldn’t constantly be shown up. I made them all look bad. Who wanted to mate with an alpha buck with weaker antlers than an omega buck? No doubt that was what they were all thinking.
And with me out of the way, they would no longer have that problem.
The gravity of the situation hit me. I knew what was about to happen, yet I held my ground. I wasn’t going to let these alphas bully me. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of winning.
