No. I couldn't disappoint them. I absolutely would not.
The only solution was to find the water spirit. But who was going to do that? Caring for my omegas was already a full-time job. Even Galileo, my right-hand man, couldn't do that on his own. Besides, I was protective of him, too. I wouldn't let him go off gallivanting into danger on his own.
Galileo returned with a skip in his step. His bright mood seemed to uplift Malke, which relieved me. I cursed my naturally severe expression sometimes, but try as I might, I couldn't just put a smile on my face like Galileo could. I had to truly feel happy to smile and that was rare these days. I was thankful for Galileo's superior bedside manner.
Humming a little tune, Galileo took out the necessary items from the first-aid kid and gingerly took care of Malke's wounds. Malke tensed his jaw and bore it. He didn't complain once.
I failed to avoid looking at the red marks on his side. With the blood gone, I saw that they were bite marks from a predator. Judging by the size and spacing, I assumed it was another seal who had bitten him. Was it a random act? Unlikely. It was more likely that an alpha Malke knew was the perpetrator. Possibly even his own mate. The thought sickened and infuriated me.
"You're safe now," I told Malke again. I wanted him to internalize it. He could only begin to heal if he knew he was protected here, away from alphas.
Malke struggled to meet my gaze and gave me a weak nod. Was he just tired or did he not truly believe me?
Either way, I decided to give him space. I exchanged a knowing glance with Galileo, who smiled at me, silently reassuring me that he'd take care of things.
I walked to the mouth of the cavern and took in a deep breath. The heavy winds made the dark water choppy as it crashed up against the wall of the cove. I shuddered, feeling the cold more in my human form. The beautiful haven had turned into something gloomy and almost frightening. This wasn't the atmosphere I wanted my omegas to experience when they turned to me for safety. But with the water spirit gone, how could I fix this?
I was stuck. With the water spirit missing, the omegas and the ecosystem were only going to get worse, but I couldn't abandon them to search for him. My omegas needed me.
What the hell was I going to do?
4
Zakariel
The wind buffeted against me,making it difficult to put one paw in front of the other as I trudged up the slope. The sky was dark grey and smothered with storm clouds without a sliver of blue in sight.
"What is this shitty weather?" I muttered. As if in deliberate response, a strong gale hit me in the snout, making me curl my lip. "Okay, fine, I won't bitch about it anymore."
Storms happened during the summer in the wildlife reserve, sure, but I was usually nicely curled up in the cabin when they happened since I could feel the shift in air pressure and my wolf nose could smell theoncoming rain.
But this weather really was weird. It wasn't like this at the cabin.
I reached the summit of the slope, which overlooked the grand body of water that belonged to Nautilus, my granddad. (Since he was Pops' dad, maybe I should've called him Grandpops?) The usually calm, crystal clear waters were choppy and ragged, smashing up against the curved coast wall. There were no lazily flying birds overhead. All that lived in the sky were angry-looking clouds.
I frowned. Maybe I wouldn't have been so nervous if I didn't know Nautilus was missing, but now that Pops told me, how could I not be? It wasn't every day that a freakingnature spiritdisappeared. I didn't even know that could happen.
"Tch," I said under my breath. Even though I was worried about him, I had to admit I was a little annoyed, too. Weren't gods and spirits and all that supposed to be infallible? How could one just up and disappear?
The memory of meeting Granddad for the first time wormed its way into my mind. I was just a pup back then. Dad and Pops took me to swim here, in these very waters. When Granddad appeared from the water itself, I was mesmerized. He was like a dragon, a fish and a man all rolled into one; but he also radiated a powerful aura, one that no mortal being shared.
The idea that something bad had happened to someone as almighty as him...
I shook the crawling sensation out of my fur.Get to business, Zak.
I padded down along the slope leading to the beach. Or at least, whatusedto be the beach. The beautiful white sands were roughed up, covered in rocks, seaweed and other debris. To be blunt, it looked like crap.
"What the hell happened here?" I asked aloud, like the waters would communicate with me. They didn't. I may have been Nautilus's grandson, but I wasn'thim.Sometimes I wished I'd inherited more of his powers instead of just the ability to breathe underwater.
Lupa had chewed me out once, saying I was never satisfied with what I had. She was pretty ambitious too, so I was surprised to hear that coming from her. She said what I had was never enough; I had a family and cool spirit powers that nobody else did, but I was greedy for more.
Well, of course not. Why settle? Ididwant more. I wanted a fated mate, and I wanted to be as powerful as Nautilus. Was that such a crime?
Distracted by my thoughts, I didn't watch where I was going. My paw slipped on a wet rock and I lurched forward into the murky waters, soaking my face and silver chest fur. I grumbled.Okay, no more thinking. Just doing.
I kept close to the rocky coast wall, utilizing the slim strip of beach that remained. The chaotic water loomed, crawling closer, waiting to eat up the rest of the shore. It was eerie. If I was a normal wolf, I'd have hightailed it out of here by now.
But I wasn't a normal wolf. I was here to help Nautilus, the spirit who'd bestowed my powers upon me.
