Posing for the Omega (For the Alpha #2)(5)

“Vey was inconsolable. He’d lost one of his pups in such a horrific way and to none other than one of his own pups. The pack wanted justice, Savina’s murder hadn’t been an accident. What he’d done to her had been far from accidental, but Vey couldn’t let them murder one of his children. In the middle of the night, he snuck Lathos out of the pack and helped him run. Vey returned a week later, his son far away from the pack. Tovu was furious that he’d helped Lathos escape, he’d forsaken the pup after he’d killed Savina. I think their bond was broken after those events and I know it shattered Vey’s heart to lose his alpha’s love. We all believed that would be the last we would see of Lathos—” Dey shook her head a whine building up in her throat. “We were wrong, so very wrong.”

I looked at Koda whose eyes were fixed on the she wolf as she spoke. I couldn’t blame him, although the tale was horrifying it was impossible to ignore. Dey’s gaze was far away as she stared at the floor between us, caught back in time so many years ago. Was this leading up to where the blood wolves had come from originally? Who they were now? “Dey, what about the blood wolves? Who is Hexis?”

“It was years before anything happened,” she continued, ignoring my questions. “But one day a she wolf went missing. We searched everywhere for her, but we couldn’t find her. It was days before her body showed up, piece by piece we found her. It was horrific what they did to her, but the pack couldn’t find what had killed her. Nothing would happen for months, and then another would disappear and then show up dead. It was after the fourth murder that Vey spoke to me. He confided in me and was terrified that it was his son Lathos killing all of the pack members. I told him he needed to leave it up to the alpha to protect the pack, but Vey blamed himself for the mistakes he’d made and he knew then letting Lathos go had been a mistake. So I kept an eye on him, but I didn’t tell anyone what he’d said to me. One night I saw him walk towards the woods with a far-off expression like he was sleepwalking, like what you did last night, Ira—”

“Wait, hold on,” Koda snapped. “You were sleepwalking into the woods? Is that what caused you to change?” He looked between Dey and me.

“No, Koda, that isn’t what caused me to change, at least I don’t think so. I’ll tell you once Dey finishes.” I nodded towards her my gut churning. Everything she was saying was horribly familiar, and I was afraid to hear the outcome to this tale.

Dey nodded and continued. “Vey walked into the woods. I was terrified, and I waited the first time not sure if I should tell the alpha. By the time I’d built up the courage, he had walked back to the dens his white fur tinged with blood that wasn’t his own. I asked him what happened and he just told me that he’d made a mistake. Over and over he’d say he made a mistake. I begged him to talk to his alpha, tell him what had happened, but Vey refused. So I told our alpha. I told him about Vey’s suspicion that it was Lathos, that I’d seen him walk into the woods in a strange state. Tovu was angry and hurt that his mate hadn’t spoken to him and it wedged something between their bond making it worse. The next night I saw Vey walking towards the woods in his strange state, I woke the alpha. Tovu restrained him and kept him from the woods. It wasn’t long before Vey woke yelling that he needed to go to protect the pack. It made no sense, but he swore he was the only one who could keep them away. It was then the pack knew he’d been keeping secrets from us, that he knew who was killing us off, torturing us. When the alpha pressed for answers Vey wouldn’t give in, he wouldn’t say anything.” Dey shook her head, and a stray tear rolled down her cheek as she took another shaky inhale. “The pack practically banished him. No one would speak to him, not even his own pups, not even—”

A muffled whine escaped her as more tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to hold in the pain wanting to break free. “Me,” she gasped. “Not even me. It went on for weeks. Vey stayed near the dens watching the woods. One morning I went on a hunt for some small game on the west side of the dens. I’d caught a few rabbits when I heard the commotion, so I raced back to the dens and stopped short of leaving the forest. Something inside of me told me not to go any further. I was so afraid I wanted to run away from the only home I’d ever known, but I got close enough to see what was happening. That was the first time I saw them.

They were massive in their middle forms, bigger than anything I’d ever seen and they reeked of so much blood. Vey blocked their path to the pack. He was also in his middle form, but so much smaller than the monsters that stood in front of him. I could hear them talking back and forth. Hexis was what Vey called him, the leader of the pack. Vey was defensive and growling at the beast when he moved closer.” A broken sob escaped her as she gripped her knees painfully tight. “I watched as he hit Vey sending him flying into the nearest den. Tovu attacked, and so did the others. It was a bloodbath as they tore apart my pack. There was so much blood. Our alpha, he attack Hexis and he, he—” Dey dropped her head to her knees broken sounds emitting from her.

My heart pounded as I rubbed her back trying to comfort her. Koda moved to her other side giving her more support rubbing his face along her shoulder. Gut churning I kept close to her trying to understand the horror she was reliving. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I needed her to finish the story. “Dey, I know this is hard, but please finish the story.” I rubbed my cheek against her tear stained one as she cried.