Posing for the Omega (For the Alpha #2)(6)

A shiver took over her body, and she took deep breaths between the gut wrenching sobs. “H-h-he ripped him apart in front of the entire pack, in front of Vey. It was horrible. Vey didn’t hesitate to attack, and he fought until he wasn’t able to anymore. Hexis held him down,” another pain filled whine escaped Dey, and she dug her hands into the hard dirt of her den. “He said ‘You can’t protect your pack now can you,’ and then he killed him. He killed him, and I did nothing. They killed everyone, and I hid in the woods afraid they’d kill me too.” Dey pulled at her hair as she cried uncontrollably. “I’m sorry, I’m s-sorry.” She choked out between her pained cries. Koda and I encircled her in our arms, comforting her against the horrible memories that she was reliving. Her pleas for forgiveness weren’t for us. They were for the pack she had lost. The idea of losing my pack like she had made me choke on my own terror and sorrow. What would I do if I saw my alpha murdered? My heart stopped for a second as overwhelming destitution filled my entire body threatening to seep into my soul. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and tried to digest what she’d told us. Hexis was the leader, and maybe the same creature I’d met the night before?

“Dey, what about Lathos?” I rubbed my face along her jaw and chin, trying to console her as I pushed deeper into her dark memories.

Her breath hitched. “He was there. He brought Hexis to our pack. He had to have brought them.” She said with a cracking, broken voice. “He came back to kill us all, even his dama.”

I took that in wishing she’d told me anything else. These blood wolves had been seen before, and they had done this before. They’d murdered a pack, and they murdered another luperci like them. Why murder the entire pack? It was all a complete mess missing the reasons for half of it. “Dey. What happened after they left?”

“They took Vey’s b-body, and they left the others to rot.” Another violent shiver passed through her. “I didn’t move for hours. I was too afraid to move.”

I hugged her close. “It’s ok, Dey, I understand now.” I did understand. She’d covered all of these memories up over time to convince herself it hadn’t happened. She’d wanted to forget that they were murdered, that she couldn’t go home whenever she chose.

“Ira, what did you see last night?” Koda asked against Dey’s hair.

My gut tightened again and goosebumps formed all over my skin as a chill ran up my spine. What had I seen? “They were like me, and they called themselves luperci. The alpha, he said he was leaving presents. He said there were things I didn’t know, that I didn’t know what I was.” Dey shifted from my hold her eyes bloodshot and wide.

“What color was the wolf?” The she wolf asked in a low whisper, almost as if she was afraid to ask.

“Brown fur. He had brown fur, and—” I paused trying to remember something more defining about the wolf from the night before. I’d been so terrified, but I had looked closely. “He had a white tip on his left ear and red eyes. That’s all I could tell in the dark. There were others too, but that was the one I could see.” I wouldn’t forget the bloodlust in those crazy eyes, the way he’d looked at me.

A shiver passed over Dey’s small body as her eyes welled with more tears.“T-that’s Lathos. That is Vey’s first born pup. It has to be,” she cried.

Koda looked at me across the she wolf’s head his green eyes troubled. The fun loving sibling I’d always known looked afraid. “If that’s Lathos, then who is Hexis?” He asked me, a noticeable tremor in his voice.

“I don’t know.” I’m not sure I wanted to know either not after meeting Lathos. “Dey, do you know anything about the luperci? How did they call Vey and me into the woods? Why does their scent trail disappear? Why did I change last night?” If we knew the answers, we could protect the pack. I could protect the pack. We needed to know the answers. I wasn’t going to lose my life, my pups lives, and my alpha’s life just because some ugly fugly insane monsters wanted to play evil games.

She wiped her eyes as she shook her head, a grimm expression settled on her face. “I c— I don’t know. I’m sorry, Ira. I don’t know.”

“It’s ok, Dey. We are strong, Zora is strong. We won’t end up like your pack, I promise.” Except, I didn’t believe my own promise.





Koda and I left Dey in her den once she’d fallen asleep. It had probably been a combination of stress and exhaustion that made her finally pass out. Honestly, I wasn’t far behind her. I felt exhausted after hearing her horrible tale. Would I be as strong as her after going through what she’d been through in the past?

Koda touched my shoulder as we walked away from Dey’s den, his green eyes watching me closely. “You should find a way to shift back.” Koda sounded so serious I felt my heart race. He was right. How would I be able to protect everyone the way I was right now? “No one can take you seriously when you sound like a five-year-old.” He grinned goofily, trying to break some of the tensions.

“You’re a snake’s asshole. You know that right?” I wouldn’t tell him, but I really appreciated the teasing after such a stressful morning. Leave it to Koda to break stage four depression of the grieving stages. I sure as hell wasn’t going to get to stage 5 — No porking way was I going to accept the fate her pack had suffered.