PHOEBE'S FACE WAS ETCHED WITH CONCERN AND UNEASE AS SHE STARED AT THE PICTURE OF HER BROTHER ON HER PHONE. "This picture makes him look huge," she said slowly, chewing on her bottom lip. It was an anxious habit she had. "And that elk sure is big!" she added.
As Judas picked up on Phoebe's anxiety, he asked, "What's the deal? Aren't you glad? I couldn't defeat one that big, let alone by myself. Shouldn't we be impressed?"
I suddenly understood why Phoebe was so upset as she glanced over at me. Brynner, as an omega male, shouldn't be nearly as hulking as he appears in this picture. He also shouldn't have the capability of bringing down an elk of this size alone. It would not only capture the attention of humans who saw this picture online, but it would also capture the attention of Alpha Griffin.
Again, I glanced at the picture of Brynner and leaned toward Phoebe. She's right... he was huge. In a normal wolf society, if he were an alpha, we'd be rejoicing, proud of our massive alpha. However, in our family, big meant something completely different. I swallowed hard and looked at Phoebe, unintentionally ignoring Judas' comments. "Maybe it's been edited," I suggested quietly.
The look on Phoebe's face was unconvinced. As her finger brushed over Brynner's face on the phone, she murmured, mostly to herself, "No, he really is that big." She glanced at me and said, "I noticed he's gotten bigger... They'll start zeroing in on him soon, Dianthe. You know it."
Her fear was understandable. Neither she nor I knew what happened to assigned omegas that developed in similar ways to other branches of pack ranking. The first omega assigned at birth to grow to such a large and domineering size was Brynner. The other omega males in our pack were meek and mild. Brenner literally towered over them all.
Judas asked, raising his voice so we couldn't ignore him: "So what's the big deal? So Brynner's huge! It doesn't make him an Alpha or anything like that--"
The moment Judas recognized our expressions, his voice cut off. The gravity of the situation dawned on him. "You mean to tell me Brynner's an alpha?" he asked slowly.
Brynner squaring off with Griffin in the medic clinic suddenly came to mind, as well as every hostile interaction I had with the giant omega. He was unquestionably an Alpha male. Besides being a biological alpha male, there was no other explanation. Nevertheless, Griffin ranked him as omega since birth, so for Brynner to get so big...
My gasp was audible. Carmela.
"Medication." I inhaled, my world shifting beneath me. "Griffin told Carmela to increase Brynner's medication. They must know he's an Alpha."
Phoebe glanced at me as if she were asking for permission to continue speaking. Looking at Judas, I was uncertain. I wasn't sure if it was safe for me to explain to him what was brewing on in the family because he was so ignorant of the dynamics. However, I knew it would be wrong of me to keep him in the dark forever. Now that this memory had been unlocked, I had no choice but to think about it.
"Medication?" Phoebe asked. "What do you mean?"
"Wait, I don't get it-" Jude started.
Phoebe and I turned to Judas, calling for him to hush. "The night Peter was shot, Brynner and Griffin got into a disagreement in the medical clinic," I explained. "Griffin demanded that Carmela increase his medication, and she looked at me as if I wasn't supposed to hear that."
"Brynner doesn't take any medicine," Phoebe said. "He's never been sick..."
Up until now.
Both of us realized the truth at the same time, but it was Judas who said, "They've been hiding it in our breakfasts."
If that were the case, then why haven't I fallen ill? Were we all taking suppressants and never knew? Brynner's suppressant medication had been increased, which might explain why he had been sick for a few days? It all seemed very confusing to me. "We should tell him," I concluded.
Phoebe gasped, "Are you crazy? Then he'll refuse to eat."
I pointed to her phone and said, "It looks like he's already got the hang of it."
Jude asked, "What happens if we all stop taking suppressants? So I'm not a true omega, then?"
Before I spoke, I glanced at Judas. Could we all be mislabeled? "I don't know what's going on," I honestly said, looking between them. "I don't know what the senior council will do about Brynner, but something's up."
"I don't want him to disappear like our mother," Phoebe said, biting her lip again. "It is better for him to suppress his true nature than to lose him forever."
I patted Phoebe's shoulder reassuringly and said, "I'll never let them hurt him. I swear." I had no clue how I would protect Brynner from Alpha Griffin's wrath, but I understood I had no choice but to figure it out. When I turned to Judas, I said, "Don't let anyone know what we know. It's just speculation until it's proved. Keep your head low, but keep your ears open."
"Yes, Alpha," he replied.
Brynner deserves to know if suppressants poisoned him, and if we all were drugged so we could be controlled all these years. But something told me to be cautious. I wasn't sure who was involved in this big operation. Carmela and Griffin both had something to do with it, but who else?
I grabbed Judas by the shoulders and embraced him. There was only one person in the pack that I thought could help us figure out the truth, even if he couldn't speak.
I whispered into his ear, just in case Cora or Emma were nearby. I didn't want them to hear me. "Ask Dad if he knows about suppressants," I said.
Judas said, "Why would you ask Dad? Dad can't talk."
"Dad can talk," I said. "If you ask him, he'll either nod or shake his head. Dad knows. After all, he's Alpha Callias. The greatest Alpha our Pack's ever had. He's bound to know."
Judas looked uncertain, even scared. I totally get it. Since he was too young when Dad became who he is today, he didn't remember him as an actual lycan. "It's okay," I said softly. "I understand your fear, but I promise you he's the same as you and me, just locked up in a wolf body."
Jude pulled away from me and asked, "What if he nods?"
I said, "Then you tell me. Right away."
As Judas stepped away from me and shoved his hands into his pockets, he still looked unsure. I smiled at him, then turned to Phoebe, who couldn't take her eyes off the picture of her brother. Brynner was lucky to have a sibling as kind and considerate as Phoebe.
"In the meeting tonight, we'll all keep an eye on Brynner," I said, and they nodded. "Don't leave him unattended even for a minute. I don't know what the Senior Council plans to do to him, but we'll be right there to keep them at bay."
Phoebe nodded, turned off her phone, and put it in her pocket. She said, "I wish Peter was here. Everything seems to have gone to hell since he was shot."
I nodded my head in agreement. She's right. Peter's shooting threw everything out of whack. I had a feeling everything would have been shit anyway even if he hadn't been shot. "We've got to stay strong, for Peter's sake," I told them, clapping them on the shoulders. "We got this. We're the new pack. We're the future."
They looked at me and smiled, a touch more at ease. It was my duty as an Alpha to keep my pack-mates safe, even if that meant keeping them away from their elders. It was for Phoebe's sake that I did something, even if I didn't know how. But I was determined to figure it out.
"Get home. I lost my phone, so I have to retrace my steps to find it," I said. "Make sure Emma and Cora get to the meeting on time. You know how they are."
Phoebe nodded. "Yes, Alpha."
Judas said, "Okay, sis."
With a heavy heart, I watched them get in Phoebe's old car and drive off. I didn't know what to do with the suppressants. Today I didn't eat breakfast and didn't feel any different from any other day, so maybe the medication didn't have much of an effect on me. If Jude and Phoebe stopped taking suppressants, what would happen to them? Would they grow? Could they turn into Beta wolves? I didn't know. But I knew I had to start by making it through tonight.
After walking over to the forest treeline, I slipped into the thick underbrush, shifting forms. When I emerged further into the forest as a wolf, a rabbit nearby froze in surprise, its big beady eyes nearly bursting.
I couldn't understand why the Senior Council put everyone on suppressants when biology determined our social standing. Why would you put Brynner on medication to keep him at omega standing if he was destined to be an Alpha Wolf? What's the point of arranging Alpha and phony Alphas together when that's never a wise idea? Just why? For meeker kids? To prevent uprisings?
Was that why Peter and I were paired up? To create a meeker generation? Am I even an Alpha? Huh... I was pretty sure I was an Alpha. At my core, I was one. So why suppress the male Alphas? I had so many questions running through my head, and no answers that made sense.
While wondering what was going on inside my pack, I followed the scent of my cell phone back toward the part of the woods that Brynner and I were in earlier that day. An enormous slug was sliming its way across my cell phone as it lay in the grass. I blew it off and picked it up.
I felt like I missed a gazillion texts from different people. As soon as I switched forms, I spat out my phone and unlocked it. I missed fourteen phone calls and 22 text messages from my friends. The mass text Griffin sent was on top of the list, so I quickly confirmed I had read it and said I'd make it.
I ignored the rest of the texts, pulled out my pocket and scoffed at the piece of paper Caleb wrote his number on. I was kind of amused by the way he wrote his number on Zoe's paper. I added his contact to my phone and texted him.
Caleb responded almost immediately, like he was waiting by his phone for my message. I couldn't help but smile at that thought. Just like he said, he gave me his address that's right next to the nature reserve. It was only a short distance from here, and I knew which house he was talking about.
The Knight Home was the only house on a street right next to the nature reserve. Griffin wasn't interested in buying the house because it had been vacant for years. We didn't think we had to worry about humans buying it since it was so dilapidated. I can now understand how Missy, the cat of the Knight family, ended up in our hunting grounds after getting loose. Our property was right behind the cat's house.
As I approached his house, I felt myself becoming nervous. Whether it was due to the meeting tonight, the suppressants' discovery, or the fact that what I was about to do was wrong and against my pack's rules, I wasn't sure. Trying not to think about the consequences, I tried to remind myself that this is the only time I will ever do this.
Nevertheless, as I approached the property and smelt my own warm and inviting imprint, I found my heart craving Caleb in all the wrong ways.