Walking up the stairs to my room, I had almost forgotten about the moment Avery had in the dining room when everyone was looking at me. I grab her arm lightly, causing her to stop and turn towards me.
"Can I ask you a question?" I ask
"Sure. What's up?" She replies
I paused, unsure how I wanted to ask, but I went for it.
"In the dining room, when everyone was looking at me.....you looked at them, and they all stopped." I pause. "How?" I ask. "You said you were the omega on my floor. No omega should be able to get that kind of response out of people." I finished
She stood there for a moment, not saying anything, the chatter from the lower floor floating up to us filling the silence.
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She shut it and grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me up the stairs to my floor, but instead, she went right past my door and opened another down the hall. Towing me in, she shut the door behind her. This room was set up exactly like mine but had purples, and forest green splashed everywhere in the accents. A picture with her and a man I have come to know as Xander standing side by side, their arms around each other, sits on her dresser.
I turn and look at her confusion spread across my face. She huffs and flops onto her bed, an exasperated sigh leaving her mouth when she hits.
"I lied; I didn't want you to be uncomfortable and feel like I was someone to worry about." She pauses.
I had come out of the house when I heard a commotion, and Xander was following behind Alpha Stone. He had filled me in on what had happened in the driveway this morning. He was worried about you and had said that you had come from a pretty bad situation. But I see now how that plan had backfired. I'm sorry."
I take a deep breath, not quite knowing what to think. I want to be mad at her for lying to me, but I understand why she would lie to me like that. I was abused by the gammas in my old pack. I definitely looked weak and pathetic.
Hell, I am weak. I say
We will get stronger. Athena says back.
Looking back at Avery, I reply, "I understand, but can we please agree on no more lies. I really want to start our friendship off strong."
She nods, walks over to me, and hugs me. I flinch a little out of reflex, and that causes her to drop her hands and step back.
"I am so sorry. Did I hurt you?!" She stated with panic in her voice.
"No, no, no," I say quickly, shaking my head.
That was the first time that someone had hugged me in 8 years. The last hug I received was from my adoptive parents before they were cast out as rouges.
We sat and talked the rest of the night. She told me about how she was Xander's sister, she was not much of a fighter, but with her brother, it had always come easy. He had grown up with Aries, and when he came to be Alpha, Aries chose him to be in charge of the warriors of the pack.
Tell me a little more about yourself," Avery said.
I laid there momentarily, looking at the ceiling from Avery's bed.
I don't know if I want to tell her more about me. My life wasn't fun like hers. She got to play outside in the dirt, have friends, go on pack runs, and celebrate getting her wolf. We talked about her life for hours, and a slight twinge of jealousy overcame me with each passing story.
I must have been quiet for longer than I thought because Avery sat up and looked down at me, her face curious.
"I'm actually pretty tired. I think I will head to bed if that's okay." I reply.
Her smile dropped for a second but was replaced with the usual smile.
"oh yeah, it is pretty late, huh," she says
I laugh, push myself off her bed, and slip out the door, giving her a wave before closing it. I start walking towards my room when I am drawn towards the other end of the hall. I try to ignore it, but it keeps nagging me like an itch I can't scratch. I walk to the end of the hall and find a flight of stairs that lead up to a single door. They are tucked away to the point you wouldn't even know they were there. A person coming up the stairs snaps me out of my curiosity, and I run back to my room, quickly closing the door behind me.
I climb into bed and close my eyes. The soft mattress is cradling my body, causing me to fall asleep quickly.
(Atis Freivalds - Heartbeats) Suggested Music.
The noise of children laughing fills the air. I open my eyes and find myself in a dark forest, the noise drawing me forward.
Walking until I reach a clearing in the trees I find myself in a field. Watching the children play. Some boys are wrestling with each other, mimicking the men grappling in the distance, while little girls are playing with their dolls and teasing some boys with threats of kisses.
Women are sitting and talking amongst each other on the edge of the field, watching over their children. One woman joins them with an infant in her arms. They all bow their heads slightly and then start cooing over the child.
I smile at the sight. Everyone is so happy and carefree.
Suddenly the men are shifting into their wolf form and are charging towards the tree line. Directly at me.
I crouch down and cover my head as they all jump over me. Everything going dark.
When I open my eyes again, a dead wolf lies 5 feet in front of me. Looking up from him, I see more and more bodies scattered around the field. Some humans and some wolves. The children that were once playing, are now being carried by the women running for shelter. They are crying, not fully understanding what is going on.
Two rouge wolves run up and attack the group from behind. Some of the women shift and try to fight them off but more wolves join the original two, overpowering the women and eventually killing them all; except for the woman with the infant who is trying to crawl away from them with her baby still in her arms. Her leg was badly injured, and her torso has deep cuts. One wolf grins and stalks closer to her snapping its teeth.
I scream, but nothing comes out. I start running over to her in hopes that I can get to her in time. But I am having to bob and weave to avoid the fighting going on around me.
A loud howl from the field causes the wolves to walk away from her and disappear into the forest that they had just come from. A path now clear for me, I run faster than I thought my legs could go. But, once I reach her, she is already gone. Tears welled up in my eyes. I look at the baby, staring up at me with her big green eyes. Her face was calm and flawless despite what was going on around her. I tried to grab her, but I couldn't reach her. An Invisible wall appears and keeps me from getting any closer. I reach harder straining against the wall. I am about to get to her when suddenly she turns into a wolf and jumps at me. Jaws wide open.