Chapter 6 A Warrior’s Heart, Coward’s Mind #2
“We don’t have a choice. We’ll have to get him as close to camp as possible and then…just…” he made a motion of throwing something with his hands.
“Just what? Throw him?!”
“I don’t know! You’re the one who hit him!” Brune whispered, looking over his shoulder again. “We’ll just get him close enough and they’ll think he fell asleep or something.”
In the dirt. Outside of camp.
Niklas nodded, picking up and sheathing his own sword before grabbing the prince’s legs.
Lopsided, they stumbled their way in the direction they thought the clan was in.
It was difficult to navigate the darkness, and more than once they tripped and had to catch themselves before they did even more damage to the prince.
He was skinny, but heavy, and Brune felt his arms shake before they even saw the first light of a fire.
Niklas was sweating, and his muted scent of wet grass was becoming obnoxious. If the wind shifted, they would be caught.
Brune was about to yell at him when he felt his legs swept out from under him. He landed with a thud. Before he could get his limbs under control, he was hit again. A fist to the jaw that had him seeing stars on a moonless night.
He heard Niklas yelp and looked up in time to see Osmond descending on him.
The man slipped out of the dark just like he had before.
Osmond moved to hit Niklas, but the beta was quick.
He caught the hit and moved with it, spinning out of reach.
The alpha didn't even pause, just continued with the onslaught.
“Wait!” Brune tried, but it was too late.
Niklas managed to land a kick that knocked the wind out of the alpha.
Osmond rolled out of the way, popping up in time to send an uppercut into Niklas’s shocked face.
Rather than let him fall, he grabbed the beta by the shirt and went down with him, straddling him so he could cock a fist back in a punch that would surely break something.
Brune launched, hitting the alpha around the torso. He knocked him flat on his back, trying to wheeze through the elbow that dug into his ribs. He didn’t want to hurt the other alpha—not that he could. He was just so damn fast.
“It’s not what you think!” he coughed. “We were trying to bring him back—”
Osmond growled, head butting Brune right between the eyes. Eyes watering, he fell back on the next hit, curling up in a ball to try to protect himself. A kick landed in his kidneys, and he felt his alpha screaming at him to get up to defend himself, but he couldn’t make his wobbly legs move.
“Osmond…stop…”
The kicks ceased. Brune chanced a look to see the alpha crouching beside Corric, gently cradling him as he looked him over for injuries.
“They’re telling the truth,” Corric said, his voice raspy.
“What?” Osmond asked, eyebrows furrowing and thick scent of lemon clogging Brune’s nose in a way that made his skin crawl. “Corric, what’s going on?”
“I was–” the omega swallowed, eyes focusing. “I was going to surrender.”
Osmond reeled back like he’d been hit. Brune suspected this omega had a power he didn’t, because Osmond certainly didn’t react like that when he’d actually hit him.
“You what?”
Corric looked away in shame, a small whine bubbling up from between his lips. The oppressive scent of angry alpha was too much, and the omega bared his neck on instinct. Osmond sighed, shaking his head to get control of his emotions. Without saying anything more, he scooped Corric up.
“You two,” he barked at Niklas and Brune, both still flat out in the dirt. “Come with me.”
It wasn’t a request.
Niklas helped him up, wiping his bloody lip with the back of his hand. Mutely, they followed Osmond, sticking close enough that the mingled scents of upset omega and angry alpha nearly made his eyes water.
Osmond led them through the maze of tents. It was quieter now than it had been last night. Fires were nothing more than embers. Laundry had been brought in, children tucked into bed as the adults whispered to each other in the night.
His back was killing him, the imprint of Osmond’s boot no doubt branded into his skin. He watched the big alpha carry Corric with ease. He was nearly the same size as Brune, yet he moved so fast. So light on his feet. How? Brune could barely get his feet under him when he had a blade.
He suspected Osmond would not be willing to answer if he asked.
Niklas stuck close to him, occasionally wiping the blood from his face. His eyes were on Osmond, too, face inscrutable, like it often was.
They were led to a different tent than the one they’d been in before. This one was larger; with shapes he couldn’t discern sketched onto the stretched hide. Osmond knocked on a slab of wood, calling to those inside before ducking in.
Once inside, Brune was hit with the scent of pack. There was a stronger scent, one that was sweetly spiced. It made the hair on his nape stand on end.
The room was dimly lit by a stove in the corner. Taking in the pallet in the corner and the table, he could tell this was clearly a home.
“Corric!” A beta woman with curls pushed up from the table, rushing over to the omega. Osmond set him down, steadying him with a hand on his elbow.
The beta fussed, pulling Corric closer to the stove so she could check him over. She cupped his face, dragging him down to her height. “I thought you were in the nest! What were you doing out so late?”
Corric ducked his head, and Brune noticed the second woman in the tent too late. Chief Restrina was glaring at them with eyes that might as well be embers plucked from the fires outside. Her hands were curled into claws, feet spread, ready to attack.
“Chief,” Osmond started, his voice strained. “I found Corric outside of camp being carried by these two.”
Her lip curled, revealing a fang. The scent of enraged alpha was so much worse than the citrus from Osmond. Niklas’s eyes watered as Brune bit back the urge to gag, ducking his head to expose his neck in submission.
“Explain.” Her voice dripped ice.
“It was my fault.” They turned to Corric, who managed to extricate himself from the beta. “I…tried to surrender.”
The beta gasped, hands flying to her mouth. “Corric!” she cried again; her fingers pressed to wobbling lips.
“This is all my fault. I won’t let you die for me.”
Chief Restrina had forgotten about Brune and Niklas. Her angry eyes were on the omega. She was frozen, staring at the boy until he squirmed.
“Darling,” the beta cooed softly, dropping her hands to smooth Corric’s hair back from his face. “This isn’t your fault—”
“Yes, it is! We overheard your parley!”
Osmond groaned, rolling his eyes as he muttered something about a troublesome trio.
“General Bargrave is only here because he was denied the betrothal. I won’t let you die, I won’t—”
“Who do you think I am?” Chief Restrina hissed, her teeth barely parting.
Corric blinked, mouth opening but no words coming.
“Who?” Restrina’s voice rose, shaking with anger. “Who do you think I am?” she advanced on Corric, fists curled at her side. “Do you think I am so weak that I would allow my pup to be taken?”
Everyone in the tent seemed surprised, but none more than Corric himself. His jaw dropped; eyes wide. Restrina stepped to him, staring down at him even though the omega was half a head taller.
“You are mine, Corric, and if you think I would not bleed, would not die, to keep you safe—then you truly are a fool.”
The boy trembled, looking smaller and younger than he had when he was ready to die for his people.
Restrina scruffed him by the back of the neck, pulling him down so she could rub her cheek on the top of his head. He melted under her scenting, crying softly against her shoulder.
“Sehleh, give him something to sleep and take him back to the nest. Kick the troublemaker if he’s still awake. “
The beta smiled wetly, collecting the omega and smoothing a hand across his back as she took him into another room.
Chief Restrina kept her back to them, taking deep breaths before turning to face the two soldiers. She eyed them critically.
“You are brave to go against your master.”
“He’s not our master,” Brune denied. “And I…wasn’t brave. It was Niklas who hit him.”
The beta squeaked beside him.
Brune dropped his head, shame so potent he could taste it. He was going to let Corric turn himself in. He was going to stand by and do nothing. The difference between him and the alpha in front of him was so vast it was laughable.
Chief Restrina took a step towards him, getting close enough she was nearly toe to toe with Brune. She was smaller this close, her head barely scraping his shoulder. Her face softened slightly.
“You have a warrior’s heart,” she said with a chuckle before flicking him in the forehead. “But a coward's mind.”
With that, she left. Moving to follow Corric and the beta through the flap into a secondary room. Before she stepped through, she looked over her shoulder and caught Brune’s eye.
“Luckily, minds are easier to change than hearts.” She nodded at Osmond. “Take them back to their camp.”
Brune stared after the alpha, his brows furrowed. Did she just…let us go? And for a moment, she even looked amused.
He didn’t have long to think about it. Osmond grabbed his arm and dragged him from the tent. The alpha seemed to be in a better mood, his scent sweeter.
Brune couldn’t really smell himself, not like someone else could. Niklas once said his scent was earthy, whatever that meant. He never had the courage to ask for more information, but he wondered how it compared to Osmond’s lemon scent or Chief Restrina’s pepper.
When the lights of camp flickered in the distance, Osmond stopped, too cautious to go closer. The alpha smiled at them, his teeth flashing in the dark.
“Good luck! Hope I don’t see you on the battlefield,” he said conversationally, as if he hadn’t just put them both in the dirt less than an hour ago. “Oh!” he turned to Niklas, his smile brightening. “Watch that left knee. You’re unsteady on it.”