Chapter 4
Chapter four
Gage
Round eyes of bright violet gaze back up at mine, a strange color indeed, as I can’t stop looking at her.
Her eyes are so wide, so terrified, and so full of mistrust.
Not unlike a cornered fawn.
Yet unlike a fawn, the Omega wriggles in my arms, hardly frozen in fear at all as I tighten them around her.
She struggles further, kicking and punching my face. “Get off!”
“Careful now, little doe,” I growl, making her heart pound faster as she stills. Perhaps it’s my new moniker for her, who knows, but she’s finally as frozen as a fawn. “You’ll loosen your stitches.”
This time, her small fist swings for my jaw, and when my head jerks to the side, I’m silent for a few moments. Her heart thumps louder now, making me think of a bird trapped in a cage.
She knows she just made a grave mistake.
After taking a steadying breath, I toss her over my shoulder, moving her back to the house. She pounds at my back, squealing in frustration, and she’s a feisty little thing.
That would explain why someone felt the need to skewer her with arrows. Still, as bothersome as she is, I would never take it that far.
Maybe just a spank on her tight, firm ass.
Man. That’s an extremely good ass, one that makes my fangs ache in my gums. Her left butt cheek is right by my eye, tempting me.
But I restrain my Alpha, marching her back to the house over my shoulder.
“Oh, thank God!” Wren cries from the window above us. “You caught her. I thought she was a goner.”
I turn, swinging her around on my shoulder as her long, tattered braid flings around with us, whacking me in the face like a whip.
I find Wren hanging out of his bedroom window, a look of relief etched across his too-friendly face.
A tight smile stretches my own face. “Don’t worry, little brother. I knew from the moment I heard the floorboards creak that she was aiming for the window.”
The Omega whirls around and glares at me now at that comment. I hike up a brow at her fierce expression. “What? You don’t think I don’t know the sounds of my own house?”
Her violet eyes taper next, and then she sighs, flopping down over my shoulder. She can’t even find the energy to be angry with me now as she whispers, “Just... make my death quick. All right?”
Death?
I shake my head, marching us back to the house. Malakai is leaning against the wall in the corner of the room, arms crossed as he pretends not to be interested in our new guest. A muscle feathers on his jaw as he tries to look at everything but the little spitfire draped over my shoulder.
Wren is the complete opposite. He comes barreling down the stairs like an elephant, only stopping when I drop the Omega unceremoniously onto the worn couch of our living room.
My brother is still huffing and puffing as he tries to catch his breath. “I’m so…so happy you’re safe, l-little sparrow... That was… quite the nasty fall,” he chuckles.
Malakai scoffs in the corner, and I eye him warily. His incensed eyes of gray find mine.
“Don’t start,” I warn him via our pack bond.
As brothers, we have the ability to communicate telepathically. We have been able to since we were children. Back when I was seven, Malakai was five, and Wren four.
A whole twenty years of hearing my little brothers’ thoughts. It gets tiring at times, but I can barely remember a time when I didn’t hear one of them inside my head.
Wren takes a seat on the couch beside the Omega, and she tenses up next, hugging her knees as close to her body as much as she can. He reaches his hand out toward her, and the Alpha is just so oblivious to her blatant cringing.
She is scared of us. There’s no denying it. And for some reason, I want to remedy that immediately.
She does not need to be fearful of us.
“Damn,” Wren tuts. “The stitches popped after all. Well, not to worry. We will fix them up in a jiffy.”
She stares at him, bewildered. “J-jiffy?”
Wren is too beside himself with relief to notice the look of confusion in her violet eyes. “That’s right! In a jiffy.”
Now he gets up to fetch his first-aid kit, and he really does think of her as one of his injured birds. We have a graveyard for all the creatures of the forest that he couldn’t save. He gets too attached to every single one of them.
I just hope he doesn’t get attached to this wounded little bird.
Malakai is his complete opposite. A lot of the time, he suggests that we cook and eat all the injured animals that Wren finds as he glares at our little brother while he exits the living room.
Once again, I give him the look. Let’s just hope Malakai doesn’t suggest that we cook Wren’s newest patient.
A terse silence passes again as Wren rummages for his kit in the kitchen. Soon, his beaming face appears in the doorway as he sits by the Omega’s side again without invitation, making her ball up further.
“It’s okay, little sparrow. I’m only going to fix your stitches.”
The Omega’s round, violet eyes swivel about her skull as she eyes him warily for a few beats.
Damn, her eyeballs really are big. The whites are visible, especially when she’s scared.
In the end, she acquiesces her shoulder, and my brother gets to work, removing old stitches with tweezers while replacing them with new ones.
“There. Good as new.”
She tries to move her head around to gaze at the stitches. Then she bows her chin, muttering, “Thanks.”
Now another painful silence travels the room.
I step away from the fireplace, folding my arms as I address her. “Do you have a name?”
She freezes, curling up again. Her big eyes find me. “L-Lyra.”
I nod. “Lyra. And pray tell, Lyra…why exactly did you wash up along the riverbank of our land?”
We chose this location for a reason. It’s off-grid, the river acting as a natural buffer between us and the rest of civilization.
My brothers and I were just sick to death of the Alphas running this country. A corrupt regime, if I ever saw one.
And don’t get me started on its king.
I quirk a brow. “Well?”
She huffs a breath. “No comment.”
No comment.
Well, that just won’t do.
I will get my answers. From this moment on, she is not going anywhere.
“C-can I go now?”
I sigh. “Where to? There’s nothing out there for you, little doe.”
Her gaze finds mine, and the blazing expression in those eyes. They make me forget how to breathe for a second. “There has to be more than this.”
She’s right. There has to be...
But alas, this is all there is. A cruel world ruled by cruel Alphas. She really is outmatched. Omegas do not fare well in this kingdom.
I look to Wren now. “Prepare her a room.”
My brother jumps to his feet. “On it.” Now he runs up the stairs two at a time. So eager to take care of our new guest.
Malakai snorts. “She’d be far better suited with the fox, brother. Look at her. At least that bothersome vulpine smells better than she does, and that’s saying something. His piss stinks.”
I growl at my other brother. “That is enough. Lest you want to stay with Fidget in his piss-ridden pen.”
Malakai matches my glare. Then he rolls his eyes, going up the stairs. “So long as she stays far from my room, then I have no qualms.”
Lyra scowls at his back as he retreats up the stairs. Then her eyes land on me. Once again, I raise my brows.
She is free to speak ill of him all she wants. Like my brother, I have no qualms. But she keeps her pouty mouth shut, resigning to her fate at last.
Well, it looks as if she is staying with us. At least for now. At least until I get my answers. She’s the first interesting thing to have happened around here for a while.
There is no escape for her anymore.
I’ll make absolute sure of that.
Every door and window will be locked from now on.