Blaze
We make it a few feet before she crawls into my lap; her face white and intent upon the water, the scent of her mixing with the damp air is alluring. Pix jumps on with a large stick that he uses to send the raft further into the water.
The others jump out of the water and onto the raft after pushing us out further. The river snatches us and drags us into the deep channels where we move quickly.
“See, not so bad, is it?”
She swivels her head around, giving me a look.
I love how sassy she is, even without words. I lean in close so my lips are beside her ear.
“Fancy a swim?” I whisper.
She scoffs and elbows me but doesn’t struggle too hard.
Sage starts singing a song about travelling on rivers. It’s cute and relaxing and reminds me of a whole heap of those lazy days we spent tangled up in each other’s legs and the sex-scented sheets.
Pix lays back on the raft, letting his fingers drag through the water.
Eventually, she relaxes in my arms, losing her death grip.
My thoughts wander back to last night. The beta who managed to slip into camp, who came as close as we would allow to hurting Merle. She was perfectly safe and surrounded. But I needed to be certain who the target was.
Merle, Pix, or us.
The fact that it was her wasn’t surprising but enraged me all the same. I may have gone into overkill while she was coddled in her drug-altered state, protected by Sage, who was the only person I trusted with her.
I had removed his skin. Piece by piece. By the time I was finished, he was a mindless lump of exposed nerves, moaning for his mummy. I don’t think he even remembered Merle’s name.
The temptation to string him up between trees and leave him as a warning to anyone else who might think they can bypass my benevolent care was hard to resist, but in the end, Rolly talked me into getting rid of the evidence.
So, he’s gone.
Whoever he was.
What a stupid way to waste your life, and Merle is none the wiser. The drug doesn’t always affect the memory, but it has with her, and I’m not going to debate it.
I don’t want her to have any more bad memories than she already has.
My fingers drum on her skin, moving in the familiar pattern that is one of my tics. My need to have everything my way, set up the way I need it, has been tested. I don’t like change, and having him rush our camp and get so close to her has pushed me into a need to control the environment.
Rolly, Pix, and King seem to have settled back and are taking my demands in stride, easily capitulating, which is a relief. Perhaps this can work out between us.
“How much longer?” Sage asks as we all get sprayed with another wave of freezing water.
“Another hour. I want to get off just before the falls.” I eye the walls of the cliffs that surround the river.
Pix twists towards us. “The falls?”
“Yes, there are falls ahead.”
“How big?”
“Big enough.”
I can see the glint in his eyes. Our omegas are as different as they come. Pix wants to jump the falls, I can see it in his eyes. He’s an adrenaline junkie who thrives on pushing limits. All of this is him in his element.
Merle, on the other hand, seems to find this whole world terrifying.
Luckily, she has four alphas–five if you include our wayward Rose, who would protect her from anything.
King and Rolly play a quick game of rock, paper, scissors. I watch impassively.
“Right, we’ve decided that we’d like to head-” Rolly cuts off and looks at King.
“Where are you going?” Sage asks absently.
Rolly presses his lips together. “I want to go and check on Roseland, make sure he got to the car safely.”
I go perfectly still, barely breathing. I can’t say it hasn’t been in the back of my mind. The worry and fret that someone else may have found him, hurt him.
“He can look after himself.”
King stands up. “I’m not asking. If I cut across, I can make it to where he was going and beat him there.”
I stare at him, torn between needing him with us and needing to know Roseland is safe.
“Fine, we vote. Hands in the air, King goes after Roseland and checks on him.”
Sage, Rolly, and Pix put up their hands. Merle keeps hers down.
I nudge her. “You get to vote, too.”
She sits up, spinning and looking at me with wide eyes.
“Do you want to know that he’s okay?”
She inhales but looks at King with a torn expression. Finally, she nods.
“Okay. Go.”
King grabs his pack and leaps from the raft, disappearing before we even have a chance to wish him luck.
Rolly mutters under his breath but smiles widely at Pix. I wonder if the omega can see the distress in his eyes. He must because he picks a fight with the alpha over the correct name of the colour of the moss that clings to the rocks.
The water starts moving faster. Sage, Pix, Rolly, and I shove our raft up against the bank of the river. With an unspoken decision, we pull it out of the water and hide it, while Merle walks towards the roaring sound of the falls.
She turns around, her eyes wide. She marches over to Pix and shoves him in the chest. He scowls and grips her wrists when she goes to do it again. She points to the falls and shoves him a third time.
“Oh, you don’t want me to jump?”
Her brows snap down, and she positively growls.
He laughs.
I wish I could smother the sound. I wish I could make him take it back. Alas, there is nothing I can do but watch Merle’s temper turn supernova.
She lets out a pterodactyl screech and shoves him hard.
“Hey!” Pix snaps.
Rolly puts an arm over him and pulls him back. “Relax, kid, she’s worried about you. She doesn’t want to see you get hurt, and she’s pissed you laughed at her when she was worried.”
I stare at Rolly, perplexed that he has understood the situation so accurately. This is one of the few times I’ve seen Rolly interested enough in people to be able to notice, let alone decipher, their feelings.
Pix licks his lips and transfers his gaze to Merle, who has turned away from us, her back ramrod straight.
“Is that true? Were you worried?”
She shrugs, refusing to turn.
Sage grips my arm and squeezes. I glance at him.
“Our babies are having a moment!” he mouths silently.
I roll my eyes and shake him off.
Before we go any further, I scout the area, looking for signs of anyone passing this way.
We’re heading to the outskirts of the massive park.
There’s a village called Little Marshall; almost no one knows about it, but it’s got about two hundred people living there.
It’s tiny, and I happen to own property on the outskirts.
Not even Kota knows about it. I’ve made sure it’s one of the most hidden properties and doesn’t exist in any portfolio attached to my name.
At last, I’m satisfied and head back to the group. Sage is regaling them with a story of one of our last camping trips. I ignore them, looking up and checking the sky. The weather is turning. We’re in for rain, perhaps lots of it, which means getting away from the river.
I pick up my pack and whistle.
“Let’s go.”
They file after me as I lead them deep into the forest. I find the spot where we are going to hole up two hours later. It’s a cave system with a ledge that overhangs the entrance. It’s off the forest floor, meaning any water will run down to the river, and we will be safe.
“Right, my kids. We need wood, lots of it. Blaze says there’s a storm coming.”
Pix glares at him. “When did he say that?”
“Oh, didn’t I mention? We are telepathic, and he communicates straight into my mind. Bastard sends me pics of him sucking-”
Merle lifts her head, and Sage chokes on what he was going to say.
“Lemons,” he finally spits out. “He sucks lemons.”
Merle blinks and clicks her tongue.
“Are you a virgin, Merle?” Pix asks suddenly and with irritation.
She looks at him with a raised brow. I think the air is so heavy that a spark from a single strike could set it alight.
She shakes her head.
“So, you’ve sucked cock? Had sex? Fucked?” Pix clarifies.
She rolls her eyes and nods her head.
“There, jeez, now stop treating her like she’s a breakable virgin. She can handle images in her head of Sage sucking Blaze’s cock.”
Merle trips over a stick, her head snapping around towards us, mouth gaping open, eyes wide.
Her scent hits me hard, and I have to breathe through my mouth so I don’t go over there and lick it off her. I will be meticulous, and it will take me hours.
“Hmm, interesting reaction there, Merelee-” Rolly teases.
She flings herself back, tumbling off the rock, falling into the dirt, scrambling backwards.
“Merle!” I shout and swing down. I land in a crouch beside her and grab, but she brings up a handful of dirt and throws it into my eyes. “Omega!” I command.
That drags her to a stop, but her eyes are wild, and her breathing is hard.
What happened? I go back over each and every moment.
“The nickname? You don’t like the name?”
She shudders, turns, and vomits.
“Okay, no one will ever call you it again.” I scoop her up before she can escape, ignoring my burning eyes, and carry her back to the cave.
Rolly, Pix, and Sage set up a fire and build us a protected area to sleep, while I hold the trembling omega, waiting for her to return from her nightmares.
It’s two steps forward and one step back with her.
It has crossed my mind that maybe we need to find her professional help, but she’s so distrustful of everyone. It would be easier if she spoke. I would take a name, just a single name. Someone I could take all her fear out on. I would write her agony into their skin and sear it there.
They would howl her fear and cry her tears.
I would do that for her because I am hers.
I just hate feeling helpless. I hate sitting here wishing that I knew how to stop hurting her.
Is it too much that I want to make her feel good?
I don’t want to keep ripping the scars open, causing her to bleed all over again.
She makes a whimpering sound and turns her head into my chest, digging in, burying herself in my scent, bathing in it.
Sage sits down, and she reaches for him, her small fingers wrapping around his thick wrist, like just that touch is a comfort.
The name…we’ll never speak it out loud again. Not a single one of us.
We’re quiet, talking softly and trying not to disturb the hurting omega as the storm bears down on us. She lets out a cry, and I think I hear a whisper.
I shift closer, realising she’s asleep, but putting my ear almost on her lips.
But she’s talking. Barely.
Under her breath, she’s saying two words in a rasping whisper that is almost inaudible. Calling two names.
King.
And Roseland.