Chapter 7 #2
I stared at Wilhelm once I was sure Konrad had gone back to eating his fish.
As he scooped the flaky meat out and ate it, my dragon and I were both satisfied we had provided for our mate.
Wilhelm, though, still had not asked his question.
I realized that he actually was not going to.
It was more of an observation than an actual question.
“Dragons come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. I am a blue dragon like my alpha father. My omega father is red in color, and although still large, he is smaller than my alpha father.”
“What about your grandparents?” Konrad asked quietly.
“I do not have grandparents as you are probably thinking. My fathers were both once human and were changed into dragons by the goddess,” I shared with them. There was a collective gasp from the group, but I noticed Konrad’s scent had changed to one of sorrow. I could not understand why though.
I looked around, listening for any noise, but still heard nothing, and my dragon relaxed.
“Eat so we can rest and then carry on,” I told them. The others went back to enthusiastically eating, but I noticed Konrad was much slower to eat his meal. He was just finishing up his first when the others were well on to their second, and I, too, had moved on to my second fish.
“Is it not to your liking?” I asked. “I realize it is plain, but it is what we have available.”
“What?” Konrad said, then looked down at his fish. “No, no, it is perfect. I am hungry, Alpha, and I appreciate the gift of the meal. Thank you.”
I narrowed my eyes at my mate. I did not care for the indifferent tone nor for the proper politeness that he was suddenly regarding me with.
“Please finish. I wish to discuss some things with you before we rest,” I told him.
I finished my second fish, tossing the bones and leftover skin and scales into the fire.
I reached for the satchel, pulling out the water canister.
There was enough for us to all have a drink, but I would need to refill it at the river.
That would be a perfect time to have a talk with my mate, who had moved even farther away from me.
Did he no longer wish to accept my claim? What had changed? I took a healthy drink, and when I noticed Lukas staring at me, I handed the canister to him. He eagerly reached for it, but I pulled it slightly back.
“Be sure to take only a drink and save enough for the others,” I said. Lukas nodded. I handed him the canister. “I will refill it once you all have a drink. We will head to the river when we are finished eating.”
The others sighed. I was not sure if it was from the idea of getting clean or the prospect of getting more to drink. Either way, we needed to start in that direction soon.
Once Konrad finished his second fish and had a healthy drink, I placed the empty canister back in my satchel. The others looked full and sleepy, and although it was tempting to stay where we were to rest, we should get cleaned before we slept. We would rest better that way.
“I know you want nothing more than to sleep now, but we must move to the river. There are some trees by it that we can rest in after you get clean and I refill the canister. It will make it easier to catch our next meal as well.”
The others easily agreed, standing and stretching their tired bodies. Wilhelm took the lead and started walking in the direction of the river. Once I had the fire out and the evidence that we had even been here covered, I followed behind, taking in our surroundings.
I overheard the conversation ahead and felt bad for my mate and his friends.
The chances of us finding their village were slim, and they seemed to realize that.
It would be easier once they regained their strength and could take to the sky.
So much more ground could be covered when we were in our scales and wings.
The sound of the river reached us, and the four with me picked up their pace, the thought of getting clean encouraging them to carry on.
I smiled when I finally reached the riverbank.
There in the shallows, all four of them were splashing and playing in the water.
It would not clean nearly as well as the scented water my da was fond of, but it would feel much better than the grime that covered the four for who knew how long.
The conditions they’d been in were more than enough to warrant the lives I’d taken on their behalves.
It did no good to think of such things, for it only made me wish I had not given Feiedrich such a quick and painless death. What he had done to these omegas earned a much more painful death, and I was sure I did not know even a fraction of what had transpired.
I watched for another moment before moving upstream a bit and knelt on the pebbled riverbank to dig a hole.
I made sure to dig it big enough to fit the canister, and then I sat there waiting.
The water that immediately filled the hole was murky, but in time, the sediment would settle, leaving clean water for us to drink.
The others as they took off their clothing and started scrubbing their bodies with the sand from the bottom.
Should I share my lye soap? It was better than the sand and pebbles they were using.
I dug through the satchel and pulled out the canister as well as the yellow bar.
I walked to the bank, where they were just a few feet into the river, and held out my hand.
Elias squealed and came rushing toward me.