18. Runa
Runa
Tonight is the fire moon.
Most omegas nest the day before the full moon. The alpha males spend this day bringing food into the nest. Once night falls, the couples sate their sexual appetites, forgoing all else. Those who are not in heat run in packs, eat, drink, and celebrate together.
The storm changed our plans. But the Moon is steadfast.
Omega heat is an intense period that peaks during the night of the full moon, when our bodies produce a burning liquid until either our eggs take seed or the eggs are shed, and we bleed immediately after.
Some heats are more intense than others. With the Fireborn Alpha present in the pack during the fire moon, our heats will be intense and, for lack of a better word, fiery.
With the exception of my sister.
Maren’s eyes remain blue. The absence of the hazel omega color means she won’t go into heat. She has no need to nest. If she were going to go into heat, we’d see it by now, and her eyes would remain hazel during the night of the full moon.
Maren refused a fire wolf and intended to take her beloved human, whose seed, perhaps even his stamina, might not be enough to sate her. Ever. But I have no experience with human men, only with male wolves, so I’m speculating based on our biological differences.
We and humans are the same, but different. For my sister’s sake, I hope Sven services her the way she most needs, even if she’s not technically in heat.
Which raises the question… “How are we going to bring Sven here without anyone noticing it’s him and not the Fireborn Alpha?” And what’s Ash going to be doing while he’s supposed to be servicing my sister?
Maren cups my face. “What’s wrong?”
“Ash Fireborn.”
She huffs. “I know. That firehole should’ve stayed in his territory and never come here.” Maren arranges pillows on top of the many throws and blankets in the corner of our bedroom.
I kneel opposite her to help with the plush toys.
She has a massive pink bear she drags into her nest every moon.
When the pain of being unmated and not being allowed to be serviced during the heat of the moon becomes unbearable, Maren bites chew toys.
“He plans to take you and Sven with him, where you will be free to live or leave.”
“That is…” Maren pauses. “Nice of him. I didn’t expect him to be understanding. Or kind. Why do you think he’s doing this?”
“I don’t know. Everyone told us he was a mean, territorial killer. Did you know he lost his sister before the war? That someone killed her, and he started a war because of that?”
“No.” Maren shakes her head. “That’s not what happened. I thought the Fireborn Alpha was an only child.”
“Is he?”
Maren frowns. “As far as I know.”
“What if that’s a lie? What if we were taught that so we would hate him?”
“He has his own angle. Everyone does. What else did he say during breakfast?”
“He asked… Well, when I say asked, I mean that loosely, but he asked for me to come with you to the Fireborn territory.”
Maren’s blue eyes widen, brighten even. “What a great idea.” Then her shoulders deflate. “Grand dream, more like it. I can only imagine how that went over with our parents.” She sits back on her heels, expecting to hear what our parents said, no doubt hoping they miraculously changed their minds.
“Mother took off her earrings and rings, thinking she’d have to shift and fight the Alpha.”
Maren topples into the nest and laughs. She pats the place next to her, and I lie down. We stare at the ceiling.
Usually, only one female is allowed in the nest because the male will seek only one scent, and the second one might confuse or irritate him during mating, but Maren’s male is human, and humans’ noses aren’t as sensitive as ours.
“I wish you could come,” Maren says.
“I asked them to let me go for a week.”
“I wish you and I were never apart.” She holds my hand.
“We won’t be.” But we will. I can’t follow her into Fireborn territory. My parents would never agree, and that could spark another conflict and become a breach of the already fragile peace treaty.
She whacks my shoulder. “Stop telling me lies.”
“No way. They make you less sad about our separation.”
“I don’t want to talk about us separating at all. Since I’m nesting, I’ll pretend I’m in heat for the next three days.”
“Ash said you’re leaving today after lunch.”
Maren sits up, her hair flying about her, then settling in an unruly mess over her face. She blows on it to see between the strands. “He said what?”
She heard me. I nod. “That’s what he said.”
“But I’ve nested. He’s expected to visit during fire moon. That’s what the humans want. They want to be sure the treaty is consummated before the marriage takes place.”
“Did Sven say that?”
“Yeah. Why do you think he’s so desperate to prevent it?”
I sit up with her. “You knew he would try to kill the Fireborn Alpha.”
A slight nod.
I grab her shoulders and shake her. “Are you crazy?”
“He was going to do it with or without my help. So I helped.”
I press a hand over her mouth. “Shhh. Don’t let the walls hear you. Moon’s holy pussy, Maren, what were you thinking?” I remove my hand.
“You can’t curse like a sailor.”
“I can. I’m not a princess.”
“Fuck being a princess,” she says, and we giggle. “All that ever got me was subservience to laws I don’t agree with.”
“Neither does Ash. Maybe you guys are fated, like Bjorn and Freya.”
Ah, how I love that werewolf story. It’s one I read in the books the Regulators sent for safekeeping in the underground human libraries. It’s a fictional story, a forbidden romance because it explicitly describes the time Bjorn serviced Freya until their fated bond snapped into place.
I shouldn’t have been reading that in my teens, but once I did, I told Maren about it, and she snuck out to read it too. Our mother found her out, and I’ve never seen Mother more scared. She made us swear we would never speak of what we read in those pages.
Maren grabs her bear and hugs it. “What was it that Bjorn used to say?”
I roll my shoulders and clear my throat, preparing my best alpha male voice: “Surrender the moon to that which owns it.”
“And Freya would say, the moon surrenders.”
The moon surrenders. I sigh wistfully.
“Did you notice how Ash seemed relieved when he saw me with Sven?” Her eyes remain blue, whereas my eyes are itchy and probably hazel.
I sneeze.
“Uh-oh,” Maren says. “Someone’s going into heat.”
I blow my nose into a tissue. “Maybe. Do you think it’s because Ash has someone back home, and he signed the treaty out of obligation to his people?”
“Possibly. He’s handsome enough to have a harem, to be sure.”
A pang of jealousy strikes my chest, but then I remember this is my sister, who would die for her human and not for a wolf.
“He’d look better in a beard,” Maren adds. “I think he might be growing one.”
I don’t like this conversation, so I tune her out.
I pack my nesting bag with spare underwear and warm pajamas.
I really hope there’s enough wood to last me for the next two to three days.
I think I left some wood the last time I was in my secret place, but I can’t be sure since I haven’t gone back to restock in a while.
I should have two days’ worth, which will be enough. I hope.
I head for the door.
“Runa?” my sister calls out.
Maren blocks it. “Who are you nesting for?”
“Can’t tell you.”
Her face drops. “Since when can you not tell me?”
I can’t tell her I’m hiding somewhere people won’t be able to find me, because that’s dangerous during the storm. But I’m desperate, and my secret place is safe. I need nesting supplies to stay warm and comfortable where I’m going. “Blade propositioned me.”
Maren jumps up and down. “Nice choice.” She opens the door and ushers me outside. “Get that piece of ass, sister.”
I give her a thumbs-up. “On my way!”