AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"It'syou."
"Sorry to startle you" — his voice rasped across her eardrums — "and the baby."
Zorah swayed side to side, trying her best to comfort a now doubly agitated Ginny while simultaneously managing her own erratic pulse. A million questions dangled on her lips, ready to spill out into the silence, but she held back, not at all sure how to act in his strange and awkward presence.
The Alpha scratched at the back of his neck and asked, "Is she sick?"
"Teething," Zorah explained between shushes and tender coos in the child's tiny ear. "We came over here so as not to wake the whole village."
The Alpha jerked a nod but said nothing. Hands on his hips, he rotated his neck this way and that, as if seeking something in the surrounding trees. He shuffled, big feet scuffing the patch of worn-away grass where he stood at the base of the rock mountain, seemingly deciding whether to stay or to go.
"She likes you," the Alpha said suddenly, the initial roughness of his tone smoothed into something gentler and seasoned with awe. "They all do. The pups, I mean."
It wasn't an admission, but the only way he could have known the pups liked her was because he'd watched her. Plenty of Alphas told her how pretty she was and how she'd make some Alpha a very lucky man, but his observation showed a deeper, more personal appreciation that made her feel seen in a way she wasn't used to.
Zorah let out a soft scoff to offset the vulnerable feeling. "They oughta after I spend all day entertaining them. Between these rocks and the lake, there isn't much else to do."
He rubbed at the back of his neck. "Don't they have toys?"
"Some. But the main play area was in the old mess hall, and all the toys and games were lost in the fire. We've been making do with rocks and our imaginations since then. Haven't we, Ginny?" She nuzzled the baby's head and gave her a quick kiss.
"They seem like a handful," he said with a note of respect. "You must be very clever to keep their interest."
Childcare being one of the few tasks Omegas were assigned in River Bend, Zorah had cared for pups since she was old enough to know not to stick her hand in the fire and to stop any littler ones who tried. No one ever implied it required any kind of cleverness, though, and this second compliment brought warmth to her cheeks.
Zorah opened her mouth to minimize these abilities as the only ones she possessed but then closed it. She didn't want to talk about minding the pups right now. Not one single bit.
"Why do you do it?" she asked instead.
The dark sockets of the Alpha's eyes flinched, and wariness invaded his gruff tone. "Do what?"
"Watch me."
The Alpha's head jerked as if she'd slapped him.
But instead of fearing his retaliation or ire, the weeks of frustration and confusion welled up and drove her tongue's unruly impulses. "I know it's you. You" — she wet her lips — "watch me."
His body froze. An immobile shadow, Zorah stared him down nonetheless. She deserved an explanation, and by god, this might be her only chance to get one.
The Alpha shook off his inertia and sneered, "Every Alpha here watches you twitch your ass all over the village."
Now Zorah reared back, prompting a fresh set of whimpering wails from Ginny. She hurried to shush the child while internally reeling from the snide accusation. One that struck her as unfair and also irrelevant.
"And yet, I know whattheywant," she snapped, "but I'm askingyou. Your eyes follow me around everywhere I go, and I want to know, why are you creeping around in the dark like a... like... like a creeper!"
His jaw swung in a no, the light hairs of his stubble glinting in the stray moonbeams. "Not supposed to be looking at you," he said flatly. "Definitely shouldn't be talking to you. Not allowed." He muttered the last part more to himself than to her, which only intensified her irritation.
"Why aren't you allowed? You're Alpha, aren't you?"
He snorted. "I'm a fucking Alpha, all right." His shoulders tipped to the side to lean against a boulder, arms crossed over his chest. "But Packs have hierarchies, and I'm at the bottom of this one."
None of this made sense. Sure, Alpha Packs had a loose order, but usually, the politics centered on who crowned the top of the Pack, the Alpha of Alphas and his Second and Third and on down. She'd never heard of a Pack deciding who was the bottom and restricting their communication with Omegas as a result. Truth be told, she'd assumed Betas were the default bottom, whether a Pack had any around or not. They certainly were in River Bend.
Careful not to jostle the still-awake but quietly sniffling Ginny, Zorah took a few steps toward the mysterious Alpha. "So, you're not allowed to talk to an Omega because you're bottom of the Pack?"
He untucked one of his hands and scratched at his jaw. "Not exactly."
"Then explain it to me." Her request came out closer to a plea than she intended, but she couldn't take it back.
