Alpha's Protective Pup

8

“You’re the one who killed that wolf,” I said, drawing their attention to me.

He nodded and pulled a chair close to the bed so he could sit down. “I am. My name is Lukas.”

“And you… weren’t there, right?” I asked as I looked at the red-haired man.

Similar to his pack member or friend, he took a chair and sat down on the other side of me.

“No, I was not, but my father is the pack leader and I convinced him to let you stay while you recover,” he explained. “I am Oscar, by the way.”

A soft sigh escaped my lips. “My name is Isla, and I must say you two are much nicer than your so-called healer who was just in here. You should convince her to retire for good.”

Oscar laughed. “Oh, no one can persuade that woman to do anything like that. She will work until the day she drops dead.”

“Which won’t be for a while,” Lukas said. “It’s my experience that stubborn people live long.”

This drew a snort of amusement out of me despite my attempts to stop it.

“Yes, I’ve experienced this in my own family.”

My Papa had been just like that, and that was perhaps why he ended up living so long. Thinking about him made me even more desperate to get out of here. I wanted to get back to the farm. That was my home. This was just some strange blip in my life I wanted to put behind me.

Even though I felt at ease here, it filled me with a sense of apprehension.

“Am I a prisoner here?”

Lukas blinked. “No, I brought you here because of your injury. Margaret might have a terrible bedside manner, but she is one of the best healers around.”

“She’s made many people cry, but saved so many more,” Oscar pointed out.

I remained tense because I still wasn’t sure if I could trust them or not. Then there were those weird smells again. For a moment, I closed my eyes and concentrated on pinpointing where they were coming from.

They came from Lukas and Oscar. The scents were strong and earth-like and while there were many similarities between the two; they were different. I couldn’t explain how they varied, though. My sense of smell wasn’t that strong.

“So, you are werewolves,” I blurted out, wanting to just have it all laid out in the open.

Oscar grinned. “That we are… and you are one, too. At least, half of one.”

“Your healer told me that earlier, but I think she must be mistaken. I am not part wolf.”

“This isn’t the type of thing to be mistaken about. Your scent is still human, yes, but it’s also mixed with that of a wolf,” Lukas explained further, which only added to my anxiety.

Oscar cleared his throat. “There’s also…” he said, only to stop speaking when Lukas shot him a look.

“Also, what?” I squeaked out, not wanting to sound so high-pitched and weak. “What are you not telling me?”

Once again, they shared a glance that only annoyed me further.

“Damn it, will you just tell me what is going on?!”

Lukas sighed. “Besides your Lycan blood awakening, as has your omega blood.”

“I don’t understand,” I whispered.

The term was foreign to me. I knew the word, but I didn’t understand the way they were using it.

“See, this is why I thought it best if we told her afterward,” Lukas hissed.

Oscar shook his head. “She has a right to know about everything that is going on with her.”

I didn’t like the sound of that, but I wanted to know—even if I wasn’t willing to believe they were telling the truth. My brain refused to accept my current reality.

“What do you mean by omega blood?”

Their explanations of the basic hierarchy of a wolf pack unfolded, like a carefully woven tapestry of knowledge. Alphas were at the top, followed by betas and then omegas. There weren’t many omegas left, which meant little to me. I didn’t care. All I wanted was to get out of here and back home.

These two were alphas. When I inquired about how they knew I was omega, they explained they could smell this sweet scent coming from me.

Lukas left, his departure hastened by the urgency of a hunt or some unknown pursuit. It left me alone with Oscar, his kind smile piercing through the solitude.

“I know this is a lot to take in, but we will help you adjust to your Lycan blood awakening.”

I blinked. “I don’t want help. What I want is to go back home and pretend none of this had ever happened.”

He winced. “Isla, we aren’t forcing you to stay here, but I wouldn’t recommend you leaving… especially with you being an omega. Some are not kind to omegas and view them as less than others. When you go into heat, they would not hesitate to make you theirs.”

Oscar explained this in the softest way possible, but there was no way someone could hear that and be okay with it.

“What do you mean, heat?”

He blinked. “Ahh, maybe I should ask Margaret to come back in here and answer that question.”

“I’m asking you, so tell me,” I demanded with a glare.

Thus began another explanation that had me reeling. As an omega, I would go into heat at least two to three times a year depending on my cycle. It reminded me of when I had gotten my first period, only this was twenty times worse.

After hesitating, he mustered the courage and said, “So, it’s safer for you to be here.”

The scent was stronger now. I figured it was coming from Oscar, and he was trying to calm me. It was working, but I couldn’t shake the bubbling panic that lurked beneath.

“That scent you give off… why does it calm me so?”

Oscar blinked again. “I wasn’t even aware I was doing it, but it was just my attempt to calm you. I hope that it’s working. The intent of telling you all of this wasn’t to make you panic, but just to inform you.”

“I appreciate it…” I responded, lacking enthusiasm.

When Oscar finally left, I had no choice but to give in to my fear. My head was swimming as I tried to make sense of everything I had been told in the past few hours. Just a week or so ago, I was working at my job and living a stifling, but a normal life. The unsettling feeling of everything being upended lingered in the air, casting a shadow over what was once familiar.

In the end, I drifted to sleep. Footsteps outside the door woke me up. A normal person shouldn’t be able to hear footsteps outside the door. That could mean that there might be some truth to everything they were saying.

Or, I was delusional from fever and blood loss, causing me to imagine all of this. I could also be dead. At this point, I almost wished for this to be the case because it was easier than accepting all this werewolf nonsense.

“Are you going to come in or just keep pacing outside the room like that?” I asked, sounding quite exasperated.

The footsteps stopped, and then the door opened. I wasn’t sure who to expect. It was either Lukas, Oscar, or Nurse Ratched.

This time Lukas walked in, and he was carrying a tray.

“I brought you something to eat.”

I glanced at the tray and saw that the food looked quite good. Just then, my stomach growled, but Lukas said nothing. He just set it on the empty chair beside the bed.

“If you can’t eat it, then it’s fine,” Lukas said. “I’ll just leave it here for you until you feel like eating.”

Regardless of my emotions, I still felt compelled to mumble a thank you to Lukas. He didn’t have to bring me something to eat.