RUDY

 

Vesper and I remained quiet as we trudged back through the snowy wilderness. It was cold. The grass was wet underneath my feet. It felt like it was going to begin snowing any minute again.

I was too focused to let anything distract me though.

There was nothing more for us to talk about. I’d made the decision to leave my herd behind in search for the answers Knox refused to find. It helped that Vesper was on my side. Even with a hunter out there stalking all of us, I felt safe when I was near him.

I wasn’t as paranoid as I first was when we first left his cabin in the morning. We walked for hours without encountering anybody. The sky grew dark. The moon replaced the sun.

I barely realized how much time had passed when Vesper started to slow down.

“We’re almost there,” he whispered.

“Thank goodness,” I sighed. “I don’t know how much farther I can stay on my feet.”

“I promise you that you’ll have a good spot to rest when we get there.”

I walked behind Vesper as we suddenly entered the large forest clearing.

“Wow…”

I couldn’t hold back my surprise.

The first thing I noticed was how large it was. It was about ten times the size of the space my herd made camp in. There were bonfires scattered in every direction. Large cabins looked like they could house dozens of people. Off to one side, there was a massive lake with the moonlight shimmering on top of the water.

There were men and women enjoying the company of one another in every direction I looked. I couldn’t see any of them clearly but it felt like they were friendly. For some reason, I felt comfortable where I was.

“Is this…”

“My sleuth,” Vesper said. “The old group of bears I lived with before I decided to live on my own.”

“Why would you leave a place like this?”

Vesper smirked at me as I continued to look around, unable to hold back my wonder.

“Come on,” he said. “This way.”

I followed right behind him as we made our way through the clearing. Some of the people took notice of me but none of them bothered to get up to their feet. I was a complete stranger but all they did was give me nothing more than a friendly smile.

“Vesper… Vesper, is that you?”

We both turned around and saw a woman walking toward us.

Her hair was dark. It was long and flowed all the way down her back. Her body was bare and firm. She was larger than most of the women in my camp I was used to seeing. Just like all of the others in the camp, she had a polite smile on her face.

“It is you,” she said.

She welcomed Vesper with a tight hug. After she pulled away, she turned toward me.

“I see you brought a friend.”

“This is Rudy. Rudy, this is Megan. She’s been my best friend for as long as I could remember.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said with a nod.

“Welcome to our humble sleuth. What brings you two here today?”

“I need to speak to Kai,” Vesper said.

“Kai?” she said, an eyebrow raised. “This must be important.”

“It’s more than important,” Vesper explained. “It’s urgent.”

The smile left Megan’s face. She pointed across the clearing toward a bonfire that burned in the distance.

“You’ll find him resting in his usual spot,” she said.

“After all these years, things haven’t changed,” Vesper said.

“Why change when you have a good thing?”

Megan turned to me and brushed the back of her hand against my cheek.

“If there’s anything you need, let me know, okay?”

I gave her nod before she excused herself.

“Let’s go,” Vesper said.

I walked with him across the clearing until we found the man we were looking for. Just from his appearance, even if he wasn’t the lead Alpha, I knew he was someone important.

He was as large as anybody else in the camp. His hair was long and his beard was the same. His stomach was swollen and his muscles were bulging. Just a quick glance was enough to intimidate me.

When Vesper and I walked up to the man who sat down near the fire, he turned and smiled up at the both of us.

“Am I seeing a ghost?” the man said, his voice deeper than I expected it to be.

“I’m not a ghost,” Vesper replied. “Not yet.”

The burly man worked his way up to his feet and gave Vesper a massive hug.

“Vesper. It’s so good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Kai.”

“I hope all is well.”

“All is well with me. For now.”

The man Vesper called Kai looked at me.

“This is Rudy. He’s a friend from the forest.”

“Everything in the forest is our friend whether they realize it or not. Welcome to the sleuth, Rudy. Sit. Relax. I know you’re a weary traveler. Traversing these woods is never easy.”

“Thank you,” I sighed.

I collapsed into my seat and sat close to the bonfire. The flames warmed me up and made me forget about the cold that still lingered from the snow.

Vesper took a seat next to me and Kai sat across from us.

“What brings you here?” Kai asked. “Do you wish to come back to the sleuth?”

“No,” Vesper said with a smile. “I’ve come to talk to you about something else. It’s an urgent manner.”

“Of course. I can’t remember the last time you visited for your leisure. How silly of me to think you would bring good news.”

“I’m sorry. I enjoy my life in the woods now—”

“There’s no need to apologize. Your life is your own. You may do with it as you please.”

The massive man took a big gulp from his flask then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Tell me what’s on your mind,” he said.

“We encountered someone,” Vesper explained. “First Rudy, then me. He attacked us.”

“Attacked? One of the wolfpacks?”

“No. It wasn’t any beast from the Timberlands. It was a man.”

“A man?”

“Fully-clothed. He didn’t say anything. He only attacked me with one of these.”

Vesper showed Kai the blade he’d taken from the hunter. As soon as he saw it, Kai’s eyes widened in surprise.

“He attacked you with that?”

“Yes.”

Kai took the knife and examined it. He squinted his eyes as he ran his fingers over the blade.

“A delicate piece of metal,” he said. “This isn’t a tool. This is a weapon and only that. Such precision could only be done in the city.”

Kai scratched his head, the puzzled look remaining on his face.

“Do you know why someone would attack me?” I said.

“I don’t know why,” Kai responded. “But I can tell you that you’re not the first.”

“You mean there are others who had experience with the hunter?” Vesper asked.

“I’ve heard tales. Some of the other men encountered them when they were exploring the woods.”

“Them? You mean there are more of them.”

“Maybe. We can’t be too sure if it’s one man who’s doing this all by himself or a group of them. But we can all agree that the ones responsible are surely dangerous.”

“Something must be done then,” I said. “We can’t let a dangerous hunter continue to roam free around the Timberlands.”

Kai raised an eyebrow in curiosity at me.

“You are an Omega, correct?” he said. “I sense that from you.”

“Yes, I’m an Omega,” I replied. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Nothing perhaps. Though I find it rather curious how feisty you are. I respect that.”

Vesper put his head down and chuckled softly to himself. I smiled back at the large man.

“I’m only trying to do what’s right,” I said. “Many people are in danger. Something must be done.”

“I don’t know if I can do anything,” Kai said. “The Timberlands are large. It would be impossible to scour them all and find the man who attacked you.”

I sighed a deep breath. I figured it was unlikely that he would have the answers about the hunter I was looking for.

“But perhaps there’s a way I can help you,” Kai said.

“How?” Vesper said.

“There are many bears from this sleuth. Many of them have moved to the city. They’ve made good friends with some of the most important people living in Dirge. Maybe they’ll be able to point you in the right direction.”

“Thank you,” Vesper said.

“That would make sense,” I said. “If we can figure out who made that knife, maybe we can figure out who it belongs to.”

“Then we’ll head to the city,” Vesper said. “Thank you, Kai.”

Vesper got up to his feet. As soon as he did, Kai popped up.

“Hold on a second,” Kai said.

“What is it?”

“Are you leaving so soon? You only just arrived.”

“This is urgent. We must get to the city and figure out where this knife came from.”

“It is late. The city is asleep. The people you are looking for have most likely closed their doors and fallen into a deep slumber for the evening.”

“It doesn’t matter. We have to wake them up if we have to—”

“Vesper…”

Kai reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

“…So energetic. Always looking forward and trying to get things done. Stay. Rest. The city will be waiting for you in the morning. I can see in your eyes that you’re fatigued. The same goes for your Omega friend.”

Vesper looked down at me. I couldn’t help but smile back up at him.

“Well, my feet are a little sore,” I said.

Vesper sighed in agreement with me.

“Don’t worry,” Kai said. “As long as you’re here, you’ll both be safe.”

He handed the knife back to Vesper, who took a seat back down right next to me.

Kai sat down across from us. He tossed a flask at me and I just barely caught it in time.

“Help yourself,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said.

I gulped from the flask as the two of them watched me.

“Tell me,” Kai said.

“What is it?” Vesper said.

“I’m sure you two have an interesting story for me. Don’t be shy. I’d like to hear it.”

Vesper and I looked at one another. I swallowed nervously, unsure of how to respond to Kai. He seemed friendly but I didn’t know how he would react if he discovered the truth. I let Vesper take the lead.

Vesper turned to Kai and nodded.

“He was in heat—”

“Ah!” Kai said. “An Omega in heat. It’s a wonderful thing really. It brings out the true passion of an Alpha. There’s nothing like it in the world. It’s better than the finest food or drink a man could ever have.”

“It was more than just his heat. I mated with him. He is carrying my child.”

“As I suspected. He’s not one of our kind but I could sense it on him just the same.”

Kai looked at me with a friendly smile on his lips.

“You have nothing to worry about,” he said. “It’s not a mistake or an accident or even a miracle. It is simply your destiny revealing itself to you. You are fated to one another. There is no point in regretting it or being ashamed of it.”

I put my head down as I felt the heat in my cheeks from embarrassment. Vesper laughed softly next to me.

“I suppose this is a bit of a celebration,” Kai said. “I’m glad you two came here to share this news with me. And here I thought it would be all bad news…”

Kai let out a hearty laugh. His demeanor along with all of the men and women who surrounded me forced a smile onto my face.

Vesper and I still had a lot of work to get done. For now, there was little more we could do tonight than enjoy the hospitality that Kai provided us.