YORK

 

Three days later…

 

“Am I doing it right?”

“Yes. You’re doing just fine.”

“Are you sure? It doesn’t look like it’s making any difference.”

“Just keep stirring it.”

“I don’t know how you’re supposed to get cookies out of this. It just looks like a bunch of flour.”

“They’ll be different once we bake them, I promise.”

Emily was more wide-eyed than any young boy or girl I’d ever seen. Even though she was confused, she still smiled with an innocence that made me laugh.

“Are you sure?” she asked me again.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I said with a laugh. “That’s how you make cookies. You mix some dough and then you throw them in the oven.”

She raised the spatula up from her mixing bowl and let the floury mixture fall back into it.

“Where did you learn how to make cookies?” she asked.

“Oh, I must have picked it somewhere. I don’t know where it was exactly. But everybody knows how they’re made. Just follow my instructions and I promise you we’ll have a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies for everybody.”

“I want to make cookies every day!”

“Well, I don’t know if we can afford to make cookies every day but I’ll tell you what…”

I knelt down in front of her.

“…If you make this batch right and everybody in the shelter likes ‘em, we’ll make cookies as often as we can. How does that sound?”

“Great!”

Emily began mixing the ingredients in the bowl with greater enthusiasm. I smiled and went back to fixing up the rest of the ingredients for lunch.

It was a lot of work, considering how many mouths there were to feed. It was nothing short of impressive that Ruby was able to take care of so many Omegas for so long. It only made me more adamant about wanting to take her place so she could finally take a break.

While the other Omegas played in the shelter, Emily was the only one who decided to help me.

“I think I’m getting it right,” she said.

I peered down into the bowl and saw the dough had taken the right consistency.

“Very good, Emily. Now here’s what you have to do…”

I grabbed some of the dough between my fingers and shaped it into a ball.

“…Make it like this. Nice and small so it cooks evenly. Then you lay it out on the pan… like this.”

“And every ball is a cookie.”

“That’s right!” I said with a laugh.

“You sure know a lot, York. Maybe you can teach me how to cook other things.”

“Is that what you’d like?” I asked. “Do you want to spend time in the kitchen?”

“Sure! It’s a lot of fun being in here.”

Emily and I worked together to place the cookies on the baking sheet. Emily’s enthusiasm didn’t waver. She spent the entire time with a big smile on her face, giggling as she plopped down the dough.

It was nice to spend some time with someone like Emily. I didn’t think about everything else going on.

The problems with the shelter seemed distant. Ruby was getting the rest she needed. Hunter was busy at the construction site, so I knew he wasn’t getting into any trouble. I could relax knowing that the only thing I needed to worry about now was taking care of Emily.

“There we go,” I said as I put the cookies into the oven. “Just a few minutes and we’ll have enough cookies for the entire shelter.”

Emily stared wide-eyed into the oven, her eyes unblinking.

“Come on,” I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You can help me wash some of the vegetables while we wait for the cookies.”

“Okay…” she sighed.

I grabbed a chair so she could stand up next to the sink. We worked together to wash the vegetables clean.

There was plenty of food to go around. After Hunter’s last win in Azure, he’d made enough gold to get groceries for the shelter. It wasn’t enough gold to fix the biggest problems of the shelter, but Ruby and I knew how to stretch money out for a long time.

“York?” Emily asked me suddenly.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Where’s the Alpha?”

“The Alpha? What do you mean?”

“The Alpha I saw before. You were kissing him.”

“Oh… Him…”

My cheeks started to blush. I knew Emily was only asking me out of her own curiosity and not because she was trying to embarrass me.

“He’s busy,” I said. “He has work.”

“Is he your Alpha?”

“My Alpha?”

“That’s how it works, doesn’t it? Every Omega gets an Alpha.”

“…Who told you that?”

Emily shrugged her shoulders as she continued washing the vegetables.

“Some of the other Omegas in the shelter were talking about it when they saw you kissing,” she said. “Is that how it works?”

“Um…”

It was a little too early to explain to Emily the process of making babies. But I wouldn’t leave her curiosity unsatisfied.

“Some Omegas and some Alphas are together,” I said. “But that isn’t always the case. I want you to know something, Emily. And I want you to remember it, no matter what anybody else tells you.”

She nodded, her eyes as wide as they always were.

“Some Omegas don’t end up with Alphas,” I said. “Not every Omega gets their own Alpha. And that’s okay. Just because you’re an Omega doesn’t mean you can’t be happy and enjoy your life. You should be proud to be who you are, okay?”

“Oh, I don’t want an Alpha.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“I just want cookies for the rest of my life.”

I chuckled softly at the grin on her face.

“Right,” I said. “I’ll tell you what, cookies are better than anything any Alpha could ever give to you.”

Emily continued helping me prepare lunch for the rest of the shelter. Her enthusiasm didn’t falter. It helped that the smell of the cookies motivated her to keep on working.

It wasn’t long before we eventually got everything prepared. We laid out the dining table and put all of the food out.

“I’ll go get everybody,” Emily said.

“Thank you, Emily.”

I straightened out the food on the table as the young Omega disappeared into the shelter to gather everybody. A few moments later, the sound of all of the Omegas rumbling into the dining room filled my ears. They all took their spots at the table and helped themselves to the spread of food I had prepared for them.

It was nothing extravagant. Bread, meats, and vegetables. Just enough to keep their stomachs full for the rest of the day. I took a step back to marvel at the slightly chaotic scene of all the Omegas hungrily chewing on their food.

“You should have asked me for help.”

I turned to the side and saw Ruby standing there next to me, observing the Omegas the same as me.

“It’s all right,” I said. “I can handle it. Emily gave me all the help I needed.”

“It’s a tough task, feeding all these mouths every day.”

“It’s not something you have to worry about. I’m going to do my best to make sure they’re all fed. That’s what you wanted.”

Ruby looked up at me and smiled. The kindness in her eyes always made me feel a way that nobody else could make me feel.

“I’m proud of you,” Ruby said. “I’m proud of everything you’ve done for this shelter.”

“Yeah…”

I sighed a deep breath as I looked around the room.

Despite all of the food on the table, the shelter was still as dilapidated as it always was. I knew I had to do something about it but there was no answer for me at this point.

“I’ve been looking,” I said. “There are a lot of job openings in Pandora. There are a lot of places that need someone to do errands. You know, wash dishes, wipe down tables.”

“Are you sure that’s something you want to do?”

“Why wouldn’t I? As long as I make enough silver to help out with the shelter, I’ll do anything.”

“I know that you care, York. But you’re not obligated to do anything. You’re old enough to go out there on your own if you like.”

“You know I can never do that. Not after everything the shelter has done for me. This is my home. I’m not going anywhere.”

Ruby smiled and put a hand on my arm.

“Why don’t you have a seat and help yourself?” I said. “There’s plenty to go around. We have enough groceries to last us a week. They might actually go bad, now that I think about it…”

“Thank you, York. That sounds nice.”

Ruby took a seat at the head of the table and helped herself to a plate of food. The rowdy Omegas continued to eat, laughing and playing with one another at the same time.

I stepped out of the dining hall to take a moment away from the loud scene. Even though nothing made me feel better than the smile on all of their faces, a sudden wave of fatigue hit me.

I moved over to one of the living rooms in the shelter and plopped down on the couch. A deep sigh escaped my lips as I closed my eyes. I was just beginning to drift off to sleep when I heard a knock at the front door.

I slowly peeked my eyes open and made my way over to answer it. The knocking didn’t stop.

“Hold on,” I muttered to myself.

There was no telling who was outside. The people in Pandora were capable of anything. They would have even attacked an Omega shelter if they had reason enough. But there was also the possibility it was more Omegas looking for a place to stay.

I opened the door and widened my eyes in surprise when I saw Saxon standing there.

“Saxon?” I said. “What do you want?”

The Beta wolf didn’t look as he usually did. His clothes were dirty and his hair was messy like always. But the look in his eyes…

Something’s wrong.

He rubbed his hands together like he was nervous. I waited for a response but he didn’t give it to me.

“Saxon? What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

Saxon looked over my shoulder.

“Are you doing anything?” he asked. “Is everything okay with you?”

“I’m fine. Will you just tell me what’s going on?”

He let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

“It’s Hunter,” he said.

“What about him?”

“He’s hurt.”

“Hurt?”

“Somebody attacked him.”

My heart stopped. My mouth hung half-open. I blinked my eyes in confusion, wondering if I’d misheard him.

“Somebody attacked him?” I said, trying to wrap my head around what Saxon just said.

“It was at the construction site. He was working and—”

“Where is he now?”

“He’s at his apartment.”

“Take me to him. Now.”