OLIVER

 

I loved all of the smells of the forest around me. The dirt. The trees. The flowers. The crisp, cool air filled my nostrils with a new scent with every breath.

A soft drizzle from the clouds above made all of the smells even stronger. The aromas of the forest were always strongest after the first few drops of rain.

I enjoyed being out in the open. It didn’t matter what I was doing. I lived out in the forest all my life and there was nothing better than enjoying my surroundings.

I lowered my sack down on the ground. I sorted through the acorns that had fallen from the trees and helped myself to them.

“Oh… What’s this?”

I saw the small bush a few meters away from me. The fruit hanging from the twigs caught my eye with how bright and vibrant they were.

I moved over to it and picked one of the pieces of fruit off.

“Very nice… Ow!”

A sudden acorn thumped across my temple. As I rubbed the side of my face in pain, I looked over at who was responsible. I already knew who it was before I even turned in their direction.

“Sorry,” the man said. “It must have slipped out of my fingers.”

He snickered to himself along with the woman next to him.

Silas and Eve had been a thorn in my side for as long as I could remember. It seemed like every day they were always bothering me. The twin brother and sister always had an obnoxious smirk on their face. You would think that I would have gotten used to it after putting up with it for so long but it was always tiresome.

The pain didn’t throb for much longer. I sighed as I turned my attention back to the small bush of fruit. I picked every last piece until my sack was full. I lifted it up and saw that it was bulging with everything I had gathered so far.

A storm was coming tonight. I didn’t mind the rain but it was only just the beginning. The coming clouds meant that there would be more to follow right after.

I was doing my part to help my skulk gather everything they needed to survive the snow. There was no telling how long it would last. We needed to gather as much food as we could because there would be no leaving our camp once the snow hit.

“What do you got there?”

I looked up and Silas and Eve were standing there with those same annoying smirks on their faces.

It was easy to tell that they were related. Red hair. Brown eyes. Freckles on their pale skin. Lean, lanky physiques. Teeth dirty with all of the food they gorged themselves with.

I sighed and looked away from them, continuing to fill the rest of my sack.

“You know what’s in here,” I sighed. “I’m gathering the same stuff that you are.”

“Let me see!” Eve said, her voice as shrill as it always was.

“Hey!”

She held the bag up in the air. As I tried to reach for it, her brother stood in my path and blocked me off.

“Now, now,” Silas said. “What you’re gathering belongs to the rest of the skulk. You have to share.”

I gritted my teeth. I was fuming but I knew there was nothing I could do. I just stared hard at Silas while he grinned right back at me.

“I like these,” Eve said as she pulled out a small plum. “These are my favorite.”

“Let me see,” Silas said as he turned to her.

The two of them helped themselves to the bag and started picking out the fruit. They took a few bites before tossing the seeds off to the side.

“Hey!” I said. “That’s supposed to be for everybody! We need to save for the gathering snowstorm.”

“Don’t we count as everybody?” Silas said.

“You should learn to share, Oliver. Nobody likes someone who’s greedy.”

They snickered at each other as they continued to rummage through my bag.

There were other foxes in the forest gathering for the skulk but Silas and Eve decided that I was the one they wanted to bother.

“There are many bushes for you to pick from,” I said. “There’s plenty of fruit out here. Why can’t you at least wait until we get back to the camp?”

“Because you’ve already gathered enough for us,” Silas said.

“And we need our energy if we’re going to gather,” Eve added. “All of this fruit satisfies us.”

I sighed and looked away from them as they continued to dig into my sack.

“Lazy…”

I muttered it to myself but it was loud enough for the both of them to hear.

“What was that?” Silas said.

His brow furrowed and the grin disappeared from his face. I didn’t look at him but he suddenly put a hand on my chin to force me to look up at him.

“I asked you a question,” he said.

Silas was a foot taller than me. He was big for an Omega. The same for his sister. Just one of them was enough to give me trouble. Two of them meant I couldn’t do much about them.

Eve looked on curiously as Silas continued to question me.

“Answer me, Omega,” he barked at me.

“I-I… I didn’t say anything,” I stuttered.

Silas stared into my eyes. His jaw clenched, he looked like he was ready to strike me. He moved in closer to me.

“You stink,” he said. “You stink so bad. That’s why Anita has no interest in you.”

“That’s not the only reason,” Eve said. “You’re so greedy… so lazy… If our Alpha was interested, she would have had you by now. Just like she did with me and my brother.”

“Learn your place, Omega. Maybe when you do, you’ll be able to contribute to the skulk.”

Silas shoved me backward. I yelped as I tumbled back onto the grass.

“Look at him,” Silas said with a laugh. “How pathetic.”

Eve giggled before returning to the sack with her brother.

Silas and Eve had every right to act as high and mighty as they did. They were still Omegas but our Alpha had already claimed them. I was the only Omega in the entire skulk that hadn’t mated with Anita.

But right now, I wasn’t thinking about our Alpha or the rest of the skulk. I was fuming, just waiting for them to finally do what they wanted to do.

They cackled as they finished all of the contents of my sack.

“Here,” Silas said as he tossed the bag to me. “Gather more. The skulk needs it.”

He tossed the empty sack to me and walked off back into the forest. The bag was empty and it would take hours for me to fill it again but I didn’t care. I was just glad that the two red-haired devils would leave me alone.

I sighed as I grabbed my bag and went back to gathering. The acorns were plentiful. There were a number of fruit bushes if you looked hard enough.

The sounds of the other foxes gathering out in the woods filled my ears. Everybody, except for Silas and Eve, worked hard to do their part to gather enough for the skulk.

A few hours went by and more rain started to fall from the clouds. I looked up at the sky then down into my sack. I’d managed to replace all of the food that Silas and Eve helped themselves to and added even more.

“It’s time to head back!”

Silas announced it to all of the foxes in the area. We all started filing together to begin our journey back to camp. It was a long walk but not one we weren’t capable of making.

Just as I started to walk back to camp, Silas stopped me.

“Hold on a second,” he said, putting a hand on my chest.

“What?” I said. “What are you doing?”

He turned around and watched as the rest of the skulk was off in the distance. I was suddenly standing in the small forest clearing with only Silas and Eve standing in front of me. Their bodies bare and their stomachs swollen with food, the brother and sister looked me up and down with devilish smirks on their faces. I knew they were up to no good. They were always up to no good.

“I’m tired,” Eve said. “I had a long night last night.”

“Anita wanted her to please her,” Silas said. “You can’t turn down the Alpha of the skulk when she wants to be pleasured.”

“You understand that, don’t you, Oliver?”

“You’re tired,” I said to Eve. “What does that matter to me?”

“You said you’re willing to do anything you can to help the skulk,” Silas said.

“Of course,” I replied. “You already know that.”

Silas and Eve looked at each other.

“Then you understand that sometimes you have to do more than your fair share to help the skulk,” Silas said.

“Get to the point,” I sighed.

“Here,” Silas said. “Gimme your sack.”

“What?”

“Give it to me,” he said. “Come on, come on. Hurry. There’s no time. The rain is coming.”

I reluctantly took the strap off my shoulder then held the bag out to him. He snatched it from me then put it over his shoulder.

“Here,” Eve said as she held her bag out to me.

I grabbed it and saw that it was empty.

“What’s this?” I said with a shrug.

“My sister is tired,” Silas said. “She was unable to gather her share. It would be very nice if you could do your part for Eve.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “You can’t be serious! I spent hours gathering all of that—”

“Don’t talk back!” Silas interrupted me. “And don’t be greedy. You said you would do your part to help the skulk. Now you have a chance to do it.”

“But—”

“Fill the bag. It doesn’t have to be completely full. Just do your fair share.”

“I already did my fair share.”

“What part of my sister being tired do you not understand?” Silas said.

“Why do I have to gather for her? Why can’t you do it?”

“Because I have to accompany my sister back to camp.”

“These woods are frightening,” she said. “I feel unsafe without the company of my brother.”

She didn’t even try to hide the smile on her face.

They both looked at me and grinned because they knew I didn’t have a choice. If I refused, they would hurt me. I would not be able to beat the two of them. They weren’t the type to fight fair.

“Fine,” I sighed.

“Good Omega!” Silas said.

Thunder cracked into the air. We all looked up and saw the clouds beginning to approach.

“Better hurry,” Eve said. “It looks like there’s gonna be rain tonight.”

The twin brother and sister cackled at one another as they walked off with all of the food I’d gathered.

I stood there and waited for them to leave. I sighed as I looked down into the empty bag they’d given me.

I went back to work as the soft drizzle fell on my back. There was more than enough food to gather in the area and it would keep me busy. Unfortunately for me, all I could think about was the smug look on both of their faces.

“One day…” I sighed. “One day I won’t have to deal with them.”

I tried to gather as much as I could before it got too dark. The sun was gone. The moon was, too. Before I realized it, nighttime had come with a sky full of clouds.

My bag was only half full. There was no way I would be able to fill it. And there was no way I could return to camp without having done my part.

I sighed as I sealed my bag shut and headed off into the forest. I couldn’t make the journey back to camp without getting caught in the downpour.

I had no choice but to look for shelter for the evening. At least for one night, I would no longer have to deal with Silas and Eve. I intended on getting as far away from them as I could.