OLIVER

 

I could tell it was early in the morning because the sun was barely up over the horizon. It lit up the forest and the trees cast a shadow across the entire clearing.

I stepped into the snow. My heel sank into the fresh white powder. I sighed a deep breath as the cold morning engulfed me.

The sky was clear. The smell of the woods filled my nostrils. The sound of the animals skittering through the brush filled my ears. The Timberlands always looked amazing after the snow had come.

The skulk started to get out of their tents. Anita shouted at everybody so that we could begin clearing the snow out from the camp. It wouldn’t be long until we were able to see all of the green grass that was hidden underneath.

Knight and I worked together to do our part with the rest of the skulk. It wasn’t hard work, since we had all the time in the world and everybody was there to help us. The sun softened the snow enough to make it more manageable.

I was standing by Knight and scooping some of the snow away when Anita walked up next to me.

“Hello, Omega,” she greeted me. “Did the snowstorm treat you well?”

“It did,” I said with a nod. “It’s always nice to hide away and rest while the snow passes over us.”

“It’s a tradition you’ve come to enjoy. Not unlike most of the other foxes in this skulk.”

She smiled politely at me. I would have thought it was different behavior coming from her, but after everything that happened, nothing was strange.

I put my head down and kept scooping the snow as Anita continued to observe me.

“I hope you’ll return one day and enjoy it,” she said.

It took me a few seconds to realize what she’d said.

I stood up straight and looked at her. The grin on her face grew even wider. I turned to Knight and he was smiling just the same as her.

“What are you saying?” I asked.

“You’re fated to a jaguar. A city-dweller. Your destiny isn’t to remain here with the skulk. It’s with your Alpha.”

“I…”

I put my head down. I knew that I would have to make a decision whether or not to leave the skulk. I thought it would be difficult but Anita appeared to be doing everything she could to make it easier for me.

“I am a part of the skulk,” I said. “No Omega has ever left the skulk—”

“And no skulk has ever stood up to the fierce wolves before.”

She looked up at the sky.

“Look at how bright the sun shines today,” she said. “When the sun goes down, the stars will replace it. They are always there. Burning bright, no matter what time it is, no matter what the weather.”

She turned back to me, a tender smile on her face.

“Your destiny is with your Alpha,” she said. “I see great things in you. I’m sorry I never saw them before. But now I do.”

She took a step forward and put her hands on my shoulders.

“I know your life wasn’t easy,” she said. “I neglected you when the others like Eve and Silas treated you as the lowest Omega. All of that made you who you are today. I know you can never forgive us for the way we treated you. My only hope is that you go to the city. Go to Dirge and make me proud. Be the strong fox I know that beats within your heart.”

“I…”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I turned to Knight and he just smiled at me.

“I’ll never make you do anything that’s not already within your heart,” Knight said. “I will be by your side no matter what, whether here or in the city or at the end of the world.”

I swallowed anxiously, my throat suddenly dry. It was taking everything I had to hold back all of the emotions building up inside of me.

I turned back to Anita and struggled to get my words out.

“T-thank you.”

My voice cracked when I said it. Anita leaned forward and kissed me softly on the forehead.

“I have only one request,” I said.

“Of course.”

“My child. I wish to have you and the others by my side. My child is a jaguar but it is also a fox. I want my child to be born in the presence of their kin.”

Anita nodded then stepped away from me. I watched her walk away, still trying to wrap my head around everything that just happened.

Knight moved next to me and rested a hand on my shoulder.

“I mean what I said,” he said. “Wherever you want to go. Whatever you want to do—”

“My fate is with you.”

I turned to Knight and could no longer fight the smile from coming to my face.

“ I’ve never been to the city. I’m anxious to see it.”