Briar
“You said you were gathering grass.” The alpha jerked Briar hard by the arm.
“I just… had to relieve myself,” Briar said with meek submission that he knew the alpha would fall for.
“Get your work done.” He shoved Briar forward toward the grass fields surrounding the village.
Briar stumbled, feeling clumsy from the weight of his belly and the collar around his neck. He nearly fell, but caught himself before he did. He felt a flutter of movement in his belly and stroked it comfortingly. “We’re okay,” he murmured to the child inside of him. “No one will ever hurt you.”
He set to work tearing out grass and bundling it up to carry back to the meat processing hut. His heart still pounded from his exchange with Rohan. It was frightening how much he wanted to trust the alpha again. Was he a fool?
He touched the crystal around his neck, remembering the time he and Rohan had spent together; how Rohan had cared for him in the caverns; how many times he’d risked his life for Briar’s. A then there was the deep connection Briar felt in the pit of his soul. That couldn’t have been an act, could it?
‘I love you.’
Rohan’s words echoed in his head. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to say them back. Truthfully, he had no idea how he should feel anymore.
Briar pressed his lips together. He didn’t just want to trust Rohan, he had to. Their child’s life depended on it. Already, Briar loved his little one more than he’d ever imagined possible, and he’d sacrifice anything for his pup.
He couldn’t help thinking how unfair that was. An omega’s dependency on their alpha gave them so little power over their own lives, and most packs offered no protection to omegas or their pups from the threats of cruel alphas. Rohan had been right, the way pack culture treated them was deplorable. Even in Briar’s old pack, Omegas weren’t equal to alphas, and he’d always know that one day he would be obliged to be mated to an alpha, whether that was what he wanted for his life or not. And his culture had been so ingrained in him that he’d hardly questioned it.
Briar tore at a chunk of grass, ripping it violently from the earth. He hated this world. Hated everything about it. Perspiration wet his face. He thought of the attack that would take place two moons from now. More bloodshed. More omegas tied up for auction and awarded to the most ruthless killer.
And there was nothing Briar could do to stop it.
Tears mingled with the sweat dripping down his face, and he nearly stumbled again as he pulled at the grass around him. He just wanted to tear everything to pieces. Burn it to the ground. He didn’t want to leave anything standing in this sick, horrible world.
He wrenched at a clump of grass, jerking his hand back as a burning itch spread through the skin on his palm. He hissed, rubbing his hand on his clothes as he looked down at the purple flower that had been hiding in the grass.
Wolfsbane.
Briar glanced back to his guard. The alpha scowled back at him, looking bored and irritated.
“Are you nearly finished?” he barked.
“Just about,” Briar called back, hands shaking as he began to gather wolfsbane by the armful, hiding it amongst the bundles of grass.
Maybe he really could burn this world to the ground.
***
“I understand why you hate the Bloody Fang, but this… this is crazy.” Peregwin stared down at the wolfsbane, voice barely a whisper. “They’ll kill you—and me.”
“Not if we’re safely away by the time they come too. A high enough dosage of wolfsbane in their food will keep them sick and delirious for nearly a week.”
Peregwin shook his head, stroking baby Ollas’s hair. “And we’re supposed to get dozens of omegas and children to safety in that time.”
“Do you want your child to grow up in this world?” Briar clenched his jaw. “Do you want to see him end up at an auction some day?”
Peregwin looked down at the baby in his arms and Briar didn’t have to wonder what he was thinking. A parent would do anything for their child.
“You’re sure you know how to prepare this?” Peregwin whispered.
Briar nodded. “Wolfsbane is rarely toxic, but a high enough dosage in the meat for the feast should knock the alphas out for long enough for us to get away. Once they come to themselves, it’ll be hard for them to pursue us with no omegas to prepare food for the run.”
A tingle ran up Briar’s spine at the thought. It wasn’t just freedom for the omegas that excited him. Without the work that the omegas did in the pack, the Bloody Fang would fall apart. The alphas didn’t know how to prepared medicine or build houses. They couldn’t even preserve their own food. If Briar could get the omegas to flee with him, there would no longer be a Bloody Fang, nor would there be the wave of misery they spread wherever they went.
Briar set to work showing Peregwin how to crush up the purple flowers to make a juice that they could marinade the meat in before they cooked it for the pre-war feast. His hands itched from the toxins as they prepared the juice, but he ignored the discomfort. Peregwin lit some candles as they worked through the night. Briar could see the sun creeping through the cracks of the hut, and he stopped to rub his tired eyes, cursing when he remembered that his hands were covered in wolfsbane, and his eyes seared with pain.
“Here.” Peregwin wet a cloth in a bowl of water and helped Briar wash his eyes.
“Curse the moon.” Briar rinsed the cloth out and continued scrubbing at his face, slowly feeling relief from the burning.
“I think we’ve done all we can for now.” Peregwin washed his own hands in the basin of water. “We might kill ourselves if we get any more tired.”
Briar nodded. They’d carved up the two deers and five rabbits and three ducks that the hunters had left with them, and the meat was now soaking in the deep purple liquid.
“We can add some garlic to these tomorrow to cover up any flavor of the wolfsbane—not that any alpha would be able to identify wolfsbane or any plant for that matter.”
Briar almost wanted to laugh. Most alphas would consider plants to be an omega’s work, and would die of shame if they were forced to pick berries or prepare a tincture. To think, their ignorant prejudice was about to be their downfall.
Briar helped Peregwin tidy up and they both headed back to Peregwin’s hut, trailed by an alpha who stayed outside the door to ensure Briar didn’t run away. Briar watched Peregwin soothe his baby to sleep in the small basket he’d woven, and thought of his own future. He could only hope that it would be full of such precious moments.
He lay down on a makeshift bed set up on the kitchen floor behind a thin curtain, anxiety rolling through him. What if the plan didn’t work? What if one of the alphas detected something was amiss? What if the omegas didn’t make it to safety by the time the alphas recovered from the effects of the wolfsbane? They should have a good week before the alphas were in any condition to pursue them, but how fast could they really travel with small pups? It would be so much easier if it were just him and Rohan traveling alone.
Briar thought of how Peregwin’s mate had berated him for giving birth to an omega. Klaw couldn’t even be bothered to name his son, that was how little omegas were thought of in the Bloody Fang. Briar envisioned the happy little baby’s smile and he knew that they had no choice but to try to help the omegas to escape. Baby Ollas deserved a better life than he would ever have here. And so did Briar’s child. They all did.
He willed the trembling in his hands to cease. He had to get some rest. There was so much riding on his plan that he couldn’t afford to waste energy stressing about it. As he tried to quiet his mind, his thoughts went to the one place where he’d always felt safe.
Rohan.
He inhaled deeply, remembering what it had been like to be surrounded by his mates scent, that feeling of being protected. His memories pulled him back to the first time Rohan had mated him, of how strong and powerful the alpha had felt on top of him, but also how gentle he’d been as Briar’s body learned to take him for the first time.
Briar swallowed a moan, his cock hard and aching with pressure. He slid his hand down his body, remembering what it had been like to have Rohan stretch and fill him for the first time, and that sensation of being so full of his alpha he thought he’d burst. Briar stroked himself faster and faster, his body aching for his alpha. Even if he still had doubts about Rohan, he couldn’t silence the bond they shared and his innate desire to be with his mate.
A shudder ran through Briar as he stroked himself faster. His back arched. His mind flooded with the memory of Rohan groaning on top of him, losing himself completely in the omegas body until he’d filled Briar with his seed, and, unbeknownst to them, impregnating him with their beautiful little gift.
Briar moaned out, soaking in the memory of taking everything his alpha had given him. His muscles tensed as he stroked himself faster and faster, pleasure overwhelming his senses. As he came hard in his hand, he imagined Rohan gazing down at him, a look of love and adoration on his face.
Briar panted, grabbing for some nearby kitchen rags to clean himself up with. Despite his climax, something in him still felt unsatisfied, and Briar knew it was his need for his mate. Due to the bond fate had formed between them, he would never feel whole again unless Rohan was by his side.
He lay back down, sighing. Everything in his soul told him to trust Rohan again, and he ached to be with his alpha. He wanted the happy dream of a family and a future he’d once hoped for.
But even if Rohan had never intended to harm him, how could Briar overlook the fact that he’d hidden his original plans to deliver Briar to the rogue army? So much hurt pooled in Briar’s gut, and he had no idea if Rohan was even who he’d thought he was.
The fading moon was just barely visible in the morning sky outside the window, and Briar prayed that he would be able to forgive Rohan; that Rohan was worthy of forgiveness; that their child would be safe; that their escape would be successful; that he, Rohan, and all the other omegas in the Bloody Fang, would eventually live happily ever after.
It was a lot to ask for, but as he drifted off to sleep, he felt a warm glow telling him that the moon had heard his prayer.