Why would you bring up Whit at a time like this? I thought to myself harshly. Let alone that Max had technically asked and it would have been rude if I hadn't answered him. Mentioning my Alpha always had a way of killing the mood.

After everything that had happened tonight, I didn’t want anything else to go bad tonight. I was already so terribly shaken, and the pain in my arm had been so great, I would have liked to pass out, but not while it was still dangerous. And here I had a big, famous Alpha looking after me, there to protect me and look after my injuries. I shouldn’t have said too much. Already, I thought the air between us was growing awkward.

“What should we do next?” I asked so we neither of us would dwell on it.

I didn’t want him thinking of why my own father and Alpha would hide me away from the world for so long. If he knew Whit, he would know his personality, so no one would assume he did it for his own son’s protection. While I couldn’t say I brought shame to him, nothing I’d ever done had ever made him proud or happy or satisfied like with my brothers.

Max pursed his lips. “To be honest, I don’t know. I went back to the event hall, but…everything was such a mess there. I didn’t think I’d be of much use, so I came to look for you to see what you wanted to do.”

What I wanted to do?

“Would it be possible to locate my family?”

Max didn’t answer for a long time, and I kept my gaze on his face the whole time. Being this close to him, I could tell he was really good-looking. We were having a discussion, though, so I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind, to be revisited later. It hadn't escaped me that Max hadn't answered my question yet, and the longer he waited, the more worried I became.

“How bad is everything?” I asked. “There was a lot of fighting, were a lot of people hurt?”

Could it be that my family and pack mates were…already gone?

“I’m not sure,” he admitted after a while, sighing. “But things are definitely very bad, to the point that you should definitely worry. I didn’t see your father in the event hall, and I don’t know the face of anyone else in your party.”

“What about you?” I asked, remembering just how desperate he’d been to return before. “You have your pack mates around too, as well? Did you find them?”

Max heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m afraid not. I can only hope it’s good news. When I left, there was still some fighting going on outside, but I didn’t go that way and immediately came to look for you.”

I could feel anxiety starting to grow in my chest, my heart beating faster, my breathing picking up. Nothing could have happened to any of them, right? I would go back, and they would all be fine. There was no alternative I could possibly think of. Nothing could happen to my parents!

“Hey, calm down,” Max said quickly, rubbing his hand up and down my back soothingly. “I went and couldn’t see my father or anyone I know, but your people might still be okay, so don’t worry too much, okay?”

“Can we go back right now”? I asked, feeling doubtful even as I said the words.

“We can't,” he said, flattening his lips. “As much as I would like to, there isn’t much point in being there. And besides, it’s already late and you’re injured. If we meet a band of Betas roaming around looking for a fight, it would be a problem.”

“What if they come here, though?”

“It might get annoying, but I think I can defend us from in here in that case.”

I wanted to protest a little, to insist on going back. But why would I even go back there? There wasn’t anything I could do without getting in the way, and the shifters would probably start cleaning everything up pretty soon. It would be just as good if I went back in the morning. My parents couldn’t possibly leave without me, they would at least look for me first.

Besides, like hell I wanted to see the dead bodies of all those wolves that didn’t make it out of the fight. By the weary look in Max’s eyes that he was trying to hide from me, it was probably a huge mess up there. I shuddered a little, trying not to remember all those screams, and seeing all those people get torn down like they were nothing.

“Okay,” I murmured after a while, agreeing. “Why don’t we stay in the cabin for a day, then, just to be safe? I think everything outside would have been cleared by then?”

Shifters didn’t waste time. A day should be more than enough for the area to be cleared. If more Betas came after us as a group, there was no way we could defend against them, but I was sure if there was still a threat lurking, it was going to be cleared up in a day. It would be bad if they came at us in the cabin, but the walls of the place were really sturdy, so I didn’t think they could easily break it, and there was only one barred window. The only way to really get in was through the doors, they were thinner and could easily be broken. Luckily, only the front door led to the outside, so as long as we put some distance between us and it, everything should be fine. The shifters that built this cabin must have had this thought in mind.

“It’s not really safe staying out here, either,” Max muttered. “Worse, it’s far from the event hall, and no one knows we’re out here.”

“Are you worried we might be abandoned?”

He shook his head. “No. Worried about others worrying about us. There’s just no way to notify my people I’m okay right now. We never carry phones when we’re going to pack functions, so there’s that, too.”

“It should be fine, right? If it’s only a day that we need to spend here.”

He looked reluctant, but he slowly nodded as he agreed. He looked a little unhappy, too, and I gave him an inquisitive look. When he noticed, his gaze turned sheepish.

“Sorry. I know it’s the right thing to do, but I really don’t like feeling like I’m hiding. The Alpha in me just doesn’t agree…”

I felt guilty. “But you have to, because I’m here and you have to look after us both, right?”

Even with just my presence I was pulling him down.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, my voice low and contribute.

Max gave me a gentle smile and a pat on the back. “Don’t worry about it. You need looking after, especially in your current condition. I shouldn’t have left you on your own in the first place. The danger had already moved on from the event hall, and there were plenty of other shifters and Omegas there. Being around other Omegas could have calmed you down.”

I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t necessarily true. If I did meet other Omegas and they were all just as panicked as me, then I would only panic even more, even with an Alpha around. Being alone with an Alpha, and especially when it was Max, was the only reason I was being so damn calm as it was. As shameful as it felt, putting so much of a burden on someone that was technically a stranger to me, I knew I felt safer with Max’s presence than anyone else.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Max said, probably catching sight of my twisting expression. “What’s done is done, so we can only try and be comfortable here. Let me look around and see if there’s food for us to eat. You’ll need to replenish a lot of energy to start healing that wound. Actually, when you go home, try and eat a bit more for a while, at least until the wound is closed, okay?”

I nodded my head obediently. This part, I knew for myself. Being a wolf-shifter had a lot to do with the energy you had in your body, which was dependent on how much food you ate. Obviously, you’d burn more energy while injured as your body tried to heal the wound. My parents had made it clear to me as part of shifter education a long time ago.

“Let me see if I can get something. Will you be okay if I leave you here?”

I looked around at the empty cabin and brought Max’s coat even closer. It really wasn’t that large a cabin, and as long as I could hear him move, even if I couldn’t hear him…

“It’s fine,” I bit out. “Just don’t take too long?”

“I promise.”

Max got up, and immediately, my whole body tensed and I radiated stress. When he looked down at me, though, I forced a smile so he would go. There was no reason to be such a worry wart. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere so far, just to one of the next rooms. Still, as I watched him walk away, my body began to tremble, my instincts trying to fight against my rationality. I wanted to get up and follow him, but with everything and getting injured on top of it all, I was feeling really exhausted.

There was some sound as Max rummaged around for something, and the sound calmed me down a little bit. I still strained my neck, trying to stretch it out so I could see him, even though my vantage point was really poor.

Just calm down, I told myself, trying to take deep, calming breaths. Of all people, you’re here with Max! You’ll probably never get a chance like this again! Make a good impression!”

Having an Alpha like Max looking after me was wonderful. It melted and froze my insides all at the same time. I’d never met him, but how could I not have heard rumors of him floating around? His dad was on the Alaskan shifter council, but he was just as impressive in a lot of shifter’s eyes.

I had always dreamed of being with someone like Max, a big, strong Alpha, who could still be gentle when dealing with others. My own Alpha had never been like that with me since the day I was born, and I couldn’t help but feel a little bitter, even though he was also my father. Even my brothers treated me pretty much the same as he did. If I didn’t have my Omega father, living with all of them would have been hell for me.

Max, though…it would be nice to dream in the short time we had together. I’d heard of him, and now I’d met him and learned what others said could not have been exaggerated. But as the ignored son of Whit Barrington, I didn’t have any expectations of having such a good match. Yet here I was, my body technically in his hands.

I didn’t know what plans my Alpha had for me, but he would probably find an Alpha from a smaller pack close to us and hand me over. I knew better than to fight against the plans, and could only feel a little regretful.

As Max reentered the room, I looked up at him with a relieved smile.

“Did you find anything?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nope, not even anything canned. This place probably hasn’t been used for a few months and whoever used it must not have wanted to waste the food. I found plenty of beer in a cold cabinet, though. It’s even a little cool.”

He raised both his hands, and I only then realized he was carrying a couple of six packs in his hands. I fidgeted a little, wondering when the last time I drank alcohol was. I wasn’t allowed when I was at home, and it wasn’t a simple thing to just go out to drink and get home later, either. Not with how acute a shifter’s sense of smell was, especially an Alpha. I wasn’t exactly a good drinker.

“Do you drink?” Max asked, sitting back beside me and setting the cans on the floor in front of us.

Besides the couch we were sitting on, there was no other furniture in the front room, what probably passed as a living room.

“I’ve had some before,” I answered evasively.

He opened up one of the six packs, took out two cans and handed one to me.

“It’s should be fine right now, I think. We can pass some time like this, and maybe it’ll help you sleep better. How does your arm feel?”

I didn’t dare to move it. “It still feels really terrible, actually.”

Max nodded. “Then alcohol will numb it down for you. It’s not really a good idea, but as long as you eat a lot tomorrow, everything should be good.”

I took the can he was holding out to me and lifted the tab. It should be fine, right? No matter how much I had, drinking to the point I humiliated myself in an inebriated state wasn’t really something possible. I brought it to my mouth, tilted my head back, and drank. My nose wrinkled slightly in disgust, and I forced myself to swallow the bitter tasting liquid.

“You don’t drink much, do you,” Max said, casually taking a drink of his own beer, and practically drinking half of it down in one go.

“You look like you drink a lot,” I muttered, a little petulant.

Max chuckled, but didn’t say anything. We were left in harmonious silence for a while, and I could hear the sounds from outside more clearly. Aside from the rustling of the trees, and the sound of some small creatures crawling around in the underbrush, there wasn’t anyone else out there. The sound pretty much made it clear to me just how far away we were from other people. Just the two of us.

My mind started going in other directions, and I firmly pulled it back as I turned to Max for a distraction.

“Why do you think those Betas attacked tonight?” I asked.

Max frowned. “I can't say for sure, but I know there’s been a lot of unrest among the Alphas recently, and it has something to do with the Betas. They may not be the strongest, but you know they have more numbers than the rest of us.”

“I know,” I said with a nod.

A Beta and Beta pairing would result in a Beta shifter, and an Alpha and Omega pairing would result in an Alpha, Beta, or Omega off spring. The odds were in their favor, but they weren’t as strong as Alphas and they weren’t as valuable as an Omega to an Alpha.

“It’s probably a part of the growing outcry for equal treatment by Betas, right?” I asked tentatively. “I’ve heard my Alpha complaining about it before…”

“That’s should be it,” Max agreed. “But no matter how much they feel wronged, doing this is only going to pit Alphas against the Betas. They might have larger numbers, but if the Alphas band together, a lot of blood is going to be shed before anything happens. But there’s no way to know if it’s just some rogue Betas, and how many of them were behind this, from which packs…”

Hearing Max explain it all like that sounded a little depressing, and I wondered why I’d picked this topic out of everything to start with. Things would be explained later on, anyway, there was no reason to look into it further at the moment.

I wracked my mind for other things we could possibly talk about. As we drank, we talked about our lives, our families. And what would happen when we left the cabin tomorrow to head for home. Knowing I would be separated from him soon made my heart ache a bit, but I didn’t let it show.