I managed to grab a-hold of Arden’s hand briefly, but it was short-lived. Then I was on my knees pleading with him — and Trevor tried to get me up. I had never been so soppy in my life. But love had never hit me as hard as it did here. But Arden backed away and I was forced to leave the room with the help of Trevor. Arden wanted us to get out.

“Get out, let me think!”

So we gave him time to do that.

What I had learned about William was a monstrosity. I never claimed to be perfect. I made my mistakes. But what he did was no different from chopping off Arden’s fingers and feeding them to the rogue wolf shifters.

I had known William as a man with few words and a short temper. But he was charming when it came to how he carried and presented himself. I saw through him many times when Trevor failed to see. He was a tall guy who was sturdy, and able to make his chest dance - with a good sense of humour that died as he became more eccentric.

His voice was neither too husky nor musky. He would get a few eyes upon him because of his height, but apart from that, there were better lookers in the pack than him. He never cared. And I supposed with dabbing such a beautiful looking tiger like Arden he became more of an inflated balloon.

I wouldn’t have thought he had it in him to wreck such carnage on an Omega…the bastard! Some Alphas think it’s funny to ruin the pretty. To stain it to become a mess of a tattoo. Laser treatment needed. I would bring him back from the dead and gorge out his eyes with my bare human hands.

To touch my… I had to think of the evil that he must have inflicted on Arden and count to three. I did so slowly one…two…three…and then I counted to six and a whole lot quicker, four-five-six. It was taking in the information of the miscarriage. Arden had settled down in the room, but wanted both me and Trevor to leave him to get himself ready.

I was worried about his fragility that it took Trevor to shift me out and close the door. We walked up and down in the hall, guilty. And to be fair, we weren’t the ones to blame. But we knew him. Buried him and attended his ceremony. And Trevor said a few words that came under, “He was a good member of the pack.”

He’d lied. And I’d had it out with him.

“Did you really think that William was a good wolf?”

He loosened his black tie and chucked it onto the floor. Then chucked his silver shows to one corner. “I had to say something about him.”

“But good? …you should have used decent at best.”

“And what if he had family there? Friends? The pack was present too. I’m the head of the house. If I didn’t give him a decent sending off, then what would that say about me?”

“I just think you laid on the spread to the point of making a few want to puke.”

“He was a friend, Samson.”

“To you. To me, he was a pompous, arrogant, ignorant bull. And a bull had more brains than that moron.”

“Samson, William had some issues.”

“Mental issues.”

“But don’t we all?”

“I have no sympathy for him. If you go out and think you can take on a hundred rogue wolves, then I have no pity for you. And he threatened me. Or did you forget that he wanted to see me dead twice? Tried to lure me out into the woods and get those—”

“He’s dead. Leave that be and move on.”

“Oh.” I stroll over to Trevor in a hump. “Move on. Has it occurred to you that the guy was dealing with the enemy? Or should I say fraternizing?”

“He made some odd deals.” Trevor pulled off his shirt and got into something comfier. “He told me all of that, your point?”

“I hated him!”

“Nobody told you to attend today.”

“You did!”

“So, bite me in the back. It’s over with. He’s dead. And now you won’t have to look at his face or deal with his intoxicating aroma that nobody seemed to want to be around in the end. He was mauled to death. Chucked in a ditch. And only found because they posted parts of his body back to us. He met the end that everybody wanted him to have. A bad guy…sure, but his death was gruesome.”

“When somebody meets a bitter end like that it was because they asked for it.”

“Ease up, Samson. I get that you want me to see him for what he truly was. And I’m trying. But I give everybody a chance before casting judgement.”

“Trevor. I don’t think you know half of what he was capable of.”

And when I think of it, those words were very true as we waited for Arden to let us back into that room. What I had said to Trevor was now alive and well: kicking the intestine and liver out of Arden long after he had died. He was silent like an eight-legged spider in there. And me and Trevor knocked just to check that he was ok. Or if he needed any help.

He never replied with anything much: a slight creak meant that he moved. But after the few creaks there was a silence in there and we let him be. I pressed my ears against the door and thought I could hear sobbing. I wanted to break down the door, but Trevor pulled me back with his palm pressed against my chest and heaved me back.

“Let Arden have some time to think.”

“Do you see what I meant about that animal?”

“You were right, and I was wrong. That’s confirmed. You win. Now let’s just focus on what we are going to say to him.”

“The truth. We’ve got nothing to lie about.”

“That’s not what I meant. Calm down, Samson.”

I calmed down. “Tell me what you mean then.”

“I just mean, in terms of what more he might have to tell us. A whole list of past abuses from William and he’s not here to face the telling. Arden has a sufficient amount of garbage on him. And we need to resurrect his trust in us…mainly you. I think we just need to show him that we’re sorry. Give him some reason to trust us.”

“Well I have mine. I hated him. You can back-me on that.”

“And I will. Because it’s the truth. And me…is it so bad that I still feel sorry for William? His ugliness sure showed itself into a cretin at the end. It makes me angry, Samson. To have to contend with knowing that I was one of the only ones that stood up for him.”

“Well, to put it right with Arden, you need to bury that friendship. And mean it. I want this Omega. I’ll do anything for him. So, I’m going to need you to pick yourself up and get rid of the self-pity, for him.”

Trevor nodded, but I knew he still had an attachment. The thing with Trevor was he honoured any relationship that involved a brotherly bond. As a pack, we were brothers. Like a code. And it was important to move as one. To hunt as a unit. And to attack with our timing and procession in check with the other.

I could see where he was coming from. Embarrassment was there too. The time when he stood up for William came to mind.

“You don’t really think I did it, do you?” William asked Trevor in the waiting room.

I eavesdropped that night. Not one of my better skills, but I was curious to know what William had gotten himself into.

“Depends on what you actually did?” Trevor played it dumb. As if he didn’t know.

“Some of the pack are claiming that I’m conversing with the head of the rogue wolves. As if I would do that.”

I could tell he was lying already. He was never good at concealing his thoughts that everybody else around him was so blissfully gullible.

“There is talk on that.” Trevor rubbing his chin inquisitively. “And there’s not a shred of truth in that?”

“Not at all. I’m changing, Trevor.” He always took him for a fool. “No more of that.” His last words murmured off into nothingness.

“You know they want a meeting. To discuss your involvement.”

“Yeah. I do. But you’ll be there to back me up, won’t you? Who else in this pack thinks I have the will to change? None. Samson, that pretty boy hates my guts and I know it. He’d have me out of the pack if he could.”

“Samson is partial like that. He only wants the best.”

“Well, that includes me not being here.”

“William. You know, Samson sees the truth. And we’ve all grown to learn that. If he sees nothing good in you, then maybe you should look to change that. I’ll defend you tonight. But after this, you truly need to fix up or there isn’t much else I can do for you.”

But William never did. And that meeting was the start of his downfall, and the reason to why his murder was an ambush when he thought he would be only taking on a couple of those wolves he never followed through with. They came out from behind the bushes and devoured him without a shred of a chance for him to retaliate.

Arden opened the door and I was back onto my knees before Trevor could even get into the room. I grappled his hand and he let me. He didn’t thrash it away. Arden was standing and peering down on me. He had been crying. Dried tears on his face that he wiped away with his free palm. He looked so helpless. And in need of a true friend. A true protector. Me.

I started to plead, “I hated him, Arden. All out there, as I was thinking. What a darn-dirty dog he was. The shit that we pass-through smelt better than he did. He was a fool. Do you know all the times he brought carnage on the Reluson pack? How he caused us to almost enter into a war with those mongrels? He was no good. A liar.”

I held his had tighter now. “But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s dead. That he got what was coming to him. And you know what, after some of the things you told us, it was more than deserved. I wasn’t sure at first. I figured he met a nasty end. And nobody deserved that. But now I see that karma shoved a bullet in the back of his head. He’s gone, Arden. And that doesn’t have to ruin your life anymore. You can be free of him.”

Arden broke down. His hand slipped out of mine and he fell back and sat upon the bed. I followed him on my knees. Ready to be there to support him. He hunched forward and sobbed into his palms. He covered his yes. He was no less of an Omega to me. No softer. Not a wuss in sight. Just hurt and broken. I consoled him the best I could.

He went on like this for a minute longer; I passed him a tissue that I had in my pocket and he dabbed at his face and blew his nose before he spoke to me. “The things he truly did, Samson.” He blew his nose again. “It will never leave me, you know. It’s always in the back of my mind, taunting me into submission when I sleep. How can I escape some of the things he did?”

“Tell me. Let it all out.”

“William was partially sadistic when it came to what sexually pleased him. I think I see it now. Why he needed to feel so powerful. He must’ve felt that he could overpower me better than any other. Well, he did. And he would have me cooking, cleaning, ironing, mending, and sexually gratifying him only. What I wanted was none-existent. It was all about him. William…William…William.

“And I began to believe that this was what was expected with an Alpha. That the Omega should bow down to the most ludicrous of requests. For instance, he wanted to tie me up and leave me without food for a day. Just to see how I would do. Then another day passed, and another, and another, until I was so weak that he spoon-fed me gruel and week old porridge. No meat. Which is what I craved for.”

I held in my urge to lash out. But Arden still had more to tell.

“When I vomited, he would get angry. The food he was feeding me wasn’t fit for a scavenging and dying fox. His anger turned to violence. And that would be stripping me bare and lashing out at me in his wolf formation. As if he had a whip in those nails. It was funny to him, to see me in so much excruciating pain. And I would cry and cry when he untied me, and we had sex. It was horrible.

“No passion. No love. Just dry and penniless intercourse. With him always receiving. And when I got pregnant, although it was the best thing to ever happen to me because I thought it would change his ways, he got worse. And I got depressed. And then he…he…he…started to think my stomach was a football; and that I didn’t deserve to have that as a goal. William was the real reason why I lost the baby.”

I lost it. I couldn’t control it. I fell to the floor and slammed my fist so hard that I caused a mini hole. The splinters made themselves at home upon my skin. It burned as I could tell that a few long scratches were marked near to my knuckles. I had to drag it out with the help of Trevor who came over to help me release my fist.

But I was ready to slam the other into the floorboard until he shouted, “Enough, Samson. It’s ok. It’s going to be ok.”

I slammed the fist down, but it was only to kneel on all fours and let the anger subside. “How could he do such a thing? How could he get away with that?”

“I don’t know.” Trevor sounded truly sorry. I’d never heard him this way before. “I think I owe you an apology as well, Arden. I told Samson, out there…”

I was still kneeling to recover.

“I was one of the only ones who figured I could help him change his ways. I know there’s no point explaining this to you, but he wasn’t always that way. But it doesn’t matter. How he ended up is enough for me to denounce our friendship. For the sake of you knowing that I don’t condone that sort of thing in my pack. If any of these lads turned out to be that way, it had nothing to do with me or the morality of anybody else here.”

“That’s the truth.” I got back-up to my knees. “We’re individuals, after all.”

“Yeah. And that’s why there’s no reason why I can’t say William is better off dead. Probably happier there to.”

“Let him rot!” I shouted.

“Anyways, I want to know, you might’ve told me before, but how did you find out that I knew William?”

Arden wiped his eyes whilst staring at me. “The picture. The paly picture of you and him in your waiting room. It’s what triggered off my emotional blackout and sent me hurling to the woods. It completely freaked me out.”

“Well I can put it right.”

Arden looked to Trevor as if he doubted that.

“I’ll burn that picture. Get rid of it. And show you that I’d rather erase him from my memory once and for all. I just need to know that you’ll find that acceptable as a sorry gift?”

“It’s a start, I suppose.”

“Perfect! I’ll do that right now!” Trevor left the room in a hurry.

Leaving only me and Arden to converse freely. I struggled to get up: still recovering from the backlash of those wolves who wanted to finish me off. They were a handful. Arden fell back into his weepy state, but didn’t cry. He just held his head inside and then ran his fingers through his hair before sitting up and looking solemnly lost.

I slowly approached him. And waited for the invitation to console without feeling like I was intruding on his personal space. Arden took a minute. Didn’t say anything, but I knew what he was trying to convey. I sat next to him and put both my arms around him, drawing him-in, and breathing the scent that excited me even in the midst of all this horror.

“I’m so glad to be holding you again, Arden. I’ve been wanting to do that this entire time. I won’t ask if you’re ok. I know you aren’t. But I want you to know that I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.” I squeeze tighter. “William might’ve done you damage. But if he was alive and I knew what he did to you, I would kill him! Transform into my alter and tear him to dust particles. He got away with so much, Arden.”

Arden got up after I said that…and so did I. I waited to embrace him again. But love took over me and I couldn’t wait.

“I would’ve killed him.” The next time I said it I was angrier. “I would’ve killed him!”

“I believe you, Samson.”

I hugged him.

“Your whole persona reeks of pure anger.”

“Yeah, but…it’s not the kind that goes around abusing. It’s for you. Loving you and hearing what he put you through. The miscarriage…” I looked at my little life that was growing within his stomach. “How he could inflict that sort of pain on life? A new born existence?”

“I know. I know.” He sighed profoundly.

“Your feelings haven’t changed, have they? Do you still feel the same for me?” I couldn’t disguise the worry as I tried to make him look me in the eyes by holding up his chin.

“Of course, I do.” His voice nearly broke so I let his chin fall. “Nothing about my feelings for you has changed, Samson. It’s still there. All of it. Not able to go away. Having to contend with the fact that even if things turned out worse, I would still be in love with you.”

My whole face screamed relief. “And…do you still want to be my mate?”

Arden jumped into my arms — which he slung around to the back of my neck. I wondered how it must look, two fellows in this embrace. I wouldn’t care about their thoughts as I held him and lifted him from the ground briefly. Arden agreed to be my mate. It would be official this time. There was no doubt. No more hesitation from the anchor that was holding him back.

He had managed to unleash it all and raised it from the depth of the water. And we had covered a common ground and could walk-on together: knowing that it was all out in the open.

But I hated William and cursed him when Arden was still struggling to let those words escape from him. “I want you as my mate, Samson.”

Our embrace had long ended. So, he hugged me again and I felt the baby bump press against my own middle.

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. At least you now know it all. The reason why I didn’t want to get so close to you in the beginning.”

“Yeah. It makes perfect sense.”

“It does. The idea of attracting another William was not going to happen to me again. I had to make sure. To go through the motions of who you really were. And you’ve turned out better than I expected. The care you’ve shown me is amazing. The fact that I can feel your care… I feel it’s too good to be true.”

I got down to my knees. “Well, this little one here is too good to be true.” I raised his black cotton t-shirt and glared at his baby bump before puckering my lips and giving his stomach a nice belter. Then I pressed my ears and listened.

“Can you hear anything?”

“Not much. Just I love you.” I got to my feet. “How sweet of him to say that.”

“Well, it’s obviously true. The little guy wouldn’t have said that otherwise.”

“Yep. And now, I would like to officially make you my mate. But that would mean you giving me that neck of yours and allowing me to mark my territory once and for all.”

“You’d have to ask me nicely. What with everything that’s just happened.”

“What…do you mean like getting upon one knee and asking for your permission to bite your neck?”

“I think that might suffice. Why don’t you give it a try and see if it works?”

“I’m going to do it.”

“Go for it.”

“Ok.” I got down on one knee and gripped his hand as if I wanted to put a ring on it.

“Can I…bite that succulent neck of yours? If it’s not too much trouble of course.”

Arden playfully thought about it. “Hmm.”

It was good to see his mood elevated to the next level. There were still traces of the past few hours, but Arden getting down onto his knees at my level and then brandishing his neck nakedly for me was both romantic and quite joyful.

“This is for you.”

I saw that neck and I got ready for it. I didn’t pounce upon it. I took my time: edging closer and hearing him purr to make it that more enjoyable for us both.

When I finally could feel my lips upon there, I kissed his flesh softly. I could see his eyes start to close when I started to bite-down with the sound that came from him similar to ssssst as if burning one’s finger and having to cool it off under cold water. I dug my teeth until I was sure that it was inscribed. My teeth had done the work when I withdrew and glared at my artwork.

He stretched his collar for me to see. And I smiled with glee when the bite was now a confirmation of our bond. It was sealed. We were a unit. He was officially mine. And he and the baby would be forever in my custody to protect. I couldn’t be happier as we got to our feet. That was it then. My mark of affection. And to look forward to the birth was what was in store next.