Linus stared at his mate from the corner of his eye.The omega had been difficult to wake that morning and even as they left Athelney behind; Skye seemed more asleep than awake.They had spent two full days in the bustling town and left at first light on the third morning.Skye swayed almost drunkenly in his own saddle and even the ever grouchy Dyllen looked concerned. Each of the band seemed to be keeping an eye on the sleepy omega and no one was surprised when Linus abandoned point to fall back beside his mate.The alpha suspected it had something to do with two full days of healing the townsfolk. It probably didn’t help matters that he healed his own injuries, and Linus’s, in his sleep.It was certainly a nice change to not wake up saddle sore after a morning on the road or cramp-less after sleeping on the cold, hard ground but he wished the omega could turn it off.Clearly, it was affecting himself. There was no other reason he could think of for Skye to be struggling to stay awak
Skye sighed as Dyllen dumped a pheasant Rocket had caught earlier in the day in his arms and walked away without a word.The omega understood that he was being given tasks to help contribute seeing as he was there too but the things Dyllen assigned to him were all in a similar vein.He usually helped cook; spending time each day to skin, gut, and clean whatever game they had caught during their travels and when fresh meat wasn’t on offer, he was ordered to clean. Horses, armor, clothing.It felt like an intentional slight against his omega class that the only things Dyllen assigned to him were effectively cooking and cleaning duties.Not once had he been asked to keep watch or join in their sparring practice.Skye didn’t know how to fight but it felt like it would make sense to have a basic understanding of self defense considering the group he was travelling with. He would hate to hurt someone but that wasn’t the point.The way the intimidating alpha acted; it was like he couldn’t be
Skyegroaned as he was shaken awake.A hand clamped over his mouth and lips brushed against his ear as his mate shushed him. He froze, his sleepiness gone in the blink of an eye as alarm flashed through him.Linuspulled away just enough to reach above their heads to where their bags sat, pulling out his scabbarded sword. A glance around in the dim moonlight showed the rest of the band doing the same thing.Skyesat up slowly, unsure what he should do or how to react to the sharp tenseness of the group.Linusunsheathed his sword and crouched next to him, eyes darting around the darkness. Long, tense minutes drew out as they sat there, the moon providing only enough light to make out vague shapes and outlines.The camp lay oddly quiet and still, the embers from the campfire sat low, no longer burning enough to provide light or heat.Trees rustled in the gentle breeze as Skyestrained to hear something,
“Come on, that’s Tracepolitely telling us to hurry the hell up. We don’t know if the attackers were just desperate and trying to take a risky opportunity or if they were targeting us specifically, but we don’t want to hang around and find out if they have friends in the area.”Skyenodded in understandingand looked around in the dim undergrowth for his discarded nightwear. His pants were just behind him and his shirt only needed straightening while Linuswas fully clothed having only pulled his pants down.A few knowing grins were cast their way when they walked back into the camp but Skyeignored them in favor of helping Lejendsaddle up Moya, one of the last horses to be saddled.“Feeling better, Boss?” Caigeasked with a cheeky grin from atop his own horse, a flaming torch in hand lighting up his face.“Much, but you wouldn’t understand,” Linu
They travelled nonstop until it was late afternoon, eating in the saddle, to put as much distance between them and the corpses of the fools who tried to off them in the night.They found a good clearing just off the road near a small stream and dismounted.Dyllensnapped out commands and Linusnoted with amusement that instead of giving Skyethe usual shitty tasks, the alpha ignored the raven haired omega completely.The omega stood next to hisownhorse after sliding off less than gracefully, although at least he didn’t fall anymore, looking bewildered.“Looks like it’s your turn for a free night, Cherub,” Linuscalled, a smile hovering around his lips.Stubborn old Dyllenmight have listened after all.He wasn’t sure if it was a peace offering or if Dyllen just didn’t want to dealwith the omega while he thinks but either way, they usually rotat
In the end, both alphas were left barefoot and shirtless with only their pants on. Some of Skye’s alarm must have shown because Britereached over to pat his shoulder with a chuckle.“Don’t worry, they’ll both just have a few bruises but nothing serious.Sometimes alphasjust need to hit something, trust me,” Britesaid with a wink.“Shouldn’t they have armor on or something?” Skyeasked, his eyebrows furrowed as Dyllenmoved forward, stances changing as he raised his wooden sword.Ternihurriedly crawled out of the way and joined them at the campfire.“Nah, it would just slow them down and get sweaty,” Urkanereplied, his deep voice tinged with humour as he sat at the fire, a small knife and a pot of vegetables in hand.Urkane settled down to peel the root vegetables while keeping one eye on the fight.“It might not look i
Skyewas painfully aware of thepairs ofeyes on them and he only reluctantly agreed.He was just starting to fit in, he didn’t want to cause a scene or embarrass himself with his clumsy steps.It seemed that now his alpha has decided, Linus mate was determined to teach him how to dance. His mate slowed down Trace’s tempo even more before he was happy as he led Skyeto a small clearing just beyond the campfire.The night was creeping in on them and most of the light came from the fire now, casting the shadows of the band on them where they stopped.The alpha positioned himselfin front of him and showed him the step in whatever dance he had chosen for them.Skyestared at his feet but still stumbled each time they tried to put the steps together and Caige’s occasional teasing didn’t help matters, even with Briteshushing him.“And now you just need to follow my le
Linusnearly balkedwhen he was assigning tasks to each of the band members to complete during their brief stopover in the small farming community of Brinegrasp. He hadn’t been able to banish the images of a glowing, pregnantSkyefor daysnowafter seeing him with children at Athelneyand even now,they surfaced unbiddenin his mind. The last thing he wanted was to invite his mind to conjure up even more images by accompanying the omega,but he was his mate, so the task fell to him. The very fact that thought didn’t alarm him as much as it did the first time was, in itself, alarming. Thankfully, so far,the only ones who had visited their makeshift clinic on the villageMillvalleywere all beyond their teenage years. They were a cautious lot here, mostly untrusting of strangers, and Linusdidn’t blame them. Brinegraspwas technically counted in the