Chapter Six

HOLLY

Holly was running late. That stupid kiss had fried her brain and taken up much more time than she'd realized. And then she'd had to collect the berries from the undergrowth in the failing light. She hadn’t found them all. She just hoped she would have enough for all four of her targets.

At this rate she'd be lucky to get there in time to serve the stupid Alphas, let alone slip the berries into the wine while no one was looking. She pushed through another bramble and went ever faster. She could see the lights from the bonfires ahead.

She broke out of the tree lime and quickly ran towards the packhouse. There was no one in the courtyard this late, everyone was off getting ready for the feast.

She took the packhouse stairs two at a time, down into the basement where the unmated omegas had their rooms. She could hear lively music coming from one of the rooms, and livelier moans coming from another. Someone had gotten lucky tonight. If they were really lucky maybe their lover was their mate and they'd take them away from this boondocks pack.

Not that Holly believed in mates.

No one was coming to save her. She was the master of her own destiny and she didn't need some trumped up alpha male telling her what to do.

But she could sympathize with the other omegas here. Most of the omegas in the Earth Kingdom were unmated and unranked females. They had no prospects and no protections. Their best bet at a good life was to land a mate who could give them those things.

It wasn't like this in Umber. When the Umber Pack was still active, still alive, her father had made sure that every omega female had the means to defend herself and carry on her own livelihood. It kept males from being able to abuse the omegas if they weren't actually needed. If they wanted a mate they had to be on their best behavior.

Holly wished it was like that here. The males here were a bunch of stuck up egotistical tricks who'd never heard the word no in their life.

She stuck her tongue in her cheek. No was a word she should have used just hours before. Why in all hells did she let that stranger kiss her? Worse, why did she kiss him back? That wasn't like her. She'd never felt such a pull to someone before.

She let out a frustrated huff and shook her head. Mysteries for another day. She finally reached her room, far back in the northwest corner, one of the deepest, most isolated rooms, reserved for frankness, wolfless rejects like her. There was only one other occupied room down here, held by Smitha, the old blind omega who once- if you believed the rumors- spurned the alphas advances.

Supposedly, when the alpha was a young pup she had rejected him and in return he had ordered her sight taken. Holly didn't know if that was true at all. Smitha rarely left her room and when she did she was drunk off her ass. Holly had a bit of a soft spot for the old wolf and tried to make sure she had something to eat most days since no one else would look after her.

She paused briefly and listened outside Smitha's door. The sound of soft snores permeated the old scratched wood. Good, she was sleeping. Holly crept past her door to her own and slipped inside.

Once in her cinderblock room Holly quickly stashed her dagger under the floorboards underneath her bed, changed into a clean uniform, and dashed back out.

She kept to the shadows on her way to the main hall. She didn't want to risk a beating for being late and lose her sliver of opportunity.

Her steps skidded to a stop outside the great hall and she took a second to catch her breath. It wouldn't do to get a beating for appearing too unkempt either.

Put back together she opened the door and made her way inside.

The kitchen was a chaotic firestorm of movement. There were Omegas everywhere putting together food under the watchful eye of the head chef.

Holly slunk her way to her corner of the kitchen. She wasn't trusted to chop vegetables, or do any other task with a knife. Supposedly, Omegas were too emotional for such tasks. She'd like to argue that but her argument would probably include a stabbing and that wouldn't prove her point very well.

She smiled slyly when she finally reached her corner and found the jugs of mulled wine prepared but not yet sent out. She ignored the larger iron jug and zeroed in on the smaller golden jug. That was the one she'd be using to serve the Alphas. That's where the berries needed to go.

Keeping an eye out for any particularly watchful guards or nosy omegas, Holly stuffed her hands in the satchel and dumped the berries into the jug as quickly as possible. She was worried that there might not be enough berries but once they were all crammed into the jug to the point of overflow it didn't seem like that would be an issue.

Taking a step back she breathed deep and prepared herself for the rest of the night. Serving and watching to make sure her plan goes through without a hitch.