We have her.
It's what Colby messaged to David Dobbrick as Jake and Elton carried the new Omega werewolf into the front room where all the sofa's were located. Jake settled Amber's body into one randomly, as Tara quickly slid pillows under her head and draped a blanket over her naked form once Elton placed her feet at the foot of the sofa. The Alpha stared at Amber, tapping the back of his phone.
She's here... , is all he thought.
☙☽🐺☾❧
Sam pawed at the dirt beneath him randomly, feeling his anger toward Colby simmer and wait like a stagnant volcano. He imagined the dirt beneath him was Amber and occasionally it was Colby, but most of all he imagined himself.
A snarl escaped his muzzle and he clawed violently at the dirt again, leaving deep grooves from his claws.
He blamed himself for the rift between him and Colby. Maybe if he was a better mate and friend and companion, then maybe Colby wouldn't be turning to Amber... This wasn't the first time that Sam and Colby had someone come between them, threatening to split them apart.
There was Brennen Taylor (an individual that Sam despised and put up with for Colby's sake despite the hard truth that Brennen kept secret about the girls he had met, but Sam hated how attached the two were. Even before Colby and Sam confessed their feelings to each other, Sam was always jealous of that man, but he dealt with it like an adult. He needed to deal with this like an adult, too).
There was Shea Elyse Prior (a girl who seemed to capture Colby's gaze with such ease that the pair would disappear overnight to AirBnB's whenever she called, though Sam did grow to like her a lot eventually).
There was Katrina Stuart (a rarity in this list of people who Sam dated for a short amount of time before splitting and remaining friends. Colby had revealed later that those years of them dating were the hardest for him because the pair were not as close. Now Sam knows there was jealousy there).
There was BigNick (the comedic Viner back in the early days in L.A. who entered their lives and seemed to attach himself to Colby).
There were so many other girls between them over the years and so many of their male friends who seemed to attach themselves to mainly Colby to get him away from Sam. Colby always got more views than Sam when they were split and their friends knew this, but Sam came to terms with it.
And the irony in that was a girl was what brought them together back in band camp.
But, even then, it was always Colby who stuck with Sam. They had something special together. Always had and always will.
This was Sam's fault. He gave up on Colby and ran and Colby always chose him...
But Sam couldn't stop thinking he was losing Colby to Amber who was female... gorgeous... a newly turned werewolf... omega... rising influencer... female... female....
Sam growled in frustration, whipping around and clawing at the nearby tree. Wood splintered and fell around him.
In that moment of frustration, he dropped the mental guard he had and a voice came into his thoughts, startling him.
"Sam ," it was his mate and he was close.
Hearing a hard bark behind him, Sam turned around and there was his mate's black wolf form. Sam took a step backward and lowered his gaze.
"Sam," Colby called him again, " Please talk to me ."
Sam huffed, turned around, and sat, staring down at his claw marks in the dirt. He could hear Colby sigh and take a careful step forward. A quick snap to Sam's head to the side made Colby freeze.
"Come back. We have Amber."
"Good. I'm glad ," Sam replied with a terse tone before returning to his clawed dirt.
Colby sighed again but made no move forward again, " You're not glad."
Sam narrowed his eyes, flaring gold, " What gave that away?"
A low growl answered first, " Stop with the sarcasm, Sam. I want to fix this. Us."
"We aren't a fucking broken down truck, Colbs," Sam sneered.
"No we're not ," Colby replied, " Would be way fucking easier if we were ," Sam thumped his tail impatiently, " But we are you and me, Sammy."
"Doesn't seem to mean much with Amber, now," it was meant to slip under his breath, but Colby heard it clearly from Sam.
"Amber is new. She will never come between us. She didn't before. "
Sam turned to glance over his shoulder at the black wolf, " She already has."
And he ran off again.
☙☽🐺☾❧
Colby returned back to the cabin, lead settled into his stomach, but he knew Sam would come back. He just needed space. So did Colby.
His crimson eyes fell on Amber's body in the living room. Her skin was pale and sweaty and he could see her body twitch in unpleasant shivers. Blood was already soaking the blanket Tara put over her.
It amazed Colby that she lasted this long but he knew the things people could do when they desired life and the adrenaline to achieve that survival. He was very familiar with it from all his times exploring abandoned locations.
Luna, suddenly, came in from the kitchen with a large mixing bowl filled with water and several cloths, but it didn't smell like regular water. There was something else in it.
Colby took a step forward, arm outstretched to Luna, "Need help?"
The rogue werewolf smiled softly, gently giving Colby the bowl and cloth, "That would be fantastic. Could you place a wet cloth on her forehead and dab her neck and chest? I need to go prepare my hands and needle for her shoulder."
Colby nodded, peering down into the bowl. He couldn't recognize most of the herbs in the water, but he could smell something citrus, maybe some sort of mint, but that was about it. There were some crystals laying at the bottom of the bowl that he could recognize like amethyst and quartz. But his knowledge was limited in witchcraft. Only a few years ago was Colby heavily religious, heavily Christian, but now he was... well he didn't know what he was. Yet, here he was about to use witchcraft on a dear friend of his and it didn't scare him. He knew the witchcraft Luna practiced was good and not the stereotype he grew up with. He knew that in this new world that witchcraft gave supernaturals a chance at a normal life. He respected it. He respected Luna.
Colby kneeled down beside Amber, her lips parted slightly as she whimpered, sounding much like a dog rather than a female. He dipped the towel into the water, feeling a tingling sensation across his skin.
Amber deserved a normal life. Not this. Never this.
He wrung out the majority of liquid from the cloth before raising it to Amber's forehead, placing it gently there. Amber's bottom lip trembled at his touch and he pressed a bit on the cloth. Slowly, Amber's eyes flickered open, catching Colby's crimson, and falling shut.
Colby hushed her softly, his chest rumbling, as he pulled his hand away and grabbed a new cloth. He dunked it in the bowl as his other hand lowered the blanket a few inches down Amber's chest, but kept her modesty. Gently, he pressed and whipped away at Amber's clammy skin. He continued to hush her softly, lacing his voice with his Alpha dominance in the hopes it may calm her down even though he wasn't her Alpha truly... whoever that was.
And a few seconds later, Colby began to see that it was affecting Amber. Her furrowed brow loosened. Her breathing evened. She looked more like she was peacefully sleeping rather than in a horrific feverish dream.
Luna came back into the living room with a soft smile and a number of items in her hands, "I see she is relaxed," she came over beside Colby, resting near Amber's head as her hands lifted the edge of the blanket to see the wound, "That is very good," Luna glanced up at him for a moment before returning to Amber, "Can you leave us for a few minutes for me to dress her wounds? I'll need to take the blanket off... unless you both--."
"Oh no!" Colby's gentle rumbling in his chest was silenced as he interrupted Luna, "We never did anything," he dropped the towel back in the bowl, "I'll let you be," and he stood up, "Let me know if anything changes."
Luna nodded, "Of course, Colby."
☙☽🐺☾❧
"Sam ," Colby repeated his mate's name over and over again, calling out across their bond, but there was just silence.
Colby curled up into himself in their nest, grabbing one of Sam's blankets and bringing it up to his nose. He was trying everything in his power to not let his mind fall down a mental rabbit hole. The Omega's scent was heavy and thick, clearly faded by the last few hours of separation, but was still completely Sam.
"Sam ," Colby called out again.
His voice was low and it ached-- a lone wolf in the mountains searching for his companion.
The Alpha shut his eyes, curling his fingers into the blanket so tightly his knuckles went white.
In the distance, Colby heard the sliding door open and close, but thought it was probably a pack member. It wasn't until he smelled and felt the presence in the room that Colby moved. His body shot up from the bed and his crimson eyes glowed in the darkness of the room.
"Sam ," Colby recognized his mate instantly standing in the threshold. He extended an arm out to him.
The Omega's eyes glistened in gold as he took in the other in the bed. Behind Sam, a door opened causing the naked Omega to move toward Colby, closing the door behind him.
Sam moved slowly toward the Alpha.
Their hands enclosed together as Colby pulled his mate into their nest. Sam fell on top of Colby, but the Alpha grasped Sam's thigh, maneuvering the Omega to curl into him with his legs thrown over Colby's own thighs. Colby held Sam tightly, practically bruising his naked thigh as the Omega latched onto Colby's old XPLR shirt, knuckles going white. The Omega lowered his head under Colby's, taking in the scent and the heat there. His nose gently caressed Colby's mating mark.
"Sam...," Colby whispered, feeling his eyes start to water, "Please... don't leave me like that again. I'm sorry," Colby clutched Sam even tighter, "I'm sorry," he buried his face in Sam's hair, "I'm sorry."
"Shhh...," Sam hushed him, "It's okay... it's okay... I'm here."
Tears started to fall from Colby's eyes and Sam shut his own to stop his own tears.
"I messed up with us," Colby admitted as he held onto Sam tightly.
"So did I, too," Sam replied in a mournful tone.
"You never could mess us up."
"Humor me, love."
Colby laughed lightly at that.
"There's the laugh I love," Sam nuzzled into the Alpha's neck, "Don't be sad, Colbs," the Alpha sniffled, "We will be okay. Amber is here. We are okay."
"Yes, she is here, but at the cost of us," Colby added.
Sam pulled away from Colby's neck as he connected their gaze, "I'm here. We're here. This is a bump in our road, but it will make us stronger. I won't lie, I don't like how much attention you've been giving to her. Makes me feel like you want her more than me," Colby made a noise of objection, but Sam silenced him with a shake of his blonde hair, "Let me finish-- I understand she is your friend, she is our friend, and she is now pack, but please don't ever forget about me," Sam raised his hand from Colby's chest and brushed fallen brunette strands from Colby's gaze, "It is us against the world, Colby, and I will love you till every star dies in the sky and beyond that," Sam's hand fell to Colby's arm, pulling it from his head where Colby had curled his fingers into his blonde hair. Sam stared down at the tattoo design on Colby's wrist, lowering his head to awkwardly kiss the ink, "Like you said-- these two skulls are us and through life and death we will always be together."
Colby smiled softly, "I love you so much," he moved forward to nuzzle into Sam's hair again, "I'll focus on us more, now. I can't lose you, Sam."
Sam purred, "We are strong together, Colby, and we will be stronger. Only way is up, now, for us."
The Alpha chuckled lightly, "And this is why I cheated off you in school. You're so much better at words than I."
Sam laughed, golden eyes glistening as he pulled away from Colby again to connect their glowing eyes, "You piece of garbage."
Colby kept his smile on his face as he closed the distance between them and pressed their lips together.