It felt different being out in the wild after so many days of complete isolation. Nothing had changed. The pack, the town, it was the same, just as it was before the wolves learned about the sickness and the poison. It was all for nothing and I had to take all the blame as I was the one working from the inside since there was nothing more the other pack wolves could do to the omegas at the hill.
Even the Alpha couldn't do anything.
A fine sheen of sweat covered my forehead and face as I walked through the dangerous path of the hills. I wasn't heading to the omega's houses, instead, I was going to Mom who was nearby but alone.
After several letters and a small talk, we decided upon meeting near the hills. It was safe, away from everyone and the Alpha. It wasn't hard to force Mom to believe that I was sneaking out of the house just for a few hours. She was vulnerable when it came to her family, her daughter and yet somehow, all her mistakes were upon me.
I stood underneath the shade of a large, local tree with my hands tucked inside my jacket. The air was fresh, crisp, and clean. I enjoyed every second of it until Mom appeared in her truck.
She parked it on the roadside before running to me and grabbing me in her arms. For the first time, her embrace felt stiff to me. She caught a glimpse of my face and her lips curled into a whole-hearted smile. It lit her face well.
"You don't know how much I've been dying to see..." Her hands clasped my face. "I'm so sorry, Clara, I fucked bad and I ruined everything for you. It was never supposed to go like this but it did and I don't enough words to say how I feel about this." She continued as a few tears bubbled up in her eyes. Her weary face displayed her sorrow for me.
I pursed my lips and gave my head a slight nod. "It's okay." As much as I wanted to, I couldn't blame her and at the end of the day, she was my Mom so I couldn't even hate her for bringing me into all this.
I loved her.
"How are you?" She asked, pressing my shoulders tight.
"I'm fine. Been better."
Mom took a look around her surroundings. It was a quick glance that relieved her of some stress. There wasn't a single soul around as the omegas were the only ones that knew about this route. We were around the hills but nowhere near the wolves that were patrolling the town.
It was a safe spot Mom always told me about since a very young age. I remembered coming here often when Dad was alive. We used to watch the sunset, have a little picnic and maybe take a swim in the nearby lake.
A hand pulled me down near the trunk of the tree that covered us from the morning sunlight. I folded my legs and sat down with Mom who seemed more than ready to snatch me away from this town and take me somewhere else.
But I wasn't here for that.
"I know this great place. It's far but we can fly there together. I'm unsure about the others but Hawk wants to come with us as well. We will have a little more protection in that place with him being around. What do you think?" She began.
"It's a great idea but the Alpha will know if I leave and he will hunt me down." My neck cramped as I twisted it to her and a shade of horror flicked over my face as I replied to her with honesty. When I first thought of running away, my only concern, my only fear was the Alpha finding me and bestowing worse torture upon me and my family.
"He won't. He will never know, Clara. Trust me. The place I'm talking about is far, far away from here. It will be safe. I promise you." She took my hand and placed her palm over mine. Her fingers slowly tightened around my flesh as she continued. "I just need you to agree with me. There is no way we can ever live here."
I leaned back and the hard wood of the tree scraped against my spine. I watched Mom for a couple of seconds, she grew worried. Her wrinkles had deepened over the past week—since we had been caught.
My eyes lowered and I ran my thumb over Mom's hand. "There is something else I want to know before we leave." I said in a low whisper, almost inaudible.
"What?"
The words were there at my throat but it was getting hard to say them out loud. If I did, it meant betraying my own family to protect another. I despised choosing sides but now, since I was pregnant, I had to do it by the books instead of doing it by blood.
"Do you have any more doses of the poison with you?" I stammered out after killing the lump in my throat. I choose blood once and I was crushed.
Mom looked at me for long. Shock washed over her bright features as she took in my question. "I do."
"How many?" I stayed calm but from within, I was exploding in disappointment for what Mom had done once more. She couldn't let this be over. She had to continue, she had to do something.
"A lot..." She trailed off. "But the poison is going to help us get out of here. I have struck a deal with another pack. The shipment is going to take a few days but in return, they are providing us a getaway from here and from your Alpha." Her voice, her words lacked any kind of empathy for those wolves that were going to get poisoned if she sold the doses to another pack.
Worse if it was a rival pack.
"He's your Alpha too, Mom." I reminded her as tears gushed into my ears.
"He's not my Alpha." She repeated.
I turned my head away from her. "Why would you do something like this? After everything I've been through!" I exclaimed as I scrammed away from her and her strings of horrible intentions that never seemed to leave her head.
Wasn't it enough? Why was she doing it over and over again?
"Clara," She grabbed my hand before I had the chance to get up on my feet. "Listen to me. There is nothing here for us so if we are finding an escape, we should take it and leave as soon as can. I know the things the Alpha did to you—"
I stopped her. "He did nothing to me, Mom, not yet."
I wormed my way up and she stood up along with me. Surprise silenced her down—for only a few seconds. "Whatever he did or didn't, it's over. He's a killer and I'm not going to let my daughter stay here, in the same house as that man. So, we will be leaving."
I blinked fast and avoided the tears from spilling out. "I've to go." I said, turning my back on her.
"Clara."
"Mom, please, I've to go." I stretched my hands out in defense and stopped her from grabbing me. I had heard enough from her and that was all that I needed. She backed away and deferred. "I'll talk to you later."
"Don't go."
"I'm sorry."
It seemed like decades before I found myself parting away from her. Every step away from her soothed me down but at the same time, it bought tears to my eyes and much more sorrow. It crushed me from within knowing that I could never again support Mom's cruel acts, not because I was afraid of being killed or punished but because she was wrong.
Chapter 41
With a hazed head, I walked on the sides of the road after striding down from the hills and away from Mom and the rest of the omegas. It pained me to see her still targeting other, innocent wolves for her benefit. As I shivered, I wrapped my arms around my shoulders and continued walking till a car slowly pulled up on the empty road. The sound of the engine forced me to snap back into reality. The ragged reality I had to accept.
I turned around and got inside the passenger seat. The Alpha didn't question me immediately. He acknowledged my silence and drove back into the town but with every breath he took, he wished for the answers I had gotten from Mom.
My worries continued to wither inside me. I grew uncertain of sharing the answers with the Alpha in fear of what he would do with my family.
But again, I needed to trust someone.
"You have to promise me something first." I said, splitting the silence.
The car drifted further into the town and back to the house. Being out felt like a blessing for a moment but it soon turned into a curse. Staying in the house kept me away from all this strain and anxiety.
Maybe isolation was better.
"What?" The Alpha asked, glancing at me. The curiosity in his eyes grew wilder than anything else. He had been questioning the omega's plans since the poison was seized and he wanted me to learn what they intended on doing.
I flattened my palms across my legs and held back my unshed, stinging tears for the unknown future. "You have to promise me that my family won't be harmed." It was a silent request, a plead for the life of my mother and my uncle who had gotten their hands a lot dirtier than ever.
"I won't—not unless it's needed." He promised.
The car came to a halt in an empty parking lot near the town. I soon realized we weren't heading back to the house since that street passed long ago. Wherever we were going, it didn't matter.
"She wants me to run away with her. And just as you thought, she has more doses of the poison. I suppose she hasn't stopped producing them but she intends of selling them to another pack. She already has a deal and I think she is going to take in a week or so." It wasn't hard. The truth came spilling out by itself without any hesitation.
Concern spread through the Alpha's eyes. His gaze slipped to me only for a second before he diverted it elsewhere to keep his anger in control. "She's a threat." He whispered, unmoving and emotionless.
"She's my mother."
I watched him as he closed his eyes and sighed.
It was heavy but it was off my chest.
"She won't be harmed." His intensity returned to me. "But I cannot say the same about everyone else there. As far as the new production of poison, I'll handle it along with everything else." He said and the quivering tension inside my head sided for the moment.
"I can get the name of the pack she wants to sell too." I offered.
It was the least I could do, after all, it was my own mother that wanted to ruin the pack she was born into—I was. Attacking evil wolves was one thing but a whole pack wasn't. She was crossing a very thick line, thicker than before and there was nothing any of us could do to stop her.
The Alpha raised his head before giving it a shake. His nose scrunched and a muscle in his jaw ticked off. "No, no, this isn't your problem, Clara. It's mine. I will deal with it. Don't worry and thank you." When he looked at me, his expression softened, melted. "I know this hard for you to take in at once and I'm sorry for doing all this but I'll keep my promise."
It eased my heart to hear it once more. I had already lost someone so important in my life, I couldn't bear to lose another one. If I knew the outcome was this, I would've told the Alpha long ago and maybe, Mom wouldn't have taken this far.
Without another word from either of us, the car started and the Alpha got back on the road, this time, heading elsewhere.
I didn't question.
He drove in silence for more than an hour. I pulled down the windows and let the fresh air flicker over me as we left the town. Bits and pieces of dread were still inside me from the last time I was on the road, being taken to that one place far away from here. But I couldn't live in fear for the rest of my life.
And I trusted the Alpha—especially after he told me the reason for my isolation at the house.
When the disaster struck and the news spread, I was blamed, not only by him but by everyone else. The majority of the blame was spread by Brian who claimed I poisoned him and since he was the Beta of the pack, everyone took his word and they all were out for my head.
While I was forced into my room, the wolves of the pack were sending threats—to me. They wanted to see me dead. Brian's outburst wasn't the only one that occurred over the past weeks. They were many other wolves that wanted to set an example of a betrayer in the pack.
But alas, the decision was upon the Alpha and he did—he tried to kill me but since I was having his child, he couldn't.
If one thing I had learned over the week, was to be patient, just as Nora said. She was right. I had to wait for the thriving news to die down before anything. People were angry at me. The Alpha was furious and the Beta had murder in his mind. The wolves that were poisoned demanded justice.
And even when I had no control over it, I was held liable for all of it while the other omegas had a silent pass away from this situation, even Mom.
It was unfortunate but in a few years, no one was going to remember and all of this would be forgiven, eventually.
The car went into a clustered town after a long drive. The Alpha continued to drive on the narrows roads while I sniffed the air and noticed something uncommon. There wasn't a single wolf around, just humans—normal people and serenity.
I turned my head in confusion, "What are we going here?"
"There was something I wanted to give you before...you decided upon betraying me." He licked his lips and said with a hint of accusation still in his tone. "While things have changed, I still want to keep my side of the deal."
My stomach turned into knots out of anticipation. He drove for several seconds more before stopping the car by a land—the one he had gotten for me.
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