One Omega

Chapter 8 - First steps to recovery

---Zayne's POV---

The small piece of meat was gone sooner than I'd liked. Licking my lips and sniffing my paws to make sure I had indeed finished everything, I eventually let out a saddened sigh. My ears flickered to listen to the rest of the wolves in the room as I turned around in my crate, feeling a bit more comfortable.

I did feel a bit guilty though; the meat wasn't earned, and yet, I ate it. Maybe they were waiting for the right time to attack, when I was asleep or something? Lowering my head to my paws, I froze halfway as came to realize something and lifted my ears up, frustrated that the tip of my right one just flopped around.

Are they...

I slowly pushed myself up on all fours, holding my breath to listen intently at the sounds of the room...or rather the lack thereof. When the silence kept stretching longer and longer, I slowly crept towards the entrance of my crate, licking my nose before sniffing sharply.

"Their scents are still here but..." I poked my head out of the carrier, "They left the room?" My tail twitched, curling against my stomach out of habit as I stayed in my crate. What was I supposed to do?

"Maybe they're just outside, waiting for me to leave the crate. I'm sure that as soon as I take a step outside, that door will fly open and I'll be attacked." I let out a sad sigh and went to lay back in my crate until two set of bowls caught my eye.

Clear liquid shimmered in the soft bedside light that was left on, casting a yellow hue through the room as it reflected off the water and the two shiny bowls. My stomach turned and saliva pooled in my mouth as I realized what was in the second bowl.

"They left the food and water?" I whimpered softly, confused and scared.  Hesitating on the edge, I turned my head back and forth, yawning to relieve some stress before aiming my ears towards the door.

I could still hear them, talking to each other but it seemed that they all went downstairs? Taking a deep breath, I slowly took a step out of the crate and froze. My heart was nearly beating in my throat as I kept my ears pinned, trying to hear anything over the roaring in my ears.

Nothing.

One step was followed by another, hesitant one until I sat just outside my crate, tail curled tightly against my stomach. Maybe I should just get back in the crate...my eyes landed on the food before wincing at the liquid growl of my stomach.

"But I'm hungry..." My paws took me closer to the bowl, each step winding me up even more to the point that as I was certain that if one of those wolves decided to come back upstairs, I'd probably grow sick on the spot.

My nose twitched at the scent of the food and when nothing happened, I quickly rushed to close the distance and dove muzzle first into the bowl. As soon as the first bite was in, my instincts and wolf took complete control.

I nearly inhaled the food, gasping for breath between mouthfuls as I hardly took the time to chew. All I felt from my wolf was the hurry-quick, quick! thought and the intense fear that any moment now, someone was going to steal the delicious food.

The chicken was mildly spicy, which was a new sensation for my tongue and lips but the tingling burn was doused by the rice and the broth it had been cooked in. There were a few vegetables spread between the rice that I didn't know and had never eaten before but I didn't care.

So hungry!

When the bowl was completely empty, I snorted a few times, feeling the tickly sensation of rice sticking to my nose before I licked the grains off. Lowering my nose to the ground, I inspected it closely for any missing grain, licking them up as I found any morsel of spilled food.