Bitter Winter

Chapter 3

I scan my eyes over my new mate's body, his tall, broad form. The way he fills out his black cloak, the way his mountainous chest strains against the fabric of his undershirt with each breath, and the way he was effortlessly supporting my weight. My eyes dart up and down, unable to take in all his perfect, strong details fast enough. Finally, looking up to his face, time comes to a standstill, and I finally find the courage to meet his gaze and I peer straight into his soul through his red orbs, and he looks back into my yellow ones. I feel and see the am flowing between us, connecting us with a pre-emptive bond -

And the moment is shattered by the same deep female voice-, Tess, apparently, smirking, "Of course you get the worst lookin' abused Omega I've seen yet. Jesus Christ, it looks like he took on an entire pack or somethin' and he's just tiny. A male omega, to boot. Only seen a couple o' those." Her expression softens, and she adds, "Go take him home, lover boy. I'll finish up here."

Snapping back to the real world, the huge man scoops me up effortlessly and pulls me in close, inside his warm cloak, unafraid of the bloody muck on my skin. "You're so cold. You can get me dirty, but you gotta get warmed up. I know this is all a lot, but I swear as soon as we're outta here I'll fill you in on everything -" he pauses "I can do that while you eat something. When was the last time you ate?", he begins to question, but quickly sighs. "You know what, I don't want you to answer that."

My head hurt, trying to piece together everything happening but unable to fit pieces together. It's like trying to solve a puzzle without half of the pieces, and I was just generally overwhelmed by the rush of the whole mate thing too. Speaking of mates, I'm absolutely blown away by him. I can't even begin to describe him to myself, I just have to keep looking up into his face, his handsome dirty blonde mohawk and stubble framing a solid warrior's face. Yet, somehow, I see a softness to it; I can't bring myself to believe that he's all violence and war, but I can't quite puzzle out just what makes him tick just from his face. Finally, my ride ends, and he gently places me laid out across the backseat of a car that smelled like everything was right with the world. "Everything is ok now. Just rest", he reassures me, and I allow my lids to slip closed and wait to get 'home' - wherever that is.

"Little one, wake up. We're here", his voice gently rouses me from my dreamless sleep, but I genuinely do not have the energy to lift my eyelids. Somehow, sensing my awakening, he lifts me again, cradling me close to his chest and bringing me into a chamber that smells wonderful, like lavender and rose. "Is it alright if I take these nasty clothes off? I need to clean you up, I suspect some of those wounds are already infected, and I suspect I can't even see some of them beneath the dirt." he asked me while exhaling sharply, nervous. Unwilling to move my painful, bleeding, cracked lips, I nod my head as much as I can manage, only noticeable because he feels the movement, or feeble at attempt at it, against his arms.

I am laid down gently against tile, and I hear a switchblade open, sending trembles down my spine. Quickly, I realize, he is cutting my clothing off - I whimper, because I haven't managed to get new clothes for myself in years, but I trust him anyway. Finally, finishing his task, he slides his arms underneath my body - were they that large the first time? I can't believe how massive they feel - and lowers me into a bathtub, warm like that perfect week in fall before the leaves turn brown. I hear him pick something up and hear the funny sound of a soap bottle being squeezed, and then I feel large, strong hands gently scrub at the dried blood and dirt caking my body.

"My name is Dayn", he begins shakily while he works, continuing to scrub.

"I'm the alpha of the Vastaya pack. I don't know where to start with any of this, because I'm sure you have a million questions. I probably can't answer them all in time, because you're already weak and I'm already feeling the urge to nest, the drive took many hours. I'm glad you rested though, you need to heal." he sped up from his shaky, unconfident words seemingly unable to keep pace with his thoughts. "I just want to get one thing incredibly crystal-clear, right now, and the details will come later: no one should ever be treated the way you clearly were; Omegas have been, are, and will be protected in my pack, and I will never allow anything like this to happen to you ever again. My raison d'etre is freeing slave Omegas and building a pack opposite to the world as it stands." He finished scrubbing, and lifted me gently but slowly, because I am wet and slippery, droplets sliding down my skin and pooling into drops, dripping onto the tile.

"The am must be rewarding me with a beautiful mate like you. I hope that I can prevent what happened to you from happening to anyone, ever again", his deep voiced rumbled with emotion. "I'm going to find who did this and make them pay", his voice darkened from pity to anger, but quickly brightened again, "But first, I need you to eat a really big meal and then I'll build you a nest.", and hugged my wet body close, ignoring the fact that I was currently soaking his clothes. "I'm so lucky to have you as a mate. I thought I didn't have one, I thought I wasn't worthy", he whispered, nearly inaudible, and brought a soft towel around me. "I'm gonna show you every day that I'm worthy, I promise."