Chapter 13
Nicole was pacing in the spot when she finally stopped running. She was shaking as she and Rua were discussing what had just happened.
‘How did she know of our pack? I haven’t spoken the name of our pack aloud since the day we buried our moms. Never heard anyone else say the say our name since before then either.’ The human side said, utterly bewildered and the grief of thinking about that time cut her deeper than any blade could, the old wound opening and she began to cry.
‘The Priestess must know something about our pack. We must question her.’
‘Do you know why some of them reacted in shock when she said our pack name?’ Nicole asked. Sometimes the wolves knew things their human side didn’t.
‘Maybe they heard the same legends we did growing up. Maybe we were the first pack like we were taught.’ The wolf suggested but Nicole chuckled.
‘Mum always said they were just stories.’
Indeed some of her oldest memories was sitting around the pack’s story teller every night with all the other pups and heard the legends and stories of the first fenrir, their direct ancestors.
For the Red Wolf Pack their history was interlinked with the old stories. And the story everyone in their Pack knew was the story of how the gods created them.
When the forests were young and the world pristine the Gods walked amongst the trees and the animals they created. The Moon Goddess herself had created the wolves. Every night she would walk through the forest with the packs but her favourite Pack was the ones that lived in the highest mountains, preferring to be left alone by everyone but the Goddess.
Legend said that one night as she walked down the mountain with the pack they were set upon by an army of big cats who wanted dominion over the land. A leopard grabbed the moon Goddess and dragged her up to the tip of a massive redwood, out of the reach of the wolves.
The red wolves fought valiantly to get their friend back but they were struggling against their foe and unable to climb up the tree. The red wolves were losing numbers but never gave up. Eventually only a handful were left of the Red wolves and the Pack Alpha beseeched the other gods for their help.
The gods were so moved by the Red wolves devotion to their sister that they granted the surviving ones powers to help. They gave them the ability to shift into a new form. A human, with a complex mind and the ability to climb too.
The new creatures were able to climb the tree and fight the leopard, save the Moon Goddess and as a gift they were allowed to keep their new abilities and gave them the honour of being the gods favourite. They returned to their mountain home, ready to answer the gods call again in the future.
Some Alphas left the pack, those who preferred to live as wolves , and Found mates and their offspring created the smaller fenrirs while those who stayed in the Red wolf pack, brought mates into the pack and followed the old ways. They were the strongest. They stayed prepared for war, stayed loyal to the gods and kept to themselves mostly.
Unbeknownst to the Red Wolf pack their origin story had spread far and wide in a few thousand years And become an important part of every fenrir's story. As legendary as the Gods themselves. Most thought they were a myth now. A pack long gone.
Elka, Nicole’s sire, and her dame, Miriam, had been sure to tell her that the stories made some members of their Pack believe they were superior to all others but she was always to remember that if the stories were indeed even a little true, they had a responsibility to always be honourable, kind and to protect those who needed it.
After Nicole lost her pack she truly stopped believing the stories. If the gods had blessed them then why did they get sick and died or were killed in the attack. What had they done to lose their favour? Whether the gods existed or not was of no concern when she was alone, fighting for her life but she tried to stay true to her Parents teachings.
Now here she was having been exposed at the same time she had been struck with Isa's revelation. Her mind was spiralling when Waverly found her.
“Nicole?” the omega whispered as she approached and the alpha gave her a pained look. The smaller woman, much to the Alpha’s surprise the omega stopped her pacing by hugging her tightly around the waist. “it’s OK. It’ll be ok. You’re OK.” Waverly began to say as she pumped out calming pheromones.
Nicole slumped, feeling as though a thirst that she had been suffered for so long was finally quenched. She hadn’t been hugged since before she lost her pack. She was so alone in this world.
Waverly didn’t let go nor did say speak other than to quietly reassure the woman she was OK. Nicole was mortified but she couldn’t stop herself for quite a while. The omega suddenly felt terrible for the Alpha, this woman was obviously in so much pain and she just held the redhead tighter.
When the Alpha stopped crying and stepped back from the omega as she wiped her eyes and mumbled an apology, feeling shame for showing such weakness in front of Waverly and something inside her was breaking as the Omega was looking at her pity and kindness. The omega took her hand and led her to a nearby downed tree to sit without saying anything.
For 15 minutes they sat in silence while Nicole caught her breath, her grief having left her winded and tired. She cleared her throat Awkwardly. “My apologies, Omega Charles. I lost control of myself entirely.” Even Rua was embarrassed for their emotional display but Waverly shushed her.
“Dont apologise. Are you feeling better now?” the omega asked softly, no judgement in her tone. Nicole blew out a hard breath.
“No.” She admitted, unsure why she felt like she could be truthful with the smaller woman, Show vulnerability for the first time. Waverly put a hand on her back and gently rubbed circles in a comforting manner.
“That’s OK. I could tell that was something you’ve been holding that in for a very, very long time.” The omega said and Nicole huffed and looked up at the nights sky through the canopy tree tops.
“You said ‘that makes sense’ when Isa told everyone where I came from. Why?’ Nicole asked, surprising the omega who gave her a confused look.
“Well... it’s everything about you.” Waverly said after an awkward pause and the Alpha frowned, unsure what she meant. “Nicole, you have a wolf twice as big as everyone else’s, you are so powerful, it makes sense that you are one of the Moon Goddesses chosen. It means the stories were true. Yesterday you had your face torn open and today you look almost healed.” The omega finished in disbelief.
“I stopped believing those stories a long time ago. My sire always said we were different because of generations of training and breeding and luck. We were warriors. All of us, from the moment we could walk we were training. Even if the stories werent true, it didn’t change our responsibility to protect. When they all died I stopped believing we ever had the Gods blessing. I hadn’t thought about those stories in years, I try not to think about my pack or my parents. It hurts too much.” The Alpha growled thickly.
Waverly suddenly felt terrible for how she treated the Alpha, she could feel her pain and Angel urged her to comfort the redhead. She moved closer as put her arm around the Alpha’s waist, ignoring how amazing the Alpha smelled and used her other hand to cup the woman’s cheek and guide her head to rest on her shoulder.
Nicole’s life was harder than Waverly could possibly imagine. The omega had never thought about the Alpha’s trials and tribulations until she saw Nicole breaking down. All Waverly felt was shame for how she had spoken to the Alpha before and empathy for her too. They sat in silence for another few minutes, neither wanting to moved but Nicole suddenly stood and stared into the trees.
“What’s wrong?” Waverly asked but Nicole’s mask was back on and she didn’t say anything as the omega heard the sound of a number of wolves were coming this way and Angel told her one of them was Champ. The omega bit back a groan as the blonde wolf appeared with his usual cronies and they all shifted to human.
Champ growled at Nicole and made to shove her back as Waverly let out a surprised cry of protest but the Female Alpha didn’t budge and inch. The male Alpha turned to his girlfriend and shouted.
“What the fuck are you doing with this freak?!” He snarled at her as he grabbed her arm and made to strike Waverly but before he could connect with Waverly’s face Nicole had moved and grabbed him by the throat and pulled him away from the omega who lost her balance and fell against the trunk she had been sitting on with Nicole.
She watched Nicole take the arm he was going to hit Waverly with and snapped his wrist, causing Champ to shrieked in pain before the redhead punched him square in face, watching him crumple to the ground.
Waverly came up behind the female Alpha and much to Nicole’s surprise didn’t check on Champ as she took a hold of the back Nicole's tunic and whispered to the Alpha that they should go back as she looked down at champ who was glaring at her from the ground.
“I have to tell your father about this.” Nicole said to Waverly, her usual even tone back and the omega nodded.
“I know. I’m not going to try and stop you.” Waverly said, shaken a little by the man’s actions. Her voice had a slight tremble and Nicole looked at her closely before her expression softened. She took the omega’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before they continued to make their way back to the village.
“please tell your father I will come to talk to him in the morning?” Nicole said quietly when they got to the forests edge. Waverly nodded before she surprised the exhausted Alpha by hugging her tightly around the waste.
“I will. If you need to talk, Nicole, come find me.” She said before she walked back to the celebrations. Nicole jogged to the cottage and stripped before climbing into bed.
‘Isa said we would find what we are looking for.’ Rua said when Nicole had closed her eyes. “What did she mean?”
“a family, a home, a pack.” Nicole muttered aloud before she fell asleep.