"Alpha? Can I have your attention, please?" Beta Scott asked, leaning quietly over to Alpha Axton.
Axton nodded and stood up.
"Are you leaving already?" Natalia immediately asked, holding lightly on to his hand.
"No, I just need to do something."
She nodded and let go of him, and he walked away with Beta Scott.
"Greetings, miss." A familiar person said as he approached Natalia, his hands clasped together as he occasionally rubbed, then walked closer to her.
She looked up to him, trying to place where exactly she'd seen him from.
"Oh, you are..."
"Yes, that is me. The omega from the other time. The one who painted."
She nodded in realization and smiled at him. "How are you?" She glanced to his lip, but it looked all healed.
"All good, miss. Thank you for asking." He said, just as another person joined him.
"Greetings," He said to her, then turned to the other omega. "She is the miss?"
The other omega nodded. "Miss, this is my brother. His name is Michael."
"Nice to meet you, Michael." She said to him, but cautiously kept her hands to herself.
"Actually, we came to thank you for standing up for my brother, Olsen. He is really timid and is easily swayed, and we are sorry if it caused any problems between you and the alpha." Michael said, demonstrating to his brother who smiled shyly.
"It is fine, I just did what I was supposed to. I was the one who caused the problem anyway. I am sorry too Olsen."
Olsen shook his head and smiled at her, his cheeks turning red.
"By the way, if you do not mind, miss...we have prepared something for you. Would you like to come see it? We would really appreciate it if you check it out."
Olsen turned to Michael, his smile diminishing. "Huh?"
Michael gave him a small nudge. "He is really shy and is nervous about what you would think. If you think it is too much of a burden, we can just let it be. It is too much of a burden anyway, and his efforts are just too baseless."
She shook her head, pushing away the unsettling feeling that rose in her stomach, seeing the way Olsen didn't seem to like the idea.
Michael looked particularly brave, and talked in an almost daring tone. But Olsen seemed more timid and shy, and she found herself a lot more comfortable with him.
"It is fine. Since Olsen made it, I will go see."
She stood, adjusting her dress. Michael gave a smile that immediately brought back the unsettling feeling, this time even worse than before.
Olsen shook his head, his hair flying in all directions.
"I will help you," Michael said, extending his hand.
She shook her head and made a point to keep her hand behind her. Michael smirked at her gesture while Olsen looked even more scared.
"Can we go now? Axton will soon be back."
"Of course," Michael said, and turned, leading the way.
"What is it?" Axton asked as soon as they were out of the crowd premises.
"The former Beta...he wants to speak to you." Beta Scott said.
"Then he should come meet me at home when I can grant him audience. Why do I have to come out to meet him?"
"I am sorry, alpha. But, he says it is urgent, and he did not look too good."
Axton have a small exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. "I will not grant him audience right now. Natalia is waiting for me, and I want to go back."
Beta Scott nodded. "Actually, I feared it would be too sensitive for miss, that is why I brought you out. I will tell him to meet you some other time."
Axton nodded and turned, the side of his eyes catching a familiar royal blue dress. He didn't have enough time to actually see it, and by the time he turned, he couldn't see it anymore.
He stayed for a bit, then shook his head and made his way back to the ceremony.
Natalia was not where he had left her, and his fear started to grow. Could that dress actually belong to her?
"Did you see Natalia?" He asked the nearest wolf, who nodded.
"She left with two omegas."
"Omegas?" The mix of surprise and disgust were evident in his tone.
'How could she have left with some omegas? Why would she?'
"Is something wrong?" Beta Scott who arrived later asked.
"Natalia is gone. They say she left with two omegas."
"Two omegas? Where could they have gone?"
"I do not care. We need to find her immediately."
Beta Scott nodded and went the opposite way, while Axton too walked back to where he had come from, his intuition almost sure it was her he had seen.
"I am not too sure, Michael. She is not like him. Even the alpha is not the same. If he was, you know I would not have made it out of that house." Olsen said, looking up to his slightly taller, but just as lanky brother.
"You are not the only one he crossed, and you know that. What about father? Should I care that he went soft because of her?"
Olsen bit down on his lip. "I can not do this. I think I will tell the Alpha. She does not deserve this. He let you off once too."
"You coward." Michael suddenly grabbed Olsen by the collar of the faded tunic he was wearing, and lifted him off the ground so they come eye to eye. "You are running your mouth because you were not the one who witnessed how he killed father and threw him aside like some rag doll. You better not dare cross me, or I swear, I will..."
"What are you doing?" Axton's voice same, causing both of them to freeze. "Is it not a little strange how I know both of you? You both are related? It is indeed a small world."
Michael turned, dropping his brother to the floor. "Greetings, Alpha."
Axton didn’t respond and he made his way to him. He tried to keep calm, but inside, he was fidgeting.
"Is she over there?" He asked, pointing at the old depot. It used to be the store up until Axton decided to make it a little closer, hereby abandoning it.
"Who?"
"Do not play dumb with me. Where did you take her?"
Michael smiled. "I am going to kill her, Alpha. You are going to feel it too. I waited so long to make you feel just..."
"Enough with the talk. I have heard lots of that. Take me to her."
Axton's apparent nonchalance only annoyed Michael more.
"How can you be so nonchalant about my father?"
Axton looked at him from head to toe, then simply turned around and walked away. Olsen remained on the floor, his teeth gritted as he watched his brother slowly lose his mind.
Axton ran to the old depot, and looked around for the door. The door was firmly locked, but the window on one side was broken.
He climbed up and went inside it, not minding the small cuts the remaining shards of glass left on his palms and arms.
"Natalia?" He called.
It was silent, eerily silent.
"Natalia?" He called again, his heart thumping faster. He felt even more agitated by the silence.
"Here she is, Alpha."
The voice came from a small room inside the depot, and Axton wasted no time in tracing it.
Natalia was sitting on a chair silently, her hair and face still intact, and there was no apparent harm to her body too. Even the heels she had been wearing was still in place. She wasn't gagged or tied to the chair, but neither did she look like she wanted to escape.
"Natalia." He said again, and this time she looked up.
"Axton," She said it like she knew he would come, like she was anticipating him, not like she was scared. Or in need of help.
"I was just telling her a short story. Turns out she does not know all these beautiful tales and I decided to help her."
"What tales?" Axton asked, his fingers coming together on their own.
"That night when you mercilessly killed my father because I refused to raid a group of witches. It was only your way or no other way, right?" Michael gave a small laugh.
Axton's eyes widened and he turned to Natalia.
"That is..."
"You are not the type to deny your mistakes, Aloha. All my life, I only ever wanted you to pay."
"Then let me. she has nothing to do with this," Alpha Axton said.
"The protective instinct you are showing is only fueling me more, Alpha."
Alpha Axton blinked. He could do a lot of things. The boy was defenseless, the boy was no match, but Natalia. He did not want to do things like that anymore, much less right in front of her. If any thing, he didn't want to see the look Michael was giving him on her eyes too.
"I said, let her go."
"Do you want to know everything that happened that night, miss? I did not want to go to the raid." He paused and chuckled darkly.
Beta Scott arrived the scene just then, a few of the pack's soldiers following him.
Alpha Axton didn't think it was that necessary anymore. They had both been too late. He was going to tell her, but this was not how he had intended for her to know.
The soldiers rounded up Michael, and Alpha Axton stopped them just as they were about to leave.
"Leave them at the healer's home. Make sure they get there safe."
The soldiers nodded, and walked out with him.
Natalia was still sitting, her head lowered, her hair falling on each side of her face.
"Natalia? We can go home now."
She nodded and stood, then took a few steps towards him. When she looked up, her eyes looked cold and emotionless, a sharp contrast with the Natalia he had left the house with.
"The witch village you raided that night...it was my mother's, was it not?"
Alpha Axton took a deep breath, but couldn't bring himself to say a word.
"You were the man who killed her that night, were you not?" She asked again, gritting her teeth as she looked at him, the skin below her eyes starting to redden.
"Yes, Natalia. I am the one responsible for...for your mother's death."