Crap!

“I, er, gotta go, guys. See ya.” While Teru was thankful to leave, he was terrified of the nagging that was soon to come.

“Sorry,” Lucas said quietly.

“It’s all good. See you later tonight?”

“Of course.”

At that, Teru quickly got out of the water. His mom went to grab his ear and yank him away. He dodged to avoid it, seeing it coming from a mile away. “Mom, I’m not a pu—”

“Stop,” she snapped. Her harsh tone surprised him. “You know you can’t go on this side of the lake. Age doesn’t matter. You’re an omega. They are alphas. Ultimately, their instinct is to take you as their mate.”

“I think they can control themselves,” Teru talked back. “I’ve known them my whole life. None of them should be due for a rut anytime soon, anyway!”

They were almost to the beta side of the lake.

She sighed. “No, I don’t think you understand, Teru. We always kept you away from alphas during their rut season. So you have never even seen it! Your first heat hasn’t come yet, either, for Pete’s sake! You're at that age now! Who knows when it’ll come? When I saw all of you naked together… heavens. That’s like throwing a piece of meat to hungry wolves. And Lucas…”

“What about him?” Teru said. His muscles tensed.

“For one, he should’ve known better than to put you in that situation. I’m disappointed in both of you. I know he’s your best friend but at the end of the day… he’s also an alpha. Rolling like thunder on the ground isn’t appropriate for your age. It was fine when you were pups but now I’m wondering if it’s time to set clear boundaries. He might think you’re leading him on.”

“‘Leading him on?’” Teru stopped in his tracks. He felt his face heat up from her words. “I wasn’t doing that. Lucas thinks of me only as his friend, too.”

“My son,” she said affectionately and touched his cheek. There was pity in her eyes. “I’m worried about you. I am just a beta. An alpha is an alpha. I can’t control or stop them if they force themselves onto you…”

She covered her mouth with her hand, tearing up at the thought of Teru being in trouble. His gender always made her worry.

Teru hugged her. “Okay, okay. I understand that it was stupid. Don’t cry, please. I won’t stop being friends with Lucas but I’ll be careful.”

They parted. Teru went ahead to finish bathing with the betas. She looked on with apprehension, tsking at his ignorance.

***

Later that night, the pack gathered around the bonfires. To prevent being seen by one large fire, they made several small pits. They laughed and danced, happy to be out of the caves. The stars twinkled above, giving a full view of the shimmering galaxy. The storyteller had a tale that humans used to produce so much light that the night sky was heavily polluted.

Teru watched the toddler pups running after the fireflies. The adults swayed, loosened by their handmade wine. The smell of roasting boar meat permeated the air. It had been weeks since everyone ate a fresh meal. Something that wasn’t jerky, pickled, or canned from two centuries ago.

Lucas sat beside him, conversing with another alpha. His knuckle made light circles on Teru’s calf. When the omega was stressed, Lucas would do this, knowing it relaxed him. And after the minor incident at the lake, well, Teru needed it.

His mother was at the firepit beside theirs, watching Lucas’s hand. She frowned but didn’t say anything. She was being more overprotective than usual.

What in the world is up with her lately?

Teru turned his attention to the pack's storyteller, an older beta in his fifties. Clarence was reciting stories to the younger ones. This particular one was about vampires, a topic used to scare pups into being careful. They listened intently and clung to each other.

He smiled to himself, reminiscing about how he and Lucas were also terrified, doing the same when hearing it for the first time.

“And then the United States of America and Canada finally fell into ruin at the hand of Abaddon, the archangel of the abyss. His job was to bring forth a wave of locusts from inside the Earth. These bugs ate all our food and plants. Some were prophesied to be monsters. They tormented men until death. Abaddon is the 5th trumpet of the apocalypse out of seven. Can anyone tell me what a ‘trumpet’ was again?”

“A-angels that destroy everything,” a boy stammered.

“Hmm. Sort of. But the main purpose of their destruction is to serve as a wake-up call for sinning mortals. After sounding his trumpet, Abaddon was tempted by the vampires’ way of life. He became one himself. He was turned by the original vampire. After he became king and married, the land was renamed. We are now called Avania.”

Clarence’s face darkened, hoping to make a scary effect. “But his betrayal by not finishing the job had cursed his wings. The details of how they were cursed were lost over time, so I do not know. Queen Lily hides often and doesn’t interfere with the country’s politics. But some say sh—”

“Why do angels have wings?” one pup asked. She was four winter seasons old.

“The heavens made them that way.”

“Can I have wings, too?”

“No.”

“Who was the original vampire?”

Clarence scrunched his face when he tried to recall. “No one knows, but he must be the most vicious of all.”

“So wh—?”

“Hush! No more interruptions! Where was I…? Let’s see. Oh, yes. Since Abaddon never completed his part in the apocalypse, the next trumpet never started. Whenever it does, it will be a terrible force of fire and death! Led by a ruthless army! Our suffering isn’t finished!”

There was silence. Then some of the pups started crying at the sudden ending. This type of reaction was normal. Clarence was the storyteller but he lost his touch.

“You forgot about the ‘deadly’ vampire children,” Teru reminded him in a whisper. Two of the pups ran over to Teru, clutching his legs for protection.

The storyteller’s eyes widened. “Yes! I’m getting too old to remember everything. Queen Lily had seven offspring from previous mates, all with different fathers. They are known as the Seven Deadly Sins. The youngest is Lust, followed by Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, and Envy.”

His voice lowered. “The oldest is Pride—the most dangerous of them all. Pride has fangs bigger than your hand, eyes that are the darkest red, and a hideous face that will paralyze you for life. He will suck all of your blood in seconds, leaving not a drop. And if you're a bad pup before bedtime, he will come for you.”

All the pups were weeping so much that they didn’t want Pride to eat them.

“And, uh, what else?” Clarence mumbled to himself. “There was one more thing.”

“Hey,” Teru hissed to get his attention. “The symbols.”

“I knew that, boy! The Seven Deadly Sins have a tattoo on their body.” Clarence drew seven barely legible symbols in the dirt with a stick: snake, vulture, fox, cuckoo bird, bear, dog, and lion.

“If you ever see these on a vampire… run.”

Teru was done reminding him of the other details, despite Clarence forgetting to mention what animal logos went with which Sin. It didn’t matter, though. The whole thing was a silly legend to make pups wary of the world. Teru himself stopped believing in it when he was younger.

The little ones crying about Pride returned to their parents, who were annoyed that they had to deal with an upset pup before sleeping. Teru had to pry off their tiny hands, cooing them to go back to their mothers.

He warmly observed everyone, resting his head on his hand. These moments made him appreciate being outside. In the caves, it was difficult to be lighthearted. Not only was it dreary and stressful to maneuver the underground system, but a lot of… disturbing things could happen there. His mind had purposely erased some of those instances he wanted to forget.

The pack didn’t have much, but all Teru needed was his family and a space to be free.

A light graze skimmed over his nape’s birthmark. Teru flinched. He disliked being touched there, igniting his fight-or-flight response. Supposedly, if an alpha were to bite his nape, it would bind him for life to that person. No one really knew what exactly would happen, not until Teru was marked. The unknown circumstances of being bitten on the nape made him panic inside whenever he thought about it.

And frankly, he wasn’t fond of the general idea of being tethered to a mate who wanted to control him.

Such as this guy. The alpha approaching him was familiar, but not welcome.

Teru gave off a low purr from his chest to warn the offender. It translated to Don’t touch me. It was a vocal frequency betas couldn’t do.

“Whoa there, my omega, take it easy. I was merely thinking how unfortunate it is that you have that birthmark on your neck. It won’t look good between my teeth marks.”

Nolan. At 24 summer seasons old, he was the Valley Pack’s youngest leader in its history—and the dominant alpha that wanted to mark Teru as his mate.