“Ina, come here” Asira was waving at her. “I already took the basket and the knife.” She informed Ina with a bright smile. 

“Give it to me Asira, you will hold the light.” Ina knew that her friend was afraid of darkness and hated going deep into the caves. Ina didn’t mind it, she was used to handling everything on her own. She was an Orphan, her parents died when she was about seven years old. It was a really dry season and they were hunting, they never came back. The pack took care of her as best as they could. 

“Watch out Asira.” Ina held her friend's hand preventing her from falling down a deep hole next to their path. They didn’t talk much, they were focused on following the right way. Soon they reached the cave full of moss growing on the sides of the cave. There were also some glowing mushrooms growing in rock bends. They were beautiful but toxic.

“Let’s hurry, I always get the creepy feeling whenever I’m here.” Asira complained.

“Sure.” Ina worked skillfully with her knife cutting the moss and placing green bundles in the basket. As soon as they finished they started walking back to the main cave. 

“Ina, I need to tell you something.”

“Sounds like a secret.”

Asira giggled, and Ina felt instantly what she was about to hear.

“Don’t tell me, you finally confessed to Idir?”

“I did and guess what?”

There was no need for guessing, hearing Asira’s happy voice, Ina already knew the answer.

“He said no?” She wanted to tease her friend a bit.

A light pat on her shoulder followed. 

“He said he really likes me too and we are a couple now.” Ina looked back at the bright from inner joy face.

“I’m so happy for you Asira.” the little Omega hugged her.

“Ina, Idir told me that Uri has been asking him about you.” There, a meaningful look followed and Asira grabbed Ina’s hand. 

“That would be perfect for you Ina, you are so pretty and he is the Alpha’s son.”

“Ina, I’m nobody in this pack, I bet his father wouldn’t approve of such a connection.”

“Well you never know, after all he is the second not the first son” Asira shrugged her shoulders and they stepped into the main cave lit by the light falling through two holes in the cave vaulting. In the middle there was a huge fireplace and the fire was already lit and cracking sound along with quiet discussions made that cave alive. 

“We’ve got the moss.” Ina handed the collected green stuff to the pack’s cook. There was a little meat, some mushrooms and leaves already floating on the surface, now the moss has been added and the whole thing was spiced by some herbs and salt.  It didn’t take long till it was ready.

Ina with two other Omega’s were helping with the distribution of hot soup, handing in the filled bowles and little pieces of flatbread.  Uri came straight to her, his black eyes were fixed on Ina and she felt somehow uneasy. Looking at him Ina knew Asira was right, Uri was interested in her.

For the next few days Ina was followed, everywhere she went the black eyes were always stuck to her. She was now fully aware of it. Did Uri always show so much interest in her, or was she conscious of him because of what Asira said. Ina couldn’t tell, but yes she felt flattered by that interest. She even allowed herself to imagine how it would have felt if those strong arms were hugging her. Uri was quite handsome with short black hair and that manly defined jaw. A perfect picture of an Alpha. Ina was looking at him from the corner where she was standing and judging every bit of his body she could see.  Uri noticed her gaze and Ina blushed, damn she was caught staring at him. Ina turned around only to face Noah.

“Come with me, I want to show you something.” Noah grabbed her hand and was pulling her behind. Ina followed him gladly as he gave her a perfect excuse to get away from Uri's sight. Noah was two years younger but he was as tall as Ina. Ina liked him a lot, he was kind of her younger brother. She followed him without asking for a while deep into the grounds to the west from their home. They passed a few rocks scattered around the area till they reached a small shaded place hidden behind a broad rock. Then Ina noticed them, water plants. They were rare. 

“Oh my good, Noah! How did you find them?” 

“I’m a good tracker, I will be a hunter. You will see Ina, not only Alphas are important, Betas can be excellent too.” He was smiling at her kicking with his foot in the pile of dust

“I’m sure you will, you already are.” Ina patted him on his curly brown hair.

“I will gain muscles too Ina, I will be tall and strong, just like Uri.” He looked at her attentively. Ina managed to keep her cool appearance, wondering why he brought Uri up. Was she so obvious?

“Let’s try the water plants.” Ina decided to change the subject as she suddenly felt uncomfortable. 

Waterplants had thick leaves full of juice that tasted a bit sour and were really refreshing. It was a good substitute if you had no water. They were hard to find and Noah was lucky to come across a whole bunch of them. Their leaves were still thick with water. One had to be careful while picking the leaves as there were sharp thorns protecting the plant.  Ina was immersed in the moment of pleasure when they heard horses. The drumming of horses' hooves was getting closer, it definitely wasn't only one horse. Horses belonged to the ones living in the city. Meeting them in the open space meant nothing good.