Alpha, Beta, Omega

Chapter Eleven

Kali woke slowly, coming up from the darkness like floating to the surface of the lake after diving in. 

Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring at the crushed and fallen leaves and twigs that littered the forest floor. Darkness had settled over the forest, meaning she'd been out for quite some time and yet she didn't seem to care. Her world had just shattered into tiny pieces. Why should it matter that she'd been in the forest for hours? Why should it matter that no one had probably noticed her absence? Why should anything ever matter again when her mates had just cast her aside like she meant nothing to them?

A low sound, something like a pain filled whine, bubbled up from her chest and she immediately curled into a ball, ignoring the pain in her leg and cheek as tears filled her eyes, sliding silently down her face, dripping to the soil below her and disappearing as though they'd never been in the first place. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to forget the way Thornton and Kay had looked at her. The rage and disappointment. Nothing hurt worse than that. Knowing her mates didn't trust her. That they saw her as someone capable of betraying the most sacred bond their kind had.

Another of those pain filled whines left her and she curled in a tighter ball, the floodgates threatening to burst, hands clenching, fingers digging into the dirt as she fought to push the pain, the grief and the heartbreak, into some corner of her mind where it wouldn't effect her anymore. She wanted to just not feel it. She wanted to be like ice and feel nothing.

She bit her lip as another whine started to bubble up, fighting to force it back down. She wouldn't give them that too. She'd already given them her tears. Even if they hadn't seen it. She wouldn't give them anything more. She wouldn't!

She was so lost to her emotions, to trying to become cold and unfeeling, that she didn't notice she wasn't alone until she heard a twig snap. She reacted instantly, pushing up as quickly as she could, sitting in the leaves and dirt and looking in the direction the snapping twig was. She stilled instantly when she caught sight of a lanky wolf standing just a foot or two from her.

The wolf, male and from the scent of it a Gamma, was small for its rank. The smoky grey and black fur matted and dingy, obviously in need of a good grooming, its eyes were a pale blue, like the fading afternoon sky. It didn't approach her, just stood and watched, body relaxed and at ease.

She drew a deep breath, catching the wolf's scent and she frowned, reaching up to wipe the tears that still clung to her cheeks, dotted her lashes, away with a quick brush of her fingers. She knew that scent. Had only smelled it two or three times but she knew it.

"Samson?"

She watched as the wolf shifted, fur and claws sliding away to reveal the human beneath.

Samson Crowe, Gamma of the Lawton Pack, crouched a few feet from her, watching her.

She'd met him, when Thornton and Kay had first introduced her to the pack as their mate. She had remembered how Kay had told her that Samson was a drunk and problem for the pack. She hadn't seen the man as such. She'd seen a man, beaten down and broken by the world, and she had felt sorry for him. Felt sorry that no one had taken the time to see the real him. To see the pain and hurt and grief in those haunted eyes.

Even now, in the darkness of the forest, she could still see the pain in those eyes.

What she didn't understand was what he was doing here. He was on Henson Pack territory. If he was found Deucalion would kill him as a trespasser. Her mates might think Samson wasn't worth fighting for or protecting but she wasn't going to let the man be hurt just because he'd stumbled a little far from home.

"Samson...you...you can't be here." She moved then, ignoring the still throbbing pain in her ankle and cheek, scooting towards him. "My...The pack...they'll..."

"I saw you run from Thornton's house," Samson said softly, his voice gruff but kind, and it was then that Kali couldn't ever remember the man having spoken so much the few times she been around him. "You were crying. And...well...those two buggers might not have cared enough to make sure you were alright but I just...I..."

Kali felt more tears pool in her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. "You wanted to make sure I was okay."

He gave a small nod and she resisted the urge to just bawl. This man wasn't family or her mate and yet he cared more than Thornton or Kay seemed to. She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently. "You...You didn't have to," she said as she tried to smile. "I'm...I'm fine."

Samson frowned and shook his head. "I don't believe that." He turned his hand in hers and gave a squeeze of his own. "I don't."

"Samson..."

"You're their mate and they did something...something that upset you so much you ran. You wouldn't have run if you were fine."

A low sound passed her lips and she felt more tears spill down her face.

She looked away from him, unable to continue to look at the man who was obviously concerned about her wellbeing and wanted to help her. She wanted her mates to be the ones concerned and wanting to help. She wanted them to be the ones who had chased after her. She wanted...well, she supposed it didn't matter what she wanted. She'd wanted a happy mating with lots of love and acceptance. And look what she'd gotten. Maybe it was fate's way of further making her an oddity. It had already made her a weak and submissive she-wolf so why not give her the illusion of a happy mating only to snatch it away.

Samson squeezed her hand again and made a low sound, a soft, gentle, comforting sound that immediately drew her gaze back to him.

"You..." He paused clearly searching for the words. "You don't have to...talk...we could go for a run...hunt a rabbit or...or something."

It was a natural pack response, to offer a run or hunt as a sign of comfort, and Kali started to say something, to politely say no maybe, but then stopped, a thought coming to her when she saw the soft, nearly unnoticeable look in Samson's eyes, it was a thought she hadn't considered until just that moment. Had anyone bothered to offer Samson that sort of comfort after the hunters had attacked?

She had seen members of Thornton's pack leaning on each other, drawing comfort and strength from one another, but Samson had always seemed to be on the fringes. Pushed to the side to the point that he'd chosen to try and find comfort in the bottom of a bottle of alcohol instead of trying to reach out to someone because they just kept pushing him aside. Like he didn't matter.

A soft sound, similar to the one he had made moments earlier, passed her lips and she gaze a nod.

"A run sounds...sounds great actually."