A new day dawned on the village below, leaving behind a rosy hue across the heavens. Warm yellow rays wafted through the window of the small, cozy home and landed on three individuals still sound asleep. The village suddenly came to life as tiny friends of feathers came to visit. Their birdsong was gentle and their melody sweet enough to lull those half-awake back into a deep sleep.
Noah was the first to awaken; he stretched out his limbs. His bright-hazel eyes greeted the ceiling, but he felt numb. His mind was in a state of despondency and he no longer knew how to act. Plastering on an artificial smile, he tried to make light of his trauma. What happened with Axel didn't affect him as much as he thought it would. A little growl could be heard in response—it seemed to be disagreeing with him, but Noah ignored the disapproval in favor of focusing on the wolf inside him instead.
This caused him to wonder if it was a figment of his imagination, or if it really was his wolf. "Hello," he greeted. Just as fast as it appeared, it disappeared. 'I scared him away.' Disappointed, Noah could only head to the kitchen and grab the leftovers from yesterday that he was unable to eat.
A single bite. Delicious. He didn't know if it was the atmosphere, but tears began to flood his eyes. What occurred yesterday had left him shaken. Because of that, he ended up not being able to meet with the visiting pack. Would they think badly of him? His mind began to wander off and go back to the areas where Axel had touched him. It caused him to feel like upchucking everything he had just eaten.
He wanted to rub his skin raw. It was early in the morning, so he knew that no one would be bathing in the river. The people in his pack were not early risers when it wasn't a hunting day.
He thought about bathing all by himself. To be fair, it sounded appealing to him. He wouldn't have to worry about unnecessary comments or Axel any longer, and the incident didn't actually... "Axel didn't actually go through with it..." he said in an attempt to convince himself, and in the end, it worked.
He stood up from his seat after finishing his small breakfast and began packing his needed cleansing items. All he wanted to do at that moment was to wash off the dirty feeling pervading his body.
He headed to his parents' room, shook them awake and told them his plans. What he wasn't expecting was a panicked refusal from the both of them.
My mom's eyes were wide, "If you really want to go, let your father walk you there." She reached up to touch his cheek in what Noah felt was her way of reassuring him. He could feel the slight tremors from her hand. I gave a small smile but rejected the offer, "You don't have to worry about anything, mom. Dad took care of Axel, and it's early in the morning. Nobody is awake at this time. ' Her eyes shone with concern. She looked at her husband before they mumbled back to me in confirmation, albeit reluctantly, that they understood.
"If you don't come back within thirty minutes, we're going to assume something happened to you." My mother said to me before I left:
The village, contrary to popular belief, was very large. My house was right across from the center. A bunch of houses encircled the center, similar to that of a town square. All the houses looked the same on the outside and inside: wooden and small. The size didn't really matter because everyone was outside most of the time. Outside of the house, the ground and pathways were made out of paved textured stone.
As you headed west, you would find a clear, wide river used for bathing and cleaning laundry, warm in the morning and cold in the afternoons and at night. Although I myself much prefer warmer water, apparently alphas liked colder water, so over the years of bathing in cold water I developed a tolerance to the cold—although I did get sick a couple of times, in the beginning, it didn't stop me because we wolves had a fast regeneration speed. My fever went away pretty fast and I rejoined my kin. Nothing would stop an unconventional alpha like me.
To the east of his house was the marketplace where merchants and visitors alike would go to sell handcrafted materials or hunter meat. It was rare to have visitors as the entire village is surrounded by thick woods. The hunting team, including myself, would go to the marketplace to turn in our catches of the day. It would be enough to feed the village for a few days.
To the north was the entrance to our village. The area there was cleared of trees, which allowed visitors to be checked more thoroughly by the guards and protect the villagers. There were no walls erected around our village as we believed to only take as much wood as we needed, in replacement, our soldiers would spend 3-hour intervals guarding the village before switching out with the other guards in protecting the surrounding area and checking the woods for any rogue wolves.
I began to head west before I heard an unfamiliar voice call out. I turned around to see a beautiful young lady about the same height as my mother, at 5'3. She had bright blue eyes, a sharp nose, and pink lips. Her skin could rival mine in paleness, and she had blonde hair. Behind her, I saw six others, and all of them were equally as beautiful as the girl before me. Two of them had strawberry blonde hair, the former's was a bit darker and the latter one's was a bit lighter. One with brown eyes and the other with green. They were tan and wore some unfamiliar clothing. Both were female; one looked to be 5'9 and the other I thought to be 5'5. I noticed a short, pale female with short black hair. She was very cute and wore the same outfit as the others. Her height looked to be 5'0. The last two were males. One had ginger hair like my father, with green eyes and fair skin. He looked like he was 5'6. The other one had short dreads, brown eyes, and was darker skinned. He looked to be 5'8. I believed I was the tallest at 5'11, but I inherited some of my dad's height, recalling that he was almost 6'3.
'Are they the ones from the visiting pack?' As they had never met, Noah had no idea how to greet them, and so he awkwardly waited until they reached him. They all looked like they came straight out of a painting. He averted his gaze, afraid of being called out for staring for too long.
"Hi there! Are you the one we didn't get to meet yesterday? We heard that an emergency happened, so you couldn't come. " The blonde girl said, her voice was light and airy like a wind instrument. It was very pleasant and calming to listen to.
"Yes, well, something dire had come up at the time and I couldn't really..." I answered vaguely, not really willing to elaborate with complete strangers. Flashes of the incident popped into his mind, and he shook his head to get rid of the intrusive thoughts.
"Oh no... Well, I'm glad to know you're doing better seeing as you're outside now. Perdon my manners. Let me introduce myself and my friends. I'm Reina. The girl with strawberry red hair and green eyes is Remy. The one with brown eyes is Dara. The cute Asian girl is Holly, and those two boys over there are Oliver and Benjamin. Oliver is the redhead, and Benjamin—I call him Benji—is the one with the short dreads. They wave at Noah, smiles of various sizes on their faces.
I smiled back at them. "Glad to meet you all. My name is Noah. " They stared at my face for a long time. 'Did I have food stuck on my face?' I touched my lips just in case to find nothing. I could only brush it off.
"We were hoping you could direct us to the bathing area. We kind of got lost..." Reina began to laugh out of embarrassment. She avoided looking at the others, already knowing what they were about to say.
"We wouldn't have gotten lost if you hadn't run off last night when the chief was giving us directions on where everything was located. Your brother made us search for you at night without any sort of please or thank you. I swear that man lacks common courtesy for anyone that isn't you. " Dara said, eyebrows narrowed and lips pursed in a thin line.
"It was just that I saw a bug on the ground that I've never seen before. I got a bit excited because I didn't have that specific one in my collection. " Reina explained, twisting her hair into little spirals.
"You're such a nerd." Oliver heaved.
'It seemed as though they wanted to go to the bathing area. Well then, I guess my plans for today no longer mattered. Though I must admit that their group is smaller than I had expected. ' I looked at the items they were carrying. They had been getting tired from holding them up. I shouldn't waste any more of their time; they are guests, after all.
"Ok." I said. "I was already on my way to the bathing area. If you follow me, I will take you there directly," I say as I begin walking.
"Um, Noah! Could you please wait a bit longer? My brother is coming. " She said apologetically.
"Gael is coming? Here I thought I could finally have time to spend time with my friends..." Holly said dejectedly.
"I thought so too. This is such a disappointment. Even if your brother is hot-" At that, Reina begins to sputter, "and good at fighting, our pack trained us so that we could do self-defense in case anything did happen." Benjamin said.
"Yeah, but my brother doesn't want to see us get hurt. He's kind like that." Reina defended her brother. "We've all been together since childhood. You guys should know his personality by now! " She pouted.
"Kind? That guy, right? Don't make me laugh! " Dara started before someone placed their hand on her head, clenching it tightly. She lifted her head slowly in fear and, just as she expected, ended up seeing Gael.
"Who are you talking about?" Gael said in a cold tone, his voice deep and smooth like velvet.
She began to sweat heavily and said nothing.
Gael looked at his sister and her gang of friends. "I was told to come here by our mother and father. I could care less about what the rest of you think." He said before locking eyes with Noah.
Noah's heart thumped; the other person was so handsome.
He had never expected Reina's brother to look like this. Gael looked to be as tall as his dad. The other person's eyes were silver with slivers of gold in them. His jawline looked like it could cut stone, and his hair was pitch-black. His skin was slightly tanned and muscles could be seen even with his shirt on, showing that he was probably a lot more ripped than he was showing. Compared to his dad, he wasn't as hairy, thick in size, or burly.
Well, what can you do in the face of naturally blessed people? He averted his eyes and continued, "Ok, then please follow me." He brought them towards the direction of the river.
The cheerful camaraderie that had been there in the beginning had stopped once Gael had joined the group. A thick tension could be felt, but the only ones who hadn't noticed the strangeness in the air were, of course, Gael and Reina, who were the causes of it in the first place.
Noah glanced back and saw Gael walking confidently alongside the others. He was just so cool... He couldn't wait until he presented as an alpha.
They finally arrived at the river. Immediately, everyone's mood brightened up, and they began to strip. I felt a huge culture shock befall me as they did so. Was this what other packs did? Didn't they realize that he was a stranger and an alpha as well? Is it normal for the guys and girls to bathe together where they're from? When I saw them all go in to bathe together, I immediately turned around and attempted to leave the situation.
Unluckily for me, Gael had noticed my attempt to leave and called me out. He wasn't undressed like the others and had found a spot under a tree to watch them under. He guessed it was in case something bad ended up happening. Noah understood because it had just happened to him yesterday. 'Obviously they would be comfortable stripping in front of Gael because they all grew up together, but for me, someone they've only met today and an alpha?' I ignored the fact that I hadn't presented as an alpha yet.
"Do you also plan on bathing too?" He asked suddenly.
I couldn't tell what he was thinking when he said that, so I just stared back at him while trying to keep my turbulent emotions under control. Before I could tell them that I had planned to bathe on my own and had brought them here as a favor. Reina began to shout my name, which soon caused the others to copy her.
"Come on, Noah! There's plenty of room in the river. " Reina yelled out, standing up in the water unabashedly.
"Yeah! We're all omega's here... except for that guy there, but you don't have to worry about him attacking you. He's got no feelings for anyone other than his sister! " Remy said.
At those words, Reina splashed Remy's face with water.
My eyes widened in understanding. 'So they mistook me as an omega? So that means that Oliver and Benjamin are male omegas. ' Noah's eyes widened at the thought.
"Quit standing there and join us!" Oliver shouted. His pale body blinded my eyes in all of his n*ked glory.
I continue to stand there dazedly, doing the opposite of what Oliver wanted.
"If you don't want me to see you undressed, I'll leave," Gael said suddenly, and stood up.
Everyone gasped in shock. Gael... caring about another person's feelings? Even Reina had her mouth open. At Gael's expression, a thought suddenly popped into Noah's mind. He had to say something.
He hurriedly stopped Gael, "It's fine if you don't leave. I'm just not really comfortable bathing with strangers."
At that, Noah could suddenly feel the mood plummet.
"What do you mean, strangers? I thought we were already friends! " Oliver yelled out with cupped hands.
Noah had no idea what to say. They were being so insistent that he couldn't refuse. He bit his lip in contemplation. 'I lost my chance to leave. Would it be suspicious if he decided to leave even after they were being so welcoming? ' He weighed the pros and cons, but there were only cons. 'Firstly, it's against my morals to bathe with omegas. Secondly, there was a high chance of the others finding out he was an alpha. The chief would then hear about the situation and exile me like he did with Axel. The other pack leader might end up waging war against our village because of me! ' My imagination went wild. I closed my eyes and reopened them. This wasn't right.
Before he could fully leave the bathing area, he was suddenly pulled into the river. The water soaked through his clothes as he fell in. The sudden action disoriented him as he went deep into the river and left him sputtering as he resurfaced, gasping for air.
"Sorry, Noah. You weren't coming in, so we had to drag you in ourselves! " Benjamin said. His tone was mischievous. To Noah, it didn't sound like he was sorry at all.
"You were much lighter than we had expected. Are you hurt?" Holly asked the other. She reached out a hand for the other to grab, 'If that was the case, then they would have only needed one person to drag Noah in.' She looked at the other omega with guilt. He could have gotten concussed and he ended up falling so deep.
Noah grabbed her hand and was surprised when he was pulled up immediately. She was a lot stronger than he had expected. She was so petite as well. Where was she hiding all of that strength?
The others surrounded Noah in worry. Even Benjamin was no longer joking about the situation, "Are you angry, Noah?" He looked at the other man with guilt-filled eyes.
Normally, Noah would have enjoyed the little prank, but at that moment, he only found it a bit awkward. He averted his gaze from the naked bodies surrounding him and looked upwards towards where he had last seen Gael and discovered that he was no longer there. He could only let out a sigh of relief. For some reason, he was more nervous with the alpha around than when he was with the group of omegas.
"I'm not angry and I'm not hurt either," The prank could have gone wrong in so many ways; he was just glad that he hadn't ended up landing on anybody while he had gotten pulled in.
"Well, since you're not hurt, you might as well start stripping. It's weird to see that you still have your clothes on while we don't. Enjoy the water~ It's warm and you're already wet. Don't think too hard about things and just go with the flow. " Dara told Noah.
Noah looked at his reflection in the water. 'I guess it should be fine. It's not like I've presented as an alpha yet. ' Making up his mind, Noah began to take off his clothes and threw them as hard as he could towards the river bank. Unfortunately, his bathing materials and towel had gotten washed away as he had been holding onto the items when he had gotten pulled in.
"Oh gee, what a rockin' body!" Dara covered her mouth as she whistled in appreciation. "Your freckles really make you stand out." She turned to look at Gael to see if the alpha was taking a peep and saw that he was nowhere to be found. She was a bit disappointed as she wanted to see the alpha's reaction, but at least he was keeping his word.
Noah, on the other hand, ignored the other girl's words. The comments didn't bother him as much as when his packmates would say it, and Gael wasn't around to hear it being said. He dipped himself in the warm water. Other than that, it was the first time in a while that he had felt comfortable bathing. As he no longer had any bathing materials, he resorted to using the fresh water and his hands. He remembered to clean the dirty areas that Axel touched with his hands, and rubbed himself until his skin turned red. His body began to heat up, but Noah chalked it up as being due to the friction of him rubbing his skin raw earlier.
The feeling was strange, and he noticed his skin beginning to heat up even more. He began to feel dizzy. The smell of a faint citrus scent began to permeate the area. It got stronger and stronger over time, and he began to lose control of his senses.
Apparently, the smell also caused something to stir within the other omegas, because when I looked up from where I sat, Reina was standing right in front of me.
"I noticed that you didn't have any soap. Since it was mainly our fault that you had lost your belongings, you wouldn't mind if we helped you out? " Reina said her intentions were not getting through to Noah's mind. Everyone pulled out their soap and attempted to wash his body.
As his mind slightly cleared from shock, Noah grabbed their hands and stood up.
"It's fine. I can handle it on my own. "