Chapter 4 Strawberry Field

Third Person's POV

Atticus tried to pretend he was listening as Tristan told one of the many stories of his teenage life for what seemed like the 100th time. Atticus heard these stories so many times, he knows them by heart. 

But as much as it annoys Atticus to hear these stories over and over again, he can't bring himself to quiet his Beta or remind him how many times he's heard these stories. These are stories of people Tristan will never see again. Experiences that he can only remember, instead of having new ones with people who were once family, friends, and fellow pack members. So instead he keeps quiet, nodding his head and letting his friend reminisce and remember the good times he had with those who are long gone.

"So, who do you think will be River's mate?" Tristan asked, catching the Alpha off guard. Atticus furrowed his eyebrows at his Beta and tilted his head.

"I don't know. What makes you so sure his mate will be in our pack?"

"I'm not. But aren't you curious to know? I just hope it's not Nick, Rose would be devastated!" 

"It could be Rose," Atticus said and Tristan shook his head.

"No, Rose is too submissive. Besides, her mate died during the attack. 

"She could have a second mate. You're the one who told me that was possible." Atticus said and Tristan let out a sigh. 

"I suppose she could have a second mate out there somewhere. But I honestly hope she doesn't. It would be devastating for Rose and Nick."

"You're mean! I'm telling on you!" The sound of River's voice could be heard just before Atticus and Tristan enter the camp. As soon as they clear the tree line, River pushes his lip out and runs to the Alpha.

"Annabelle is mean! She cheats every time she plays with me!" River whined as the Alpha scooped him off his feet and into his arms.

"Is that so? You know, she cheats when she plays with me too!" The Alpha said and River pulled his head back and looked at the Alpha shocked, before turning and glaring at Annabelle. 

River growled when Annabelle threw her head back laughing. The Alpha rubbed the angry Omega's back and chuckled, shocking River and half of the group. 

Atticus raised an eyebrow when he saw the shocked look on Tristan's face.

"What?"

"Nothing, I mean, I just never heard that sound come from you before. I think Hell has definitely frozen over!" The Beta smirked and the Alpha glared at him.

"Come on, let's get you tucked in. We have to get up bright and early to head out." The Alpha said, knowing it was time to abandon camp and move along. They've been here for 2 weeks, and the enemy is getting closer. 

River squirms out of the Alpha's arms so he can go to the bathroom one last time before bed. He grabs onto the Beta’s hand and tugs on it, dragging the Beta with him. 

River is one of the few people who's not allowed to roam too far alone. He's incredibly small, the smallest in the group at 5'5, and nowhere near strong enough to defend himself. River is comfortable enough with everyone in the group, that when he needs to go, he just grabs the closest person and drags them with him.

"All right everyone. You know we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Make sure everything is packed so we don't have to do much in the morning. We can hit the strawberry patch that Austin found today, on our way out." 

The Alpha felt bad when he saw the disappointment in their eyes that they had to leave again. Even though they didn't have a roof over their heads, it was starting to feel like home.

The Alpha opened his arms and the little Omega curled up against him, nuzzling against his chest and getting comfortable. Tristan chuckled, loving how adorable and affectionate River was with everyone, including the big bad Alpha. 

"And what if he's your mate?" The Alpha heard Tristan through the link and his eyes snapped open. 

He stared at Tristan for a moment before glancing down at the little Omega and then closing his eyes again.

"He's not. I already told you, my mate died as an infant." Atticus replied through the link.

"He could be your second chance mate."

"He's not!"

"You don't know that, he's not 18 yet." 

"Well, first of all, some wolves, the ones of age, can catch the faintest scent of their mate and feel the connection if their mate is close enough to 18.

I on the other hand would be able to tell as soon as my mate was born. I wouldn't even need to be near them. I would feel the pull to them like magnets being drawn together. That's also how I would find them. That pull would guide me to them. 

He is not. Granted I was young when I felt my mate die, but I would still feel the pull if I had a second chance mate, and I don't feel it. Therefore I do not have one, and haven't for hundreds of years."

"Oh... I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad I don't have one. I don't have to worry about their safety in this crazy world. They would just be one more weakness that my enemies can use against me. They would go for my mate knowing I would do anything in my power to protect them. It already hurts me enough when they hurt our people. It would be that much worse if it was my mate." 

"Maybe one day we'll find someone who can help us eliminate these assholes. Then the Goddess will know it's safe and give you a mate. Maybe that's why you haven't had one yet. She's waiting for the right time, and we just haven't gotten there yet."

Atticus reaches out and squeezes Tristan's hand before wrapping his arm around the Omega again and closing his eyes.

"Good night Tristan."

"Good night Atticus," the Alpha opened his eyes and looked at Tristan. The Beta had already closed his eyes but the Alpha continued looking at him for a moment. Out of all the people here, he feels the deepest connection to him. Tristan knows his deepest darkest secret, and he's kept that secret. He's the closest thing Atticus has had to family in so, so long. He's the only person that ever uses his name, although he doesn't use it often. But when he does, it surprises the Alpha, he likes it. 

The Alpha's eyes closed and he hoped this night wouldn't be as cold as the last few nights. 

Just as the Alpha begins falling asleep, his eyes snap open and he quickly sits up, his hand goes to his neck as he hisses. He looks at his hand, expecting to see blood before touching his neck again. He looked down at his hand once more, nothing, no blood.

Atticus looked around, scanning the camp and tree lines, but everything looked normal. There was no odd scent, no scent of an intruder, and all of his people were almost asleep. 

"Are you okay?" A soft voice asked, and the Alpha looked down to see River looking at him concerned.

"Yeah, must have been a mosquito." The Alpha lied as he laid back down and pulled the Omega into his arms again.

It was definitely not a mosquito, It felt like someone bit him. What the hell was that? It burned like a bitch. It was a feeling the Alpha had never felt before. The ache was slowly fading, but a strange new sensation began to build inside him. What is this? It almost felt like a beacon, but not a mate. It didn't have the same type of pull. He couldn't feel who they were like he would if they were mates. It was just a strange beacon out in the open world, calling to him to come find it.

….

Atticus watches his people as they sit in the strawberry patch, eating strawberries for breakfast. The little Omega happily hums as he stuffs his face with one strawberry after another. Jared chuckles when he looks over and sees strawberry bits all over the Omega face. 

River's eyes widen when Jared reaches up and wipes the strawberry from the corner of his mouth. Jared's thumb touches his lower lip as he pulls his hand back. River's heart races in his chest when he looks at Jared and sees he's staring at his lips. 

River quickly looks away and clears his throat before shoving another strawberry in his mouth. 

The Alpha's body begins shaking as a very excited Beta grabs ahold of his arm and begins shaking it.

"Holy shit! Did you see that?! Jared likes River! Oh, my Goddess, I'm going to die!" Tristan's excited voice rings through the Alpha's head.

"If you don't stop shaking my arm I'm going to throw you across the field!"

"Oh, sorry! But seriously, did you see that? I should have seen it! It makes sense now. Whenever he's passing out food Jared always feeds River first, and he sits next to him a lot." The Beta was so excited he could barely contain it. He wanted to run over there and hug them, but instead, he sat there with a smile beaming on his face.

The Alpha let out an exaggerated breath as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Everyone sits next to River a lot. And for the most part, everyone feeds him first because he's the youngest and always seems to be starving."

"Well, but, but, what about the way he's looking at him? You can't deny that!

The Alpha lets out another breath as he looks at the two and has to admit, Jared couldn't keep his eyes off of River. It's the first time the Alpha noticed anyone looking at River like this.

"No, you are right. He's definitely looking at River in a way no one else has... I wonder if he is his mate and he feels the pull because River is so close to his birthday." The Alpha said through the link and Tristan squealed as he began shaking the Alpha's arm again.

Atticus closed his eyes and groaned before grabbing Tristan's wrist to stop the violent movements.

"For the love of goddess, will you-" the Alpha suddenly went quiet and he quickly stood to his feet. His eyes scanned the tree line as he took a deep breath in, the scent of Ash filled the air around him as Draven came forward to use his sensitive nose. 

It was too late. The strong scent of the strawberries in the field around them, and the conversation distracted the Alpha, and the enemies quickly poured out of the tree line. 

Jared quickly stood to his feet, pulling River with him and pushing River behind his back.

The scent of Ash became stronger as Draven came all the way forward with Atticus, extending his long razor-sharp claws. Atticus growled as four enemies charged him. 

The scene quickly became chaos as everyone began fighting. Jared tried his best to keep himself between the enemies and River. 

"River Please, run! I can't fight them off! There's too many." Jared pleaded when River wasn't running. Instead, River stood frozen in place as he watched the gruesome scene in front of him. He was beyond terrified and couldn't move. It wasn't until he heard the painful sound of Jared's wolf howling in agony did River finally snap out of it. 

As River turns to run he is snatched off his feet and thrown to the ground. The wind is knocked from his lungs when he hits the ground. Before he can register what's happening, a fist connects with his face. 

The blows keep coming and River cries as he tries to block them. The big scary guy hovering over River is ripped off of him and thrown to the ground. Jared roars as his claws pierce the asshole's chest and rips his heart out.

"RUN!" Jared yelled before turning and opening his arms as two more enemies charged River. 

River cried as he turned on his heels and took off running. Tears streamed faster down his face when he heard the last painful cry from Jared's wolf.

Atticus's eyes widen and he screams as he whips around and sees two wolves on top of Jared's lifeless body. 

Before the wolves could respond, Atticus was across the field and his claws sliced through them with ease. Atticus dropped to his knees next to Jared's lifeless body and his eyes stung.

"I'm so sorry!" He whispered before jumping to his feet and roaring. 

Draven raged inside, slamming against the walls, fighting to get free and avenge his fallen pack member.

The scent of ash became stronger, so strong his own people moved back. Atticus's chest rapidly rose and fell, huffing as he stormed forward. His aura was so thick, it made it hard to breathe and his people stepped back even further. 

A deep continuous rumble rose from the Alpha's chest as his eyes swirled with flames.

The enemies that were left watched horrified as the Alpha approached them. They felt frozen in place, unable to move as something they never felt before approached them. The Alpha's aura was so strong, that they swore he was in his true form.

The remaining five enemies dropped to their knees and their faces contorted in pain as the weight of the Alpha command slammed down on them, forcing them to their knees, squeezing their chests, and pushing the air from their lungs. 

Atticus growled as he swung his arm in a circle, slicing through their throats in one quick move. 

The Alpha stood there, his chest rapidly rising and falling as he stood over their dead bodies. The sound of River's cries has the Alpha whipping around. His eyes land on a concerned Beta who's racing toward him with River in his arms.

"He's going to be okay but they got him," Tristan said and the Alpha's stomach dropped. Tristan sat down as the Alpha grabbed his backpack and pulled the jar out. 

The Alpha's heart broke when he turned and saw River's face. His lip was busted and his eye was already swelling and bruised.

"I'm so sorry River. Hang on, this will make it better."