Chapter 4

"You're early," Ro smiled at her mate as she approached the river.

"You're late," Omar said and kissed her forehead. The omega stood on her toes and hugged him. He stiffened before he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back. "You smell nice," he whispered.

"Thank you," she stepped away from him and looked at him thoroughly. "How long have you waited?" she asked. "It doesn't matter," he shrugged.

"Tell me," Ro insisted as she wrapped her hands around his waist looking up at him. "One–," she gasped and touched her face.

"One hour? I was caught up with something. I'm so sorry," she apologized profusely.

"Hey, hey, It's OK", he pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry," she said again. "What were you doing anyway?" he asked, changing the topic.

"I was–uh–babysitting," if the hesitancy in her voice didn't give her away, the way her eyes wavered clearly did. She was bad at–.

"You're bad at lying," he said with a smirk before gazing down at her. He looked at her intently and she got scared, she didn't want him to find out the truth.

"Let's go sit down," she pulled him along but he didn't move. He didn't even budge. Instead he pulled her back and she crashed into his chest. "What's this?," he asked annoyed.

"Omar," Ro called quietly.

His midnight eyes sparkled like there was stars passing through them. He tilted her face to one side and growled. "Who did this to you?" the omega's body shivered, his cold voice sent chills down her spine.

"I'm fine, It's nothing," she placed her hands on his chest and smiled. "Forget it," she assured.

He stared long at her before smiling again. Then he reached down and carried her, throwing her over his shoulder. She shrieked and hit his back repeatedly. "Put me down."

"I feel like I'm being hit with a pillow," he chuckled.

"Women are equally strong you know," she argued.

"I know, just not mine." He put her down and turned her around so she was facing the river. Ro sucked in a breath and marveled at its beauty. The half moon was shining bright on the clear water and the plants around it were moving gently, following the rhythm of the wind.

"It's beautiful", she whispered.

"You're more beautiful," he wrapped his hands around her waist from the back and kissed her hair. She blushed and bit her lip saying nothing. "No one comes here, you know," he clarified and they both sat down at the bank of the river.

"Yeah."

"So how did you find it?" he asked. "Pack Library, you?"

"Stumbled upon it. Needed to think, get away from all the stress."

"What stress?" she asked, facing him. "Uhm sometimes, the Alpha overworks us."

"I don't think i like our Alpha very much," Ro huffed.

"No, i mean i overwork myself too much. Appreciate the alpha, he's a great person," he said quickly, making Ro look at him skeptically.

"So you found the river at the library?" he continued speaking.

"I read about it there. The river is the only place that comes from the Artemis waterfalls. I heard that place is beautiful," Ro sighed.

"It is," he replied absentmindedly. "Hmm how do you know?"

"The Alpha talks about it," he quickly countered. "I met a Kitsune here," Ro said.

"Did it hurt you? When was this? Are you possessed?" Ro laughed as he babbled on. "Do i look possessed and I'm sure she's a Zenko."

He sighed in relief and the sky rumbled at that. The presence of dark clouds announced itself with the windy atmosphere. "No," Ro whispered. The wind carried whispers of showers that was to come, alerting the earthlings of the impending downfall.

"What's wrong?"

She was about to lie again but his voice stopped her. "Don't even think about lying."

It wasn't her fault. It's just that the family she was staying with said they didn't want to see her for the night after she broke some plates. The son had been running into the kitchen as she was coming out of it. He had crashed into Ro, causing her to drop the plates, shattering into pieces. The omega had no where to go. She thought she'd spend time with Omar before finding a place to sleep. She hadn't expected it to rain at all.

"I have no where to sleep and It's about to rain," she spoke honestly. "Come," he pulled her up.

"Where are we going?"

"Just trust me."

"It's very hard to do that when you're dragging me deep into the forest."

He stopped and looked at his lovely mate, her mouth, ready to argue. "I'm your mate, would I hurt you?"

"Yes," she confirmed and he gaped at her in surprise.

"Okay, you're right," he said and they continued moving until they got to a bungalow. It was abandoned, the exterior paint had faded but it looked like it was once brown or nude or pink. The old house stood firm amidst oriental trees and sweet smelling plants. Dead leaves littered the porch as they climbed up the short wooden stairs that looked like nobody had used in years.

Omar opened the unlocked door as the first set of lightning struck. They went in, Ro holding her chest. He pulled her close as she turned around to look at the house. There were worn out sofas and everywhere was dusty, the dark blue color of the room was almost gone. Ro stiffened and slowly backed away till she collided into Omar's chest. "Don't make a sound," she whispered.

"What?" he whispered back. She pointed at something and Omar stifled a laugh. He gently pushed Ro away from the door and opened it. Then he took off his shoe and threw it.

"Bats!" Ro screamed and ducked as they flew out the door. Omar threw his head back and laughed. The frightened omega panted after they had all left and stood up glaring at Omar. "You," she snarled at him.

"Me," he smirked.

"You," she jabbed a finger into his chest with his hands behind him.

"Me," he repeated and shoved a bat in her face.

The already skittish woman shrieked in terror. Omar laughed so hard that he fell to the ground before he finally closed the door. Then he went into the kitchen and came back with fruit loops.

"Are you hungry?"

"How did you know that was there?" Ro was curious.

"I kept snacks there," she raised her brow and he smiled. "This house belonged to one of the old families that died in the war," he explained.

"And the alpha doesn't know?" she questioned.

"Nobody knows it exists. I only stumbled upon it a while again. I think It's guarded by magic."

"You mean It's guarded by the river," he shrugged and passed her some snacks. "You can come here whenever you want," he said.

"Thank you," she gave him a sad smile.

They sat on the floor with their backs resting against the couch as they ate as the couches were too dirty to sit on. Omar placed his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. She didn't want him to sleep so she poked his cheek. "Stop it."

She giggled and did it again. He hid his face deep in her neck and he sighed. "You smell so good." The male had fallen in love with the creamy and exotic scent that came from her.

The lactone essence was mostly lush and milky but sometimes the tropical notes could be intense and overpowering, making her even more addicting. For example, when she got scared about the bats, her scent intensified and addicted the Alpha so much that he had to stop himself from marking her immediately.

She began playing with his hair. "My parents are dead," she said suddenly.

"Mine too," he replied, playing with a lock of her hair.

"Where do you stay?" he kept quiet for so long that Ro thought he hadn't heard the question.

"I don't have a house, I'm all alone."

"So where do you sleep when you're not working, like this night for example."

"A friend's. The war left many of the wolves without parents. What's your favorite color?" he quickly changed the topic.

"That's so cheesy. Black."

"After my eyes?" he asked to which Ro nodded. "Mine's brown," he said.

"I'll be right back," he stood up and proceeded to walk deeper into the house. "Omar?"

"It's Okay, I'll be back soon."

True enough, he came sooner than expected with a blanket which he cacooned around both of them. The Alpha had noticed his mate shivering and had gotten up to get the covering. Ro felt warm instantly as she snuggled closer into his chest. They talked into the night as the rain poured before they fell asleep on each other. But Ro didn't know that Omar was looking at her body.

She didn't know he was looking at the scars she thought were well hidden.