Page 5 of Bait Wolf
Finally, my escort stopped, opened a nondescript door, and pushed me through it.
I stumbled on my weak feet and didn’t even have the chance to catch myself before the door shut behind me.
Two thin arms suddenly came around me, catching me and steadying me. This time, they were gentler than the last set that had dragged me.
When I looked up, I was surprised to meet kind eyes, pale blue—nearly white—that were fixed on me with something like pity and fear intertwined.
Another omega.
Nota bait wolf though, that was clear, although, at first glance, I would bet he was being kept against his will. For one, his room didn’t appear to have a window. He was slender, but not malnourished the way that I knew I was myself, and he wasn’t riddled with scars and wounds either.
“Are you okay?” the other omega asked gently, then tutted before I could answer. “No, of course you’re not. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Helping me walk, he led me through the bedroom, through a side door that opened into a bathroom where a bubble bath was already waiting.
A hoarse laugh left my mouth, scratching my throat even worse than before.
“Is this for me?” I asked.
“I’m going to help you get cleaned up,” the other omega said, “for the event.”
“My death, you mean.”
My voice was barely a whisper now, so unused to being used, but with his sharp wolf hearing, the other omega had no issue catching it.
“Not necessarily,” he said, averting his gaze.
Clearly choosing not to continue the conversation, he began to help me undress. What had once been clothes, perhaps slacks and a t-shirt—I couldn’t remember—were now nothing but scraps of fabric that had been tied in places to stay on. When one knot couldn’t be undone, the other omega extended a claw, easily slicing through the fabric and letting it fall around my bony ankles.
I couldn’t complain. Truthfully, I was eyeing the bath almost lustfully. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt warm.
Carefully, the omega helped me step into the fragrant bubbles. I nearly melted in appreciation as I sank tired bones into the water and felt the warmth envelop me and the pressure ease off my joints.
For a moment, this simple,normalexperience—another thing that I had taken for granted in the past—was so overwhelming that tears sprang to my eyes. I bowed my head, sobs suddenly raking my tired form as I lamented all that I had lost, all that had been taken from me.
When I finally managed to lift my head again, the other omega was gone. I was alone in the washroom, although the door had been left open and I could hear clattering in the other room. In front of me, to my shock, was a frosted window that I hadn’t taken notice of before. It was high up and small, but I was quite small now too. I could easily fit through it.IfI knocked out my current companion and then hoisted myself up there, of course. The idea was laughable. I could barely even stand.
“Here.”
The omega’s return drew my attention from the flimsy plan to a mouthwatering sight. He had a full platter of food for me. More than I had seen in so long and it all looked so fresh, so delicious. Strawberries, apples, and grapes.
The platter was placed on the edge of the tub. I didn’t know what to reach for first. My hand landed on a strawberry. The moment it touched my tongue, I thought I might start crying again.
“What’s your name?”
I glanced at the omega who was watching me with such soulful, sad eyes that for a moment I felt bad for him being in this situation. It wouldn’t be easy to prepare others of your kind to be placed in such danger.
I swallowed the grape currently in his mouth, an explosion of flavor.
“Ember.”
My voice was already a tiny bit stronger. A small smile touched the other omega’s lips.
“That suits you,” he said. “It matches your eyes.”
My eyes. I used to get so many comments about them, that they were the color of embers, dark and orange with a golden glow. I’d even been told, a long time ago, that they blazed when I got angry.
I swallowed back the old memory, my mother’s voice echoing in my ears.
