Page 4 of Omega and the Beast
Too, several young men, foolhardy and drunk on their own youth and strength, had gone out into the woods at night to hunt the Beast. None of them had ever returned. Their families had been distraught, of course, but there was nothing to be done. They’d scoured the forest during the daytime and found signs of a chase, of a struggle, and several times they’d even found blood, but never a body.
Callista wasn’t looking for trouble and wasn’t planning on staying after dark. Her father had told her there was a small outpost on the other side of the forest. If she followed the path and didn’t stray, she would reach it before the sun went down.
Not that he’d ever expected her to have to leave the village, but he’d told her, anyway.
She was glad he had, or this journey would be much more frightening. Despite the brightness of the day, the tall trees had shaded the path all morning, and she had no doubt the afternoon would be the same. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to tell when the sun actually set because of the trees.
And now she would have to worry about the cramps… though, hopefully, it would be a while before there was another. Riding out her heat in the outpost might be easier than at home, where Father Conal was coming by to check on her.
She’d left a note on her door to tell her neighbors that she’d gone to search for her father, and not to worry, that she would be back soon. Father Conal might be upset, perhaps even enough to retaliate in some way, but she couldn’t bring herself to care right now. That was just onemore thing she would have to deal with once her own father was back, along with what to do about Father Conal’s desire to marry her.
She knew he wouldn’t stand for it, but what was their other option? Leave the village? She wasn’t sure they were ready for that, either. Her father had traveled to many places, and so far, had not found a place where he thought she would be safe as an Omega. It wasn’t her fault she’d been born this way. Sometimes, she wondered why she’d been so cursed, but she tried not to think about it since it wasn’t something she could change.
About an hour after the first cramp, when the sun was no longer directly over her, she brought out the apple she’d packed for her lunch — and nearly choked on the first bite.
A wrecked carriage on the side of the path, the horses gone, no one on the seat. It lay on its side, the wheel spindles cracked and broken, the body of the carriage shattered beyond repair, but even so, she recognized it at once. Her father’s carriage.
A cry rose up in her throat. She slid off of Beauty before the horse had even come to a halt and run toward it, a stream of “No, no, no, no, no,” emanating from her lips unheard. Crashing up against its broken belly, she looked inside.
Nothing. No body, but it looked like there was a bit of blood on the seat. Callista bit back tears as they sprang into her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She didn’t know her father was dead. Not yet.
I might never know. Maybe I’ll never find him, just like the other families whose sons disappeared in these woods.
Pain wracked her. Not the cramps of her heat, but the pain of grief and fear.
“Papa,” she whispered. Then she took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to help.
There was no way of knowing how long the carriage had been here, but it couldn’t have been long. Braden Murphy had returned home from his own trip two days ago, and surely he’d have told everyone if he’d seen her father’s carriage in this state. A search would have already been done. It was far more likely that her father had been rushing back home today, driving his horses too fast in his hurry to get back to her before her heat came on. One turn taken too fast, one root pushing up through the rain-softened road… one moment’s ill-luck, and the carriage upended. But she would not believe her father was dead, so what did that leave? He’d stumbled out, perhaps injured and disorientated…
Callista looked over her shoulder into the shadowed woods and shivered, then gasped as her wandering eyes lit on a boot print. A man’s size. Her father’s? She had to believe it!
Should she rush back and gather others to help her?
No. She’d already traveled half a day. If she went back, it would be nightfall. They’d have to wait until tomorrow. And with her heat was already coming on…
She had no time.
Squaring her shoulders, Callista straightened and turned around. She was relieved to see Beauty had followed her, clearly curious why her mistress had decided to dismount.
“Good, Beauty,” Callista murmured, going over to give the horse the rest of the apple she was still clutching in her hand. She was very suddenlynothungry, and Beauty deserved a treat for good behavior. Especially since she was about to make Beauty do something very dangerous. Takingthe horse’s reins, Callista stepped off the road and into the woods.
“Let’s go. We have to find Papa.”
At the very least, she had to look.
What she would do if she didn’t find him? Well, she wasn’t sure she cared what happened to herself anymore. Without her father, she wasn’t sure she would have much of a life left, anyway. Her village would sacrifice her to the Beast, so perhaps this was her fate. Perhaps, as an Omega, this was always the way her life was meant to go.
The tree cover made everything seem darker and more foreboding. Breathing faster, Callista paused several yards in and looked up at Beauty. Guilt flooded her. It was likely she was leading Beauty to her death, but she couldn’t let the horse go. If she did somehow manage to find her father, he could be injured. She would need Beauty to help transport him.
And if the Beast did appear, hopefully, he would not be able to outrun a horse. If it looked like the situation was hopeless, she could always make herself the sacrifice and send Beauty on her way. According to Father Conal, Alphas were more interested in their own kind than in animals. She could only hope that was one of the parts that was true because she couldn’t stand the idea that she’d be the cause of her horse’s death. Not on top of everything else.
“Let’s go,” she said again, more to herself than to Beauty, who seemed unperturbed that she was being led into a cursed forest. At least one of them was unbothered.
It wasn’t a hard trail to follow, even for one unversed in such things. Broken plants, an occasional boot print in the ground that had since hardened. Deeper into the forest it led her, her focus so dedicated, her fear began to drift away, especially as nothing more than a bird or squirrel disturbedher senses. She was dimly aware of the light beneath the trees growing darker, but it didn’t matter anymore.
At the very least, before she died, she wanted to find out what had happened to her father. If she was to meet the same fate as him, then so be it.
Her insides cramped again as she walked, and Callista doubled over, gasping, her free hand on her stomach as though that would do any good. The urge to find a safe, secure place was growing within her. Safe and soft. A place she could burrow into.
