Page 34 of Stray Omega

“You really don’t like water, do you?”

“No like,” she answered in a quavering voice.

She was shivering, but it was not from the temperature of the water, which was nice and warm. The river that flowed over the top of the grotto was broad and shallow, and the sun heated its waters easily, which made the waterfall and pool ideal for bathing.

Ark just held the omega in the water for a few minutes, letting her get acclimated to the water.

“See, it’s not so bad,” he said. “It feels pretty good, right?”

“No.”

Well, at least they were communicating now. This was more than Ark had heard Embla speak all day. Clearly she had acquired some language, though her vocabulary seemed small, and her grammar almost nonexistent.

And then there was her accent, which was very strange indeed. Ark had heard different accents before. There was the way that he and the other alphas of the central tribe spoke. Then there were the various Farlander accents, which usually varied by tribe. And last there were the Outsiders, from beyond the great wall. A few of them lived in the Zone now. In fact, one of them, an omega named Lily, was the mate of Addom, the leader of the central council.

But Embla’s accent did not match any of those. Sure, there were hints of the central accent, as well as some notes of Farlander speech. But more than anything it sounded like a child—not the timbre, but the awkwardness and incoordination of her lips and tongue, like she did not have much practice speaking.

Ark decided to try some questions.

“Embla, where are you from?”

“Hm?”

“Where. Do. You. Come. From?”

“Frum.”

Okay, maybe that question was a little too difficult. Ark tried something different, and he simplified his grammar.

“Family?” he asked. “Embla have family?”

“No.”

“Have friend?”

“Mm. Have.”

“Who?” Ark asked. “Who Embla friend?”

“Dog,” she said, and yipped to make it clear. “Dog friend.”

Very strange. Was she talking about Ark’s dogs? Smoke, Shadow, and Ghost? Ark did not think so. Indeed, the little omega had an unusual rapport with his canines, and they were clearly very fond of her, which was unusual. But Ark sensed she was talking about a different dog.

“Where dog friend?” Ark tried.

Embla’s expression dropped into sadness and tears sprang to her eyes. It hurt Ark’s heart to look at her.

“Away,” she whispered. “Dog friend go ’way.”

Ark was curious, but he could see this was a painful topic for her. He chose not to press further in that direction.

More important, one thing was clear—the omega was alone in the world.

The fact that she had been able to fend for herself so effectively was a testament to her cleverness and determination. The girl might not be much of a talker, but there was a crafty brain hiding behind that pretty face of hers, and Ark liked that.

There were many things that Ark wanted to ask her, but right now the most important thing was getting his new pet cleaned up.

Ark lowered Embla a little more, and she cried out in panic.

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