Page 37 of Stray Omega

CHAPTER 14: EMBLA

It was getting late. The sunlight through the crystal curtain of the waterfall had shifted from gold to red to soft violet and finally darkness. The crackling fire was now the only source of light inside the grotto. Its dancing flames lit the cave with a soft orange glow and projected onto the rock walls shuddering, oversized shadows of the figures gathered around the flames. The air was redolent with the lovely smell of charred wood and roasting fish seasoned with wild herbs.

Embla crouched before the flames, letting the heat of the fire dry her after the nice bath Ark had given her.

It was a very strange sensation.

Embla couldn’t even remember the last time she had been really and truly clean like this. It wasn’t just that the water had washed away the sticky mess that the alphas had made. The strange bubbly soap had gotten right down into her pores, stripping away every speck of dirt and leaving her skin feeling softer and smoother than it had ever felt before.

It was a bit disconcerting, actually. It made her feel vulnerable. Naked.

Of course, Embla was always naked, but now she actually felt it. She was half-tempted to run outside and roll in the dirt just to feel normal again, but she knew the alphas would not be happy about that, and she didn’t want another thrashing like the one Orwen had given her earlier that day.

Besides, her collar was still in place around her throat, and Ark was crouching beside her, holding the leash.

Embla wasn’t going anywhere.

Well, that was fine—for now at least. The food that Orwen was preparing smelled delicious. He and Leros had returned a little while ago carrying several gleaming fish they had caught.

Embla’s mouth had watered at the sight. She loved fish. She was quite skilled at catching them with her bare hands, and she would eat them raw. But apparently that’s not how the alphas liked to eat them. She watched as they set to work preparing the meal.

Crouching on the other side of the flames, Leros and Orwen used stone knives to take out the fish’s guts. They coated them in fragrant herbs and skewered them on pointy sticks to roast over the fire. It was a lot of extra work, but Embla had to admit, the smell was heavenly.

Within a few minutes she was drooling with hunger.

Once the first fish was ready, Leros handed it to her, skewer and all, and Embla tore into it immediately, making little growling sounds as she ate and pausing occasionally to spit out the hair-thin bones.

The fish was gone in a matter of seconds.

When Embla was done, she tossed the stick into the fire and looked up to find that the three alphas were looking at her. Leros was simply staring in amazement, Ark was shuddering with laughter, and Orwen was just shaking his head.

The alphas consumed their own meals a bit more slowly and carefully. Leros offered Embla another fish, which she gratefully accepted. She did her best to imitate the alpha’s more refined way of eating. This seemed to please Ark.

“Good?” Ark asked.

Embla nodded. “Good, good.”

She turned her gaze to mean old Orwen, who had done most of the meal preparation, and she offered him a greasy smile.

“Good.”

Orwen said nothing, but Embla thought she saw a faint blush touch his chiseled face, and the shadow of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

After she finished her second helping of fish, Embla wanted to eat a third—that’s how delicious it was—but she had no room in her belly. But she did drink a little. Ark used an old kettle to boil some water, which he then poured into a cup with some strange leaves to steep. The resulting brownish liquid was oddly refreshing, and Embla sipped it slowly, enjoying the flavor.

For the first time in a very long while, she felt full, satisfied, and relaxed. And weirdest of all, she felt safe. It was strange because she was a captive, but at the same time she knew her alpha captors would not let any harm befall her.

Embla decided simply to enjoy the nice sleepy post-meal feeling for the time being.

But the relaxed atmosphere did not last for long.

Ark moved closer to her, reached over, and unfastened the leash from her collar.

As soon as he did this, Leros leapt up and began talking rapidly—too rapidly for Embla to understand. A moment later, Orwen said something else that she missed, and one more moment after that, all three of the alphas were arguing heatedly about something Embla could not understand.

Even though she was no longer bound by the leash, she sat rooted in place by the fire and looked on at the arguing alphas. They growled and snarled, looking especially scary in the dramatic firelight. And every now and then they would gesture toward the omega.

That’s when Embla understood.

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