Page 61 of Stray Omega

CHAPTER 22: ARK

Finally, the day of the Binding Ritual arrived. It was a sunny day, and the blue sky overhead was completely devoid of clouds as Ark and his companions made their way down the main avenue of the Central Ruins. The ancient streets were still littered with the rusted-out husks of vehicles from before the time of the Great Change, and the pavement was cracked and tufted with sprouting weeds. On both sides, the ancient towers rose like the walls of a man-made canyon. Stone and steel wrapped in twisting vines. Ark couldn’t help wondering what this place must have looked like a hundred years ago, when the walls had still been pristine and the streets had been rumbling with traffic.

Ark doubted he could have survived one day in a world like that.

Even now, he was starting to get a restless feeling. This time, he and his pack brothers had stayed in the Central Ruins for far, far longer than their usual visit. Nearly a full cycle of the moon. Ark was ready to embark on another scouting expedition into the wilderness of the Zone, the only place he really felt at home.

The reason for this extended stay in the Central Ruins was obvious. They had to oversee Embla’s training, to make her feel comfortable in her new home, and to prepare her for the coming ritual.

Ark turned his glance toward the little omega trotting along beside him.

She had certainly changed a great deal over the past weeks. Her posture was more upright, her chin held high in a display of confidence. It was a far cry from the wild and skittish girl who had arrived with them.

Embla noticed Ark looking at her, and the corner of her mouth quirked up in a sexy smile.

She was beautiful.

But she had always been beautiful from the first moment Ark had seen her with her tangled hair and blazing green eyes.

The alpha pack leader couldn’t help feeling some misgivings, however.

Was he doing the right thing? Would Embla ever truly be able to fit in here with the other omegas? And what about his pack brothers? One of them would have to stay behind in the Central Ruins at all times, of course. Protecting their omega would be an honor, but it would also mean less time out in the wild where they belonged, and that would have an effect on them, no doubt.

As they made their way down the street, Ark cast his eyes at his pack brothers. Leros was still young and enthusiastic about taking an omega mate. It was Orwen that Ark was worried about. His second had always been surly and bad tempered, but those traits had increased in the past weeks.

It was because of the omega.

To an outside observer, it might have seemed that Orwen did not like the omega. But Ark knew his old friend too well. He could follow his thoughts just as easily as he could follow the tracks of a deer in the forest.

Orwen did not despise Embla. On the contrary, he despised himself for his attraction to her. Orwen was still convinced that Embla was a Farlander, and he had a bad history with the Farlanders.

Very bad.

But Ark had faith everything would be okay in the end. Sooner or later, they would learn the truth about Embla—when she was ready to tell them, of course—and then Orwen would see that he was wrong.

That would come later. For now, they had the Ritual of Binding to attend to, and the first step was the omega’s cleansing and preparation.

Ahead of them a tall building loomed at the end of the street, its lavishly decorated architecture half-hidden beneath a green net of vines and leaves.

“What this?” Embla asked.

“This is the bathing house,” Ark told her.

Ark knew something about the history of this place, at least what had been passed down orally through the generations. In the old days, before the Great Change, this building had been something called a hotel—a place for travelers from afar to live and sleep. It no longer served that purpose, of course. No one visited the Zone, or if they did, they didn’t leave. These days, the building was prized for its steaming hot baths, which were fueled by natural springs and geothermal heat from deep beneath the city.

This was the traditional place of preparation for an omega who was about to partake in the Ritual of Binding. Her body must be cleaned and purified by the steaming waters before her mates dominated her in front of the entire tribe.

“Bathing house,” Embla repeated.

Ark had been through all the stages of the ritual with her, making sure she understood. He did not want her to be blindsided by anything unexpected. The Ritual of Binding could be very frightening for a young omega. To be penetrated and knotted while a crowd looked on was a daunting experience. But the hours spent in the warm baths would help her to relax.

Embla nodded, and together they all stepped inside.

The interior of the ancient hotel was a wide-open space with an elegantly curving staircase and granite pilasters along the walls. The floor was carpeted with moss and tufts of ferns. Overhead there hung a crystal chandelier preserved from the old days, its glittering facets twined with spiraling green tendrils and leaves.

Ark smiled as Embla looked around in wonder.

“What do you think?” he asked.

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