Page 77 of Stray Omega

The blinded alpha swatted her aside, and she tumbled across the dirt, smashing hard into the wooden poles of the cage.

Now the other dogs were attacking the alphas.

The interior of the cage was engulfed in chaos.

Embla felt something dragging at her hair. At first she thought it was one of the brutal Farlander alphas, but then she realized it was her best friend, pulling her to safety the way a mother dog would carry a little one by the scruff.

Time to flee.

Only chance.

Go now.

Now Embla saw the wide-open gate of the cage. Together she and her best friend ran for it, and soon the other dogs were running out too, barking and yelping and scattering away in all directions.

Embla and her best friend stuck together.

The little omega ran as fast as her legs would carry her. The big brown-furred female could have run much faster, but she hung back, making sure that Embla kept up.

They ran all that day and into the night until the moonless darkness made it all but impossible to see. Together they hid inside a small cavern.

The best friend stood watch at the mouth of the cave while Embla writhed in the throes of her heat and tried to stifle her agonized cries.

Flash…

Orwen witnessed months going by.

Embla and her best friend lived together in the wilderness. Their life was difficult, but they made do.

And they had each other. That was all that mattered.

They helped each other, and they shared everything. The dog was good at running down rabbits and squirrels and other little critters to eat. Meanwhile, crafty Embla learned how to snatch fish right out of the water or knock birds from the sky with a well-aimed rock. She even figured out a way of extracting honeycombs from beehives. It required a lot of patience, and she suffered her share of stings, but it was worth the sweet, sticky honey that she and her best friend would happily share together.

They wandered all over the Zone, taking care to avoid the horrible Farlander alphas. Sometimes they ran across different alphas, the ones from the place of high towers, and they avoided them too, just to be safe.

Occasionally, they saw Outsider flying machines streaking across the sky in the distance. One time they even saw the Quarantine Wall, but they kept well away from that.

It was a hard life, but it was good.

Unfortunately, as Embla learned, good things never last.

Flash…

Orwen saw another vision.

Running legs. Pounding heart. The strobe of sunlight through trees. The awful goatish smell of Farlander alphas.

Embla and her best friend were being chased.

Were they the same alphas who had kept them captive for so long? Embla didn’t know, and she didn’t care. She only knew that she and her best friend had to get away.

Ahead was a river.

Embla’s already rapid pulse spiked. This river was wide and deep. Swift and swollen with the previous day’s rain. She would often wade in the shallows of a stream or pond to catch fish, but this raging river looked far too dangerous for a little omega like her.

But what choice did Embla and her best friend have?

The Farlanders were closing in fast, snorting and whooping and crashing through the forest behind them.

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