Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Aldair

The repetitive thump thump thump of my hammer against the side of the coop acts as background noise to Ma’s constant nagging about the cottage as she oversees my handiwork.

“Have you boys finished the thatching on the roof?” she asks as she mends the shirt in her lap. An arched brow over her crystal blue eyes lets me know she won’t stop asking until I give in, and tell her everything she wants to hear.

“Cillian and Kylan finished that a month ago,” I grunt with effort as I move the last slab of wood into place on the back of the building. It’s not heavy, just an awkward size, making it difficult to maneuver. “And before you ask, yes, we finished the rocking chairs. The book nook is well stocked, and I’m currently working on a swing for the backyard,” she huffs at me for my exasperated tone, and I know I sound grumbly, but Ma asks me about the cottage every time I see her, for fuck’s sake. It’s a cottage, what's there to say?

It lies at the edge of the mountains, unlike Ma’s which is out in an open clearing.

Unlike Ma, my kind typically makes their homes in the caves that surround the forest, and we took this into consideration when planning where to build. My brothers and I wanted to make sure it was a home where we were comfortable, of course, but also a place where our human mate would be at peace.

Thankfully, we found a natural cave that leads through one side of the mountain and ends up in a protected valley, providing the perfect place to settle. A river acts as a barrier at one edge of the meadow, the thick forest on the other side, and the mountain range itself closing out the walled area. Rock walls at the back of the home allow for a natural cooling in the summer, and the log faced front allows for better insulation in the winter.

At the back of the cottage, a heavy door connects to the cave system, allowing for better defense and access from that side. Outside, we already constructed raised garden beds, which Cillian saw to carefully, to aid in feeding our mate.

Kylan constructed a penned area with a small barn to hold livestock. His ability to connect with animals has allowed us to have the chickens free ranging at the edge of the meadow. Their natural inclination to run from Cillian and me doesn’t seem to apply to Ky unless he’s angered, which is rare these days.

I cannot grasp why Alma insists that her own chickens need this larger coop. Her desire to pamper these feather-brained prey birds is beyond my understanding. They’re perfectly fine free-range. My brother’s and I are the most terrifying predators in the area. Our scent alone keeps most others far away.

She stands, setting her project aside, before walking over to my side. She stops and reaches down to pet her old hound, Fox, where he lies beside the fence. The old boy has been with us since she first took us in. He’s had several litters with another hound she rescued, but he’s always been my favorite, since he never cared that we were predators. When she finally reaches where I am working, all I see when she meets my gaze is affection. There’s no fear in her eyes, as she reaches up to pat my cheek.

“My boy,” she murmurs, knowing it’ll soften me up like melting butter. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman, even when she vexes me. “I just like to know what you three are up to,” she chuckles, before pinching my nose like she’s done since I was a child. There was a time when I worried that as we grew larger and more frightening, the love she held for us as babes, would wither at our monstrous appearances. I wouldn’t resent her fear, but she only looks at us with love.

Standing at over seven feet, with pitch black shaggy fur that covers my body, I resemble the lumbering bears of the forest. An elongated snout houses sharp fangs meant for ripping meat from bone. My clawed feet allow for easy travel through the mountains and forest, while the talons on my hands can slice through most things with ease. Fortunately, I can retract those at will.

“Sorry, Ma. It’s just that talking about her makes me…frustrated,” I grumble, as she steps back, and looks around the yard. If I thought I could venture into her village unnoticed, I would. But a seven-foot monster would immediately draw attention. And my mate doesn’t travel into the forest anymore. Not since she was a very young child.

“Have you considered letting me communicate with your mate?” she asks innocently enough. Despite knowing how I’ll respond, she asks me this every few weeks. Can’t fault her for trying, I suppose. She just wants us to have our happiness.

“No, Ma. She’ll find her way to us when she’s ready,” I grunt. “Besides, how would you make contact? You can’t get anywhere near that village ever again.” The growl that rumbles up in my chest isn’t meant for Ma. It’s for the people who turned on her. The ones who cast her from her home, and forced her to run… Ma has the gentlest spirit of anyone I’ve ever known. In fact, I’ve never known a human who was anything like Ma at all.

“I know, I know. I only want to help increase your chances of successfully wooing her. She’s a human Omega, after all,” Ma grumbles at me. She’s not annoyed with me, just worried. She’s getting older, and the longer we wait to claim our mate, the higher our chances are of going feral.

“A fact you have reminded me of frequently since I was nineteen,” I huff, and take a moment to inspect the scar on her left cheek. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for Ma being harmed, but I know with my entire being that if I allow a similar fate to befall my mate, I will never be worthy of her at all. There’s no forgiveness for that.

“That reminds me, don’t forget to prepare plenty of nesting material and food provisions. She’ll reach the age for her heat, sooner, rather than later. You don’t want to be caught with a hungry Omega in heat and nothing to feed her,” Ma chuckles, before noticing the way I’m looking at her scar. Her blonde hair that is just starting to streak with silver often covers most of the mark. My eyes betray the guilt I still feel to this day, for the part I played in her injury. She lets out a heavy sigh, the look in her eyes telling me everything she doesn’t say now, but has many times in the last five years. It’s not your fault. You didn’t cause this. I don’t blame either of you. And her favorite line, scars build character. I’m mysterious like this. People will think twice before messing with me now.

“The Omega will be well cared for, Ma. You taught us well.” I nod my head to her, ready to finish my work on her coop, but she isn’t done yet.

“When I met you three, your parents looked human, like me. I know you’ve said they never explained that to you, but you should consider the possibility that you might be capable of other forms as well. Ones that might be less frightening for a young Omega…” Ma’s words cause me to flinch, their impact striking me like a fist to the heart. Thankfully, she’s already on her way inside her cottage, so she doesn’t notice my reaction.

She didn’t mean for her words to cause me pain. She said them with love, but she’s right. Our current forms terrify our mate. I learned that the hard way, the first time I ever laid eyes on her.

I can’t help but reflect on the day that my curiosity about humans brought us face to face with fate.

Tumbling over the top of my youngest brother Kylan, the lanky runt swipes a claw at me as we burst into the clearing near the river. We found this place a few months ago while foraging with Ma.

Cillian ambles up next to me as we get closer to the stream. I know he wants to try his hand at fishing again without the contraptions that Ma makes us use.

When the shift of wind brings a tart berry scent paired with salty tears to my nose, my neck cracks as I whip my head to the left.

There’s a golden-haired human girl about fifty feet from us. Her shoulders shake with each breath she releases. Why does she cry?

We’ve never seen a little girl before, and the oddity of her pale skin and blonde hair makes me curious enough to want a better look. She hasn’t noticed us yet, so I take a few steps forward, drawing my brother’s attention to the girl as well.

Cillian appears confused as he works out my interest, but Kylan ambles closer while staying low to the ground. A soft rumble builds in my chest as he approaches, and a new and unusual instinct kicks in.

Kylan bolts forward now, as Cillian follows close behind him, ready to protect his younger brother at any cost.

“Tsss,” I hiss, as I jump behind them, using my larger size and speed to cut them off before they get too close.

The golden-haired girl screams when she sees us, jumping to her feet and tossing her flowers to the grass. She bolts toward the village as Cillian snaps his jaw aggressively. She’s no threat to us. Her screams telling me she saw us and found us terrifying, just as Ma warned us the humans would. Something we already know too well. Ma isn’t like the other humans, she’s better. Kind, and friendly. She smells sweet and reminds me of home. Whenever we get too close to the human village, all I smell is stink. Humans do not bathe well here.

I’m not sure what this feeling in my chest means, or why I feel so different, but I know something has changed. Something unusual is happening. I want to follow the golden-haired girl, and make sure she’s safe. Something I’ve only ever wanted to do for my brothers.

I don’t know who that girl is, but I want to know her… She’s pretty. I want to ask why she cries. What makes her heart hurt? How can I make her feel better?

That moment was when everything changed, but I was too young to understand. I didn’t know who that girl was, or why I felt so curious about her. Something that only became harder to ignore as I got older.

The things I did were questionable at best, and dangerous at worst. The only thing I’ve ever hidden from my brothers is the lengths I went to, to be closer to our mate. Of course, that all stopped five years ago when my actions put Ma’s life in danger.

Thinking back to the day we met Ma, the day our parents died, they had been in a form I didn’t recognize. Only their scents were familiar. If Ma’s theory is correct, then maybe my brothers and I will be able to get closer to our mate without the sight of us sending her screaming into the forest like it did when I was seven.

If only we had other monsters who could explain it to us. All we can do for now is hope…

“All finished, Ma,” I shout after I complete the finishing touches on the coop a little while later, and take several steps away so I can lean against a tree. The peanut-brained fowls won’t cooperate if I’m too close.

“Wonderful!” Ma calls as she comes back out of the cottage, and I watch as she brings her little feathered minions to the pen one by one. Apparently I’m still too close. When they see me, they squawk in distress, and Ma shoots me a pointed look. I’ll leave her be and wait for her to finish loading her new coop full of the nearly thoughtless prey. I enjoy their eggs, though. Ma treats them as pets. Cares for them the same way she cares for all her animals.

I do feel a little guilty about eating Snowball, her favorite chicken, when I was fifteen. Puberty was a trying time for all of us. That was the last time I truly lost control of my monstrous instincts in such a violent way.

I roll my eyes, and walk around to the front of the house, sitting in the rocking chair I built her at just ten years old.

Sitting here brings me a different kind of peace. It’s bittersweet in a way. I’m thankful to Ma for the life she gave us, but I miss the place I came from, and the monsters that first raised me.

The clearing where her cottage lies has changed over the years. It’s surrounded by raised beds that protect the plants she used to both feed us and aid her natural healing abilities.

We used to live here with her, prior to my youngest brother hitting puberty. Three large beasts under one roof would be daunting for any home to accommodate, but the threat of violence that accompanied the hormones made it clear we needed our own space.

We had to distance ourselves from Ma, even though she vehemently protested at first. That was until the night Ma got her scar, and my brother lost control for the first time. The same night, I confessed we’d found our mate… Something I had kept hidden from Ma for years. Mostly because I didn’t understand it until I was older, what the pull to her was that kept bringing me back to the edge of the village to catch a glimpse of the golden haired girl. When it seemed like neither of my brothers remembered the original encounter, I had kept it to myself.

I didn’t know what my drive to be near her meant at seven years old, but as I got older, I started to understand. My instincts during puberty told me she was important to us. The knowledge that she was our mate was confirmed when I found her bloodied undergarments.

I fucked up. Nearly got Ma killed. Put my brothers in danger.

We’d found a mate. One that had unlocked our mating instincts when we hit maturity. A fact that sent my youngest brother into a frenzy that ultimately led to us building our own home. All for her. The human Omega with golden hair.

I’m still sitting in the rocking chair when Kylan’s large form stumbles into the clearing. His shaggy black fur with white strands is covered in debris, looking like he’s been rolling around on the forest floor.

“You need to come quick. The villagers have gathered at the edge of the forest and are after someone. I heard an aggressive Alpha screaming about a woman running away,” he heaves out in a rush. Ready to bolt back the way he came, he barely waits for me to stand before his clawed feet carry him quickly back into the depths of the forest. An echo of hounds reaches my sensitive ears as I step forward. Cillian is no doubt already pursuing the humans. Of the three of us, he’s the most daring. The most willing to dive headfirst into dangerous situations, because he knows I’m never far behind.

My body ripples with aggression. There is only one reason Ky would risk exposure and potentially lead the humans straight to Ma’s if he were followed. Only one person who he would tear through the forest to help. Only one person, Cillian, would ignore my demand not to engage the Villagers for.

Our reason.

Our mate.