The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 42: The wolf.

~Dahlia POV~

The first news we woke up to the next morning was one confirming Amara’s dreams.

The Alpha has lost his memory.

And while I was supposed to question how my daughter had been able to see that way before it happened, I didn’t. I was too distraught to think about it. Too scared of what I may discover.

It even felt worse seeing as other slaves sneered and jeered at me as I walked past, as if making fun of the fact that I no longer have the Alpha’s security to fall back on whenever I got into trouble, and their gazes, especially Madame Berlin’s, held more contempt than I have ever seen on an individual.

My heart raced as I held Amara and Tiffany’s hands, leading them through the crowd of sad pack members as I made my way to Beta Orion’s manor and upon arrival, he was surprisingly the first person I met.

However, nothing about him looked vaguely familiar. He seemed disheveled. His grey eyes were sunken and dark, and dark circles lined his eyes, making the wrinkles that had suddenly sprouted around his face appear even more pronounced.

"Good morning, Beta." I greeted with a bow, and as soon as he saw me, his face lit up with a small smile and he rushed out;

"Oh Dahlia, you’re here! Thank you for watching over them last night."

At the mention of the previous night, my eyes found Amara and I shuddered as memories of what had happened fleeted past my mind. I wondered if now I was meant to tell Beta Orion the truth about Amara’s birth father but deciding that he had more on his plate right now, I shook my head, deciding against it.

"I would do it anytime, whenever you need me to... and I’m sorry I have to bring them back this early but the slaves’ quarter is not a place for children." I explained and he nodded in understanding, taking both of their hands as he strolled into the house, whilst beckoning me to follow.

I did.

I followed him quietly as he made his way into the house with so much confidence exuding from him. Even the way his cloak swished fancily exuded arrogance, but in the right way— I know that sounds crazy.

"You mentioned something about the slaves’ quarters not being safe for them. Yes?"

"Yes." I mumbled, wondering where this conversation was headed.

"Do you not think that it would be unsafe for you as well, seeing as the Alpha has lost his memory?" He asked, stopping as we rounded a less crowded corner. And then he crouched to reach the children’s height before adding; "You two munchkins should go have some fun now while we adults iron a few things out. Alright?"

The children beamed at him, obviously flattered. "Okay!" And with that they dashed away, that is after Amara hugged my legs briefly.

I cleared my throat. "It would be pretty uncomfortable living there now, but not totally unsafe. I am still the Alpha’s slave."

Beta Orion clucked his tongue at that, but he said nothing as he continued to walk further into the quieter parts of the house, forcing me to follow. Suddenly, he said; "You seem to forget that he’s now made you the runt of the pack, Dahlia. You no longer exclusively belong to him and anyone with enough power can now acquire you and he wouldn’t mind."

I said nothing. I felt nothing.

"Soon enough, most of the happenings in that fortress will be controlled by his fiancée and I do not need more pairs of eyes to know that there’s a bone of contention between you both." He added and I gulped.

Okay, now that makes sense.

"Do I also have to work for you or do you still intend to wed me?" I asked and as soon as I did, he stopped, turned around and held both of my hands in his.

"I still intend to wed you, Dahlia." He drawled softly, stopping to pepper kisses on every one of my fingers, whilst ignoring how shriveled they look from incessant scrubbing. "I intend to make you the Lady of my house, but first, I need to get you out of that fortress... out of Jennifer’s way, and possibly out of Nyx’s as well."

And as soon as Nyx was mentioned, something twisted in my chest. I snatched my hands out of his grasp, leaving him stunned and... angry?

I wasn’t sure. I didn’t care.

"What if Nyx is lying?" I blurted out before I could stop myself and Beta Orion cocked his eyebrows at me, his expression hard.

"About what?"

"About everything." I rushed out, "...about giving birth to the Alpha’s daughter. About lo—"

"And do we look like we care?" Beta Orion snapped, interrupting me, then as if a light bulb had been suddenly turned on, he froze. "Wait, you do care?"

I nodded.

"Why?"

"Because something about her is unsettling. She’s someone I find oddly familiar and I can swear that I have seen her before."

"Are you from Silver moon pack?" He asked suddenly, making my eyes widen in shock. I even fought to breathe then as I nearly choked on my saliva.

I shook my head. "No."

"Then you do not know her." He answered, turning away. "And for that reason, you should stop questioning her motives."

"So she’s from s-silver m-moon pack?" I stuttered, struggling to match his pace as he kept leading us further into the house. I swear I haven’t gone this far before.

"Yes." He answered indifferently. I froze.

She was the one!

"Now, back to what we were saying..." Beta Orion drawled, his eyes now fixated on me. It wasn’t until this moment that I realized we had walked into his inner chamber and that I was wayy deep inside the house than I have ever been.

"Which is?"

"Would you come live with me or remain at the fortress that would soon be changing leadership... in the next few hours?"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, my eyes wide, my heart racing.

He simply smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. He said; "The Alpha is fatally injured. The healers are not sure he would survive the injury due to how bad it is but until he does, Jennifer will rule the fortress and the pack... and I’ll have no option but to help her."

I gasped.

"What about Alpha Zarek?"

Beta Orion shrugged; "We have to pray that he gets better because for the life of me, I do not want to have to take up that position. It’s not my thing. The only thing I want from that fortress is you." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Now, I don’t know how to respond to that. I didn’t even know how to politely tell him off without coming off as rude so I simply went mute and watched him instead, even as he smiled creepily in my face.

"Dahlia."

"Beta."

"The choice is yours."

"I... uhm, Beta can I go back to the fortress for now then I’ll give you my response by the end of the day?" I asked hopefully. I was really hopeful but the way his face suddenly fell told me just how much I wasn’t supposed to hope so much. I took a step back in fear.

"Okay," he sighed. "You’re free to go then. Just know that your mate cannot help you this time. You may have really lost him now. And maybe Jennifer did win." He spat.

Though his words sounded more like a warning, I couldn’t help but feel something eerie-like creep up my body at the tone.

And wait, did he just say Mate?

Mate?

I whipped my head around to catch him watching me with knowing eyes and I froze.

The hell?!

How does he even know that?

No one knows I am Alpha Zarek’s mate but how does he seem to know?

Another round of panic hit me like a freight train and in panic this time... plus maybe a tinge of fear, I ran.

Literally.