My One and Only Alpha

Chapter 9

The remainder of the strength training proved to be a great deal less exciting than the duels had been, but if that wasn't the most obvious statement Louis could ever make, he can't imagine what would be.
There had been noteworthy duels after Louis and Harry had indulged in their battle of pride, sure, but they didn't involve Harry, so they hardly counted. Nevertheless, they were interesting enough for Louis to mention. A fight between two Alphas by the names Daven and Thorin had been the most enthralling, and if Louis may say so, pleasing to the eye; with both Alphas having similarly large builds, there had been more muscle quivers than Louis ever thought he needed to see. Other battles of identical, boring content slowed time to a crawl, but as Louis was hyperaware of the Pack Alpha sitting in his chair surveying the lot, he didn't particularly mind the warp of the minutes.
Louis had fought in official duels three more times, pulverizing every opponent as expected, and he couldn't be smugger about it. Any time he caught Harry looking at him, though, he infuriatingly faltered, but he managed to pull through on sheer will alone. Anything to impress him.
He'd connected well with an Alpha girl called Shane, because she'd practice-parried with him for the last half of battle training, and she thankfully didn't take everything as seriously as the other Alphas, so they were able to joke around with each other like friends. She was freakishly tall and thin, much like Draco, and her brown, spiky shoulder-length hair reminded Louis of a hedgehog. They had fought more for fun and sport than a feud for self-worth, and it was immensely refreshing.
When all the trainees were breathing like fish out of water, Harry finally concluded the hands-on portion of the morning and moved on to enervating cardio, forcing his subjects to run laps outside and shift back and forth between their wolves and humans as fast as they could until they wore themselves out too much to continue. Louis, as you may have guessed, excelled-and he knew Harry had watched him the whole time, considering he'd been the last standing at the end of the challenge for an extra minute before finally giving up.
Louis had remained in his wolf at the end because he didn't feel like standing naked in front of a bunch of warriors, especially Harry, and he'd sat heavily on his butt while Zayn fetched his clothing from under the tree he'd dropped it at and set the garments down before his paws. The Alphas all turned away to give the Omega his requested privacy to shift and dress, but Harry had taken that opportunity to do something rather unexpected-and maddening.
With a purposeful stride, Harry had waltzed up to his wolf and given him a short scratch under the chin to congratulate his victory over the warriors-unbelievable. He'd given him a smile that almost made Louis faint, and then turned away respectively, striking up a conversation with his Beta. Louis had shifted nearly instantaneously and shoved his limbs into his clothes, barking when he was done, and then life had moved on. Louis can still feel the Alpha's warm fingers grazing his Omega wolf's fur, and he's been in his human now for hours. What a horrible thing to do.
The warriors, if this needed saying, were to be without Chibs' services for the rest of the week, and Harry appointed himself to lead not only the lessons, but the patrol portions as well, and Louis couldn't decide how he felt about it-but the inclination wasn't hard to guess.
When the sun was at its highest in the partly-cloudy skies, signaling the end of training (coincidentally after the rapid-shifting challenge), the warriors lined up before the Pack Alpha to get split up and go off to either patrol, or guard duty. Louis was patrol duty-with Zayn and Liam, no less, so he was content with the ruling.
Zayn had needed to brief Louis on the logistics of the subject as the trio traveled to their station, so he'd quickly learned there were six posts in a large circle around the territory, three Alphas per group, and six groups at one time. The village was actually quite close to one edge of the circular borders, which meant the village wasn't the epicenter of the pack territory, so two of the six groups were always stationed decently close to each other in that area for obvious reasons, and that was the very spot they were headed to.
Of course, the village being close to the borders meant some of the stations were all the way on the other side, a day's journey away, and Louis felt crushing sympathy for the Alphas who had to trek all the way to the opposite territory line. Warriors stationed there had to pack for three days, and they were separated from their mates the entire time, which is undoubtedly an impossibly taxing thing for both bondmates, and Louis mourned for all the lonely Omegas.
In another train of thought, Louis was now extremely confused why he and Zayn hadn't run into any patrol Alphas on their way in, considering it's their very job description to catch things like that. Asking the Alpha this very thing, Zayn just shrugged and said they either missed them by a mile or two, or if anyone had seen them, the pair were not approached because it had been, of course, the pack's Beta crossing the lines. Hardly an Alpha that needs to be inspected for suspicious behavior.
On the way, Louis also learned at least three wolves of Harry's council had to be on patrol duty at all times, whether day or night, because the members of the council were the Pack Alpha's most trusted and reliable to protect them. Even though she wasn't of the council, this would still explain why Perrie had a 'night shift.'
The Omega still didn't fully comprehend all the entire system of the council yet, because it was vastly different from Siksika's, but from what he'd gathered from Kurt and Draco, there were twelve Alphas on Harry's council, all warriors themselves, and they ran everything. They made the decisions on which actions to take for which circumstances, and conjured solutions to the problems that needed to be addressed to better the livelihood of the pack.
Louis knew he hadn't met all of Harry's council Alphas quite yet, but so far, he was aware of Chibs, Parsel, Zayn, Liam, Katniss, Thorin, Daven, Shane, and he's not positive, but he's guessing Elessar is too. Where these Alphas' mates were concerned, he only knew Jax, Draco, Niall, Peeta, and Kurt, and who the other three council Alphas were, he did not know at all.
Louis clearly has a great deal of warriors and villagers left to meet, and even though it's only his second day, he has an unrelenting desire to be able to recognize and befriend every single wolf in Chehalis. He didn't know why, but he figured if Camila's assumption was correct, it was because someday, he'll have to.
He still didn't even know if he could wholeheartedly believe it. Harry and himself being true mates just seemed too good to be true. Harry's too perfect, and he makes Louis far too weak in the knees to ever confront him about it, so it ends there. Even though Harry affects him so deeply, that doesn't necessarily mean they are destined to be mates. Although, wasn't that why they were true mates? Because Louis took to him so instantly when he's never had the slightest interest in anyone else?
He hated the back and forth his mind kept batting him between. The Omega wanted to entice Harry more than anything, but there is still a vehemently independent part of him, and he doesn't think he'll ever be able to truly submit.
If Harry could make him, that was another thing, but Louis just couldn't picture it happening. He wished he had Camila's eyes to see it all through, but he was unfortunately stuck to taking her word for it.
Focusing on the present, Louis was unwillingly listening to Liam vent to Zayn about his mate, Safaiyah, and how unexpectedly difficult she's been lately, when the Omega heard suspicious rustling in a bush a few steps ahead of them, and caught the quiver of its leaves. Jumping forward in an attack stance, Chatan poised to rip through the flesh of a rogue, Louis heaved a sigh of relief when a harmlessly tiny, fluffy brown bunny plopped out and sat before him. "Oh, honestly," he muttered, tutting at the innocently staring critter. "Go on, get out of here," he shooed at the bunny, huffing when it only perked its ears up in curiosity.
The Alphas behind him were absolutely losing their minds laughing behind him, and the Omega had half a mind to blindly swing his sword backward, but before he could threaten them with their deaths, the bunny swiftly hopped forward and jumped right onto Louis' foot. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked it in annoyance, picking the little guy up by the skin of his neck and holding him at eye-level. He was unfathomably adorable, so without thinking of why, Louis deposited the bunny onto his shoulder and kept walking. "Alright, fine," he told it resolutely.
Then it was two Alphas, one Omega, and one bunny on the journey together.
A substantial amount of time passed by, and the bunny had not made any move to leave or travel elsewhere, so Louis ended up naming him. He decided on We-Ota, because the relentless animal very much reminded Louis of a pesky blood clot. To explain, Louis had been educated on large chunks of the tribe's lore from Draco and Kurt already, and they had made sure to recite the tale of Rabbit-Boy. A story in which a rabbit created a human boy out of a blood clot the animal had discovered in a forest. Fascinating story, but this specific bunny wouldn't find the blood clot in Louis' version-the annoying creature was the clot. Nevertheless, he came to love We-Ota by sunset, and was glad he had an animal friend to return with, but he dreaded the Rabbit-Boy jokes that were sure to come his way.
Their situation had seemed peaceful enough as they were all eating their packed dinners (while Louis fed We-Ota leafy greens), but Liam and Zayn suddenly broke the calm when they stiffened and stood as one, tasting the air with their superior senses. Louis, try as he might, couldn't discern what they were studying, but before he could ask, five or six rogues descended on them from the trees in a full-fledged ambush.
Shock, for Louis, was an understatement. He had never before seen this many rogues at one time-not in the three years he'd wandered alone. They didn't move in packs; that was simply not the way of it. The very title of their identity went against it: rogue. So why in the world were these violent rogues attacking in these kinds of numbers? This was a troublesome reality indeed, and when the party of rogues went in for the kill, the Chehalis wolves fought back hard. One rogue was instantly killed by Liam, and the fight between the remaining wolves dragged on for several minutes.
The rogue pack unfortunately seemed intent on breaking the warriors up, and even worse, they'd succeeded. One had sneakily led Liam away from their post, and Zayn had chased another pair far into the depths of the woods, so the lone Louis, having intellect, fled.
Louis knew they were being hunted and strategically separated, and he knew there could be a fair few more enemies lurking in the shadows, so the Omega sprinted to find any mediocre amount of cover. Rogues were so distastefully predictable, and Louis wasn't going to fall prey to their-at best-poorly executed plan. Adrenaline coursing through his veins, Louis ran like the wind toward a distant bush to throw himself into while he formulated his next move.
Regretfully, before he could reach the safety of the bush, a hideously dirty rogue seemingly materialized out of thin air and skidded to a stop in front of him, effectively blocking his path.
Whatever.
Not pausing for the rogue's typical taunting, Louis leapt into the air, gripping the Alpha's hair in his fist and swiftly decapitating him with Chatan in the other.
Poor We-Ota was clinging to Louis' shoulder for dear life and shaking uncontrollably from fright, so Louis returned the sword to its sheath and picked little Wewe up, cradling him to his chest as he dove headfirst into the leafy shrub. What he found on the other side almost gave him a stroke, but before he could scream, the inhabiting Alpha clamped a hand over his mouth and held a finger to his own lips.
It was an Alpha Louis recognized to be a Chehalis warrior by his appearance and scent, so his heart rate settled, but his demand for an explanation did not dwindle. "Who the fuck are you? What are you doing here?" he hissed accusingly.
The Alpha removed his hand from Louis' mouth and scooted closer into the bush to whisper to the defensive Omega. "My name is Norman; I'm on Harry's council. I was tracking the rogues from my station, just east of here. We smelled them heading in your direction and came to help out. Where's Zayn and Liam?" Norman inquired, feeling rather peeved at the Alphas' desertion.
"I don't know, they just disappeared-split up, got lost, I don't know, oh Gods, are they alright?" Louis squeaked in a rush, getting himself worked up again.
"Shh, Lou, I know they'll be fine. Zayn is the Beta, so please don't worry about them; they can take care of themselves. But there are other rogues around, more than we might think-I can smell 'em. We need to get everyone together if we have a chance at killing all of them," he said, gaze traveling to the severed head still held in Louis' fist. "Although...I guess we could just set you loose on them, and we'd be absolutely fine."
Louis looked down at the monstrosity that was unfortunately dripping blood all over his legs, and was about to answer when they heard the voice of a rogue yelling into the clearing.
"Rotu! Rotu, where are you? There's an Omega nearby, I can smell it. If we catch it, you know how pleased Roman and Cassian will be with us. We'll be heavily rewarded! Quit fucking around, where ar-" He stopped short when he finally found the dismembered body of what used to be Rotu.
Thinking quickly, Louis yanked one of Norman's arrows out of his quiver, securing it between his legs, and staked Rotu's staring head onto the tip of it. Heaving it up above the bushes like a twisted puppet show, he began to taunt the Alpha.
Joéna, I definitely found our Louis, Norman thought to his faraway mate in overwhelming relief. Norman knew she wouldn't hear him in her head because they'd been separated for too long, but he couldn't wait to tell her. He'd had his hopeful suspicions since he'd heard of a stray Omega's arrival, and when he'd learned his name was Louis and that he'd come from Siksika, the Alpha had cried tears of joy for hours in his teepee.
But even without acquiring those details, these actions from the Omega was all the proof Norman would ever need to recognize his child, name, origin, and scent or not. This unique oddball was without a doubt his cherished son, and he was going to send a letter to Joéna and Rixy immediately to alert them that his son had finally made it Chehalis.
"Over here, you half-wit!" Louis goaded to the enemy, pulling Norman's rapid thoughts to him. "It's just me. Your best pal, Rotu. Yeah, I caught the Omega, he's here behind this bush. Why don't you come and get him? Bring my body if you would please, I seem to have misplaced it..."
Growling fiercely, the Alpha made his advance to the shrubbery, out for blood no doubt, but so was Louis. Ripping Norman's bow from the Alpha's shoulder, Louis harshly flung the disgusting head off the arrow and nocked it in the bow. Standing up and taking his aim, Louis then let it fly-let it fly directly into the Alpha's heart. With a victory cry and a mocking sneer, Louis leapt over the bush to reclaim the arrow and return it to its rightful owner, making snide remarks at the corpse the entire time.
He's perfect, Jo, the happy father lovingly added, watching his son in fierce admiration.
Elated as the Alpha was at finally being in the presence of his only son, he knew Louis still had to be blissfully unaware of the plan until he inherited the Chehalis tribe as the Alpha's bondmate. Only then could he be sat down and educated on the truth.
He repressed the overwhelming urge to crush his boy in his arms, and settled for patting him on the back approvingly. In due time.
Louis felt the clap on his back as he returned to the bush, and he handed Norman his bow and arrow back. "Thanks for letting me...borrow that," he said offhandedly, scratching at his clothed thigh and becoming full of jitters. The Omega was fiercely concentrating on not breaking down, having just ended a life yet again, and he couldn't afford to do it here. It had only been two days since his last kill, but he supposed being integrated so suddenly into pack life made it seem like another lifetime.
His thigh itched to be marked, but there was no way he could do it now. He could almost feel the tally marks vibrating against his tight-fitting buckskin pants, begging him to pay dearly for what he did. Breathing as calmly as he could, he caressed his bunny for strength and pulled himself back from the meltdown he was teetering on.
"You're pretty strong for an Omega, kid," Norman noted with pride, obviously trying to be supportive, but that was not what Louis needed to hear at the moment.
"Yeah, for an Omega. You know, I really hate it when people say that to me, so please refrain, if you'd be so kind," Louis retorted, in no mood for gender inequality bullshit.
"Sorry, Lou," the Alpha repented, still in a daze this was even happening, silently staring at the boy in wonderment.
"S'ok."