One

Chapter 8

The shower was still running when Brandon arrived at Sean and Jamie's room, making him sigh and slide down against the wall.

He was glad that he hadn't made irreparable mistakes but one mistake is one too many. One mistake could easily break the fragile bond he was developing with Sean, Jamie and the Others.

Scratching through his own, slightly damp hair, Brandon sat in the hallway, listening to the running water to give the Omega ample time to clean up and relax.

In the meantime, Brandon swiped over his phone, planning a few of the pack's future hunts and ordering some scouts to check out the prey in the woods.

While all of them loved to hunt, they couldn't do it on a regular basis without risking a massive drop in the native prey's population.

They always checked on the deer, elk and the few moose herds to make sure all the individuals were healthy, and their herds were thriving.

As a rule, they could only hunt those that were ailing and weak. Wild wolves would do the same, simply because healthy individuals would be too difficult to catch.

But with werewolves, they were capable of going after fully healthy animals. While they couldn't take down a moose by themselves, a pack wolf had more strength than a regular wild wolf and thus posed a greater risk for the wildlife decimation.

If they ran rampant and killed all the healthy animals, there would be nothing left for them to hunt. Their livelihood, their home, would become a desolate landscape.

Something that could happen as well, if his wolf misbehaved too often. The young Alpha could feel his wolf cringe at the thought, at the easy to understand comparison it made.

It knew instinctually why it needed to hunt the weak, just as why it needed to keep close relations with its pack. There were only a select few individuals that could endure a lone wolf lifestyle and even less who enjoyed it.

None of them are Alphas.

Brandon sighed, pocketing his phone once he was certain that Sean was dressed before standing and gently knocking on the door.

There was silence before, much to his surprise, the door opened.

Petrichor tingled his nose as Jamie arched a brow, damp towel resting on his shoulders whilst in the motion of tugging his shirt down.

Brandon swallowed, knowing that the presence of the Beta most likely meant that either Sean didn't want to see him or Jamie had decided that the young Alpha was too much of a risk to interact with the Omega.

He could feel Jamie's eyes resting on his bowed head, swore he could feel the suppressed anger and animosity crackle through the air.

"If you were hoping to talk to Sean, don't bother. The pup is out cold." Jamie stated after a tense silence, nudging the door open further whilst returning to the bathroom, silently inviting Brandon further in their room.

The young Alpha lowered his head, feeling a twinge of guilt at the tidbit of information. Of course he would be. Most omegas were capable of running for long distances, when trained.

And trained Omegas were found few and far between. Most of the Omegas didn't feel the need to venture too far outside of the inner circles of the pack.

They would go on runs, sure. But always accompanied by their mate within a group, or a few mated couples to protect them from any unwanted attention.

He should've realized before their run that Sean was anything but a trained Omega. Plus, he should've spaced out their runs, allowed the Omega plenty of breaks.