Guarding Omega

24

Ivory's voice comes out thick with emotion. "Oh, sir - oh! Wayne" she immediately corrects, gaining a faint smirk on Wayne's lips, "you have been misled. I cannot dare to wonder what you must have gone through all this time..." she gently squeezes his hands. "I wasn't dead, though I may be." her face falls at the memory of the giant fire.

Lifting her face she meets his warm, slightly glowing, amber eyes, which give her their undivided attention.

"It was when I had just fully recovered from some light wounds during my training and I was assisting the personnel at the healer's office when a small team of female wolves arrived from the mountains. I'd never seen them before, but the people around me were thrilled they honoured us with their visit. One of the volunteers said that the high priestess has visited us with her protégées and there must be a serious reason to do so."

Taking a small pause, Ivory lets her senses focus on the gentle strokes of Wayne's thumbs on her knuckles, spreading soothing waves towards her. Should I let him do it or is it inappropriate? Though something tells her he needs this physical contact.

Maybe as much as she does.

"The high priestess wanted to speak to the healer. The news was not good. She was dying." Ivory's voice starts to crack at the revisiting of the memory and her eyes glisten with tears threatening to escape her sockets. "She wanted to announce an heir, but none of those surrounding her was eligible to move to the highest rank."

Ivory's cheeks flare red under the pale moonlight. "She wanted a pure one. An untouched. And I offered."

***

Wayne was hanging from her lips the entire time since she started explaining how the events of that time have caused her to be standing opposite him, against the facts he was believing all this mournful period.

His chest constricted when Ivory confessed that she offered the rank of the high priestess. "Are you sure you did the right thing?" he hesitates but eventually asks with a cautious tone.

Ivory's face darkens with a melancholic smirk, that causes a tug to strike his heart. "It was the best I could do." she faintly smiles but her expression seems to hide more sorrow in the words than she tries to hide. "I've spent nearly six months there. Many wolves from various packs were passing by the sanctuary during those months. I've seen many young females finding their mates. I'm just not that type of person I assume."

"You don't know that." Wayne throws, his chest feeling like a battlefield after the collision of two armies.

Ivory leaves a light sigh, "I think I do. You see, I'm already too broken. It's a miracle that I've survived my first shift and I'm able to carry the wolf with me all this time. We have a few weak spots that do not cast us able to fight. None would want a mate like this. And don't forget that I'm a born Omega. Not a titled one."

With each fact Ivory was listing down to elaborate the rightfulness of her decision, it was like a stab to Wayne's chest. Only the moon goddess and he knew how he managed to keep going all this time, keeping his and Ivory's fate hidden from her. It was a load that was crushing him mentally every single second of the day.

Though what she said was true. Omegas were very rare to match. They had only possibilities while they hold some other rank but after, it was a role that was keeping everyone away. Wayne hated this treatment, and he was making sure the Omega of his pack was actively involved as any other member of it.

"So, I became the new high priestess and devoted myself to the silver goddess. I left the sanctuary during the night that the decision was taken and went to the temple up in the mountains. When I saw the fire raging that night I was devastated. We came to help, however, by the time we reach the sanctuary the fire was out. I performed the burying rituals. The hardest thing I could do as a new to this."

Wayne's hands keep stroking hers. His heart aches. She witnessed so much pain and sorrow both of her own and of others. And she was there to comfort them at their darkest hour. But where was he to comfort her?

"I shouldn't have left." his voice hardens. "I should have stayed. I should have to find you and help you process the disaster. It was too much to bare by yourself. I've failed you once more."

Wayne's words leave Ivory speechless, looking at him confused and surprised by his burst. "Don't say those words, please." she gently untangles one hand from his grip and rests it on his right shoulder. "You're the kindest person I know. You are already a great leader. The ceremony and the blessings are typical. You promised to keep me safe when I'm under your pack's roof and you have kept your word. You're a true leader, Wayne. Do not ever forget about it." Ivory gives him a warm smile.

Looking at her smiling like this could make his ribcage burst with happiness. But how she will react when I tell her the truth?

It has been a long time since Wayne was walking into this tightrope, between rejecting his fate and spending a lifetime in misery and sorrow or spilling out everything and accepting whatever life has in stock for him.

Taking a deep breath, he makes a step closer.

***

Ivory's eyes are still pinned on his. The amber in them, flows like a river, emanating waves of peace. But this suddenly changes.

His face darkens and his gaze increases exponentially in intensity. Ivory feels like he's looking right into her soul and the multiple wounds from her time in Moonriver pack, trying slowly to heal.

His arms grabbed her by the shoulders, lifting her like she weighs as thick as paper and bringing her right to the edge of the spring, her chest plastered in his. The sudden move causes Ivory to gasp and plant her hands on each side of his neck, supporting herself.

"W...Wayne?" she stutters. "Are you all right?" she searches for an answer into the amber gold swirling into a storm behind his eyes.

"I've never been better." his rasped voice caresses her face, causing a strange wave of heat to rise inside her.

His eyes travel to every inch of her face until they momentarily stop at her lips. "I have to tell you something. Something that I no longer can keep secret from you."

Ivory's eyes grow wide. "What is it, Wayne? You scare me, what is the matter?" Ivory trembles in his grasp.

Letting a sigh escape his lips, Wayne takes a long look into her eyes. "If what I'm about to do marks me as a sinner, then I'll proudly be dragging this mark with me for the rest of my life. I wish you forgive me one day."

Before Ivory could respond, Wayne presses her harder against him, colliding his lips with hers.