Rogue Wolf

Ch 24 territory

The vastness of the space in front of me astounded me. There were decorative columns throughout. There were some walls. It went up... there was a second story on the sides, a walkway around, but the center was open. It had to be at least three stories high, maybe four. The closest thing I could compare it to was the center of a shopping mall. This however was rooms and sections of nothing but gardens.

My eyes couldn't take in the number of plants everywhere. There was overgrowth, there were...

I ran forward and pounced without even thinking. My paws barely missed whatever it was. Small and furred, it barely evaded my teeth.

Beta laughed, really laughed! I looked at him in surprise. That had him laughing some more.

"It looks like we have a few mice to catch."

I shifted back to man. Beta merely motioned and one of the omegas ran to get my shorts.

"My Beta, I don't understand. This..."

I continued to take it in, slowly spinning around. I absently took the shorts from the kneeling omega, until it occurred to me that an omega was kneeling before me. That had never happened before. His head was bowed and he was waiting. I placed a hand on his head. I could feel him tremble. It was kinda intoxicating.

"Beta sir?" I looked at him questioningly. He only smiled at me, obviously pleased, until Lone Wolf cleared his throat.

"Omegas, there are kitchens over there." Beta pointed to one side. "You begin cleaning there. I expect it to be ready for inspection before dinner is prepared."

The omega before me ran off with the other ones. He had to come back to grab some of the supplies. Alpha would have yelled at them. Beta was content to watch their obedience. He watched them for awhile before motioning me over.

"This was the common area. Over there on our right, see the doors? Those lead to the level above this one. That's where the common pack workers stayed. Some of them were even human sometimes, families of those chosen to be bitten and become part of the pack."

I could see something above the closed doors, but it was hard to make out. Vines had taken over there.

"Across from them are the doors that lead to the various sub-leaders, from Beta to head chef. Those with responsibility over others were permitted through those doors. They lead to the level above the pack members."

The stone header above that door was easy to read.

"Beta, sir? Why does it say Cerberus above that door. Wasn't that the three headed dog?"

"Yes Scout. A pack is composed of its body, its management, and its Alpha. Cerberus also means such things as bodyguard, supervisor, overseer," he paused. "Rather fitting isn't it?"

He didn't say anything about omegas. I supposed omegas were part of the body.

Beta stepped forward, pulling me with him, with his arm over my shoulder. He pointed up. There was a huge balcony on the very far side, with stairs coming down from either side. The stairs stopped at a landing on the third level, coming down to join in the middle of the second level, splitting to the sides again, making two sets of stairs that ended on this level.

"That is where I would stand next to my father as he watched over his pack. So many people lived here Scout. All dead now, buried in the bowers."

We were what, thirty floors up? Yet there were huge gardens on the ground in front of me. There were overgrown grass pathways beyond the tiles. But what Beta was looking at were the gardens further up along the walls. The second story was probably only thirty feet to fifty feet out from the outer wall. There were huge sections walled up. They must be filled with dirt, I thought, because I could see the plants on top of some of them.

"The bowers are where we bury our dead. The dead that were here have already been interred. I'm not sure if we will find any dead left elsewhere or not. Keep that in mind as you sniff about Scout. Go on now, go explore."

I took off my shorts, preferring to go about as a wolf to learn what I could about this place. Beta whistled sharply and an omega came running and took my shorts to put them away someplace.

Alpha would have screamed for them to come, and would have slapped them for no reason other than that their speed did not please him. Beta did not threaten. He did not have to. The history of how the three captive omegas came to be here kept going through my mind.

Beta talked for awhile with Lone Wolf as I explored the bottom level. When I looked back at Beta again, Lone Wolf had disappeared somewhere. My paws took me up the steps. I kept glancing at Beta to make sure he didn't mind. This was true Alpha territory I was encroaching on.

I looked back to where we had come in when I heard three guards finally arrive and kneel just inside the door. They waited for Beta's permission and acceptance before they came in further.

My eyes wandered up the wall behind them. There were no bowers there. On each side of the doors were huge wooden beams like in some medieval castle. The beam on the one side was about waist high, the other side was shoulder high. You could see where some of the straps attached to them had rotted.

That door was meant to be secured from this side. The people on the other side could not come out unless those on this side, the pack side, permitted them out.

There was, carved in stone, the name of the hall we had come from. It contained but one word.

Omegas.