Omega Pride

The 7th and long awaited installment of Omega Pride.

Thank you all so very much for being as patient as you guys were! It's been a tedious 5 months since school started back up for me, and I have several different priorities before I could get back to writing.

The next chapter just needs to be edited and the chapter after that is still being written, so I ask that if anyone would like to help and be an English language editor for me, just send me feedback. It would be very much appreciated.

I've also looked over your comments on the French, and I've decided to keep it in. The story started out with it, and it would kill so much of who Delphi is to take it out now. I am, however, trying a different method so it won't be so taxing this time.

Also, the word μιγάς is pronounced Me-gahs.

Last but not least, I'd like to thank my French Editor L.L for sticking and putting up with me along with taking care of the French and half the pages. Couldn't have done it without you.

Now, without anymore detour,

Enjoy!

~*~*~*~

Delphi walked as fast as her aching body would allow her through the uncomfortably white manor and up the lengthy stairs. She saw Emmanuel at the door; the scent of his surprise caught in her nose. But just as their eyes made contact, she averted hers and went into the room, closing—nearly slamming—the door behind her. She turned, resting her back on the door. She wanted to slide down, but the moment she tried, her thigh hurt her. Thus, leaning would have to do.

She looked at her unsteady hands, staring at them in disbelief as if they were growths instead of her own limbs.

"......What's happening to me....?" She finally let out a fearful whisper.

Why had she done that..?! She had NEVER yelled like that, not even at Kamilla when she insulted the Moon Goddess! Yet, when Denver spoke as if he knew her life, made accusations that her deceased parents weren't her own, it unlocked something inside of her.

'No,' Delphi shook her head, 'That was impossible.'

Unlocked? There was nothing to unlock! This had to have come from her and Wyatt's mating. That had to be it. ....it must have done something to her; changing her into something she wasn't. She sluggishly walked over to the mahogany set of sofa chairs, gently sinking in the furthest one, her eyes never once leaving her hands. Slowly, she pulled them up to her eyes and covered them.

Why was all this happening? Everything that she knew was crumbling around her, and even she was changing over into something unknown...She hated it. She wanted everything to return to the way it was.

But really? That wasn't even a possibility.

Years. It had been years since everything that led up to now occurred, and she had no way of returning lost time. She lowered her wavering hands onto her lap as she sat in the silence of her own thoughts before looking at the ceiling, rather...looking past it.

"....Oh Déesse de la Lune (Goddess of the moon)," She whispered in helplessness, "...J'suis tellement perdue (I am so lost)..... S'il te plaît aide-moi... dit-moi quoi faire? (Please help me....and tell me... What do I do)"

She looked down, feeling despair under the surface, "Do I...allow myself to change into something I was never born into....? Converge in my fate...? Accept everything...I hold to be untrue...? Please....guide this pup....I beg of you..."

In the quiet of an unanswered prayer, Delphi sat back in her seat, and slowly closed her eyes. She hadn't spoken to her wolf at all, and it was becoming more and more unnerving to her that her own companion wouldn't even offer anything, from an answer to merely comfort, about what had happened.

~*~*~*~

Delphi opened her eyes to the place in her mind that always brought her home: The fresh wilderness of Northeast Québec. Sounds of the roaring and powerful, yet soothing Caniapiscau River, the feel of early winter's wind and late autumn's crisp blue and sunny sky, the smell of the sleepy forest and pitch-patch open fields...they were all mere memories of the real thing, the reality could never be duplicated.

But she tried her hardest to remember as much as possible; Delphi refused to forget it. Her nude body, unhurt in her mind, finally readjusted to the cold river wind, and, because her wolf didn't come to her, she set out to find her wolf herself.

It wasn't that hard.

Delphi always did like to go to the water's edge just where the last tree was. Not just to drink, but to see the mighty river itself take its regular pace and move as it saw fit. In this case, her wolf lapped from the water, the slight breeze carried against her fur as well as Delphi's body and hair.

"Hey," Delphi spoke almost in a whisper, approaching her wolf.

At once did her wolf turn her head and look up at her, but no communication was passed between the two outside of those stares. In fact...it felt a little strange. Delphi decided to turn away first, after what seemed like forever, and sat down on grass-covered rocks. She looked back at her wolf, her wolf finally going over to her.

"....Where have you been?" Delphi asked gently.

Her wolf didn't respond to her, rather, she just sat down and continued to watch Delphi.

"....Why are you being so quiet? And so distant?" Delphi ran her fingers through her other self's fur, "You weren't when...when we ran away from the pack..."

Again, nothing but a watchful gaze was the response of her wolf. Delphi looked out over to the river, her left hand not once leaving her fur.

"....At least...answer me this," Delphi started, "When...when I blacked out, all those years ago when we were with the Oakens, what hap—"

A low threatening growl erupted from her wolf suddenly, causing Delphi to snap her head at her and pull her hand away, startled, as her wolf too pulled away from her touch and sharply turned toward the forest.

"Wait!" Delphi shot up to her feet, but her wolf didn't give her a second look.

She even began to run away from her. In alarm and shock, Delphi took after her. She didn't understand. Her wolf had never done this before! Neither growled at her nor run away from her before! So why had she? Why? Why?!

"Why?!" Delphi shouted after her wolf, coming to a dead halt as her wolf was actually outrunning her, "Why?! ...Won't you tell me anything?!"

At this, her wolf surprisingly stopped running and glanced over at Delphi. From that distance, an outsider wouldn't have seen it in the slightest, but at that moment, Delphi caught the look, that sad look in her wolf's orange to blue-gray eyes. Delphi's mouth dropped open as if to let in a small gasp before her wolf once again turned away from her and ran out of her sight and into the cooling wood.

Could...could it be? That her wolf....didn't even know? Or that she wouldn't tell her? ...No...rather...could be that...she couldn't?

~*~*~*~

Delphi's eyes snapped open when there was a knock on the doors.

"Delphi?" The soft yet powerful sound of Wyatt's voice brought a new realization to her.

Was he mad at her? She had both had an outburst in front of—against—higher ranking wolves, and she had insulted the Delaney pack, despite what she said being true. What...what was he going to do? What was she going to do?!

Without a second knock, Wyatt opened to the door and looked about the room slowly before resting his eyes onto her. Just as their eyes met, Delphi looked away once more, once again refusing to listen to his original command to look at him. How could she with what had happened?

In the stillness, Delphi heard him lightly and almost silently shut the door and make his way over to her until she could see him, out of the corner of her eye, sitting in an opposite chair, his gaze trying to pierce through hers.

But she wouldn't look up at him throughout the silent lock.

"Delphi—" He finally started.

"I'm sorry,"

Delphi beat him to getting her words out and the smell of his confusion beat his words as well.

"Why are you sorry?" Wyatt asked.

"Because.....Because I was out of place," Delphi whispered, never once looking at him, "I screamed at Mr. Denver, a higher wolf than me, demanded for him to stop what he was saying...because I...I didn't...w-want....him to say it, and...and I spoke ill about this pack...comparing it to the others. It was not my place...and I'm sorry..."

Accompanied by the still air, Delphi could almost feel Wyatt contemplating on what to say to her.

"...Look at me," He finally spoke up, "Delphi, look at me."

Hesitantly, Delphi looked up and over at him.

It wasn't until their eyes met that he continued, "I am not mad at you. You have no reason to apologize. In fact, I even must say that I am proud of you for standing up for your parents and who they were. As for what you said about the practices of packs...I cannot deny it.....It is tradition for every pack to do so."

At this, Delphi pulled her good leg slowly up to her chest.

"....Then....as pack law and tradition dictates....are you going to punish me as well?" Delphi whispered, if not for the situation and the seriousness of it, she would have come across as sarcastic, "The Delaney pack Alphas...have to have served punishment for even insulting the pack...You are all....notorious...for your brutality after all..."

Delphi looked down once more as she heard Wyatt shift positions in his seat at her words. She then heard him lean his head back and let out a sigh.

"We don't, Delphi."

The surprise made her look up at him yet again, and she said nothing as he continued, "The Alphas of this pack...it is true that we are violent and vicious in nature. We and our wolves are bred and raised that way. It is also true that we keep a strict discipline in our pack, but Delphi."

He then shifted his body again to lean forward towards her, folding his hands together, "We do not punish others for their thoughts of the pack. As long as their words aren't followed by harmful actions against all of us."

Delphi's eyebrows bent in confusion, "But...but I was told the Delaney Alphas would kill any wolf who so much as talked back against a higher up, outside and inside the pack."

"...That was true of my father...and a vast majority of all my ancestors," Wyatt admitted, but not once did he look away from her, "....most of what you know and what everyone else knows about us stems from them. They were unequivocally ruthless: They would hurt any wolf; it didn't matter if they stood against them, for them, or if they were neutral. They went looking for pack wars, and thrived on it. Not for more territory, resources, or even mates for our males and females, but for the mere sake of it. 'For the sake and name of The Alpha Deity of War', I was told by my father, 'That made him pleased with us'.

Blood shed was their only joy and reward. It wasn't until my great-grandfather, around 3000...3040 years ago decided to move most of the pack to the Americas, finally making about half of our nomadic pack become a settled one, that things started to change.

Yet...my grandfather and father decided to raise the rest of the pack as it always has been in Europe and Northern Asia. With as many wars as there were back then, the rise of hunters, which would eventually lead up to werewolf hunts in France, and on a smaller scale in many places around Europe.

My grandfather, and a bulk of the remaining pack, died in another self-inflicted war in 1302. After my grandfather passed away, my father, then Alpha, made his way here to the Americas along with the few they had left with the help of Keric, where my great-grandfather was still the Alpha of that part of the Delaney."

"Wait," Delphi sat up with surprise in her eyes, wincing slightly from the sudden pull on the still healing wounds, "Mr. Keric? The same wolf downstairs?"

"Yes," Wyatt asked, half amused, half puzzled, "Surely you already know we can live as long as we choose to."

"Yes, but....that must make him...if he knew the way to here and back.... at least 3000 years old," Delphi had never heard of a wolf choosing to live that long.

"Yes," Wyatt said rather bluntly.

Delphi's eyes and scent never left confusion as he continued.

"Here, my great-grandfather had...grown tired of fights and wars; he had gotten bored due to the fact that the packs here were both younger and weaker than our own, even more so than the others we have fought on the Eastern side of the world. It was here in Wyoming that he settled the Delaney pack.

My father challenged my great-grand father, and because my father didn't slack off on his training and warring, won with ease. He might have gone on a grand slaughter if he didn't mate my mother soon after, who had lived under the former Alpha's rule. That, however, didn't stop him from beating all our peacefully naïve wolves into warhounds," Wyatt told her, his voice surprised her with its neutrality.

"...What about you then?" Delphi asked, "Are you...similar to him? To them?"

Wyatt let out a sigh through his nose, "I almost don't know if I should receive that as an insult or a compliment."

He shook his head before Delphi got the chance to apologize, and continued, "No. I don't believe I am. At least not exactly. I was born in 1762, 12 years before the start of the change to what would become the United States, but a few centuries after my father had lost a good portion of his vindictive instinct. I was trained and treated the same way as the other wolves here, though trained slightly differently to be stronger than his betas.

However, the only wars I ever fought in were a turf war with the combined forces of a Montana pack and an Idaho pack, and in the American Civil War against yet another Montana pack that used the humans' own battles to attack us outright. That war resulted in my father's death. I succeeded him shortly after, with Keric's help and guidance, as my father had no intention of making me Alpha unless I challenged and killed him."

"....That's why I never have seen him," Delphi said as if answering the imaginary question.

It was strange. Compared to the past Alphas of Delaney, Wyatt was far more...benevolent? No, that's not the right word. He was more lenient.

She looked down. She had never heard of an Alpha that wouldn't relinquish their position even to their own heirs without a fight. ...But then again, she never really was put in a position to know how pups of Alphas succeed their predecessors in the first place. Even Alpha Raoul never went into how he and Madame Alpha Florence succeeded.

"....What happened to your mother?" Delphi slowly looked back him.

"Same thing that happens to every wolf that losses their mate," He responded, his voice kept that same distantness.

"...They go berserk," Delphi responded, to which Wyatt nodded.

"It wasn't much anything at first. She was silent and hard as always, leading us on her own as best she could. But shortly after I became Alpha, she started to verbally attack, growl, and bark much more harshly at the others than usual.

That progressed to hurting lesser wolves, then hurting those in higher positions, including her own Betas. Then finally, she attempted to attack me. But I couldn't hurt her...couldn't bring myself to hurt her no matter how many times she tried, nor could I get her out of her position. In all my life...I have never seen a wolf age and gray so quickly, nor did I ever believe that she would look at everyone...with such contempt. Even when Adeline finally challenged her, despite her weakened body and mind, she wouldn't submit."

"And...she had to kill her," Even as those words left her lips, she felt horrible to say so.

"It was the only way to. She would have eventually killed wolves if it continued, and by being exiled she would both bring harm to humans...and herself," Wyatt told her, "I feel no hatred for Adeline, and thanked her for what she had to do."

Delphi noticed how Wyatt seemed to come back down to Earth after he told her all of that....was he even being detached to begin with?

"Is...Is that rule abolished?" Delphi asked him.

"It never was one. My ancestors just saw it as some kind of tradition, but none of us—Keric, Adeline, and I—agree with it," He replied to her, "No one should ever have to kill their parents over a position."

Delphi eyes studied him as she thought about what she heard. Wyatt...had never shown this side of himself to her. There was more to the Delaney as he had said, and his scent never once changed to suggest he was lying. He had no reason to lie to her.

She saw his nose twitch slightly as he then spoke, "We aren't horrible wolves that only thrive on violence, Delphi. Not anymore."

Delphi watched him as he scooted toward the edge of his seat, "But, I will be firm on this: I don't care in the slightest about how the world perceives us or how much they fear us. It's their business, and if they do want to fight against us, they will get the battle they so craved. However, I do care, and hope that you will not fear and perceive us, perceive me, the same way they do."

At that moment he reached for her hand, surprisingly taking hold of it with such a tender touch. The warmth of his hand rolled off his and onto hers as she felt how rough and textured they were. She looked down at their joined hands, Wyatt rubbing his coarse thumb in a circular motion on the soft back of her hand.

'What...what should I do?' She thought to herself, 'Should I...accept this...or pull away?'

At that she saw his thumb skip a beat, and at that moment, she realized—better yet remembered—that he heard her. She looked up and got caught in his feral emerald eyes for the third time that day. But....this time...she could see something in them.

Emotion. Emotion outside of anger, rage, and frustration. He wanted her to accept this. Accept him for who and what he was as a Delaney Alpha and as a wolf, to acknowledge that she was not only safe, he'd do everything in his power to protect her and care for her, and to accept that they were mates—mated, regardless of their positions on the hierarchy...regardless that he was Alpha, and she an...Omega...

Delphi took in a quick and soundly breath before shaking her head and pulling her hand away from his despite the fact that he almost tried to keep hold of it. She then got up quickly—a little too quickly for her wounds, causing her to yet again flinch—and walked away from him and toward the balcony.

"Why are you so convinced? So stuck on being an Omega, Delphi?" Wyatt's words were low, but non-threatening, angry, but calm.

"Because that is what I am," Delphi responded, "That is what I was born into...!"

"Delphi, you are more than just an Omega," She heard Wyatt stand from his seat and start over to her, "I've noticed. You avoided and ignored my commands more than a few times, escaped from here without any detection let alone a thought sent my way, and, just as Denver said, you survived and resisted those Silver bullets. No mere Omega can do that."

As he neared her, Delphi moved out of his reach and over to his cherry wood desk, "But I am a mere Omega...! I'm just smart enough to think it out, that's all...! And as....as for the silver, and what happened...."

At that point, she was at loss for words. She couldn't explain it. She didn't want to. She didn't want this.

'That damn word again...' She thought to herself.

Through her sniffs, she could sense the calm that radiated from him, yet she also could smell the underlays of worry, slight irritation, and....hurt... But again, she shook her head, trying to ignore such scents.

"What? Want?" Wyatt picked up her thoughts, "Go ahead and want, Delphi. You are allowed to. The only one stopping you is you."

He then let another sigh as he pressed down on the couch. He was quiet before he continued, "Are you so stuck on this because you are afraid? Afraid of what has happened? Of what can?"