"I have never seen you sleep, alpha."

Damien jerked awake. Naomi was fast asleep beside him. Eric hovered at the door, smiling. Damien blinked a few times before extricated his hands from Naomi's.

"I had often wondered if you slept at all. Turns out you are not immortal after all."

Damien brushed his hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes. "I need to get her somewhere safe." Eric nodded. "You will have two weeks to create and maintain a structure for Redwood. I trust you can do that?" he asked sharply.

"Of course, alpha."

Damien nodded. "I supposed Redwood could function as a summer home in the future."

"When we bring the old magic back to the wolves, there will be a pack for every day of the year, let alone every season," Eric said proudly. 

Damien nodded, eyes lingering on Naomi. Eric placed his hand on his shoulder and met his gaze.

"Your family will be avenged. Then, we can focus on starting our own."

Damien's eyes were lost in space. "How is yours?" Damien finally asked.

Eric smiled. "Perfect. She will be in to care for Naomi soon."

++++++++++++

I woke to the gentle humming of Berry. I shuffled and her hand came to rest against my shoulder.

"Morning, Naomi."

"Morning," I mumbled.

"It's nice to hear your voice. It's been too long," she said. I blinked a couple times and my eyes locked onto Berry. She was glowing. She faced me, and I saw her beaming.

"Is there a guy?" I asked hoarsely. She burst into laughter, and my heart lifted at the sound of pure joy. "How long was I out?" I joked.

Her laughter faded. "Bad news or good news?"

"Bad," I said, anxiety flooding my veins.

"Three days."

"Three?" I jumped up in shock. I had missed three shifts at work. Jody was going to kill me. Memories began to pour back. The Hunt. Damien.

"Good news," she quickly said. "Is that your shifted body heals quickly! Alpha suggested that you may heal in your sleep, which is why you were out so long. Your ankle is still healing, but at this rate, it will only be a few more days in the modified cast."

"Alpha Maximus said that?"

Berry's eyes lit up. "Uh, no." She sat on the edge of the bed. "Alpha Maximus is dead. He tried to kill you after someone else claimed you in the Hunt. So, our new alpha killed him."

My eyes widened. I hated Maximus, but I never wanted him dead. That seemed extreme.

A sudden thought hit me. "Who is our new alpha?"

"Alpha Damien. He's been in here almost every second when he's not doing alpha business. He is restructuring the pack. My dad is a gamma now, essentially running the logistics of the camp. There's a special force of all-female fighters for undercover operations. I've been seeing a lot less omegas come in from 'accidental' falls."

I froze, still processing it all.

"And—band-aid time. You're not a werewolf. You have wings."

I nodded slowly and looked down at my arms. I had zebra scars, but the burns were healed. My shoulder felt better. Even my ankle was manageable. I reached behind my back and brushed the feathers that were there. Wings?

Berry was smiling. "They're huge," she said. "Showering is going to be a process. Granted, with long hair, showering is always a process. " I laughed at her utter practicality. I swung my legs out from under the bed and saw that my ankle was in an open cast, supported with a stiff board on either side, held together. A nasty scar ran across the skin. I shivered at the memory. I gingerly stood on my good ankle, surprised at how strong it felt. I stood all the way up, feeling only soreness in my bad ankle. I limped over to the full-length mirror and stared.

Slowly, I extended the muscles in my back. They were new and strange, but oddly familiar. Golden wings slowly expanded. Berry wasn't lying. They were huge. In the shade, they looked like a dull bronze, but in the sunlight, they cast warm golden light around the room. I had wings.

"They are beautiful," a voice said calmly. I looked over to see the Damien leaning against the doorway, basking in the golden light cast by my wings. He had a soft smirk on his face.

I slowly pulled them against my back, pleasantly surprised that they nestled neatly. "Alpha," I stammered politely. Berry kneeled behind me. A sudden urge to kiss him swept over me, and I almost stumbled. What the heck was that? He stood there, unaffected. I blinked and swallowed, suddenly acutely aware of how I looked. My braids had flyaway strands, and I was only wearing a dressing gown, open at the back.

A sudden puff of yellow radiance glowed off him. He reached out his hand, and I matched his motion, slightly confused. He gently took my hands and kissed the back of my hand, sending butterflies through my entire body.

"Naomi," he said. "Please call me Damien."

"Are you...my...?" I paused. Was I seriously about to ask my alpha if he was my mate? Maybe this was the way everyone felt around an alpha after they shifted. I knew, however, that not every alpha would tell their omegas to call them by their first name.

"Please, Naomi. Get cleaned up and changed. Berry has pulled some clothing for you in the washroom there. We are leaving in a couple of hours. Please meet me in an hour for lunch. Afterward, I would like to help you pack." I blinked and he disappeared around the corner. I whirled on Berry, hoping she had a better explanation. She was frozen kneeling.

"Berry?"

Another puff of yellow air blew around the room. She snapped to life and looked around. "Where did the alpha go?" I glanced at the doorway.

"He told me to get cleaned up and changed. He said you had clothes for me?" Berry stood up and nodded.

After showering in the blissfully warm water, I wrapped a towel around my head and was startled to find that Berry had pulled a yellow day dress for me. I had never seen her wear this before. I put it on quickly. The back was open with a length of fabric to tie it together. I debated whether I should put my wings over or under the dress. I decided over. I just needed Berry to tie up the dress.

Berry and the beta were deep in conversation, eyes locked on one another. I froze and stared. Finally, the beta turned, and Berry jumped up when she saw me.

"Um. Is this your dress? I've never seen you wear anything like this," I said.

She planted a tender kiss on the beta's cheek and jumped up. I stared at the beta, who was smirked after Berry.

"Beta Eric is your guy?" I asked.

Beta Eric laughed. "Call me Eric, Naomi. Yes. Berry and I are mates." He came closer and tossed his arm over her shoulder, digging his nose into the crook of her neck. She giggled and pushed him away.

"Eri, I will meet you at lunch. Save me a seat," she said. Eric smiled and teleported away in a flash of blue. She turned back to me and grinned endlessly. "Teleporting dork."

"Berry," I stated incredulously. "What... was I only out for three days?"

She then pulled me into a hug and laughed again. "Naomi, I can't tell you how happy I am. I found my guy and you're okay and Charlotte ran away, and my dad is a gamma, and..." she pushed back to stare me in the eyes. "Naomi, what if this is the way life is supposed to be? I feel free. Eric wants me to pursue medicine...go to a human university to get a degree and become a doctor. I mean, I can treat a bullet wound, but if I could learn about stuff like cancer... Naomi, Eric cares about me. And Alpha Damien wants us to thrive." Tear formed in her eyes. "Naomi, I am so sorry. I should have done more. I was a epsilon; I had some sway. You should have never had to go through what you did."

I grabbed her hand. "You saved my life more than once. I am in your debt. You stuck out your neck so many times, I surprised it never got slashed."

She nodded solemnly. "Dry your hair," she said, smiling softly. "I'll braid it once you're done. Your classic style may not work terribly well with your healing shoulder." I nodded and stepped back into the bathroom to dry my hair. "Is this your dress?" I called to Berry. She was cleaning and prepping the room for another patient.

"Of course not. On my skin, yellow looks like a disease. Damien asked me and Eric to run into town and pick something up. Yellow and with an adjustable back!" she shouted back.

Once my hair was dry, Berry got to work braiding the long, straight locks into manageable clumps. She worked to tie the back of my dress up, working around where my wings connected to my back. I was worried that holding them against my body would be a constant strain. Somehow, my body had two relaxed positions. One was open relaxed and the other was secured.

I felt Berry set something on my head and whirled around to look at her. She smiled. "Alpha insisted."

I stood up and limped to the mirror again. The whole ensemble was breathtaking. There were small, golden flowers set into a headband on my head. My braids went down to midback. The dress hung off my loosely. I stared. I had never given much thought to my appearance. To some extent, it could only get me into trouble. Yet, here, looking at myself, I realized that I wasn't as ugly as I had originally thought. I might be somewhat alluring.

Berry was grinning. "Let's go get some lunch, princess. Shoes are in the closet."

I limped over, scared that I would find heels. Instead, sensible sandals stood there. I sighed in relief. I could do sandals. The straps made it over my cast, thankfully.

"Can you make it to the front door?" Berry asked. I tested my ankle.

"I'm sure," I said confidently.

"Would you tell me if you couldn't?"

I laughed.

She rolled her eyes and slung my arm over her shoulder. We made it relatively easily to the waiting room. I remembered the long trek up to the dining hall. "Okay, maybe just a short break," I suggested.

She rolled her eyes. "We're going to be late. You can rest on the drive up."

"Drive?" I asked.

She smiled and nodded. "You remember those old golf carts?"

"The one your cousin flipped on his ninth birthday?"

She laughed. I realized that it had been years since she had really laughed. We stepped outside and one of the golf carts had been cleaned and repaired. I saw three others outside the housing buildings.

She jumped in and I slid in the passenger seat. "Well, that cousin learned how to fix them. Turns out there is this thing called the Internet. Has a bunch of resources and videos on how to fix things. He's working on the rest of them."

"He always hated guard duty." I shook my head. "Let's hope you are a better driver."

She laughed again. "Oh, absolutely not." Her foot pushed down on the gasoline, and we lurched forward. By the time we were at the top, my heart was racing. We hadn't flipped, but there were moments.

Berry parked it in front, and we made our way into the cantina. It was strange entering the front door. My heart began to pound as I thought about what I would do when Jody saw me. With Maximus gone, surely, she wouldn't be able to hurt me.

When we stepped over the front entry, a few eyes cast our way. Someone dropped a spoon and soft murmurs began until all eyes locked on us. I did my best to not run away. This was the pack that desperate desired my death or dismemberment in the Hunt just a few days ago.

I heard a loud clap and saw that Damien had stood. "Attention, all. For those of you who do not know, this is your late bloomer. She lived among you quietly, disgraced because she was not like you. Below omegas. Unbeknownst to the child who went by alpha, you possessed a diamond in the rough. Her name is Naomi. She is more than a shifter."

Show them your wings, a voice in my head prodded. I looked over at Damien, who was gesturing at me. I slowly pulled out my wings. The sunlight hit them from the open windows, sending the entire room into a golden frenzy. I extended them as far as they went, surprised at the almost twelve feet wingspan.

"She deserves your honor," Damien called.

Slowly, the entire cantina stood up and knelt. In front of me. I blinked a few times.

I retracted my wings, my ears glowing red at the attention.

"Get back to your lunches. Everyone not assigned will meet at the hall in twenty minutes. No one to be late."

Everyone got up and resumed eating. The cantina was normally relatively quiet, but now it was alive with noise. I was staring out when I felt a warm hand on my side. I jumped in panic, and Damien kept his hand confidently on my side.

"As impressive as your recovery has been, I known your ankle is still hurt. Take a seat at our table and I will grab you some tacos. Beta, would you assist her?"

I glanced around to find Eric, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead, Berry took my elbow and led me to the table. Thankfully it was close. "Beta?" I asked. She smirked.

"By merit and mate," she said. She sat me down at the table and left to grab her food.

I turned to see Eric sitting diagonally from me. He was staring. I finally met his eyes. "Yes, bet—Eric?"

"Your wings are incredible. Have you tried to fly yet?" he asked.

"I'm trying to walk for now," I replied. His smile faded.

"Naomi, will be you honest with me?" he asked. I turned to see the sincerity in his eyes. I nodded. "Damien...is he...do you feel...anything?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I feel warm and protected and attracted..." I faded. He nodded.

"Another question. What did they do to Berry?"

I opened my mouth and cast a glanced back to my friend. He reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Please. She keeps avoiding the question, but I've seen the scars." His eyes were intently gripped on mine. I took a shaky breath.

"She's happy now," I said truthfully. "She wasn't before. You need to hear it from Berry's mouth." He frowned but then nodded. I glanced around. "This whole room feels different."

"Well," Eric said, picking up one of his tacos, "you aren't standing by the serving table, knocking your knees together. Did you ever eat with everyone else?"

"Of course," I said. "Just not after the age of fourteen."

He took a deep breath and paused, taco halfway to his mouth. "I am sincerely sorry we did not come earlier."

I felt tears prickle my eyes and suddenly a plate of tacos landed in front of me with a cup of water. I quickly brushed my tears away and glanced to see Damien slide into the seat in front of me. Berry sat next to me. My stomach growled loudly. I instinctively flinched back, remembering the flimsy reasons Jody used as an excuse to decorate my arms.

Damien narrowed his eyes in concern. Berry glanced at me nervously. Eric noted my behavior, but focused his eyes back on Berry. He asked her a question, essentially leaving Damien and I in our conversation.

I looked down at the food in front of me. I quickly put on a fake smile for Damien and went to grab my water. I choked down the liquid as Damien practically inhaled his meal.

"Would you like something else?" Damien asked softly.

I shook my head. "No. I'm fine. Just... not hungry."

"Liar," he said casually. "You're starving. Do you have a thing about eating in front of other people?"

"No, it's not that. I'm just... I don't think I can eat."

He growled lowly and I flinched. "Naomi, I wasn't going to go into this right now, but if it's hurting you, I need to know. Explain."

"It's nothing," I said dismissively. "I just used to work here." I took a deep breath. "There's a lot of baggage."

"Jody ran away after I became alpha," Damien said. "She was obviously afraid of the alpha knowing what she did and was doing. I know she burned you. Why?"

"Jody ran away?" A small portion of tension relaxed in my back. That was my proof. She knew what she was doing was wrong. It she didn't think it was wrong, she wouldn't have run away. I hope she's okay, a small part of me wished. The larger part of me was glad that I would never see her again. 

Damien nodded. "What exactly happened?" Berry glanced my way, but Eric pulled her back into their conversation.

"Like I said," I began lowly. "If I messed up in the kitchen, she would heat up a knife and burn me."

"What does 'messing up' mean?" Damien asked. "Like if you poisoned someone?"

I almost rolled my eyes. In what world would I poison someone? If I poisoned someone, intentionally or unintentionally, I would have been dead. "No, like if I didn't look proper. Or if I was late. Or I forgot to clean something."

"To clarify, she would burn you," Damien asked, "if you did anything slightly wrong or someone made it look like you did something slightly wrong? Forgetting to clean something deserves a mild reminder, not a painful scar."

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and nodded. I took a deep breath and looked down at the food in front of me before turning away. If I couldn't eat it before, I couldn't even look at it now. Charlotte's urine eggs suddenly popped into my memory and I felt the urge to vomit. I began to retch.

Damien quickly reached over the table and placed a finger on my temple. Suddenly, the nausea vanished.

I saw Berry staring, eyes wide in concern. Eric grabbed her hand. "He's got it," Eric said softly. She tore her gaze away and they continued their conversation.

Damien sighed. "Naomi, I wish I could say that I understood, but I don't. I didn't live through any of that. But, you need to eat. I know it's impolite to talk about weight, but you are skin and bone. Did they feed you?"

I nodded. "It's not like I didn't eat. It just wasn't consistent."

"When did you get to eat?" Damien asked harshly.

"If I was good."

A dark rage flashed behind his eyes. The tension growing in my back made me feel like I was slowly becoming a statue. Tears pricked my eyes. I blinked furiously, trying to cast them away.

Damien pulled my plate away from me and I watched him nervously. "Tacos may not work today. Do you think you could stomach a smoothie?" Damien asked.

"I could try the tacos," I objected. I couldn't fathom someone making something special for me. How presumptuous would that be? Damien raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I will leave them here while I have them make you a smoothie. What's your favorite fruit?" he asked, pushing the plate back to me. I looked down, frantically trying to think of my favorite fruit. Oranges? Apples? Bananas? Were tomatoes a fruit?

"Pear," Berry interjected, sensing my rising panic. "She loves pears."

Damien spun off and I looked at Berry. "Thank you," I breathed.

She smiled. "What are friends for? I'm still a little miffed, though."

"Berry, I love you," I said, "but raspberry seeds always get stuck in my teeth. I like them, but berries are not my favorite."

"But, they are the best," she argued. "Quantitatively. Right, Eric?"

Eric raised his hands in mock defeat and looked at me. "Berry's always right," he said.

"Berry, you have a smart mate," I said.

She laughed loudly and grabbed Eric's hand. "Yeah," she said, staring into Eric's eyes. "Yeah, I do."