8. Flock of Sheep

It all happened too fast for Seff to process. She didn’t want to process it all.
The last four Omegas were split evenly, the female achieving her dream by being selected by Kiran. The Alpha and Luna and their packs left without ceremony to their designated quarters. The chosen Omegas were allowed to return to their dorms or to their families to get cleaned up—and be ready to set out tomorrow afternoon to begin the next stage of their lives.
Allium’s parents, Wisteria and Rush, found them and ushered them home, supporting their daughter and Seff in their stupors. Rush made steak while Wisteria helped them undress and unpin their hair, helping them into pajamas. They ate dinner in silence and separated afterward. Allium’s bed was big enough for two, and the friends buried under the comforter and held each other in their arms. Neither could sleep.
“I’m sorry,” Seff whispered after a while.
Allium shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. This is all my fault. Just because I want to bear little gold-haired babies—Oh, sorry. Oh, I’m so selfish.”
Now Seff shook her head. “No one can fault you for wanting to follow a dream. It’s no one’s fault. It’s just friends keeping promises.”
I’ll be okay. We will be okay. We’ll be chosen together and we’ll live together just like we always wanted to.
Allium recalled her own words, too. She held Seff’s hands in her own. “Promises kept,” she vowed.
As Allium fell asleep, Seff eventually came to the thought…what if her friend resented her for being the center of attention of Kiran more than herself?
There was no need for clothes—no need for any belongings whatsoever. The harem provided all their necessities once they moved in. Including gowns for the indiction gala. Blood-related family was invited and would travel with their son or daughter for one last night together.
Once again the common yard was chock full of members of three werewolf packs. Selene and Kiran were speaking to Hyacinth at the front to wrap up. Seff stayed close to Allium and her parents, too wound tight to appreciate one of the things she wanted most in her life—people who cared about her, who would take care of her, who would not abandon her. She scanned for Hawthorn fruitlessly. Her shitty brothers were nowhere to be seen, the only upside to the situation.
Seff then looked at the campus, the only place she knew. The Leftovers dorm looked plain and almost abandoned. Would she miss the old mattress and flat pillow, or the drafty door, or the table for one? No, she decided rather quickly. But she would miss the uneventfulness of it all.
She would be with Allium, and that was all that truly mattered.
Much too soon, there was a signal to move out. The sound of ripping flesh hit the sound barrier like speakers at a concert. Allium squeezed Seff’s hand. “Stay close to me,” she whispered, and together they Shifted into their wolf forms to join the furry mass of wolves on their way to the harems.
Their strides ate up the ground as they ran without stopping until they reached halfway. The Magnolia wolves were not used to traveling long distances. The three packs hid out in a forest to catch small game and drink from a nearby river. The Moon and Sun were chatty within their own packs, leaving every Magnolia member looking around for a single topic. But Seff felt Selene and Kiran’s gazes never leave her.
They set out again, and just like that, the last half hour was passed—just like that, they reached Castle Night. Selene offered to farewell to no one, leading her pack and her new chosen Omegas. But Seff thought it no consequence that she passed by her and brushed her wolf shoulder against Seff’s and whisper, “I will see you again, Seff Bastan.”
Seff froze to the bone, her ears going flat and tail hiding between her legs. She watched Selene shift back into her human form as a few Betas emerged from the entrance to the compound and blanketed her in a black wool overcoat. She looked over her shoulder, but this time not at Seff but at Kiran still in his massive gold-furred wolf form—who was staring at her, but before their gazes fully locked, he flicked equally gold eyes to Seff. His tongue lolled out as he lifted his chops in a grin. Seff wanted to hide. But she didn’t miss Allium notice the entire exchange—and look away when Seff opened her mouth to tell her she had no idea why the Alphas paid her so much strange attention.
Once the Moon pack was completely within their compound, the Sun took off for another twenty-minute run to the Apollo Keep. It was summer, and this compound was surrounded not by rowan trees and night-blooming flowers, but dozens of apple trees that only grew gold apples, an orchard completely encompassing the Keep. The scents of the fruit filled Seff’s nose and seemed to ease her worries with a sense of calm. The sun was past its peak, but the world was flooded with sunlight and lush green landscaping, and the Crystal River glittered around the corner of the Keep. The walls were gold brick sandstone and twenty feet tall. A gate guarded by white stone wolves groaned open to emit a group of females already squealing for their Alpha gone oh-so-long.
Kiran Shifted into his human form, and Seff had the thought that he had to be made of gold, too. Tanned skin stretched taut over rippling muscle…his back made artists want to sketch him. Rich blond hair tousled by the wind that he tied into a bun…anyone would want to run their fingers through it.
Seff shook her head. Why did she just think that? She still remembered Hawthorn’s rough fingertips sliding up her thighs, tangling in her hair—
The Sun and chosen Omegas with their families started to filter into the gates. It felt less like a werewolf pack and more like a scrambling sheep flock, even if they were all still in their wolf forms—either way, they were a sea of white pelts. Seff tipped her head up as the arch of the gate passed overhead. Everything was unremarkable, but to a small-town wolf like her, it was like walking inside a real castle. Except it was a harem. Holy shit.