Part 34. Finding Ava

Zach, mildly annoyed at the interruption, descended the stairs, teeth gritted together. He tried to get the omega to admit her mistake, but his family chose that time to call him. First, his father was on the phone ordering around to show himself in the living room and then Janet yelling for him to come down. What did they want anyway?




"What is it, dad?" He frowned, folding his lips as he dragged his feet towards the massive couch in the living hall. The Pack Alphas attention was solely focused on his father, not even bothering to look at the people beside him.




"Look who's here!" Jacob chuckled, motioning towards the door as two familiar faces walked in. "It's Nora!"




The words got stuck into his throat, slowly morphing into nausea. His eyes widened as they meet two brown irises that he never thought he'd ever get to see again. Nora. An omega they were supposed to court and eventually mate. She's late. It almost slipped his mind that she's going to be there.





Zach barely remembered the last time he saw the young woman, she's shorter, plump and sporting pigtails but the omega in from to him was a new person, almost someone else.




He found her big brown eyes looking up at him, her cheeks rosy from the chilled breeze outside.




"Hi", The Alpha offered her a weak smile, watching as her long eyelashes fanned down her cheekbones. Biting her lip and slightly nervous, she slowly made her way inside, her deep breath audible, followed by an Alpha.




"This is my brother, Damon," Nora said with a blush. "I hope you don't mind, but dad was scared of me travelling alone. He will be staying here for a while."




"Hey", Damon cleared his throat, the grip around the travelling bag tightened. Zach gave the nod in Nora's brother's direction before shuffling, allowing them to make themselves comfortable on the couch.




"Nonsense! We would love to have you both here." Veronica, his stepmother, giggled, slapping her hands together. "You must be tired from the journey. I will send some tea for you two."




"Oh, please don't trouble—"




Before Nora could complete her sentence, his stepmother disappeared into the kitchen, leaving him with his father. Janet was also nowhere to be seen. Where did she go? He glanced down at his feet and clenched his jaw, unable to acknowledge that Nora was only several centimetres away from him.




"Where are Rayly and Janet, Mr Bruno? It's been a while since I have seen those girls." Nora casually asked, her legs crossing together.




"Rayly is on her medical camp, and Janet is...well, she's just around here but rushed to her room."



"Oh", Nora's voice was small as she bobbed her head. "I'll meet them some other time then."



As the tray was placed in front of them, Veronica lifted off the kettle's lid, pouring scalding hot water into the cups before adding sugar. He watched as she stirred it in, spoon clanking against the brim, then he pressing the spoon against the teabag and watches as the brew turns darker by the second. Adding the milk, his stepmother stirred for another moment before fishing out the bag and doing the same for others.




Zach cradled the cup in his hands.



From the corner of his eyes, he noticed
Nora adjusting the hem of her short dress, taking a sip of her tea. "Thank you, Luna. This is what we needed."




Damon hummed quietly before turning towards Zach, raising a brow. "I haven't seen Ares and Dante around. Are they not in the packhouse?"





"Oh, they are back in the cabin," Zach said and just about managed to suppress a weary sigh. It's all he seemed to be doing these days, to be honest.




"I'll call them", Jacob murmured, already fishing his phone out from the pocket. "Just give me a minute."




While his father was busy calling his brother, he looked up, already feeling Nora's eyes hungrily taking him in. What was going on? She flashed the Alpha a seductive smile hiding behind her cup.




"So...Zach, you are completely off the military camp then?" Damon asked, setting his teacup back in the tray, hands coming to rest on his thigh.




He promptly choked on the tea, coughing and spluttering, grateful for the distraction. "Sorry. Went down the wrong pipe, but yes, I won't be going back there." The Alpha managed to croak out between two coughs, his eyes bulging out.




The velvet colour on his cheeks crawled down his neck, spreading across his chest, and he began to sweat. When he glanced to the side, it's to find Ava standing behind Nora, a blank look on her face. Zach looked down and breathed harshly through his nose, his heart jolting.




Why did she come down?





He dug the soles of his boots harder in the ground to keep his knees from bouncing out of nerves. The Alpha stared hard at the teacup in front of him, silence falling between them, heavy. His nostrils were assaulted by the strong peach-infused scent, something delicate along with it. Was that her natural omega scent?




Zach heard with rapt attention as his father asked Ava to get Ares and Dante to the pack house. He couldn't ignore the crestfallen look taking over her features, head mindlessly nodding. When she abruptly left the living room, the Alpha watched her back until it disappeared.




"That's weird..."



Jacob nervously chuckled at Nora's comment, shaking his head. "Ava can be a bit...eccentric like that. Nothing to worry about."



Zach sat in silence, looking at the door in hopes his brothers would show up. He heard the grandfather clock ticking away with a steady beat, seconds turning into minutes, and still, there was no sign of them. The Pack Alpha couldn't help but feel an almost unbearable pressure to finally put an end to what was– put bluntly– a mindless chatter.




Damon cleared his throat, once again pulling Zach out of his thoughts, and he lifted his gaze to meet Damon's eyes. "I asked if we should go look for Ares and Dante. It's been a while."




Shaking his head to himself, Zach plastered a wry smile onto his face. "I can go and look for them. You stay here."



With that, he's off, stepping through the gates without ever once looking back. The wind picked up, and it compelled him to draw the collar of his coat tighter around his throat. A petrichor smell wafting out from the damp ground, but he continued his walk to their shared cabin.
***
Ares and Dante were sitting in the living room, on the couch with laptops in front of them. Zach sniffed the air only to notice that he could find any pheromones of the omega. With the way, she left he expected some anger and maybe jealousy to taint the cabin. Unless Ava never returned, and that's why his brothers were so clueless. The Alpha should have stopped her when he had the chance; instead, she ran away.





"Ares, Dante, we need to talk."



They both looked up; eyes narrowed together at the seriousness in Zach's voice. He was sure that they wouldn't appreciate Nora, considering both of them
didn't show much interest to begin with. That's not even a problem now. Zach had to tell them about Ava and her truth even if they didn't believe him.




"What's going on?"



"Ava is an omega. She lied to us about being a beta."



His brothers looked stricken, but they remained quiet, motionless, their eyes widening as those words sank in. The Alpha wanted to go on, tell them all about how he found about and basically hid it from them all this time. He's been feeling so guilty for everything, and so terrible, almost unable to breathe.




The hollow, dry laugh that curled out of Dante's mouth made his gut twist. "What? Zach, this is a pretty serious accusation. Are you sure about it?"



"I am not lying, Dante, but also I don't have time to explain it in detail. We have to find her."




"I always knew there's something different about her...shit!"Ares murmured under his breath, standing up, his mouth twisting. "Wait....what do you mean to find her? Where did she go?"




The Pack Alpha let out a ragged breath, his hand tangling in his curls, tugging at them in frustration. Where did she go? If he could smell her true scent for a flash of a second meant her pills were wearing off. He gulped, trying not to imagine the scenarios going through him.





"Zach?" Someone touched his elbow, almost making him jump on the spot.



Blinking at his brothers, he let out a wry sigh, "Dad has been trying to call your phones, but they were unreachable, so he asked Ava to get you to the packhouse for.... something important. She's been gone for almost an hour now."




"But she didn't come here!" Dante breathed through his mouth, mirroring Ares horrified expression.



"We have to find her as soon as possible. I don't have a good feeling about this."
***
So...will they find her? The next update is on Monday :D
***