Chapter 34

Rori tried hard not to be a selfish child. He made up his mind that he would be happy with whatever Mila chose for them, but in his heart, he secretly hoped for Kody to be the one she chose.

Not everyone in the packs liked Rori. He wasn’t oblivious to their reactions to his presence. Mothers pulled their pups away from him. Noses wrinkled whenever he came to the dinner tables. Often, in a crowd of predators, Rori felt like prey.

They watched him for a weakness. Even though he was physically more powerful, they wanted him to be weaker just because he was different. Those mothers that looked at their pups with such love, looked to him with a coldness that felt suffocating.

Most of the children obeyed their mothers without question, hating him because their parents did. As though they had no brains for themselves.

Some of them tried to be discreet. They wanted to like him even though they were told not to. Some really liked Mila who told the best stories, so they wanted to like who she liked. If they were kind to Rori, surely, she would continue to tell her stories.

Only a few genuinely liked Rori for himself, but those few were ones he treasured greatly.

The ones that genuinely liked Rori were most often influenced by Kody and Winnie. Kody the alpha was a natural leader that built the bridge to acceptance. Winnie the omega was the one that encouraged others to cross the bridge.



Winnie was the other reason for Rori wanting Kody to be the one Mila picked. Both males could offer the comfort of a mate, but Kody also came with friendships. Winnie was a member of his pack, the Blood Moon Pack.

At the lowest tier, Winnie would never be able to be separated from her pack. She was smaller than the others and physically weaker, but maybe that was made her the kindest.

Rori could sense the hesitance Winnie felt toward him. Besides the physical difference, she was pregnant and therefore, quite sensitive. Rori was too alien for her accept right away, but unlike others who gave up at once, she tried.

Winnie had been the first to bond with Mila. It was an unspoken sort of thing. There might have been times where Winnie was nervous. Perhaps, even afraid. But she found Mila admirable.

Even the eldest alpha of the pack couldn’t touch on the amount of experience Mila had. She was far more worldly than anyone Winnie had ever met, but she didn’t lord it over anyone.

Mila was powerful enough to put alphas to shame. She didn’t discriminate though. She sat willingly with the omega female without a fuss. She conversed easily with everyone. She was kind to the strange thing from the sewer without hesitation.

Winnie’s admiration for this other species made her more eager to learn about others. Even while she instinctively wanted to recoil from Rori, she made a special effort to be kind. She urged other mothers to allow interactions with Rori.

When Mila stated that she was going to continue with the warriors on to more populated areas, Winnie happily agreed to look after Rori.



Rori felt a cold sense of dread when Winnie’s water broke. She was in labor for several hours with nothing happening. She was tortured with pains and still no pups were coming.

The witches that Mila had brought Rori to meet were very spiritual. They had a dreamy sort of quality about them. They giggled like children when meeting Rori, stroking him in a way that was similar to Mila, but not nearly as comforting.

Kimber was the one that had taken most to Winnie. She was a tall, willowy woman that looked like a fairy. She was from a coven that was very like a commune. All the women dressed in loose, white dresses with flower crowns.

Mila had asked if they were responsible for making Rori’s parents. Rori hadn’t known, but his species was often known to be cobbled together out of natural things. Originally, they’d been made as guard dogs, but if their witches died or lost interest, they were freed to roam the wilderness, lead only by the gnawing hunger left to them.

There was no way of knowing how many generations down Rori was. None of the witches had been able to answer for certain who might have been responsible. If it was one of theirs, she may have long since passed. They also had a way of being welcoming to all. Whoever it was that had created Rori’s parents or grandparents might have simply been passing through.

They’d offered to take Rori in, but he’d wanted to stay with Mila. She was his mother.

Now, with Winnie in so much pain, he had reached out them. They had given him a simple way of contacting that only required a reflective surface. He had tapped the mirror and begged them to come.

Just as many weren’t comfortable with him, there were many that didn’t like the witches either. Some of the midwives glared when the witches came and Rori was quickly shooed from the room.



Rori might have played with the children, but he felt too sickened and nervous while Winnie was still in pain. The more sensitive children had clustered close to their mothers. Rori couldn’t do that with Mila away.
It was the kindly elder alpha that sat with him. She always surrounded by fellows, but they politely bowed away, not speaking against the wendigo child while he waited with her. He had passed her a teacup when she pointed out the ruby wolf statue on the mantle.

He turned to gaze at it in interest. It had been gift from Mila. She had made it using her own blood.

It happened then, when his back was turned. The elder alpha female had only taken a single sip. Then her head bowed and she breathed no more.